Choosing the domain that goes on your packaging

Updated July 2026

Everything else in a 2D migration is reversible. The domain printed on a million packages is not.

Use a domain you own

The strong recommendation is a subdomain of your own brand domain — id.yourbrand.com is the common pattern. Advantages compound:

• Consumers see your brand in the URL, which matters for trust when a QR code is involved.
• You can change resolver providers by changing DNS, with no reprint.
• If a vendor fails, is acquired, or raises prices beyond what you will pay, your printed inventory is unaffected.

What using a vendor's domain costs you

If the code says vendor.example/01/..., then that vendor controls whether your packaging works. Not as a matter of bad faith — as a matter of structure. Companies get acquired, shut down, and change pricing. Printed packaging outlives all three.

Questions worth asking any resolver vendor

1. Can I use my own domain, on every plan — or only on the expensive one?
2. If I leave, what happens to codes already printed? Get the answer in writing.
3. Can I export every product record and every route in one call, in a documented format?
4. Do you serve application/linkset+json and support link types, or is this a redirect service with GS1 branding?
5. What is your commitment on link lifetime, and what happens to it if I stop paying?

A vendor who cannot answer question 2 directly has told you the answer.

Practical setup

Create the subdomain now, before artwork is finalised, and point it at whatever resolver you choose. The DNS record is trivially changeable later; the printed URL is not.