QR code types

Pick by what should happen on scan: open a page, save a contact, join the Wi-Fi or show a menu. Each type has its own form and its own page with examples.

Illustration of QR code types: website, Wi-Fi, vCard, PDF, email and video tiles next to a phone showing a QR code.

  • What a dynamic QR is

    The code stores a short address that forwards wherever you say, so you can change the destination without reprinting, and scans get counted.

  • What a static QR is

    The data is engraved in the pattern itself: it cannot be changed or measured, but it works forever and depends on no server.

Dynamic (19)

Editable after printing, with scan counts. The right choice when the content will change or when you want to know whether the medium works.

Static (17)

The data travels inside the code. No editing and no counting, and in exchange they depend on nothing: they still work years from now, and some, like Wi-Fi or text, need no connection at all.

Which one you need

Dynamic Static
Change a printed destination Yes No, you generate a new code
Count scans Yes No
Needs a connection on scan Yes, to open the destination Only if the data is a link
Depends on a redirect Yes No
Pattern density Always low: it stores a short address Grows with the amount of data

When in doubt: dynamic leaves you a way back, static does not. Static wins when the data will never change, must pass through no server, or has to be readable with no signal.

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