Bitly's own tool starts from a link already shortened on their platform, then turns that short link into a scannable QR code from the same dashboard, bundling in Bitly's click-tracking on top. It's a natural fit for anyone already using Bitly to manage and track links across a campaign, since the code becomes one more channel feeding into analytics already being watched elsewhere.
The tradeoff worth knowing before setting one up: because the code points at a Bitly short link rather than your destination directly, every scan passes through Bitly's servers first, and their tracking, including location-level detail, extends to whoever generated that code. A generator built from your own link skips that extra hop entirely.
Setting up a Bitly QR code
Shorten the destination link in Bitly
Paste the URL you want to share into Bitly and create a short link the way you normally would for a campaign.
Generate the code from that short link
Inside the same Bitly dashboard, find the QR code option tied to that link — it builds the code from the short link rather than your original URL.
Download and review the styling options available
Bitly's customization for the code itself is more limited than a dedicated QR editor, particularly on lower-tier plans.
Decide whether the extra hop through Bitly is worth it
If Bitly's click analytics matter for the campaign, the short link is doing real work. If not, encoding your own link directly with a separate generator skips that extra redirect.
An extra redirect, and what it's for
A code built directly from your own URL takes a scanner straight there. A code built from a Bitly short link adds a hop through Bitly's servers first, which is exactly how their click tracking works — every scan registers with Bitly before continuing to the final page, in exchange for detailed analytics on when and, notably, roughly where scans happened.
Location detail in the tracking, plainly stated
Bitly's own analytics for a shortened link, QR or otherwise, can include geographic detail down to city level on some plans. That's a deliberate design choice on their end. A MakeQR dynamic code tracks scan count, plus scans per day, unique scanners, countries and devices on paid plans. Country is the finest level: the IP address is used only to look it up and is never stored, and no city is recorded.
Styling a code without going through a short link at all
For a code built for print — a poster, packaging, a business card — that needs a specific color, a logo, and an SVG export, building it from the destination link directly on a dedicated QR editor skips both the extra redirect and Bitly's own styling limits.
What each version actually points at
A Bitly-generated code encodes the bit.ly short link, which then redirects to your real destination. A code built directly from that destination link encodes it as-is, with no intermediate redirect.
https://bit.ly/3exampleXYSizing it the same either way
The redirect happening behind the code doesn't change how it should be printed: distance to be scanned from is roughly ten times the code's width, the same rule as any other static or dynamic code.
Print it at least 20 mm (2.0 cm) wide
Where a Bitly-based code causes friction
Letting the Bitly link expire or get deleted
If the underlying Bitly account lapses or the short link is removed, every printed code built from it stops working, even though the QR pattern itself never changed.
Adding an extra redirect where none is needed
For material with no tracking requirement, routing through a Bitly short link just adds a step and a dependency on a second service staying online, for no benefit.
Assuming Bitly's styling matches a dedicated QR editor's
Color and logo options for Bitly's own QR feature are narrower than a purpose-built generator's, particularly without a paid Bitly plan.
Bitly's link is already a kind of dynamic code
A Bitly short link can usually be repointed after the fact from Bitly's dashboard, which is functionally similar to a MakeQR dynamic code — the difference is what gets tracked along the way, and whether the code's own styling matters to you.
How dynamic QR codes workWhere a Bitly-routed code fits well
- A print ad already part of a campaign tracked end-to-end in Bitly's dashboard.
- A conference badge where click-through timing matters for sponsor reporting.
- A flyer for a team already standardized on Bitly for every other link in the campaign.