What is qr.io?
A QR code that opens a qr.io/… address is a dynamic code made with QR.io. Every scan passes through QR.io before it reaches the real page, so the code works only while QR.io keeps that link switched on. Scan your code below to check it.
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Result
The check reads only what is in the code and never opens the link, so “no warning signs” does not prove a page is safe. Don’t enter passwords or card details on a page you reached through a QR code on a sticker, flyer, letter or email. How QR code scams work
Make a new code that holds the real destination, the address of your own page. We don’t open the short link, so we can’t see where it leads.
Make a permanent codeAlready printed? In the Print dialog, choose “Cover-up sticker” to print the new code a little larger than the old one and stick it over it.
Swiss QR-bill
Opens the QR-bill generator with this bill filled in. The data stays in your browser.
Before you pay, compare the name and account with the invoice or the shop. Scammers sometimes stick their own codes over real ones.
Make your own payment codeCheck the address before you open it. A QR code can point anywhere.
Who runs qr.io
qr.io is both the website of QR.io, an online QR code generator, and the address its dynamic codes use. Unit 42 lists qr.io among QR code shortener services (Unit 42).
QR.io offers no free dynamic codes: dynamic codes come with a 7-day trial, then a plan at $39.99 a month or a yearly price (pricing).
Codes from QR.io use these addresses: qr.io. Codes that a service serves from a customer’s own domain look like ordinary links, and no checker can recognise them.
Why a qr.io code stops working
When a qr.io code stops working, the cause is usually the account behind it, not the print. This is what QR.io says on its own pages:
- Trial: “The trial gets you access to all of our premium features for 7 days” (pricing).
- After the trial: “Dynamic QR codes will be paused”, and “when you upgrade your account, the Dynamic QR Codes will be reactivated” (help). Codes printed during a trial stop working a week later unless someone pays.
- Cancelling: “you can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel your plan at anytime from the dashboard” (pricing). We found nothing on its pages about what happens to codes after a paid plan ends.
- Static codes: “Static QR Codes do not expire and will work forever” (help).
What 15 dynamic QR code services say happens to your codes when you cancel
If it is your code
- Find the accountOnly the QR.io account that made the code can switch it back on. Find out who set it up and which email and card it uses; many codes die because that person left.
- Decide whether you need itReactivating means paying for as long as the code is printed. If you don’t need scan statistics or a changeable destination, a static code with your real address does the same job and never expires.
- Replace and coverMake a permanent code with the real destination, print it as cover-up stickers a little larger than the old code, and stick one over each printed code. No reprint needed.
Test one printed sticker with a phone before you cover all the old codes. How big should a QR code be?
If you scanned someone else’s code
A qr.io code that opens an error or “deactivated” page usually means the owner’s plan ended. Tell the business: they often don’t know. Look for the menu, form or page on their website instead.
Is a qr.io link safe?
qr.io belongs to a real QR code service, but that tells you little about the page behind it. Anyone with an account can make a qr.io code and point it anywhere, including scammers, and the short link hides the destination until you open it.
Judge the page you land on, not the qr.io part. If a code on a sticker, flyer, parking meter or letter leads to a page that asks for a password, card details or a payment, don’t enter anything: go to the company’s website or app yourself.
Questions
- What is qr.io?
- An online QR code generator. A code that opens qr.io/… is a dynamic code made there, and it works only while that QR.io account keeps it active.
- Why did my qr.io code stop working after a week?
- QR.io pauses dynamic codes when the 7-day trial ends. They come back only with a paid plan; a static code with your real address avoids the subscription.
- How do I cancel QR.io?
- QR.io says plans can be cancelled at any time from the dashboard. Before you cancel, replace any printed dynamic codes, because they depend on the account.
More QR code services
Checked in November 2026 on QR.io’s own pages, linked above. Services change their terms; their own pages are the authority. We make free static QR codes, which don’t go through any service, so we have an interest in this topic; that is why every point links to the source.