Why our QR codes never expire

How a static code works

A QR code is a way of writing text as a pattern of squares. When you make a code here for https://yourcafe.com/menu, those exact characters are what get encoded. A phone that scans the print reads the characters straight off the paper and opens your page. It never contacts us.

The same goes for every type we make. A Wi-Fi code contains the network name and password. Acontact card contains the vCard text. An event contains the calendar entry. All of it is in the pattern.

The generator also runs in your browser. Your content and logo are turned into the code on your device and never sent to us, which is why we couldn't insert a redirect even if we wanted to: we never see what you're encoding. The privacy page covers this in detail.

What we add to your code: nothing

No tracking parameters, no short link, no watermark and no scan limit. Above every preview, the generator shows the exact data inside the code. What you see there is what gets printed.

How anyone can check

You don't need to take our word for it. To verify a code, from us or anywhere else:

1. Scan it with a scanner that shows raw data, such as our QR code scanner. It decodes in your browser and won't open the link.
2. Read the result. If it's your own address, such as https://yourcafe.com/menu, the code is static and goes straight there.
3. If it's a short link on another domain, the code goes through that service, and it works only while that service keeps redirecting it.

You can do the same check with any other decoder, on any device. A code made here will always show your data and nothing of ours.

If this website disappeared tomorrow

Every code you've printed would keep working, and every SVG, PNG and PDF you've downloaded would still be a complete, valid QR code. Nothing in the codes depends on this site. (PDFs name us as the creating application in their metadata, the way most software does; that has no effect on scanning.) You'd lose the convenience of the generator, not your codes.

That's the point of static codes, and it's why we think they should be the default for anything printed: packaging, signage, books, business cards, wedding stationery.

What we can't control

A static code is permanent, but it is only as good as what it points to. These are outside our reach, and worth planning for:

• Your website. If the page moves or the domain lapses, the code leads to an error. Keep the address live, or redirect it on your own site.
• Shared files. Cloud-drive and file-transfer links can expire or lose their permissions. Host important files at an address you control.
• Changed details. A new Wi-Fi password or phone number means a new code, because the old details are written into the print.
• Third-party pages. Review profiles, social accounts and map listings can change their URLs or close.

If you might need to change where a code goes, point it at a page on your own domain, such as yourdomain.com/qr/menu, and change what that page shows or where it redirects. You get the flexibility of a dynamic code without depending on anyone else.

Our commitments

• Static codes made here will never be converted into redirects. The free generator will always encode your data directly.
• Static codes stay free: no account, no watermark, no scan cap, commercial use included.
• We will never put ads, interstitials or tracking between someone scanning and your destination.
• When we launch dynamic codes, they'll be a separate, opt-in product. The redirect domain will be shown before you download, and we'll publish pricing and what happens if you cancel before anyone pays.

If something here ever stops being true, you'll be able to tell by scanning, and we'd expect you to hold us to it. Questions go to thecontact page.