Why is OpenQR free?
OpenQR is free because generating a QR code costs essentially nothing. A QR code is a string of text turned into a square of dots, and the maths is a free, open standard (ISO/IEC 18004) that has existed for over 30 years and runs in milliseconds on any phone.
Most online generators still put a paywall, a watermark, a “free plan” that caps your download size, or a sign-up form in front of that string of text. Worse, some “free” generators quietly route your code through their servers, so the code you printed on a banner or a business card stops working the day you stop paying them.
OpenQR takes the opposite position:
- No watermarks. Exports are clean, at any size, forever.
- No size limits. Vector SVG and PDF export at any size; raster PNG and WebP go up to 4096px.
- No account. No email and no upsell.
- In your browser. Codes are generated client-side; static content never touches a server (editable dynamic codes store their destination so scans can be redirected and counted).
- Open source. Published under the AGPL-3.0 licence, so you can read it, trust it, or self-host it.
If OpenQR saves you some money or hassle, a coffee helps keep it online and ad-free. The core tool stays free for everyone either way. There's more on who builds it and what it runs on in about OpenQR.
What might cost money one day?
Only the things that genuinely need a server running around the clock, past a generous free tier: dynamic QR codes beyond the free plan's 1 (one printed code whose destination you can edit later) and detailed scan analytics beyond the last 7 days. Those are the Pro plan, opt-in at £9/mo or £90/yr; Business (£19/mo) raises the caps further. The API and MCP server are free for everyone, and everything you see here stays free.
What this actually costs to run
The generator itself costs nothing to run, because it draws every code in your own browser: no request ever reaches a server, so there's no bill that scales with how many codes get made. The only running cost is the small serverless layer behind dynamic codes and scan analytics, and that scales down close to zero too: a redirect and a database write cost a fraction of a penny, so even a popular dynamic code costs pennies a year to keep answering.
What OpenQR does not do to make money
The usual playbook, deliberately not played:
- No ads, anywhere on the site.
- No watermark bolted onto your export.
- No selling or brokering your scan data. Ever.
- No codes that quietly expire to force a renewal.
- No exports locked behind a plan, free or paid.
What happens if you never pay
Nothing, for a static code. The data is inside the dots themselves, so there is no server to switch off: a static code you make today will still scan in ten years, whether or not OpenQR is still online and whether or not you ever pay a penny. That is also exactly why a static code can't be edited or tracked after printing: there is no server on the other end to update. Dynamic codes are the one exception, because they depend on OpenQR staying up, which is why dynamic codes rather than the generator are what eventually funds the running cost.