QR Code Generator

Most free QR generators produce dynamic codes: the QR points at their domain, which redirects to your link. That lets them offer scan analytics — and means the code dies if the account lapses or the vendor does.

This generates a static code containing your URL. No analytics, no redirect, no dependency on us. If you want scan tracking, add UTM parameters to the link before encoding it.

Print at a decent size and keep the light margin around the code intact — that quiet zone is what lets a scanner find it.

A static QR code contains your link itself. The phone decodes the pattern, reads https://your-site.com/form, and goes straight there. Nothing sits in between, so the code works for as long as the link does, and nobody can switch it off.

A dynamic QR code contains a short link on the generator's own domain. When someone scans it, their phone visits that domain first, which logs the scan and then redirects to your link. That is what makes scan counts and editable destinations possible, and it is also why a dynamic code depends on the vendor staying in business and your account staying active.

The generator on this page makes static codes only. That is a deliberate trade-off, not a missing feature: you give up scan analytics and the ability to change the destination, and in return the code has no account, no expiry and no third party seeing who scans it.

Encode the public respondent link, never an editor or admin link. For Google Forms that is the /viewform or forms.gle link; our Google Form QR code page covers where to find it and why a code for a Google Form sometimes asks people to sign in. For Microsoft Forms and Typeform there are dedicated pages linked below.

Keep the link short. Every extra character adds data, and past a point the code steps up to a bigger grid with smaller squares. Use https (phones warn on some http links), drop tracking junk you did not add on purpose, and if you use UTM parameters, keep the values short: utm_source=poster&utm_medium=qr beats utm_source=spring-open-day-poster-main-entrance.

If you are measuring placements, make one code per placement with a different utm_source or utm_content each, built in our UTM builder. A form that stores URL parameters with each response then tells you which poster produced which submission.

The color pickers above let you set any foreground and background, including combinations that will not scan. Phone cameras find a QR code by the difference between dark and light squares, so keep the foreground clearly darker than the background: black, navy or a deep brand color on white or a pale tint.

Avoid light-on-dark (inverted) codes unless you have tested them on several phones; some readers handle them and some do not. Avoid mid-tone pairs like red on green or gray on gray, which can look distinct to people and nearly identical to a camera. A quick test is to convert a screenshot of the code to grayscale: if the dark and light squares stop looking clearly different, the code will be unreliable.

Every code here uses error correction level M, which Denso Wave, the inventor of the QR code, describes as the most frequently selected level and which can recover about 15% of the code. It also adds the four-module quiet zone (the white border) that Denso Wave specifies on every side.

Two practical consequences: do not crop the white border off in a design tool, and do not place the code on a patterned or photo background without keeping that border. The quiet zone is how a camera finds where the code starts.

Put it where people stop, not where they walk past: a counter, a table, a seat back, a waiting-room wall at eye level. A code on a moving vehicle, above head height, or behind a queue barrier gets photographed at best.

Check the signal. A code for an online form in a basement, a plane or a rural venue with no mobile data fails however well it is printed; offer a short typed URL next to it for later. Keep it flat and matte: codes across a fold, on a curved cup, or under glossy lamination with overhead lights are the usual reasons a code that scanned at your desk fails on site.

And tell people what they get. "Scan to rate your visit (1 minute)" gets more scans than a bare code, because people can decide before they lift their phone.

From the scanner's side, the risk is that a QR code hides where it leads. The US Federal Trade Commission has warned about scammers placing their own codes over real ones, for example on parking meters, to send people to look-alike sites. As the person printing the code, you can make yours easier to trust: print the destination domain in text beside it, use your own domain rather than an unfamiliar short link, and check public codes you put up for stickers placed on top.

From your respondents' side, a static code adds no tracking of its own. A dynamic code lets the vendor log every scan, which typically includes the scanning device's IP address and approximate location. If your form promises anonymity, a static code pointing at a form in an anonymous mode is the consistent choice.

In anything people already read on a phone, such as an email, a text, a social post or a website, use a normal link: scanning your own screen is not possible. For audiences where smartphone use is not a safe assumption, pair the code with a short typed URL or a paper option. And for a destination you expect to change often, a static code is the wrong tool unless it points at a page on your own site that you can update.

Count outcomes, not scans. Add UTM parameters to the link before encoding it (utm_source=poster, utm_medium=qr), and your analytics tool records the visits. Note that Google Analytics 4 has no default offline channel, so these visits land in Unassigned unless you set up a custom channel group; the UTM builder guide explains why.

For forms, the more useful number is submissions by placement. In Zunoform, declare utm_source (or any parameter name) as a hidden field and each response stores the value from the link that was scanned. It shows in the response view and CSV export, and is sent as a column to Google Sheets or Excel and in webhook and Zapier payloads.