Scan cap
A limit on how many scans a platform will record for you.
A scan cap is a ceiling on scan recording. It is distinct from a limit on redirects, and the distinction is the problem: the code often keeps working perfectly while the analytics quietly stop.
Where it appears. Flowcode's pricing page lists analytics "up to 500 scans" on its free plan and "up to 6,000 scans" on Pro Plus (checked 2026-10-04). Third-party reporting describes QR TIGER's free plan as capped at 500 scans.
Why it is badly designed. The cap binds precisely when a campaign is working. The customer has no warning in the physical world, no way to slow incoming scans, and often discovers the gap only when reconciling reports afterwards — by which time the data is unrecoverable.
The economics. On modern edge infrastructure a scan is one request and one database write, costing on the order of a millionth of a dollar. A cap is therefore a pricing-ladder device rather than a cost-recovery one.
In practice
A charity runs a campaign on a plan allowing 6,000 recorded scans a month. A local news story drives 9,000 scans in a week. The code keeps redirecting and donations keep arriving — but 3,000 of those scans were never recorded, so the report to the trustees understates the campaign by a third, with no way to recover the missing data.
The cap bound at the exact moment the campaign succeeded, and nothing in the physical world gave any warning. That asymmetry — the cost lands when things go well — is what makes scan caps a worse deal than their headline suggests.
Questions
Is a scan cap the same as a redirect cap?
No, and the distinction matters. A redirect cap would break the code outright. A scan cap usually leaves redirects working and stops the recording, which is far harder to notice.
How do I find out whether a platform caps scans?
Look for "scan analytics up to N" on the pricing page rather than a scan-limit line item. Then ask directly what happens at N: whether recording stops, redirects stop, or you are billed for overage.