Make a permanent QR code
Static codes carry the destination inside the pattern. Nothing to subscribe to, nothing that can be switched off, no expiry date. Free and unlimited.
Your code appears here as you type.
Design
Style
Colour#000000
Optional accent on the three finder patterns.
Shapesquare
Framenone
Logonone
PNG, JPEG or WebP. Kept under a third of the width so the symbol still decodes.
Print settingsECC M
Blank margin in modules. Four is the spec minimum.
Why this one cannot expire
There is nothing in the middle to switch off
Scanning a static code does not contact us. The phone's camera reads the destination directly out of the pattern, the same way it reads text off a page. No account, no redirect, no server - which is exactly why nobody can take it away from you, including us.
| Static | Dynamic | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free forever | 3 free, then a plan |
| Account needed | No | Yes, to save and edit it |
| Change what it says | Never. The content is inside the pattern | The destination, any time |
| What is inside the code | The content itself - a link, a network, a contact card | A short link we own, which is what you edit |
| Scan analytics | None | Scans, day, city, device |
| Expiry | Never | Never, including after you cancel |
| Best for | Wi-Fi, contact cards, anything that must work offline | Menus, packaging, signage, campaigns |
When permanent is the right answer
If the destination will never move, use a static code
These are the jobs where a subscription buys you nothing at all.
- Wi-Fi passwords on a guest room card
- A vCard on a printed business card
- Your homepage on packaging or signage
- A phone number or SMS shortcut
- An email address on a leaflet
- Anything engraved, embossed or etched
The honest catch
Permanent also means unchangeable
A static code is fixed in both directions. If the page moves, the booking system changes or the PDF is replaced, every copy you printed is now wrong and the only fix is reprinting. That is the trade, and it is worth knowing before you send 5,000 flyers to press. Dynamic codes exist for exactly that problem, from $12 a month.
Paid plans from $12/mo. Unlimited scans. Cancel online in two clicks.
Our policy
Static codes never expire. Dynamic codes work while you have a plan.
A static QR code carries its destination inside the pattern itself. There is no redirect, no server, nothing anyone can switch off - so the ones you make here are yours forever, free, with no account and no expiry date. If what you need is a code that outlives us, make it static and print it.
A dynamic code is different: it points at a redirect we run on your behalf every time somebody scans it, which is what lets you change the destination after printing. That runs while you have a plan. Cancel and it keeps working for 30 more days, we email you before anything changes, and nothing is ever deleted - your codes, links and scan history all wait for you.
What lasts, and for how long
- ForeverStatic codes, free, no account
- On a planEditable destinations and scan analytics
- 30 daysDynamic codes keep working after you cancel
- KeptCodes and history, so paying restores everything
- StoppedCodes used for abuse
Abuse is the one thing we stop immediately and without a grace period - phishing, malware, fraud, impersonation and the rest of the acceptable use policy.
Questions
Permanent QR codes, answered
- Will this QR code really never expire?
- A static QR code cannot expire. The destination is encoded in the pattern of the squares themselves, so scanning it does not contact us at all - the phone reads the URL straight off the paper. There is no account to lapse, no redirect to switch off and no server that has to still exist. If we vanished tomorrow, your printed code would carry on working.
- Why do other QR codes expire, then?
- Because they are dynamic. A dynamic code encodes a short link that points at the provider's server, which forwards each scan to wherever you currently want it to go. That is what lets you change the destination after printing - and it means somebody has to keep that server running, so it is a subscription. When the subscription ends, the forwarding ends.
- So which one do I want?
- If the destination will never change - a Wi-Fi password, a vCard, your homepage, a phone number - use a static code and never think about it again. If there is any chance the destination moves, or you want to know how many people scanned it, you need a dynamic code and you will be paying somebody for it. Anyone offering free permanent dynamic codes is either charging you elsewhere or has not thought about who pays for the servers.
- Are your dynamic codes permanent?
- No, and we would rather say so here than let you find out later. Our dynamic codes redirect while you have a plan, from $12 a month. If you cancel they keep working for another 30 days, we email you before anything changes, and nothing is deleted - the code, its short link and its scan history are all kept, so paying again turns it straight back on without reprinting anything.
- Is there a catch with the free static codes?
- No watermark, no account, no limit on how many you make, no expiry, and the download is a real vector SVG you can hand to a printer at any size. We give them away because the people who need them are frequently the same people who later need a dynamic one.
- Can I change a static code later if I have to?
- Not the code itself - it would have to be reprinted. There is one trick that works if you control a web address: point the static code at a URL on your own domain and redirect that page yourself. The code stays permanent because it belongs to you, and you keep control of where it lands. That is genuinely the right answer for some people, and it costs us a customer to say so.
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