What happens to printed QR codes when you stop paying?

When you stop paying, printed QR codes keep working only if the provider keeps their redirect running. Codes on a provider's own domain usually keep working after you cancel, but some plans expire links and custom domains behave differently. CTAurl keeps published codes working after you cancel, with three stated exceptions.

What does CTAurl do when you stop paying?

When you stop paying CTAurl, published links and QR codes keep opening their destination. Nothing is deleted for inactivity, and clicks and scans are never billed.

The exceptions to the first two sit next to the promise: abuse of the service, such as phishing; a legal requirement; or CTAurl ceasing to operate, in which case we give advance notice and an export. The pricing page states the same three promises for every plan.

What do other QR code providers do when you cancel?

Other QR code providers' terms vary, and they change. Read in September 2026, the public terms of large link providers differed mainly in three places: whether links expire by default on some plans, what happens to links on a custom domain after a downgrade, and who renews the domain. Most keep links on their own shared domain working after a downgrade.

Since "links keep working" is now common, it should not be the only reason you choose a provider. Ask the five questions below in writing, and keep the answers.

Who runs the redirect and the domain, and why does it matter?

Whoever runs the redirect and renews the domain decides whether a printed QR code keeps working. If a domain lapses, every link on it stops. If the service behind the redirect is retired or sends scans somewhere else, the printed code goes wherever the redirect now points, and nobody can change the ink.

Public cases show both. Google retired its free URL shortener: links with no recent activity stopped responding after 25 August 2025, while all other links were kept working (Google Developers Blog, July 2024, updated August 2025). In Basel in 2023, QR codes on printed civil-protection notices sometimes opened a paid-subscription advert instead of the intended page, and the canton asked residents to destroy the notices (Basel-Stadt, September 2023). In 2026, letters from the German city of Witten carried a QR code from a third-party generator that redirects through its own server, and it showed a fitness-subscription advert before the city's payment form, according to Notebookcheck, July 2026, citing WDR.

With your own custom domain, renewal is your job, so set auto-renew. With a provider's domain, it is theirs, and their terms should say what happens if it lapses. CTAurl does not offer your own domain yet: every CTAurl link uses one of the 22 CTA domains or ctaurl.me, which we register and renew, so renewal is our job.

What should I ask a QR code provider before a print run?

Ask any QR code provider five questions in writing before a print run. The answers should be in their documentation as well as in a sales conversation:

1. If I cancel, do my published links keep working? Where is that written?
2. Do links expire by default on my plan?
3. Who owns and renews the domain?
4. If I downgrade, can I still edit codes, and what happens to the ones over my limit?
5. Can I export my links and destinations?

Whatever the answers, print the readable short link beside the code, and keep a spreadsheet of what every printed code points at. In CTAurl you can export a selection of links in bulk, depending on your plan.

Questions people ask

Do QR codes expire when a subscription ends?

It depends on the provider. Some plans expire links by default, and links on a custom domain can behave differently after a downgrade. Read the cancellation terms before printing. CTAurl keeps published links and QR codes working after you cancel, with three stated exceptions: abuse of the service, a legal requirement, or CTAurl ceasing to operate, in which case we give advance notice and an export.

What is the safest way to protect a printed QR code?

Use a domain you control or one the provider maintains, print the readable short link beside the code, and keep a record of every destination. With that record you can recreate or repoint the link even if you change provider.

What are the exceptions to CTAurl's promise?

Abuse of the service, such as phishing or harmful destinations; a legal requirement; and CTAurl ceasing to operate, in which case we give advance notice and an export. They are written down because a promise without exceptions is one we could not keep.