Home Dynamic QR vs Bitly
Unmetered Destination Edits
Repointing a printed code is the product, not a monthly allowance.
NORTH LINE put the same code on the parcel card and in the follow-up email. In the channel review both arrive as one number, and the card is the cheaper line to cut.
The rule engine
What the scanner gets
The printed card, opening a page written for somebody holding the product. The tag decided the destination, not just the row in the report.
The rule reads utm_source here, and can read utm_medium, utm_campaign or the referring host instead. The tag is recorded in the analytics as well, but this is the rarer half: it selects the destination rather than only labelling the scan afterwards.
Get this wrong and print keeps arriving as "direct" in the channel review, which is the meeting where the insert gets cut. The cards are already in the boxes.
no subscription · pay per scan · nothing to cancel
The edit is the product, and it is sold back to you by the month
A dynamic code exists so the destination can change after the artwork is printed. On a metered plan that capability arrives with a monthly counter, which means the reason you bought the code is the thing you can run out of. The counter resets on the first of the month, and a printed code does not care what day it is.
- A recall notice that has to go out on the 28th, against an allowance already spent.
- A seasonal menu changed weekly, on a plan that permits four changes a month.
- An agency running thirty client codes out of one account and one shared quota.
- Buying overage that does not carry over, to fix a problem that recurs every month.
What an edit costs here
Stated as a rule rather than an allowance, because there is no counter to state.
Creating the code costs 1 credit, once
That is the whole charge for bringing a dynamic code into existence. There is no monthly fee attached to it afterwards and no tier it belongs to.
create 1 credit · scan 1 creditChanging where it points costs nothing
Repointing a code is not on the rate card, because it is not billed. Change it once or a hundred times in a day; the number is not recorded against you because nothing is counting.
Scans are the only meter
You pay 1 credit per scan, which is the thing that actually costs us money to serve. Routing conditions are the one exception and they are priced per condition, not per edit.
What you get instead of an allowance
- Edit on the day it matters
A recall, a sold-out item, a venue change. The edit lands on every printed code at once and costs nothing to make.
- Every feature on every pack
no tiersPacks differ in how many credits they carry and what is included free, never in what you are permitted to do.
- Routing, not just a destination
Country, language, device, time, weighted split and campaign source, composed as a graph rather than picked from a list.
- A domain you already own
One CNAME puts your codes on your own hostname, and the slot is bought once rather than rented by the year.
- Cookie-free measurement
Scans are counted at the edge and unique visitors are estimated with a daily sketch, so there is no consent banner in the scan path.
- No card on file
Credits are prepaid. There is no renewal to forget and no charging authority to leave behind when you stop.
Side by side, including two rows Bitly wins
| Capability | taproute | Bitly, published plans |
|---|---|---|
| Destination changes per month Bitly calls the line "Redirects" and defines it as changing the destination page for links and QR Codes. | Unmetered. An edit is not billed and not counted. | Core 5 · Growth 20 · Premium 110 · Free none 1 |
| What a destination change costs | Nothing. It is absent from the rate card because it is not charged. | Drawn from a monthly allowance on every paid plan 1 |
| New codes per month | No monthly cap. 1 credit each, from your balance. | Free 5 · Core 100 · Growth 500 · Premium 3,000 1 |
| Billing model A subscription renews on a date. A credit pack does not renew at all, which is why there is no card on file here to forget about. | Prepaid credits, no card on file, nothing renews | Monthly or annual subscription 1 |
| Feature access by plan A category claim about how tiered plans work, not a row about any specific entitlement. | Every feature on every pack | Tiered |
| Vector export for print (PDF, EPS) A real gap on our side, and a live objection if you are handing artwork to a press today. | No | Yes |
| Mobile app and browser extension We ship neither. If you shorten links all day from a phone, that is a genuine reason to stay. | No | Yes |
- 1 Bitly, read bitly.com/pages/pricing on 2026-08-29. Vendor terms change without notice · check the source before relying on it.
Questions
Does Bitly really limit how often I can change a QR code destination?
Its published plan table lists a "Redirects" allowance, defined as changing the destination page for links and QR Codes: none on Free, five a month on Core, twenty on Growth and one hundred and ten on Premium, read on 2026-08-29. Check the live page before relying on those figures, because they have moved before.
What does changing a destination cost here?
Nothing, on any pack. It is not a line on the rate card because it is not a billable event. Creating the code costs 1 credit once and each scan costs 1 credit; the edit itself is free and is not counted.
Is there a monthly limit on how many codes I can make?
No. Codes come out of your credit balance at 1 credit each rather than out of a monthly allowance, so a thousand codes in one afternoon is a question of balance, not of plan.
Where is Bitly the better choice?
If you need vector artwork for a press, a mobile app or a browser extension, they ship all three and we ship none of them. If you shorten links all day inside a large team, that is their product and it is mature. This page is about one thing: what it costs to change where a printed code points.
Can I move codes I already printed?
If the printed code points at a Bitly short link you control, yes, and without a reprint: repoint that link at your new code once and every future scan follows it. Our free checker tells you in one screen whether your specific code qualifies.
What is the catch with prepaid credits here?
They expire after 18 months, and a single very high-volume code can cost more here than a flat monthly plan would. The model fits print runs whose scan volume is uneven or hard to predict.