About the QR Code Generator
The QR Code Generator turns URLs, Wi-Fi logins, contact cards, and plain text into scannable QR codes you can customize with colors and download as an image — free, instant, and generated right in your browser.
Where QR codes actually work
- WiFi for guests. The best use on this list. Encode the network, password and security type, print it, stick it inside a kitchen cupboard or on the back of a guest room door. Nobody ever has to know the password, which means you can finally set a strong one.
- Menus, price lists and specials on a table or a board, where reprinting is expensive and the underlying page can change.
- Posters, shop windows and market stalls, where someone is standing two metres away with a phone already in their hand.
- Business cards, encoding a URL, email or phone number so nobody has to retype anything.
- Packaging and instructions — a code linking to setup steps or a video is far more useful than a folded sheet nobody reads.
Making one that actually scans
Most QR failures are print failures, and all of them are avoidable:
- Keep it dark on light. Inverted codes fail on a lot of scanners. If you're colouring the code to match a brand palette, keep the code itself darker than its background, and test on a real phone before it goes to print.
- Leave the quiet zone. Clear space on all four sides. Codes cropped tight against a design element are the single most common failure.
- Size for distance. Roughly one centimetre of code per ten centimetres of scanning distance. A shop-window code read from two metres needs to be much larger than people assume.
- Shorter URLs make simpler codes. More data means a denser grid, which needs to be printed larger to stay reliable — a genuine argument for tidy URLs.
- Download at high resolution for print, and test the printed proof rather than the screen.
The code is drawn on a canvas in your browser. Nothing you encode — including WiFi passwords — is transmitted anywhere, which is worth knowing before you put a network credential into any online generator.
Works well with
Generate the network password in the Password Generator first, then encode it here — that pairing is covered in the passwords guide. If you're producing a code for a site you're launching, the shipping a small website guide covers where it fits alongside palette, copy and metadata.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can I encode in a QR code?
Links and URLs, Wi-Fi network credentials, contact details (vCard), plain text, email, and phone numbers. Point any phone camera at the finished code to open the content.
Do these QR codes expire?
No. The codes are static — the data is encoded directly in the image, so they never expire and do not rely on any third-party redirect service.
Can I customize the colors and download it?
Yes. You can change the foreground and background colors to match your brand and download the QR code as an image for print or web.
Is it free?
Yes, completely free with no signup or watermarks.