Free QR Code Generator — Add a Logo, Customize Colors

Type in a link or a line of text, pick your colors, and drop in a logo if you want one — your QR code updates instantly below. When it looks right, download it as a PNG or SVG. Nothing you type here is sent anywhere; the code is generated entirely in your browser.

How the QR Code Generator works

No uploads, no waiting — everything below happens the moment you type.

Tips for a QR code that actually scans

A QR code that looks good but doesn't scan is worse than no QR code at all. A few things make the difference.

Keep enough contrast between your foreground and background colors. Two mid-tone colors — say, a medium teal on a medium gray — can look elegant on screen but confuse a phone camera trying to distinguish the dark modules from the light ones in real-world lighting. A dark color on a light (or white) background is the safest choice, and it's what most scanners are tuned to expect.

If you're adding a logo, switch the error correction level to "High" first. QR codes are built with redundant data specifically so part of the pattern can be covered without breaking the scan, but that redundancy only exists at the higher correction levels. A logo placed over a "Low" correction code will very likely make it unreadable.

Test before you print. Scan your finished QR code with two or three different phones before it goes on a flyer, a shirt, or a shop window — screen brightness, camera quality, and even the angle of a laminated menu under fluorescent lighting can affect how reliably a code scans. A thirty-second test avoids a reprint.

Leave a quiet margin. The blank space directly around a QR code (called the "quiet zone") helps scanners recognize where the code starts and ends. If you're placing your code inside a busy design, keep a visible border of background color around it rather than letting other graphics touch its edge.

What's actually happening inside a QR code

A QR code isn't just a decorative pattern — every square (called a "module") encodes a bit of information, arranged in a way a camera can decode from almost any angle.

The three larger squares in three of the four corners are "finder patterns." A scanner locates these first to figure out the code's orientation and size, which is why a QR code can be read upside down or at an angle and still work. Between and around the finder patterns, smaller "alignment" and "timing" patterns help the scanner correct for any distortion, like a slight curve in a plastic label or a photo taken at a mild angle.

The rest of the grid holds the actual data, plus a layer of error-correction information generated using Reed-Solomon codes — the same family of error correction used in CDs and satellite communication. This is what allows part of a QR code to be covered by a logo, scratched, or printed slightly blurry, and still scan correctly: the missing or damaged data can be reconstructed from the redundancy, up to a point that depends on the error correction level you choose.

Because all of this is a well-documented open standard (ISO/IEC 18004), any properly generated QR code will scan the same way in any compliant scanner app or built-in phone camera — there's no proprietary format lock-in, which is part of why QR codes work reliably across every phone brand and app.

Choosing the right error correction level

The four levels trade code density for damage tolerance. Higher tolerance means a physically larger code for the same amount of text.

Low (about 7% recovery): the most compact option, best for a plain code with no logo that will be displayed digitally, where the image won't get scratched, folded, or partially obscured.

Medium (about 15% recovery): a solid all-purpose default for printed materials like flyers or product tags, balancing size against a reasonable safety margin.

Quartile (about 25% recovery): a good choice for anything that will be printed on a less-than-ideal surface — fabric, curved packaging, or anywhere print quality might be inconsistent.

High (about 30% recovery): the level to use whenever you're placing a logo in the center, since it leaves enough redundancy to reconstruct the data even with roughly a fifth of the pattern covered.

Common ways people use QR codes

A few of the most common reasons people reach for this tool.

QR codes vs. traditional barcodes

If you've only worked with the barcodes printed on retail products, a QR code solves a different problem.

A standard 1D barcode — the kind scanned at a grocery checkout — stores a short numeric code in a single line of varying-width bars, and it needs a dedicated laser or camera scanner held at a fairly precise angle. It typically holds only a product lookup number, with the actual product details stored in a separate database the scanner queries.

A QR code stores far more information directly in the pattern itself — a full URL, several hundred characters of text, contact details, or Wi-Fi credentials — without needing a database lookup at all. Because the data lives in two dimensions instead of one, a QR code fits significantly more information into a smaller printed area, and any modern phone camera can read it without a dedicated scanner. That's the core reason QR codes replaced plain barcodes for marketing and public-facing uses, while traditional barcodes remain common in retail inventory systems built around existing product-number databases.

Getting the most out of your QR code's design

Once you've confirmed a code scans reliably, a bit of visual polish makes it feel like part of your brand rather than an afterthought.

Match your foreground color to your brand's primary color where you can, but always check the contrast ratio afterward — a color picker makes it easy to choose a shade that looks distinctive on screen but scans poorly on a printed page under less-than-ideal lighting. When in doubt, test the exact color combination you're planning to use before committing to a print run of hundreds of flyers or labels.

If you're adding a logo, a square or circular version with a bit of built-in padding tends to sit more naturally in the center than a wide rectangular logo, which either gets cropped or ends up too small to recognize. A simple icon or monogram usually reads better at small sizes than a full wordmark.

Finally, think about where the code will physically live before finalizing the size. A code on a business card only needs to be a couple of centimeters across since it will be scanned from a few inches away, while a code on a storefront window or a highway billboard needs to be dramatically larger to remain scannable from the distance people will actually be standing or driving past it.

Mistakes worth avoiding

You might also need

A couple of tools that pair naturally with a QR code project.

Frequently asked questions