free tool, no account
Free QR code generator
Type a link, style the code, take the file. It is drawn in your browser, so nothing is uploaded and nothing is kept. Download it as a PNG, or as a true SVG if it is going to print.
Nothing is sent anywhere. The code is drawn in your browser, and this page never sees what you typed.
sample, type a link above to make yours
29×29 modules, PNG at 1036px, SVG scales to any size
once it is printed
A QR code is permanent, and blind.
The code you just made has your link baked into it. That is fine until the page moves, the campaign ends or the menu changes, and by then the code is on a thousand flyers, a shopfront window or the side of a van. There is no editing it, and no way to know whether anyone scanned it.
Change where it goes
Point the same printed code somewhere else, this afternoon or next year. The image on the wall never changes.
Count the scans
How many, from where, on what. A static code tells you nothing, so a campaign either worked or it did not and you never find out which.
Fix a mistake
A wrong link on printed material is usually a reprint. On a short link it is a thirty second edit.
Switchly makes the code from a short link instead of from the destination, so the paper stays put and the destination moves. The free plan covers it, and the QR designer in the app is this one with the extra pieces: your own logo, saved designs, and the scan history.
questions
Is this QR code generator really free?
Yes, and there is nothing to unlock. No account, no watermark you are stuck with, and no limit on how many codes you make. The Switchly mark in the middle is switched on by default because a logo makes a printed code look deliberate rather than anonymous, and one click removes it.
Do the QR codes expire?
No. A code made here is a plain image with your link inside it. It does not route through Switchly, so there is nothing we could switch off. It keeps working for as long as the link you put in it works.
What happens to the URL I type in?
Nothing. The code is drawn in your browser using JavaScript, so the link never reaches our servers and there is nothing for us to store, log or sell.
Should I download a QR code as PNG or SVG?
SVG if it is going to print. It is vector, so the same file stays sharp on a business card and on a billboard. PNG for anything on a screen. The PNG here is rendered at a whole number of pixels per module, which is what stops a dense code turning to mush at awkward sizes.
Why does it warn me about my colours?
A scanner locates a QR code by its three corner squares before it reads a single data dot, so pale corners on a pale background can fail even when the rest looks fine. The check measures contrast against the WCAG formula and warns below about 3:1, which is where phone cameras start missing codes in ordinary light.
Can I use a QR code with custom colours and still have it scan?
Usually, if the contrast holds. Keep the dots much darker than the background, avoid pale corner markers, and do not invert unless the background is genuinely dark. Codes made here always use error correction level H, the highest, which is what lets a logo sit in the middle without breaking them.
How small can I print a QR code?
As a rule of thumb a printed code wants to be at least 2cm square for a scan at arm's length, and bigger the further away people stand. Denser codes need more room, so a shorter link is easier to print small. Use the SVG for print so size costs you no sharpness.
Can I change where a QR code points after printing it?
Not for a static code, and that includes the one you just made. The destination is encoded in the image itself, so changing it means reprinting. To keep a printed code and move its destination later, make the code from a short link instead, which is what a Switchly account gives you.