QR Code Stopped Working After the Free Trial
If your QR code stopped working when a free trial ended, the printed code is fine: the service that made it has switched off the redirect behind it, and only that service can switch it back on. You have three options: pay that service, cover the old code with a new one, or reprint. Here is how to choose, what will not work, and how to make sure it never happens again.
What Happened to Your Code
A dynamic QR code, the kind you can edit after printing, does not contain your link. It contains a short web address that belongs to the QR service, and the service forwards each scan to your page. When the trial ended, the service stopped forwarding, so scans now land on its own page (a sign-in screen, an upgrade offer, or a note that the code is inactive) instead of yours.
To check, point your phone camera at the code and read the address it shows before you open it. If the address belongs to the QR service rather than to your own website, it is a dynamic code from that service, and the service decides where it goes. If the address is your own site and the page is broken, the code is not the problem; fix the page.
This cannot happen to a static QR code. A static code holds your link in the pattern itself, with no service in the middle, so there is nothing to switch off.
Your Options, Fastest First
- Pay the service that made it. This is the only way to bring the same printed code back, and it usually works the moment you pay. It makes sense when the code is printed in volume or hard to reach: signage, packaging, vehicle wraps. Before you pay, ask three things: is there a monthly plan or only a yearly one, what happens to the code if you stop paying again, and how much notice you must give to cancel.
- Cover it with a new code. Make a new QR code, print it as a sticker a little larger than the old one, and stick it squarely over the old code so no part of the old pattern shows. This works for menus, signs and flyers already in place, and costs a sheet of labels.
- Reprint. For small runs such as business cards or a stack of flyers, reprinting with a new code often costs less than a year of a service you did not choose on purpose.
Whichever you pick, test the result with two or three different phones before you walk away.
What Will Not Work
No other QR service can redirect a code that another service made, and that includes Honest QR. The printed pattern points at the original service's web address, and only whoever controls that address can change where it goes. If someone offers to unlock, recover or redirect a code from a service they do not run, it cannot be done, so do not pay for it.
Changing your own website will not help either, because scans never reach it while the service is not forwarding them.
How to Make Sure It Never Happens Again
- If the link will never change, use a static QR code. It is free, needs no account, and never expires.
- If you need to edit the link later, choose the service by what happens when you stop paying, not by the trial. We compared what 15 providers say about this, each linked to its own terms, at honestqr.net/guides/qr-codes-that-dont-expire.
- Do not print a code made during a trial unless you are ready to pay for that service. If you print during a trial, the code was never free; only the trial was.
- On anything permanent, such as a plaque or a sign, print the destination address as text beside the code, so people can still reach the page if the code ever stops.
What Honest QR Does When a Plan Ends
Honest QR's paid plans start at $5 a month, and monthly and yearly plans start with a 7-day free trial that is labelled as a trial. If a trial or a plan ends without payment, the codes do not die: they keep redirecting as normal for a 7-day grace period, and after that a scan shows a short Honest QR notice, then continues to the page you set. Editing and scan tracking pause until you pay again, and nothing is deleted. The full policy is at honestqr.net/guides/qr-codes-that-dont-expire, and current prices are at honestqr.net/pricing.
That still does not let us rescue a code another service made. If yours is from another service, the options above are the honest ones.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did my QR code stop working after the free trial?
It was most likely a dynamic code, which holds the QR service's short address rather than your link. When the trial ended, the service stopped forwarding scans to your page. The printed code itself has not changed.
Can another QR code generator fix a code made by a different service?
No. A dynamic code points at the web address of the service that made it, and only that service can change where it goes. Any offer to redirect or unlock someone else's code should be treated with suspicion.
Is it cheaper to pay the old service or to reprint?
It depends on how many copies are out there and how hard they are to replace. For signage, packaging or vehicle graphics, paying the old service usually costs less. For cards, flyers or a few menus, reprinting with a new code, or covering the old code with a sticker, usually costs less than a year of a service you did not choose.
How can I tell if my QR code is static or dynamic?
Scan it with your phone camera and read the address it shows before opening it. If it is your own website's address, the code is static and will never stop working on its own. If it is a short address from a QR service, the code is dynamic and depends on that service.
Will an Honest QR code stop working when my trial ends?
No. If a trial or a paid plan ends without payment, your codes keep redirecting for a 7-day grace period, and after that scans pass through a short Honest QR notice before continuing to your page. Editing and scan tracking pause until you pay again, and nothing is deleted.
Ready to create your QR code?
Free static QR codes with a free account. Go dynamic with scan tracking and a 7-day free trial.