Comparison
Ink, or a link you control.
Every QR code is a picture of an address. The only question that matters is which address: the final destination, frozen the moment the ink dries - or a short link that forwards, which you can repoint and measure for as long as the paper exists. That is the entire comparison; the table is just its consequences.
Switchly (dynamic)
Static code
Destination after printing
The one difference everything else follows from.
Editable, unlimited times, on every plan
Frozen in ink
A wrong or dead link
A thirty-second edit
A reprint, or a dead code forever
Scan counts
Every scan: when, where, what device
None - no way to know anyone scanned
One code, changing purpose
Repoint it as the campaign moves
One purpose per print run
Dependency
Static's honest advantage, stated plainly.
On the link staying hosted (free plan keeps links alive)
None - ink answers to nobody
Cost
Free: 100 links, 5,000 scans/mo
Free everywhere
When static is the right call
Wi-Fi credentials, a vCard, a permanent homepage: destinations that cannot move and need no measuring lose nothing to ink, and gain independence from every provider including us. Our free generator makes those, no account asked. Everything that moves - menus, campaigns, events, packaging - is the other column.
Make the printed one editable
One link, one code, and the ink never goes stale. Free plan, no card, from $15/month when you outgrow it.
questions
Is a static QR code ever the better choice?
Yes: for a destination that will never move and never needs measuring. A code pointing at your Wi-Fi credentials, a vCard, or a permanent homepage is fine as ink. Our free generator makes exactly those, without an account, and this page is not trying to talk you out of it.
Does a dynamic QR code look different when scanned?
No. Any phone camera reads it like any other code. The only difference is what is encoded: a short link that forwards, instead of the final address. The forward happens on the link's side; the scanner never knows.
Can a static QR code be converted to dynamic?
Not after printing - the destination is baked into the image and no service can change ink. The conversion happens at the next print run: make a short link, point it at the same destination, print the code for the link.
Do dynamic QR codes stop working if I stop paying?
On Switchly, no. Links keep redirecting and keep counting on the free plan, and nothing is deleted. That question is worth asking of any provider before printing their code onto ten thousand boxes - a dynamic code is a dependency on whoever hosts the link.
What does dynamic cost that static does not?
On Switchly, usually nothing: the free plan is 100 links, 5,000 tracked scans a month, unlimited codes and unlimited destination changes, with no card. Static is free everywhere because there is nothing to host; dynamic is free here because the link layer is the product.