mobiQode vs Bitly: 100 QR Codes for $10, Not 5
Bitly is the best-known URL shortener, and it added QR codes as a feature — but it meters them tightly. Bitly’s $10/month Core plan lets you create just 5 QR codes a month; mobiQode’s $10/month plan gives you 100, plus digital business cards and landing pages in the same subscription. Bitly is built around links, with QR as an add-on; mobiQode is built for QR codes from the ground up, with flat pricing from $5/month.
If you came to Bitly for short links and tried its QR codes, you’ve probably hit the ceiling fast: even the paid Core plan caps you at 5 new QR codes a month. That’s because QR codes aren’t Bitly’s core product — links are. mobiQode is the opposite: a dedicated QR platform where codes, digital business cards, and landing pages all come in one plan, with no monthly creation cap and flat, published pricing.
What is mobiQode?
mobiQode is an ad-free QR code platform built for small and mid-size businesses. You can create static or dynamic codes across 15+ types — website, vCard, WiFi, PDF, menu, social and more — brand them with your own colors, logo, and custom URL slug, and track scans in real-time analytics with geo-location. Digital business cards and custom landing pages are included in the same subscription, with flat pricing from $5/month and no sales demo required to see what you’ll pay.
What is Bitly?
Bitly is one of the most established link-management platforms, best known for branded short links, click tracking, and link analytics. It also generates QR codes, but as a secondary feature: its plans are sold primarily on link volume (50 to 3,000 links/month), and the QR code allowance is small and metered monthly — 2 on Free, 5 on Core, 10 on Growth, and 200 only on the $199/month Premium plan. If your team already lives in Bitly for link tracking, the QR integration is convenient. For QR-led use, the per-month limits and link-first pricing are the trade-off.
Across Trustpilot and G2, Bitly is well-reviewed as a link shortener; the common themes among QR-focused users are the low monthly code limits and the price step-ups as you scale. As always, it’s worth reading recent reviews yourself before deciding.
Bitly vs mobiQode: Quick comparison table
Bitly vs mobiQode
QR Code Plans Compared
| Feature | Bitly | mobiQode |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest paid plan | $10/month (Core, billed annually) — 5 QR codes/mo | $5/month (Mini) — 10 codes; 100 codes at $10/month |
| QR codes at $10/month | 5 per month | 100 |
| How QR codes are allocated | Metered monthly — 5 (Core), 10 (Growth), 200 (Premium $199/mo) | A standing pool you own — 10 to 5,000 by plan |
| Digital business cards | Not offered | Included in the same subscription |
| Custom landing pages | 2 (Free) / 5 (Core) | Included on paid plans |
| QR code types | URL-focused | 15+ types — vCard, WiFi, PDF, menu, social & more |
| Analytics history | 30 days on Core (longer on higher tiers) | Included with geo-location, no 30-day window |
| Built primarily for | Link shortening (QR is an add-on) | QR codes & digital cards |
| Pricing | Free; paid from $10/mo | Free trial; paid from $5/mo |
One thing Bitly does well: it offers unlimited scans on every plan, including Free. mobiQode’s plans carry high scan allowances rather than uncapped scans — so if your only need is a couple of codes with very heavy scan volume, Bitly’s free tier is fine. For anything beyond a handful of codes, the per-month QR limit is what most teams run into first.
The catch with Bitly’s QR codes
The single biggest difference is how many QR codes you can actually make. Bitly meters QR creation per month, and the jumps are steep: 5 codes on the $10 Core plan, 10 on the $29 Growth plan, and you don’t reach 200 until the $199/month Premium plan. So a small business that needs, say, 40 QR codes for a product line has to jump all the way to Premium — roughly $2,388 a year.
mobiQode gives you a standing pool of codes instead of a monthly drip: 10 on Mini ($5/mo), 100 on Pro ($10/mo), 500 on Enterprise ($20/mo), and 5,000 on Agency ($50/mo). The same 40-code project fits comfortably in the $10/month Pro plan — about $120 a year.
🔢 How many QR codes do you need?
Bitly meters QR codes by the month. mobiQode doesn’t.
QR code features: what you get
Dynamic codes and QR types
Both platforms offer dynamic QR codes you can edit after printing. The difference is range: Bitly’s QR codes are URL-focused, while mobiQode supports 15+ types out of the box — website, vCard, WiFi, PDF, menu, social, text and more — so you’re not limited to pointing a code at a link.
Digital business cards
This is a category Bitly doesn’t cover at all. mobiQode includes shareable digital business cards (vCards) in the same subscription as your QR codes — useful for teams, events, and sales staff who want a scannable contact profile alongside their campaign codes.
Bulk QR creation
Need many codes at once — for product packaging, store locations, or event badges? mobiQode includes no-code bulk generation on its paid plans, so you can create codes in batches from a single upload rather than one at a time. Combined with the standing code pool, that’s a very different proposition from Bitly’s per-month allowance.
Still need a short link?
You don’t lose link functionality by switching. Every dynamic QR code in mobiQode runs on a short, trackable redirect URL — so you keep a shareable link and editable destination alongside the code itself. For most QR-led use cases, that covers the job links were doing inside Bitly, without paying for a full link-management suite.
Analytics and reporting
Bitly offers unlimited scans, which is genuinely useful — but on the Core plan, click and scan history is limited to 30 days, with longer windows reserved for higher tiers. If you want to compare this quarter to last, you may need to upgrade.
mobiQode includes analytics on every paid plan — location and geo-tracking, device type, unique vs. repeat scans, and time-based trends — without a 30-day reporting window to manage. For QR campaigns you want to measure over time, that history matters as much as the raw scan count.
Pricing
Both companies publish their prices, so there’s no sales demo to sit through on either side. The difference is what the money buys. Bitly’s plans are built around link volume, with QR codes as a small monthly allowance: $10/month Core (5 QR codes), $29/month Growth (10), and $199/month Premium (200).
mobiQode prices on QR codes directly: $5/month for 10 codes, $10/month for 100, $20/month for 500, and $50/month for 5,000 — all billed yearly. At the same $10/month, you get 100 mobiQode codes versus 5 on Bitly, plus digital business cards and landing pages Bitly doesn’t include.
Final verdict: which one should you choose?
Bitly is the right tool if links are your main job — if you’re managing thousands of short links and want QR codes as a convenient add-on, its link-management depth is hard to beat, and unlimited scans are a real plus.
But if QR codes are what you actually came for — and especially if you need more than a handful — Bitly’s per-month limits and the steep jump to the $199 Premium plan make it an expensive way to buy codes. mobiQode is built for exactly this: dynamic QR codes across 15+ types, digital business cards, and landing pages in one plan, with no monthly cap and flat pricing from $5/month.
If you want more QR codes for less — without giving up trackable links — mobiQode is worth a look.
Ready to switch from Bitly?
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