What is a dynamic QR code?
By Prabhneet Singh Narula, founder of RelyQr · Updated
Short answer
A dynamic QR code is a QR code that holds a short link instead of your content. The short link forwards each scan to a destination you choose, so you can change where the code goes after it's printed and see how many people scanned it, when and where. The printed pattern itself never changes.
How a dynamic QR code works
Every QR code is a picture of some text. In a static code, that text is your content: a web address, Wi-Fi details or a contact card. In a dynamic code, it's a short link that belongs to the service you made the code with, like go.relyqr.com/k7m2p9qa.
When someone scans it, their phone opens the short link. The service looks up where that link should go right now, counts the scan, and sends the phone on to your page. It takes milliseconds, so to the person scanning it feels like opening your page directly.
The pattern encodes the short link, not the destination. That's why the destination can change while the print stays the same.
What you can do with a dynamic QR code
- Change the destination after printing: a new menu, offer, file or page, with no reprint.
- See scans as they happen: time, approximate city, device and unique people.
- Add UTM tags so Google Analytics knows the visits came from print.
- Set rules: an expiry date, a scan limit, a password, or send iPhones and Android phones to different places.
- Host the content itself: menus, PDFs, forms, galleries and link pages, with no website of your own.
- Pause a code, then switch it back on.
Dynamic QR codes print better
Because a dynamic code holds a short link, its pattern stays simple whatever the length of the real destination. A long web address in a static code needs many more modules, which means smaller dots at the same print size and a code that's harder to scan from a distance. See the QR code size guide.
What to check before you choose a provider
A dynamic code works only while its provider keeps forwarding the short link, so the provider's terms matter more than its features.
- What happens to your codes if a trial ends or you cancel. Some providers deactivate them.
- Whether the free plan limits scans.
- Whether codes carry a watermark or the provider's branding.
- Whether you can use your own domain, so the short link is yours.
- Where scan data is stored and whether visitors' IP addresses are kept.
RelyQr's dynamic codes keep working on every plan, even if you stop paying; codes carry no watermark; scans aren't limited; and no scanner's IP address is ever stored. Custom domains are on Business.
How to tell if a QR code is dynamic
Scan it and read the address your camera shows before you open it. A dynamic code shows a short link on the provider's domain; a static code shows the final address itself, or Wi-Fi or contact details.
Questions people also ask
Are dynamic QR codes free?
On RelyQr, a free account includes 3 dynamic codes, with no watermark and no time limit. Business costs $19.99 a month or $149.99 a year and includes 500.
Do dynamic QR codes expire?
That depends on the provider. Some deactivate them when a plan ends; RelyQr's keep working on every plan, even if you stop paying.
Can a static QR code be made dynamic later?
Not the printed one. Make a dynamic code for the same destination and reprint once; after that you never need to reprint to change it.
Are dynamic QR codes safe?
Yes. The short link only forwards to the destination you set. RelyQr also checks every destination against Google Web Risk and blocks codes used for scams.
Make a QR code that lasts forever
Free static codes with your logo and no watermark. Dynamic codes you can change after printing keep working on every plan.