Counting QR Code Scans: What Same-QR Measures – and What It Doesn’t

What Same-QR counts

A dynamic QR code from Same-QR does not lead straight to your page but first to a short address at Same-QR. That is where Same-QR counts. In the dashboard you see one number for each QR code: how often it has been scanned in total. This applies on every plan, including the free one. Paid plans have unlimited scans; the free plan includes 1,000 a month. Beyond that, QR codes keep working, but visitors see a two-second note about Same-QR before the destination; after 7 days above the limit, they show only a notice until the end of the month.

So that a hesitant camera does not count three times, the same internet connection is counted at most once per minute for the same QR code. Link previews from messengers such as WhatsApp and requests from search engines are not counted at all – they would inflate the number without a person having scanned.

What Same-QR does not record

For the one-minute check, Same-QR does not store the IP address but a salted hash of it, and only for 60 seconds. After that, only the total remains. Same-QR therefore does not know who scanned, and it does not record when, from where or with which device. There is no breakdown by time, location, operating system or audience, and no live view of individual scans.

One consequence: if several people scan the same QR code within a minute over the same Wi-Fi, it counts once. The number reliably tells you whether and how much a QR code is used – it is not an exact visitor count.

Comparing several locations

If you want to know which poster, flyer or branch works best, give each location its own QR code. Then you compare the totals directly in the dashboard. A single QR code for all locations only tells you the overall number, because Same-QR does not know where a scan happened.

How many QR codes you can create depends on your plan: 20 dynamic QR codes are permanently free, and the paid Gastro and Marketing plans include more. Current plans are listed on the pricing page.

Learn more with UTM parameters

What happens after the scan – how long someone stays, whether they buy, which device they use – is not measured by Same-QR but by the analytics tool of your own website, such as Google Analytics or Matomo. Add UTM parameters to the QR code’s destination URL, for example ?utm_source=poster&utm_medium=qr. Visits from the QR code then show up there as a separate source.

Expect the number in your analytics tool to be lower than the scan count at Same-QR: anyone who declines the cookie banner or uses a blocker does not show up there. Together, both numbers give you a useful picture.

Change the destination, keep the count

Because the QR code is dynamic, you can change its destination after printing – for example when a promotion ends. The count belongs to the QR code, not to the destination, and simply continues. On the free plan, each QR code has two free destination changes. On the paid plans you change the destination as often as you like.

• Same-QR counts scans per QR code and shows the total in the dashboard – on every plan.
• The same connection counts at most once per minute for the same QR code; link previews do not count.
• No time, no location, no device, no live view.
• One QR code per location makes locations comparable.
• For everything after the scan: UTM parameters and your own analytics tool.

Frequently asked questions