Use this comparison if you print QR codes for menus, tables, packaging or windows and want to decide where those codes should live. A hosted QR platform runs the redirect for you on its own domain. Pepper runs it on your own installation, next to your customers, quotes and invoices.
This page compares the two models, not named products. Plans, features and terms differ between providers and change over time. Check the terms of the provider you consider.
Compare one printed code
| Your question | Pepper | What to check in a hosted QR platform |
|---|---|---|
| Whose address is in the printed code? | Your installation's address. No outside link shortener | The domain in the code, and what happens to it if you cancel or the plan changes |
| Can I change where it leads after printing? | Yes, for a widget, a page of your Pepper website, a web page, file, place, card or app link. A code for a removed website page opens the website's home page | Which code types can change, and whether that needs an active plan |
| What happens to the code if I stop paying? | Nothing changes while your installation runs at the same address | Whether codes keep working, redirect elsewhere or stop |
| What is recorded about the person who scans? | Nothing that identifies them: no IP address, device, location or identifier. Scans count only when you turn on audience measurement | Which scan data the provider stores, for how long, and who can use it |
| Who receives the scan? | Only your installation. Pepper sends nothing to a third party | A changeable code redirects through the provider's servers. Check what they keep |
| Can I see what a code brought in money? | Yes. Enquiries, accepted quotes, invoices and recorded payments link to the code, per currency | Whether the provider sees your sales records at all, or only scans |
| Can I make many codes at once? | Up to 500 codes per set, from a numbered pattern or a CSV file, with label sheets and a ZIP of SVG and PNG files | Bulk limits and export formats in your plan |
| Can my team share one card design? | Yes. A card standard, with each person publishing their own card and optional Apple and Google Wallet passes. A people manager with analytics access compares each card's opens, saves and taps with a team total | Business card features and per-user pricing |
| Who runs it? | Your operator maintains the installation, updates and backups | The provider's uptime and support terms |
Codes that hold their content
A Wi-Fi code or a plain contact card holds its content inside the printed pattern. A phone reads it without contacting any server. No platform can change such a code after printing, and no platform can count its scans. Pepper says Cannot change after printing beside these two kinds, so you decide before you print.
Where results end
A hosted platform counts scans. Pepper starts from the same scan and follows the record. A code on a café table leads to a catering request. The request becomes an accepted quote of EUR 640, then an invoice and a recorded payment. Another code in a shop window in Chicago leads to a quote request from a price list. The accepted USD 90 quote becomes an invoice. Pepper shows both results per code and keeps each currency separate.
Revenue tracing uses explicit record links within 30 days. It does not identify anonymous visitors and does not prove that a code caused a sale. When a code leads to an outside web page, a request that follows shows source unknown. Read how Pepper traces revenue.
What Pepper leaves to you
- Hosting. Codes work while your installation is online at the same address. If you move, keep the old address redirecting.
- Scan detail. Pepper shows counts per code, set and channel, with opens per day and per hour of the week. It keeps no scan location, device type or visitor history, by design.
- Wallet updates on iPhone. A saved Apple Wallet pass is a file on the visitor's phone. Pepper cannot update or remove it later. Google Wallet passes do update.
- Design limits. Pepper refuses colours below 4.5 to 1 contrast, light codes on dark backgrounds, logos above 12% of the code and SVG logos, because they risk failed scans.
- No promise. Pepper promises no scans, visitors or sales.
Read the QR codes overview and the QR studio steps. Try a code on a test installation before you print.