FREE, WITH THE LIMITS WRITTEN DOWN

Free QR code generator

Unlimited static codes, no account, no watermark, no ads. Every code is decode-tested before you download it, and the limits are stated here rather than discovered later.

No account
No watermark
No ads
Never expires

Add the content

Website address

Design itDesign, logos and frames are free too. Nothing here is a trial.

Style this code — colour, shape, branding, frame and output

Colour & contrastThe ink, the paper behind it, and the three eyes. Every choice is contrast-checked as you make it.

Foreground

18.0:1 against the background — clears the 4.5:1 a camera wants margin on.

Background

Transparency0%

Eye colours

ShapeHow the squares are drawn. The three eyes are styled apart from the data, because a scanner finds the code by them.

Modules

Every shape here is decode-tested before it is offered. Shapes that lose the symbol — diamond, star, heart — are not on this list, however good they look.

Eye frame

Eye centre

BrandingYour mark on the code. Every picture here costs scanability — the notes say how much, and the preview is the truth.

Logo image

Upload a logo

PNG, JPEG or WebP, up to 2MB. The modules beneath it are cleared and error correction rises to cover the hole.

Background picture

Upload a picture

Sits behind the modules, quiet zone included. A busy picture is the classic reason a decorated code stops scanning — check the preview with a phone before printing.

Foreground texture

Upload a texture

Washes over the ink itself, so it is capped well below full strength — at full strength there is no code left to scan.

Frame & captionA border and a line of text around the code — the "scan me" that tells a passer-by what it is for.

Frame style

A frame is drawn outside the quiet zone, never into it — the canvas grows instead, so the border cannot cost the code its margin.

OutputWhat comes out of the download buttons, and what the symbol actually carries.

Options

PNG size

Margin4 modulesError correctionEncoding

Automatic picks the smallest encoding that carries your text, and is right almost always. The other three exist for older scanners that expect one specific encoding; each refuses text it cannot carry rather than mangling it. Encodings we cannot convert to correctly are not offered at all.The margin never goes below 4 — ISO/IEC 18004's minimum; smaller is not a QR code. A logo raises error correction to at least Q. Encoding is chosen by the encoder per symbol and shown in the readout — a manual charset menu only makes codes bigger.

Embedded data

https://example.com/menuThe exact text the symbol carries — what any scanner will read out.

Save this design — free account, the code stays editable →

Check and download

v225×25 modulesbyteEC-M26/28mask 2

4/4 4 of 4 checks passHow we measure

No account · no watermark · no scan limits

Several at once0 of 5

One value per line, maximum 5 at a time, in the type and design chosen above. For thousands from a CSV, use bulk in the dashboard.

What "free" means here, exactly

Most free generators mean one of three things: a trial that ends, a code that dies, or a page with ads on it. Here is the actual list.

Free, without a catch

Static QR codes, any type: unlimited
Watermark on your codes: none
Ads, on any page a scanner sees: never
Account required to download: no
Scanability engine, all 18 checks: full
Payment QR and NPCI standees: full
Design studio, logos, frames, templates: full
Scans that keep working: unlimited
Dynamic codes you can retarget: 5

Free, with a number on it

Scans measured each month: 2,000
Hosted landing pages: 1
Analytics detail: basic
Data retention: 30 days

Paid

API access: from Pro
Bulk generation: from Lite

You cannot out-give the generator handing out 10,000 codes with ads on them. We differentiate on what happens at the limit instead — see below.

THE PART THAT MATTERS

What happens when you hit the limit

This is the whole difference. Every competitor stops the code working. We stop measuring it.

ELSEWHERE

The code stops resolving

You pass the scan cap or the trial ends, and the printed code returns an error page — or an upsell. Everything already on a wall, a menu or a pack is now dead paper.

HERE

Measurement pauses, the code does not

Past 2,000 tracked scans the redirect keeps answering at full speed from the edge. Analytics stop counting until the month resets or you upgrade. You get told; the code carries on.

AND IF YOU LEAVE

Continuity Mode, on the free tier too

Downgrade, cancel, or let a payment fail, and every dynamic code keeps redirecting to its last destination permanently. Editing and analytics stop. The paper stays valid.

In every one of those cases the printed code keeps redirecting. That is in the terms of service and in the data model, not just on this page.

Questions about the free tier

Is this a free trial?

No. There is no trial period, no card, and nothing switches off after a fortnight. Static codes are unlimited and permanent, and the five dynamic codes stay yours.

Do free QR codes expire?

Static codes cannot expire — the destination is encoded in the code itself, so it works as long as that destination exists. Free dynamic codes keep redirecting past the tracked-scan cap; only the measurement pauses.

Will you add a watermark or a badge?

Never, on any tier. A watermark on a printed code is advertising aimed at whoever scans it, and that is ruled out architecturally.

What is the catch with the scanability engine being free?

There is not one. Verification is the product, not the upsell — gating it would contradict the whole positioning. All 18 checks, the five-size decode test and the print-size calculator are free, including on third-party codes.

Why only 5 dynamic codes when others give 10?

Because we would rather be honest about the number and generous about the behaviour. A competitor’s 10 dynamic codes stop working at their scan limit; our 5 do not stop at all.

Do I need an account?

Not to make and download a code. An account is only for saving codes, editing destinations after printing and seeing analytics — and codes you made anonymously in this browser move across when you sign up.

Need a code you can edit later?Dynamic codes are on the free tier too, and they keep redirecting if you leave.Create a free account See every tier

Wondering whether a free code stays free? What "never expires" has to mean to be worth anything, and what your readers meet after they scan.