Generator · URL QR code

URL QR code generator

Paste a link, get a code that works forever. The address is encoded directly into the pattern, so there is no redirect service in the middle that can go dark and take your printed material with it.

Free
No sign-up
No expiry
Commercial use

Short answer

A URL QR code stores a web address inside the black-and-white pattern itself. Scanning it opens that address directly. Because the link is encoded in the code and not stored on a server, it works offline for the scanner's camera, needs no account, and cannot expire.

Your link, not somebody else's short link

Most free generators quietly wrap your URL in their own short domain — something like qrs.ly/ab12cd. The printed code then points at their server, which points at you. That is convenient until the free tier changes, the company is acquired, or the short domain expires. Ten thousand printed flyers become ten thousand dead ends.

This generator encodes your address as you typed it. Scan the preview with your phone right now and the URL bar will show your own domain. Nothing sits in the middle.

The trade-off is real and worth stating: because there is no middle layer, you cannot change the destination after printing, and you get no scan analytics. If you need either, you need a dynamic code — and you should own the short domain it points at.

Shorter URLs make friendlier codes

Every character adds data, and data adds modules. A 25-character link produces a version 2 code with a 25×25 grid. The same link with 90 characters of campaign tracking produces a version 5 code at 37×37 — the squares get smaller at the same printed size, and cheap camera phones start to struggle.

Link length	Version	Grid	Modules at 30 mm wide
`site.com/x` — 11 chars	1	21 × 21	1.43 mm
`site.com/spring-sale` — 25 chars	2	25 × 25	1.20 mm
50 characters	3	29 × 29	1.03 mm
100 characters with UTM tags	5	37 × 37	0.81 mm
200 characters	8	49 × 49	0.61 mm

Practical rule: keep printed links under about 60 characters. Put UTM parameters on a short redirect you control rather than in the code itself.

Test the code, then test the page

Two separate failure points, two separate checks.

Scan the exported file at final print size with at least two phones — one recent iPhone, one budget Android. Cameras differ more than people expect.
Open the destination on mobile data with the browser cache cleared. Roughly seven in ten scans happen on a phone that has never visited your site.
Check the page is not a PDF. Pinch-zooming a desktop-width PDF on a phone is the most common reason a scanned link gets abandoned.
Confirm the link uses HTTPS. Some Android camera apps refuse to offer plain HTTP addresses as a tappable action.

Frequently asked

Will this QR code stop working if I stop using your site?

No. The link is encoded inside the pattern. Once you download the image, the code is a standalone artefact — it would keep working if this website disappeared entirely.

Can I change the URL after printing the code?

Not with a static code, because the address is physically encoded in the pattern. If you need to change the destination later, encode a link to a page you control and change the redirect on your own server, or use a dynamic code.

Is there a scan limit?

No. There is no counter, no server call, and no account attached to the code. It can be scanned a million times.

Do I need to include https:// in the link?

Yes, and the generator adds it automatically if you leave it out. Without a scheme, some scanners treat the text as plain text instead of a link.

Keep going

Last reviewed 24 August 2026 · Checked by the QR Code Builder team