What is a static QR code?
A static QR code is a QR code that stores your URL or text directly in its pattern. It needs no service behind it, never expires and costs nothing. The cost is that it is fixed: once a static code is printed, you cannot change where it points, and nobody can count its scans.
Use a static code for things that never change, such as a Wi-Fi login, a contact card or a serial number. For a menu, a poster or packaging, use a dynamic code, which encodes a short redirect address so the page behind it can change after printing.
A dynamic code is only as dependable as whoever runs its redirect. In September 2023, Basel-Stadt's Justice and Security Department asked residents to stop scanning the QR code on printed civil-protection notices and to destroy them, because the code sometimes opened an advert for a paid subscription instead of the intended page (Basel-Stadt media release, September 2023). CTAurl's dynamic codes answer with a 302 to your page, with no ad screen (a code can show an optional location-consent page first), and printed codes keep working even after you cancel. The exceptions are abuse of the service, a legal requirement, or CTAurl ceasing to operate, in which case we give advance notice and an export.
How do I print a QR code so it scans?
To print a QR code that scans, keep a plain border of four modules around it, print dark on a light background, make it at least 2 cm wide, and scan the printed copy with two different phones before the full run. Our print guide has the measured details and the limits of each measurement.
The border matters most on a dark design. In our own decoding test (20 October 2026, clean digital renders, one decoder, no print and no camera), a code on a dark surround failed to decode with no border at all and decoded once it had a border of one module or more.