A free QR code with no expiration, and no catch

The code you make at the top of this page is free and has no end date. It is a static QR code: your link is drawn into the pattern, no account is involved, and there is nothing for anyone to switch off.

Printing it?

That code can never be changed

The link is baked into the pattern. If the page moves or the offer behind it ends, every poster you printed points at a dead URL and the only fix is reprinting them.

A dynamic code points at us instead, so you can change where it goes whenever you like — and see how many people scanned it.

$5.90/month

or $49 a year — save 30%. 7-day free trial, no payment details needed.

Why some free codes stop and this one does not

A QR code is a link drawn in squares. A static code draws your own link. Scan it and the phone goes straight to your page, without asking anyone. No server sits in between, so there is nothing to bill for and nothing that can run out.

Some generators draw a different link: a short one on their own domain that forwards to yours. That is a dynamic code. Forwarding is useful, but it is a service, and a service can stop. When the code was only free for a trial, it stops when the trial does, often after it is already printed on a menu or the side of a van.

Our free codes are always static. We never hand out a dynamic code dressed up as a free one, and we never turn a static code into a trial code later. We could not, even if we wanted to.

What no catch means here

No account and no email address. No trial, and no date when anything changes. The code is plain black on white with nothing of ours added, and you download it as PNG or SVG. We keep no copy of the code or its link, so download it before you leave the page.

The one thing that can stop a static code is the page it opens. If that page is moved or taken down, the code opens nothing, and no generator can fix that. Point it at an address you control and expect to keep.

When free is not enough

A static code cannot change. Once printed, it opens the same link for good, and it cannot tell you whether anyone scanned it. For a review page, a home page or a document that stays put, that is exactly right.

If the link might change while the code is in print, you need a dynamic code, and that one is not free for good. Ours starts with a trial that needs no card and charges nothing when it ends. After that it is a subscription. If the subscription stops, the code stops resolving 7 days after the paid period ends. That is the honest price of a code you can edit.

Static QR code Dynamic QR code
Change the link after printing No. The link is part of the pattern. Yes, as often as you like.
Scan tracking None. Scans never reach us. Count, country, device and browser.
Cost Free, for good. $49 a year or $5.90 a month, after a 7-day free trial.
Needs an account No. Yes. The trial needs no card.

How it works

  1. Create. Paste your link into the generator at the top of the page. For a code you can edit, make a dynamic one in your account instead.
  2. Print. Use the SVG for print and the PNG for screens, and scan the proof before the run goes ahead.
  3. Update anytime. A dynamic code can be pointed somewhere new from your account. A static one is changed by printing a new code.

What it costs

Static codes are free, with no account. Dynamic codes cost $49 a year, which saves 30% against paying monthly, or $5.90 a month. We recommend yearly. Tax is included. Every account starts with a 7-day free trial that needs no payment details, and a subscription covers 5 dynamic codes. Cancel anytime and keep access to the end of the period you paid for.

If you stop paying, your dynamic codes stop resolving once the paid period and a further 7 days of grace have passed. Nothing is deleted: the codes, their links and their scan history stay in your account, and every code starts working the moment you subscribe again. Static codes never depend on us. They keep working as long as the page they point to does. We never switch one off, but we cannot bring back a page that has gone.

See the full pricing

Questions

Why is a static code free?

Because it costs us nothing once you have downloaded it. Your link is drawn into the pattern, and scanning it never reaches us. We give it away so you can try us with nothing to lose. Some people come back when they need a code they can edit, and that is the part we charge for.

How can I tell if a QR code is static?

Scan it and look at the link your phone shows before it opens. If the link is the page itself, such as your own website, the code is static and nothing sits between the scan and the page. If it is a short link on another company's domain, the code is dynamic, and that company can stop sending scans on.

Do static QR codes expire?

Never. A static code keeps working with or without an account, whether or not you ever subscribe, and whether or not we are still here. Scanning one does not contact us, so there is nothing for us to switch off.

I generated a static code and closed the page. Can I get it back?

Not from us — the free generator never stores your code or its link, which is deliberate and is why it needs no account. Paste the same link in again and you get the same image: the pattern is worked out from the link, not looked up.

Need to change the link later?

7 days free, no card needed. Make a dynamic code and edit it whenever you like.