QRCG by Bitly Alternative: What Changed After the April 2026 Rebrand

qr-code-generator.com is now QRCG by Bitly. Bitly acquired Egoditor GmbH (the company behind qr-code-generator.com) back in August 2023 and ran the product under its original brand for about two and a half years. On April 20, 2026, Bitly completed the rebrand and consolidated the product under its Customer Connections Platform as "QRCG by Bitly" (Bitly announcement). The platform that was the #1 Google result for "qr code generator" for years now ships as one of three pillars of Bitly's link / QR / link-in-bio offering.

If you're an existing qr-code-generator.com customer or a prospect comparing QR platforms post-rebrand, this is what changed, what didn't, and how QR Code Maker compares.

2026 update — what QRCG by Bitly actually changed

Verified against Bitly's announcement and pricing page as of June 2026. The rebrand was a brand-and-pricing exercise, not a product milestone:

• Domain remains: qr-code-generator.com still resolves; in-product branding now reads "QRCG by Bitly"
• Account merger: qr-code-generator.com logins now go through Bitly's auth; existing subscriptions remain active under the previous terms
• Pricing reshuffled: the Codes plan on Bitly's platform is $35/user/month (annual billing); free tier is capped at 2 dynamic codes per month
• Three-product bundle: Bitly now sells QR alongside link-shortening and link-in-bio as one combined customer-connections platform
• No new QR features specifically introduced by the rebrand per Bitly's own Will the merge with Bitly affect the pricing? support article

Is QRCG by Bitly cheaper than QR Code Maker?

Only if you're already paying for Bitly link shortening and need QR as an add-on. The Codes plan is $35/user/month billed annually ($420/year), vs QR Code Maker Pro at $29/month with monthly billing. For QR-only use cases, QR Code Maker is cheaper and avoids the annual-prepay lock-in. For teams who use Bitly heavily for link management already, QRCG-by-Bitly bundles the workflow but the per-user pricing scales aggressively for small teams.

Quick Comparison

What the rebrand means for existing qr-code-generator.com customers

If you were on a paid qr-code-generator.com plan before April 20, 2026:

• Your codes still resolve as long as your subscription stays active
• Your billing migrated to Bitly's payment system; check the Bitly dashboard for the new renewal cadence
• Your URL still works — qr-code-generator.com resolves to the same product
• Old trial-code complaints persist — if you previously hit the issue where trial codes printed during a 14-day trial stopped resolving after the trial ended, that behavior is documented across Bitly's terms; the rebrand did not change the underlying expiry rules

If you were on the free tier of qr-code-generator.com (the "free trial" model): the rebrand replaces it with a proper free tier of 2 dynamic codes/month, which is a meaningful change. Old trial codes that broke at expiry remain broken — the rebrand did not retroactively reactivate them.

Why people are searching for an alternative now

Three patterns since the rebrand:

1. Trustpilot review momentum — the rebrand inherited the legacy reputation. New reviews on Bitly's profile cite the same trial-code-stopping-working pattern that drove the 1.7/5 average across 9,000+ historic reviews.
2. Annual lock-in pushback — Bitly's Codes plan is annual-billed; small teams who wanted monthly billing as a flexibility option don't have one on the consolidated platform.
3. Pricing per user — the new $35/user/month structure scales aggressively for teams of 3+; QR Code Maker's $29 Pro plan covers up to 5 team seats without per-seat scaling.

When QRCG by Bitly is the right choice

We're not going to pretend QRCG-by-Bitly is universally worse. It makes sense if:

• You already use Bitly for link shortening at scale and want the unified billing/dashboard
• You need link-in-bio + link management + QR in one consolidated platform
• Your team is large enough that per-user pricing is acceptable (and you're billed for Bitly seats anyway)
• You don't care about monthly billing flexibility — annual prepayment is fine

If none of those apply, the migration cost off QRCG is low because static codes (the majority of typical use) work forever without anyone's server.

Migrating from QRCG by Bitly to QR Code Maker

QR codes you printed under qr-code-generator.com / QRCG by Bitly are dynamic redirects pointing at QRCG's short URLs. They will keep resolving as long as your QRCG subscription stays active — there is no way to "transfer" them to a different platform without reprinting.

The practical migration path:

1. Sign up for QR Code Maker — start a 14-day Pro trial, no credit card
2. Re-create your dynamic codes in QR Code Maker (you'll get new short URLs)
3. Update any digital uses of the old QRCG short URLs to point at the new ones
4. Reprint physical media at your next scheduled refresh — there's no time pressure if your QRCG subscription is still paid
5. Cancel the QRCG subscription at next renewal — your old codes stop resolving, but the new ones you printed via QR Code Maker continue

For codes you can't reprint (already printed on permanent surfaces), the honest answer is: keep your QRCG subscription active for those codes specifically, and move new codes to QR Code Maker as you create them. There's no platform that magically rehomes someone else's short URLs.

FAQ

Is QRCG by Bitly the same product as qr-code-generator.com?

Yes. Bitly acquired Egoditor GmbH (the company behind qr-code-generator.com) and rebranded the product to "QRCG by Bitly" on April 20, 2026. The qr-code-generator.com domain still resolves; the in-product brand and billing now flow through Bitly.

Will my qr-code-generator.com QR codes still work?

Yes, as long as your QRCG by Bitly subscription remains active. The redirect infrastructure didn't change with the rebrand. If you cancel or your subscription lapses, dynamic codes stop resolving per the existing terms.

Did the rebrand change pricing?

Yes. The free tier is now 2 dynamic QR codes per month (a structural change from the old "free trial" model). The paid Codes plan on Bitly's platform is $35 per user per month, billed annually.

Why does Bitly own a QR code generator?

QR codes are dynamic redirects. They share the same infrastructure as link shorteners — both point a short identifier at a destination URL, both can be updated after creation. Bitly acquired Egoditor in August 2023 to add QR as a third pillar (link shortening, QR codes, link-in-bio) of its Customer Connections Platform; the April 2026 rebrand merged the legacy "qr-code-generator.com" identity into the unified Bitly product family.

Is QR Code Maker affiliated with Bitly or QRCG?

No. QR Code Maker is an independent platform with no business relationship to Bitly or the former qr-code-generator.com / QRCG by Bitly.

What if I prefer the QRCG by Bitly UI but want monthly billing?

That option doesn't exist on QRCG by Bitly. The Codes plan is annual-only. Other QR platforms with comparable feature sets and monthly billing include QR Code Maker ($9 Starter, $29 Pro) and QR Tiger (entry $7 tier monthly only). Uniqode and Flowcode are also annual-only.

---

Want true monthly billing without trial-code surprises? Start a 14-day Pro trial — no credit card required — or read our fair cancellation policy for exactly what happens to your codes if you ever cancel.

Related Comparisons

• QR Code Maker vs QR Code Generator — the pre-rebrand comparison, still relevant for understanding the underlying product
• QR Code Maker vs Bitly — Bitly's link-shortening product, the parent platform QRCG now lives under
• QR Tiger Alternative — another monthly-billing alternative with a different free-tier model
• Uniqode Alternative — annual-only billing comparison, similar billing tradeoffs to QRCG by Bitly