Free tool · Nothing uploaded
QR code generator
A static code — the link lives in the pattern, not on somebody's redirect. Nothing to expire, no scans counted, and nobody can change where it points after you have printed it. No watermark and no sign-up.
- Never expires
- No tracking — no redirect
- PNG & SVG, no watermark
Static and dynamic codes are not the same product
This is the thing worth understanding before you print anything. A static QR code contains the destination inside the pattern itself. Nothing is looked up, nothing is forwarded, and no server is involved in a scan. Once it is printed it is finished — it will work in ten years, offline, with the company that made it long gone.
A dynamic code contains a short link to the generator's own domain, which forwards the scanner on to your real destination. That buys one genuine feature — you can change the destination later — and it costs you three things:
- Every scan goes through them. Time, rough location, device. That is the business model of the free tier.
- They can change where your printed code points. So can anyone who takes over the account, or buys the company.
- It stops working if they stop. A lapsed free trial, a shut-down service, a dropped domain — and every poster, menu and business card carrying that code is dead. This happens routinely.
For a signboard, a menu, packaging or a business card, static is almost always the right answer, and it is what this page makes. If you genuinely need to change the destination later, point a static code at a URL you control and change the redirect at your end. Then you keep the flexibility and nobody else holds the switch.
Choosing the error correction level
A QR code carries spare data so it still reads when part of it is dirty, creased or covered. More spare data means a denser grid for the same content, so a higher level needs to be printed slightly larger.
- L (7%) — screens and anywhere clean. Gives the sparsest, easiest-to-scan grid.
- M (15%) — the sensible default for most printing.
- Q (25%) — outdoors, packaging, anything that gets handled.
- H (30%) — required if you are putting a logo over the middle. The covered part is what the spare data replaces.
Making one that actually scans
- Keep the white border. The quiet zone around the pattern is part of the code, not packaging — a scanner uses it to find the edges. It is included in the downloads here; do not crop it off.
- Do not invert it. Dark modules on a light background. Light-on-dark works on some scanners and not others, and on a printed sign "some" is a failure.
- Print it big enough. A rough guide is a tenth of the scanning distance: 3 cm for arm's length, 30 cm for a code read from three metres away. Use the SVG for anything larger than a business card — it is vector and stays sharp at any size.
- Shorter content is easier to scan. Fewer bytes means a lower version, which means bigger modules at the same printed size. A long URL with tracking parameters makes a dense code that a cheap phone camera struggles with.
- Scan it yourself before you print a thousand. With the phone you expect people to use, in the light they will be standing in.
WiFi codes, and the escaping nobody does
A wifi QR is a text format with delimiters: WIFI:T:WPA;S:name;P:password;;. If the network name or the password contains a semicolon, colon, comma, quote or backslash, it has to be escaped or the payload breaks — and a network called Ali's Cafe; Guest is not unusual. Many generators paste the text in raw, which is why a wifi code sometimes connects to a network with half a name or fails silently. This one escapes all five.
One caution that has nothing to do with the code: anybody who can photograph it can join your network. Put it on a guest network, not the one your work laptop is on.
Questions
Can you see what I encoded?
No. There is no server behind this page. The encoder runs in your browser and the code never leaves it — which is also why it works with the tab offline.
Can I use these commercially?
Yes. No watermark, no attribution, no licence. Put them on packaging, signage, invoices, anything.
PNG or SVG?
SVG for print, always — it is vector and stays sharp at any size, and a designer can drop it straight into a layout. PNG for screens, WhatsApp and anything that will not take an SVG. The PNG here is 1,024 pixels square with the module size rounded to whole pixels, so its edges stay hard rather than blurred.
How much can one hold?
This generator goes up to version 20, which is 858 bytes at error correction L and 484 at Q. That is far more than any link, wifi credential or contact card needs. If you are near the limit, the answer is almost always to encode a short URL and put the content behind it.
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