Cheaper alternatives to QR Code Generator (and when it’s still worth paying)

QR Code Generator (QRCG by Bitly) is one of the best-known names in dynamic QR codes, and it is priced like a platform: you buy a plan with a quota of dynamic codes, not a single code. If you only need one or two QR codes that you can edit after printing, that can feel like a lot to pay.

What QRCG lists: public sources we checked on 1 October 2026 show, in US dollars and billed annually, Starter at $9.99/month for 2 dynamic codes, Advanced at $15.99/month for 50 codes, and Professional at $46.99/month for 250 codes. Euro listings have shown €8, €15 and €40 per month on annual billing. Prices exclude VAT and vary by region and currency, and QRCG’s pricing page loads its prices with JavaScript, so we could not read your local price for you. Check their pricing page for your exact figure.

What qrcode.house charges: $9.99 per year for each dynamic QR code you unlock. Free URL codes are hosted short links (first destination frozen until unlock). Other types bake the payload into the pattern. You pay only for the codes whose destination has to change after print. See dynamic QR code pricing and our pricing page.

Here is the maths for a few common numbers of dynamic codes. QRCG annual figures are the USD monthly price × 12, using the smallest plan that fits; qrcode.house is $9.99 × the number of codes.

The crossover is at roughly 20 codes. Nineteen codes cost $189.81 a year here, against $191.88 for QRCG Advanced; twenty cost $199.80. Past that point a subscription is cheaper per code, and the gap widens up to Advanced’s 50-code limit.

Who should stay with QRCG: anyone who wants scan analytics (counts and tracking come with every QRCG plan), bulk creation from a CSV, API access, several team members on one account, or premium support. qrcode.house does not have a scan analytics dashboard, bulk CSV, an API plan or team seats. If those matter, or you run a campaign with dozens of codes, QRCG is worth the money.

Who might prefer qrcode.house: people with one to a handful of lasting prints, such as a business card, a window decal, a guest Wi‑Fi sticker or a table-tent menu, who want to fix a URL or password later without reprinting and don’t need a reporting dashboard. Our QR Code Generator alternative page has the full side-by-side with the plan features.

And if the destination will never change, you may not need to unlock. Our free QR code generator makes URL short links whose first destination stays frozen, and Wi‑Fi, vCard and similar types that bake the payload into the pattern. The catch is that a frozen or baked code cannot be edited once printed.

A practical note on trials: QRCG offers a 14-day free trial, and dynamic codes created in it deactivate if you do not subscribe, so don’t print a trial code you plan to leave unpaid. This comparison is independent and not affiliated with QRCG or Bitly; figures were checked on 1 October 2026 and may have changed since.