How to Track QR Code Scans

You printed QR codes on your flyers, packaging, or signage. People are scanning them (you hope). But how do you actually track QR code scans and find out what's happening after someone points their camera at your code?

Static Codes Give You Nothing

If you generated a free static QR code (from our free generator or anywhere else), you have zero visibility. Static codes encode the destination URL directly into the QR pattern. When someone scans, their phone opens the URL and that's it. No ping back to you. No record of the scan. No way to know if 5 people scanned or 5,000.

To track scans, you need a dynamic QR code. Dynamic codes route through a redirect service before sending the scanner to your destination. That redirect is where tracking happens. Every scan passes through it, and each one gets logged with data about who scanned, when, where, and on what device.

What Data Can You Track?

A good QR code analytics dashboard gives you more than just a scan count. Here's what QrBro tracks for every scan:

This data shows up in your QrBro dashboard as a timeseries chart (scans over time) plus summary cards for each metric. You can spot trends at a glance: which days get the most scans, whether your audience skews iPhone or Android, and which locations are driving traffic.

Filtering by Time Period

Not all scans matter equally. You might want to see how a campaign performed last week, or compare this month to last month. QrBro lets you filter analytics by time period using pills at the top of the dashboard: 7 days, 30 days, 90 days, 1 year, or all time.

This is especially useful for restaurants running seasonal menus, real estate agents tracking open house traffic, or event organizers measuring engagement during a specific weekend. Filter to the date range that matters and ignore the noise.

How to Set Up Scan Tracking in QrBro

There's nothing extra to configure. Every QR code you create in QrBro is dynamic by default, which means scan tracking is built in from the moment you generate a code.

1. Create a QR code on the QrBro homepage by pasting your destination URL.
2. Download and print (or share digitally).
3. Check your dashboard whenever you want to see scan data.

That's the entire setup. No tracking pixels to install, no JavaScript snippets to embed, no third-party integrations. Scans appear in your dashboard within seconds of happening.

If you need to change the destination URL later, your scan history stays attached to the same code. You won't lose any data.

Free vs Paid Tracking

QrBro's free plan gives you 3 dynamic codes with full analytics for 7 days. That's enough to test the workflow and see real scan data. Paid plans extend analytics retention and increase your code limit, but the tracking features themselves are the same across every tier.

You don't need an expensive plan to answer the basic question: are people actually scanning my QR codes? Start with a free code, put it out there, and check your dashboard tomorrow.