> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.qrtub.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Choosing a Link Type

> Random, Numbered and Custom Links compared side by side — who picks the slug, how many you can create at once, and which one fits a print run, a fleet numbering scheme or a memorable address

QRtub has three ways to create a Link, and they differ in exactly one thing: who chooses the slug. Random slugs are drawn by QRtub, numbered slugs come from a pattern you reserve, and custom slugs are typed by you. Everything downstream — destinations, Items, Pages, printing — works identically whichever you pick.

Pick **Random** unless you have a reason not to. Pick **Numbered** when the tag needs a human-readable number that matches an asset scheme. Pick **Custom** when a person will read the address out loud or type it from memory.

## The three types side by side

|                             | Random                                   | Numbered                                                        | Custom                                                  |
| --------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| Who picks the slug          | QRtub                                    | You define the pattern; QRtub fills in the number               | You, exactly                                            |
| Example address             | `qrtub.com/r/x5fgd`                      | `qrtub.com/cra0042tl`                                           | `qrtub.com/boardroom`                                   |
| Slug shape                  | 5 characters, letters and digits         | `prefix` + zero-padded number + `suffix`                        | 3–50 characters, lowercase letters, digits, `-` and `_` |
| Typing it by hand           | Must match lowercase exactly             | Case doesn't matter                                             | Case doesn't matter                                     |
| Setup needed                | None                                     | Claim a pattern first (QRtub can claim it for you on first use) | None                                                    |
| How many at once            | Up to 100 per request in the create form | Up to 1,000 numbers in one range request                        | One at a time                                           |
| Can fail because it's taken | No — QRtub retries                       | Yes, if another team already owns the pattern                   | Yes, if the slug is in use or reserved                  |
| Included in                 | Every plan                               | Professional and Scale                                          | Every plan                                              |

## When Random is right

Anything that is scanned rather than read. Codes on a sheet of stickers, spares in a drawer, a batch going out for print where nobody cares what the address says. It is the fastest route — nothing to configure, nothing that can collide, and it is the mode QRtub uses when a new Collection mints a Link automatically for each new Item.

The trade-off is that a random slug carries no meaning and is unforgiving to type: it is matched case-sensitively, so someone entering it by hand has to get it exactly right.

## When Numbered is right

When the physical tag already has a number, or should have one. A plate that reads `CRA0042TL` and resolves at `qrtub.com/cra0042tl` gives your crew one identifier instead of two — no mapping back to a spreadsheet, nothing to mistype twice. It is also the only type that mints in real bulk: one range request can create up to a thousand sequential codes.

The cost is that a pattern is a commitment. A prefix, digit count and suffix combination is claimed exclusively, and once Links exist against it you cannot delete the pattern without deleting those Links first.

## When Custom is right

When a human is the interface. A meeting-room sign, a poster, a business card, anything where someone might say "go to qrtub.com/boardroom". Custom slugs are the only type you fully control, and the only type validated against a reserved-word list — QRtub blocks slugs that would collide with its own routes and brand terms.

They are also the slowest: one at a time, each one checked for availability, so they are a poor fit for a print run of five hundred.

## Mixing types is normal

A team routinely runs all three: numbered plates on the equipment fleet, random codes for the spares box, a handful of custom slugs for the front-of-house signage. Types are chosen per Link at creation, not per team or per Collection, and nothing about a Link's type restricts what it can point at.

One constraint worth knowing before you commit: a Link's slug is fixed after creation. You can repoint it, reassign it, or delete it, but you cannot convert a random Link into a custom one — you create the Link you want and retire the other.

## Related

* [Random Links](/links/random-links) — how the automatic slug is generated
* [Numbered Links](/links/numbered-links) — claiming a pattern and minting against it
* [Custom Links](/links/custom-links) — charset rules and the reserved-word list
* [What a Slug Is](/links/what-a-slug-is) — address shapes and case rules