---
title: "Why We Built reRoute: QR Codes That Don’t Die"
description: "We kept printing QR codes that could break the moment a page moved or a plan lapsed. So we built reRoute for ourselves, and now for you."
canonical: https://reroutehq.com/blog/why-we-built-reroute
---

# Why we built reRoute: QR codes that don’t die

*2026-09-27 · By Mark and Travis, co-founders of reRoute*

We did not set out to build a QR code company. We set out to stop our own QR codes from dying.

Our work puts a lot of things on paper: business cards, portfolios, event promotions. Each one carries a QR code, and each code is a bet that the page behind it will still be there next month. When the page moves, a printed code is wrong, and the usual fix is to print everything again.

## What we saw in the market

A dynamic QR code does not hold your link. It holds a short address on the provider’s server, which then sends people on to your page. That is what makes it editable after printing. It also means the provider decides whether your printed code keeps working.

Much of the market uses that. A common pattern: you make a dynamic code on a free trial, you print it, and some days later the code stops sending people to your page unless you subscribe. The code is already on your cards, labels and flyers by then.

You can read the result in public reviews. On Trustpilot, one of the largest QR code generators scores 1.3 out of 5 across more than 9,000 reviews, and recent ones describe exactly this:

> They let me print 10,000 tags with a QR code that dies in 14 days.
> — Trustpilot review, August 2026

> After 14 days, your QR code suddenly stops working without any warning.
> — Trustpilot review, August 2026

Another reviewer printed business cards with a QR code, then found out it would cost $20 a month to keep the code working. That one hit close to home.

We did not want to build our business on a code someone else can switch off. So we built the service we wanted to use.

## How we use it every day

Our business cards. The QR code on our physical cards opens our portfolio. It is a reRoute code, so when the portfolio moves or grows we point the same code somewhere new, and every card already handed out stays current. We also see when a card gets scanned, which tells us who actually looked.

Our portfolio. We printed a code that opens our portfolio in a PDF. When it changes, we swap the file behind the code instead of reprinting. It has been scanned 48 times so far, and 47 of those scans came from phones: people holding the printed code, not clicking a link on a screen.

Our events. We print codes on promotions for the events we work on, such as a hosted event, a product launch party and a charity auction. Each code shows us whether the promotion worked, and when the details change, the printed code follows.

## Built by users, for users

We run our own work on reRoute, so we build what we need next. If it saves us a reprint, a guess or an awkward support ticket, it will probably save you one too. That is also why we hold ourselves to a few rules:

- Printed codes keep working. If you stop paying, your codes still open wherever you last pointed them. You lose editing and new analytics, not the code.
- Static codes are free and unlimited, and they never expire.
- The free plan includes 3 dynamic codes you can change as often as you like. Paid plans are $4.99 or $19.99 a month, and every price is on the pricing page.

If you print QR codes, on cards, menus, packaging or signs, we built reRoute for the same reasons you are looking. Start with a free code and see what your printed things are doing.

## Sources

- [Trustpilot: QRCG by Bitly reviews (read 27 September 2026: 1.3/5, 9,317 reviews)](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.qr-code-generator.com)