OpenQR

Open source & licensing

Last updated: 1 July 2026.

OpenQR isn't a black box. The generator, the dynamic-code layer, the API and the MCP server are all published on GitHub — so you can read exactly what the code does, check our privacy and security claims yourself, or run your own copy. Here's precisely what's open and how it's licensed, in plain terms.

What's open, and under which licence

  • The QR generator & web app — the tool at openqr.uk, including payload types, styling, exports, the dashboard, the REST API and the MCP server — is licensed under the GNU AGPL-3.0. You're free to use, study, modify and redistribute it. The one obligation: if you run a modified version as a network service, you must make your source changes available to its users under the same licence. That copyleft is deliberate — it keeps this open tool (and anything built on it) open.
  • The client libraries — the TypeScript SDK (@open-qr/sdk) and the n8n community node — are licensed under MIT. These are meant to be embedded, including in closed-source and commercial products, so we picked the most permissive sensible licence. Call the API from anything, ship it anywhere.

In short: the app stays copyleft-open (AGPL); the integration glue is permissive (MIT) so nothing gets in the way of building on OpenQR.

Self-hosting

Because the app is AGPL, you can host your own instance. Clone the repository, supply your own Cloudflare (Workers, D1, KV) and Resend credentials, and deploy. The generator itself is a static client-side app, so the free QR tool runs with no backend at all.

Transparency by default

  • No watermark, ever — the codes you export are clean, at any size, forever.
  • No sign-up for the tool — generating a QR needs no account and no email.
  • Your data stays in your browser — static codes are never uploaded. See our privacy policy.
  • Auditable security — how we protect the account layer, and how to report an issue, is on our security page.
  • Listed in the open ecosystem — the MCP server is published to public MCP registries, and the API ships a standard OpenAPI 3.1 spec.

How it stays free

A QR code costs essentially nothing to generate, so the core tool is free and always will be. If you're curious how that adds up, we wrote it out on why OpenQR is free.

View the source on GitHub