A QR code that never expires and depends on no one
Many well-known QR generators give you a "dynamic" code that actually points to a redirect link on their own servers. It works while you keep paying the subscription; if you stop paying or the company shuts down, the QR code printed on your business cards, menus or posters stops taking people where it should.
This generator creates static QR codes: the content itself (the link, the WiFi password, the contact details) is written inside the code. Nothing goes through a middleman server, so the code doesn't expire and keeps working for as long as it can be scanned. The trade-off, stated plainly: a static QR code can't be edited later and doesn't count how many times it is scanned. If your link or password changes, you make a new code.
Types of code you can create
Link or text: your business website, an online menu, a form or a social media profile. WiFi: the network name, the password, the security type (WPA, WEP or no password) and whether the network is hidden; whoever scans it joins without typing anything. WhatsApp: your number with the country code and an optional message, plus the wa.me link ready to copy.
There are also email codes (recipient, subject and message), phone and SMS codes, and vCard contact codes with name, phone, email, company, job title and website, which the phone offers to save to its contacts. For Brazil there is the Pix QR code, Brazil's instant payment system, with the key, name, city, an optional amount and an identifier, in the Central Bank's BR Code format with its check digit.
Design: size, colors and logo
Choose 512, 1024 or 2048 pixels depending on where the code goes: a social post, a flyer or a large poster. You can change the code and background colors; if the contrast is too low, the tool warns you, because a light code on a light background is hard to scan. The error correction level (L, M, Q or H) sets how much damage or dirt the code can tolerate, with H being the toughest.
If you add a logo in the center, level H is used to make up for the covered area and the download comes out as PNG only. Without a logo you can also get an SVG, a vector format that scales up without losing sharpness, which is ideal for print shops, banners and vinyl. Before printing hundreds of copies, scan a test print with a couple of different phones.
Ideas and privacy
In a restaurant or coffee shop: a menu QR code on the tables and a WiFi code by the register. In a store: your WhatsApp for orders on the window. At a conference: your contact card on your badge. At a shop in Brazil: a Pix QR code on the counter to receive payments. There are shortcut pages that open in each mode: WiFi QR code, WhatsApp QR code, WhatsApp link generator, vCard QR code and Pix QR code.
The code is generated in your browser: what you type, including your WiFi password, is not sent to any server or stored. It is free, without sign-up and without a limit on how many codes you make, on phones and computers.