List of free QR Code generators

As a digital marketer with over two decades of experience in this industry, I frequently use QR codes to support many of our digital marketing efforts. Even though the QR (“Quick Response”) Code was introduced in 1994 by Denso Wave, it wasn’t popular in the digital marketing world until recently. In the last few years, the QR code has been widely used by companies to give quick links to their websites, Google Business profiles, etc. It is even used on product labels to give quick links to their product pages, brochures, etc. 

Our digital marketing agency, SpiderWorks Technologies, widely uses QR codes to generate client review links. We create a QR code linking to the review link of our client's business profiles and make plastic cards to place on the tables in the client’s office. When their customers visit the office, they can simply scan the QR code, which will instantly open the review link and prompt the customers to share a review with our clients. This has been very helpful in acquiring a large number of reviews for our clients.

In the initial stages, we used various free online QR code generators. Eventually, we figured out a problem. Some of these free online QR code generators used an intermediate link and were then redirected to the final URL. Some of these QR code generators might go out of business or stop redirecting at all. Some of them even went to the extent that they started asking for payment to redirect to the final URL. We had already distributed some QR codes, which stopped working, making these codes invalid. We had to replace many such QR codes generated using free QR code generators.

Our company developed our own free QR code generator for internal use. For those who are still in need of genuine free QR code generators that link directly to the final destination URL without redirecting through an internal URL of the code generator, the below list will be helpful.

List of Free QR Code Generators

Below is a list of free QR code generators that link directly to the destination URLs without going through an intermediate redirection link:

QR Creator 

QR Creator is a free, easy-to-use tool to create QR codes without registering and without having to go through any hassles. They also allow you to embed multiple URLs into a single QR code, but in that case, you have to go through an intermediate page that lists multiple URLs on the intermediate page. But if you want a single URL QR code, this tool will directly link the QR code to your destination URL. 

Features of the QR Creator:

1. Choose the preferred font.
2. Choose Size
3. Choose the background colour.
4. Adjust the margin size.
5. Choose the code style.

Link: https://qr-creator.com/

Tec-IT QR Code Generator

This is a very simple QR code generation tool that generates free QR codes without having to register. You can instantly generate scannable codes by just entering your destination URL. There is no intermediate link used, so your QR code is yours to use forever. 

However, this tool does not have any customisation options for the generated QR code. You can’t change the colour or design. Also, there is no option to embed your logo into it.

Features of Tec-IT:

1. Very simple to use
2. No registration is required.
3. There is no intermediate link in the scanned URL.

Link: https://qrcode.tec-it.com/en/Url

Codigos QR Code Generator

Codigos is another free QR code generator that allows you to generate scannable codes without paying a fee. They don’t force you to register and don’t use an intermediate link. Once the QR is generated, you can scan it to go directly to your destination URL.

Features of the Codigos QR Code Generator:

1. Free tool
2. No intermediate or redirect URL is used.
3. Allows you to select the barcode size (small, medium, big, etc.).
4. No colour customisation option; no option to embed the logo

Link: https://www.codigos-qr.com/en/qr-code-generator/

Online QR Code Generator

This is an interesting tool that allows you to create fancy QR codes without colour frames around hem. The only disadvantage I found with the tool is that it uses a lot of ads, which is frustrating while trying to create the codes. However, I think we can live with it since they don’t charge any fees and they need to find some ways to generate some revenue while offering this free service.

Features:

1. A free tool with no intermediary redirection link
2. There are a lot of colours and frames to choose from to make it look fancy.
3. It gives the option to download in various formats, like PNG and JPG.

Link: https://www.online-qrcode-generator.com/ 

Conclusion

The above list of the best and most free QR code generators was prepared based on my search for free tools available. Currently, we have developed our own tool and don’t use any of the above, but I am sharing this list so that others can benefit from it. It has always been a pain to identify the free tool since most of the free tools that claim to be offering free services are using their hidden intermediary tracking link, which could result in issues later.

I hope you will find the above list helpful. If you are aware of any other free tools that allow you to create free QR codes without having to register and without going through an intermediary redirection URL, please let me know. I will be happy to review them and possibly add them to the above list.