The Anti-Trap Pledge
Every clause below exists because an incumbent does the opposite.
The QR code industry has a trust problem. Its business model too often depends on the gap between what you print and what you can renegotiate later. taproute is built on the opposite bet: that the platform which removes every trap wins. Here is that promise, in writing.
Codes never die
The industry practice
A common pattern in this industry: create a QR code on a "free" plan, print it on menus, packaging or signage — and two weeks later the trial ends and the code goes dark. Owners discover it only when customers start complaining that the code "doesn't work". The printed material is already out in the world, and the only fix offered is a paid plan.
Our pledge
Any code you create on taproute keeps resolving for as long as taproute exists. If your credit balance hits zero, a grace period kicks in first — and we warn you well before that. Worst case, a code pauses until you top up. It is never deleted, never recycled, never held hostage. Top up and it resumes instantly, same URL, same printed code.
No interstitial ads. Ever.
The industry practice
In early 2025, a leading link platform began showing interstitial ads on all free redirects — every scan of an existing, already-printed code now detours through an ad page. Another popular QR generator starts injecting ads roughly two weeks after a code is created, once the owner has stopped checking.
Our pledge
A scan on taproute is a 302 redirect at the edge: scan → destination, in ~10–40ms. There is no page in between — no ads, no upsells, no "continue to site" button — on any account, free or paid, today or in ten years. The redirect path is the product; we will never put anything in it.
No subscription, no auto-renewal
The industry practice
Incumbent pricing is built around subscriptions: monthly plans that quietly renew annually, cancellation flows buried three menus deep, and charges that reappear on card statements long after the QR campaign ended.
Our pledge
taproute has no subscriptions at all. You buy a prepaid credit pack when you want one; 1 credit = 1 scan. We keep no charging authority — there is nothing to renew, so we are structurally incapable of surprise-billing you. If you never come back, you never pay again, and your codes still resolve through your remaining balance.
No per-code pricing
The industry practice
Typical plans are sold in code-count tiers: 3 codes, 50 codes, 250 codes. Need 8 codes? You pay for the 50-code tier. Need 51? Welcome to the next tier — regardless of whether those codes are scanned once or a million times.
Our pledge
Creating codes on taproute is free and unlimited on every account. You pay only when a code is actually scanned. Eight codes or eight thousand — the price is the same: the scans they generate. Your cost tracks your actual usage, not an arbitrary tier boundary.
Credits are valid 2 full years — any top-up renews your entire balance — and everything exports
The industry practice
Prepaid balances and unused quota commonly evaporate at the end of a billing cycle. And when you try to leave, your scan history and analytics are locked behind the plan you are trying to cancel.
Our pledge
Credits you buy are yours forever — a $5 pack bought today is still valid in a decade. And everything you create here is exportable at any time: codes, destinations, scan history, analytics. Leaving must always be easy; that is what keeps us honest about making you want to stay.