QR Code Generator
Generate static QR codes for links, plain text, WiFi networks, contact cards, emails, text messages or a map location. Created in your browser, free to use commercially, and they never expire because nothing redirects through anyone's server.
Static versus dynamic — the only decision that matters
| Static (this tool) | Dynamic (paid services) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it encodes | Your URL, directly | A short link on the provider's domain |
| Change destination later | No — generate a new code | Yes, from a dashboard |
| Scan analytics | None | Included |
| If the provider disappears | Keeps working | Every printed code dies |
| Cost | Free, permanently | Monthly subscription |
Dynamic codes genuinely earn their cost when the destination changes — a restaurant menu, a seasonal campaign. For a business card, a product label or a link to a page you control, static is strictly better: nothing sits between the scanner and your site, and there is no subscription that can lapse and take ten thousand printed codes with it.
If you want the ability to redirect later without paying anyone, point a static QR code at a URL on your own domain and set up the redirect there. You keep control and the code never expires.
Making a code that actually scans
- Keep the quiet zone. QR codes need a blank margin of four modules on every side. Cropping it tight is the single most common reason a printed code fails.
- Print at least 2 × 2 cm for close scanning. As a rule of thumb the code should be at least a tenth of the distance it is scanned from — a poster read at 3 metres needs roughly 30 cm.
- Keep it dark on light. Scanners look for dark modules on a light background. Inverted codes fail on many phone cameras.
- Shorten the URL before encoding. Fewer characters means a lower version number and larger modules, which scans faster and from further away.
- Test on a real phone — on the actual printed material, in the light it will live in, before ordering a thousand of them.
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of QR code can I make here?
A link or plain text, a WiFi network that joins on scan, a contact card, a pre-addressed email, a text message with the wording already filled in, and a point on a map. Each is a different format of text inside the same square — the code itself is only a way of carrying a string, and it is the format that makes a phone offer to join a network rather than open a page.
Do I have to pay to use a QR code?
No. The QR code specification is ISO/IEC 18004, and Denso Wave — who invented it in 1994 and hold the patents — publicly waived their right to enforce them. Generating, printing and commercial use are all free with no licence and no registration. Only the name "QR Code" is a trademark; the technology itself is open.
How is a QR code made unique?
It is not, and there is nothing to register. A QR code is simply an encoding of text into a pattern, like a two-dimensional barcode. Encode the same URL twice and you get an identical image. Uniqueness comes entirely from what you put inside it — there is no central authority, no database, and no way for anyone to own a particular code.
What are companies charging for, then?
Dynamic QR codes. Those encode a short link on the provider's own domain, which redirects to your real destination — so they can change the target later and count scans. You are paying for the redirect service and analytics, not the QR code. The catch is that every printed code stops working if you cancel the subscription or the company shuts down. Codes made here are static: they point straight at your content and keep working forever.
Which error correction level should I choose?
Medium is the sensible default. Level L recovers 7 percent of a damaged code, M 15 percent, Q 25 percent and H 30 percent. Higher levels make the pattern denser for the same content, so only go to Q or H when the code will be printed small, placed on a curved surface, or has a logo covering its centre.
How much data fits in one code?
Up to about 4,296 alphanumeric characters at the largest size and lowest error correction — but a code that dense needs a big, clean print and a good camera. For anything scanned from a poster or a table tent, keep the content under roughly 300 characters. Shorter content means a coarser pattern, which scans faster and from further away.
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