Static vs dynamic QR codes
A static code holds your data. A dynamic code holds a short link on someone’s server. Everything else follows from that.
- Never expires
- No sign-up, no watermark
- Vector PDF & SVG with your logo
- Runs in your browser
Fill in the form and your code appears here.
- A decoder in your browser read this code back and got exactly your data. Scan one printed copy with your phone before a large print run.
Your data and logo stay on this device. Nothing is uploaded.
Colors and shape
Ready-made styles
Color presets
Pattern
Corners
Gradient
Logo
A logo hides part of the code, so error correction is raised and the size is limited to what the code can safely repair.
Error correction
A phone can still read a code that is partly damaged: scratched, dirty or covered by a logo. This level sets how much damage it can recover from. A higher level gives more reserve, but the code gets denser, with smaller squares, and holds less data.
Most people should leave Automatic: it picks M, or H with a logo, and lowers the level if the data does not fit. Choose Q or H for codes outdoors or on packaging that can get damaged, and L or M for long text or very small print. With a logo the level is never below Q.
Try to break it
The code is printed. Now pick what happens next.
Dynamic code
Camera → their server → your page
Opens your page
Everything works while the service runs and the plan is active.
Direct code, made here
Camera → your page
Opens your page
The phone reads your link straight from the printed squares.
Dynamic code
Camera → their server → your page
May stop working
It depends on the provider’s terms. Some pause the redirect until you pay again.
Direct code, made here
Camera → your page
Opens your page
There is no plan behind this code, so nothing can lapse.
Dynamic code
Camera → their server → your page
Stops working
Every printed code points at a server that is gone.
Direct code, made here
Camera → your page
Opens your page
Even if this website disappears too. The code never needed it.
Dynamic code
Camera → their server → your page
Fails until you redirect it
You can send the printed code to a new address, if your plan is active.
Direct code, made here
Camera → your page
Fails too
The honest limit: a link only works while its page exists. Keep the address alive or print a new code.
Which one do you need?
| Direct code | Dynamic code | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost over the years | Free | Usually a subscription |
| If the QR company closes | Keeps working | Stops working |
| Who sees your scans | Nobody | The provider |
| Address people see before opening | Yours | Usually the provider’s |
| Wi-Fi and contact details without internet | Yes | Usually no |
| Change the destination after printing | Only through your own domain | Yes |
| Scan statistics for each code | No | Yes |
| Best for | Menus, plaques, packaging, business cards, Wi-Fi | Ad campaigns you measure, links that change often |
“But what if my link changes?”
Print an address on your own domain, and change where it leads whenever you like. You can still edit after printing, with no QR subscription. It takes a website of your own.
- Printed code → example.com/menu
- Now it leads to → winter menu
- You change it → spring menu
The one technical difference
Scan a static code and the phone reads your link straight from the printed pattern. Scan a dynamic code and the phone first visits the provider’s server, which forwards it to your page. That extra step is what makes editing and statistics possible, and it is also what makes the code depend on a company.
When dynamic is the right choice
This site makes only static codes, but dynamic ones have honest uses.
- Ad campaigns where you must count scans for each placement
- A destination that changes often, when you have no website of your own
- Very long addresses, which a short link turns into a simpler code
When static is the better choice
Anything printed to last, with no need for statistics, is a good fit.
- Menus, plaques, packaging and business cards
- Wi-Fi details and contact cards, which work with no internet at all
- Anything where a stopped subscription would cost you a reprint
- Situations where you do not want a third party to see your scans
Questions
Can a static code be turned into a dynamic one?
No. The pattern is fixed when printed. You can get a similar result by printing an address on your own domain and changing where it leads.
Do static QR codes expire?
No. Only the destination can go away: a link works as long as its page exists.
Which one scans better?
For a very long address, a dynamic code can be less dense, because its short link is simpler. For ordinary links at a sensible size, you will not notice a difference.
Are dynamic codes always paid?
Most continue only with a subscription, and free tiers vary. Read what happens to printed codes when a plan ends.
Will this QR code ever expire?
No. There is nothing that can expire: the code contains your data itself and works without any server. It keeps working as long as it can be scanned and, for a link, as long as that website exists.
Is it really free? Are there limits on scans?
Yes, it is free with no account. Scans are unlimited because nobody counts them: a scan happens entirely between the code and the phone. The site is paid for by advertising.
Do you see my data or logo?
No. The code is created in your browser and nothing is uploaded. You can load the page, go offline, and it keeps working.
Will it scan on every phone?
Every code is read back by a decoder in your browser before download, and you get a warning if that fails. That is a software check, so scan one printed copy with your own phone before a large print run.