How I Built Sub-50ms QR Code Redirects with nextjs, performance, Cloudflare Workers

Most QR code services run redirects through their main application server. Here's why that's a terrible idea, and how I solved it with Cloudflare Workers for OwnQR. The Problem When someone scans a dynamic QR code, three things happen: The phone opens a URL (like oq.link/abc123) The server looks up where abc123 should redirect to The user gets sent to the destination If you run this through a Next.js/Vercel app, you're looking at: Cold starts: 500ms+ on serverless Single region: User in Tokyo, server in Virginia = 200ms latency Database query: Another 50-100ms That's 750ms+ before the user sees anything. For a QR code scan (which people expect to be instant), that feels broken. The Solution: Edge Redirects I moved the redirect logic to a Cloudflare Worker. The entire lookup + redirect happens at the nearest edge node: export default { async fetch(request: Request, env: Env, ctx: ExecutionContext) { const url = new URL(request.url) const match = url.pathname.match(/^\/r\/([a-zA-Z0-9]+)$