--- title: "Do Bitly QR Codes Expire? What Happens If You Cancel" description: "No — Bitly QR codes don’t expire, even on the free plan. What changes when you stop paying is whether you can edit them, and what scanners see." url: "https://qrever.com/blog/do-bitly-qr-codes-expire" category: "Guides" published: "2026-09-26" updated: "2026-09-26" type: "article" --- # Do Bitly QR Codes Expire? What Happens If You Cancel _No — Bitly QR codes don’t expire, even on the free plan. What changes when you stop paying is whether you can edit them, and what scanners see._ No. Bitly’s help centre states that the QR codes you create in Bitly never expire, and that holds on the free plan too: a code keeps redirecting until you delete it, delete the short link behind it, or deliberately give it an expiration date. Even cancelling your subscription or deleting your account leaves codes on the default bit.ly domain working. What you lose when you stop paying is not the code — it’s the ability to change where it points. > Key takeaways > > - Bitly QR codes have no built-in expiry and no scan limit, on any plan. > - They stop working only if they’re deleted, given an expiration date, or tied to a complimentary Bitly domain whose registration lapses. > - Changing a code’s destination needs a paid plan. Stop paying and every printed code is frozen at its last destination. > - Links on free accounts now open on an interstitial page with an ad before the destination. ## When a Bitly QR code does stop working Every Bitly QR code is a scannable version of a Bitly short link, so it lives and dies with that link. According to Bitly’s documentation, four things can end it: - **You delete it** — or delete the short link it’s attached to. - **You set an expiration date.** Paid plans can schedule a code to expire; after that, scanners are sent to a Bitly error page (a 410) or a custom error page instead of your destination. - **It uses a complimentary domain and you downgrade.** Some paid plans include a free branded domain. On a plan without custom domains, Bitly stops renewing it, and every link and code on that domain breaks when the registration runs out. - **Your own custom domain stops pointing at Bitly.** Codes on a domain you own keep working only while its DNS still points to Bitly — and after a downgrade, Bitly stops renewing the SSL certificate, so visitors may see a security warning. ## What happens when you downgrade or cancel A cancelled plan runs to the end of the billing period, then the account falls back to the free plan. What your printed codes do next depends on the domain they use: | Code’s domain | After downgrading to free | | --- | --- | | bit.ly (the default) | Keeps redirecting, to the destination it had when you left | | Your own custom domain | Keeps redirecting while DNS points to Bitly; SSL warning once the certificate lapses | | Complimentary Bitly domain | Stops working when the domain registration expires | The row that matters for most people is the first one — and the catch is in its last few words. Changing a code’s destination is what Bitly calls a _redirect_, and redirects are a paid feature that also counts toward a monthly redirect limit. On the free plan you can’t change a code’s destination at all. So the day you stop paying, every code you’ve printed is locked to wherever it pointed that day. ## The free plan: working, but fixed — and with an ad page Bitly’s free plan allows two QR codes a month, with unlimited scans. Two things make those codes different from a paid account’s. Their destinations can’t be edited after creation. And Bitly now shows links on free accounts through an interstitial page — a preview of the destination with an advertisement — before sending the visitor on. Bitly describes each QR code as a scannable form of a short link, so plan for someone scanning a free-account code to see that page too. A code that can’t be edited behaves, for practical purposes, like a [static QR code](https://qrever.com/blog/dynamic-vs-static-qr-codes) — just one that depends on Bitly’s servers to keep working. ## How to check a Bitly code before you rely on it 1. Scan it with a reader that shows the raw link without opening it, and note the domain: bit.ly, your own, or a branded one Bitly gave you. 2. In Bitly, open the code’s settings and confirm no expiration date is set. 3. Check your plan. If it doesn’t include redirects, the destination is already fixed. 4. Scan it on a phone that isn’t logged in to Bitly, and look at exactly what a stranger sees. ## If the code has to stay editable On Bitly, an editable code and a paid plan are the same thing: keep the plan, or accept that the destination is fixed. The codes you’ve already printed can’t be moved to another service, because the pattern encodes a bit.ly address only Bitly can redirect — the options for leaving are in [how to switch QR code providers without reprinting](https://qrever.com/blog/how-to-switch-qr-code-providers-without-reprinting). For codes you haven’t printed yet, the alternative is a provider that keeps redirects editable without a recurring plan. QRever is one: each [dynamic QR code](https://qrever.com/dynamic-qr-code-generator) is paid for once and stays editable with no monthly limit. The two are compared side by side in [QRever vs Bitly](https://qrever.com/qrever-vs-bitly). ## Sources From Bitly’s help centre and blog, checked 26 September 2026: - [Do Bitly Codes ever expire?](https://support.bitly.com/hc/en-us/articles/12231200298125-Do-Bitly-Codes-ever-expire) (updated December 2025) - [What happens when I downgrade to a lower subscription plan?](https://support.bitly.com/hc/en-us/articles/360029870551-What-happens-when-I-downgrade-to-a-lower-subscription-plan) - [What happens to my links and QR Codes after my account is deleted?](https://support.bitly.com/hc/en-us/articles/360059651871-What-happens-to-my-personal-information-links-and-QR-Codes-after-my-account-is-deleted) (updated August 2026) - [How do I set an expiration date for my links and QR Codes?](https://support.bitly.com/hc/en-us/articles/43445764258957-How-do-I-set-an-expiration-date-for-my-links-and-QR-Codes) - [How do I redirect a Bitly Code?](https://support.bitly.com/hc/en-us/articles/7995084842765-How-do-I-redirect-a-Bitly-Code) - [Why are there ads on my links?](https://support.bitly.com/hc/en-us/articles/32874287800333-Why-are-there-ads-on-my-links) - [Bitly Free Plan: Features, Limits, and When to Upgrade](https://bitly.com/blog/bitly-free-plan/) --- A dynamic QR code you can repoint for as long as it’s printed — paid for once, with no plan to keep alive and no monthly edit limit. https://qrever.com/dynamic-qr-code-generator Published 2026-09-26. Canonical page: https://qrever.com/blog/do-bitly-qr-codes-expire