A vector QR code is defined as shapes rather than pixels, so one file is correct at every size. The generator below downloads SVG, which is the vector format browsers can produce directly. If your printer has asked for EPS or PDF, the conversion is below. Free, no account.
The generator runs in your browser. Make a QR code.
All three describe the same thing, shapes with coordinates, and any of them will print a QR code perfectly. The difference is which one a given workflow will accept without complaining.
SVG
The web vector format, and the only one a browser can generate on its own. Every current design tool opens it. This is what you get from the generator above.
EPS
The older print exchange format. Some commercial printers still ask for it by habit, and some older RIP software genuinely prefers it.
A container that can hold either vector or raster. A PDF is not automatically vector, which is why "send a PDF" is ambiguous and worth checking.
To convert, open the SVG in Illustrator, Inkscape or Affinity Designer and save as EPS or PDF. Inkscape is free and does this in two clicks. There is no quality loss going between vector formats, because nothing is being rasterised.
The failure mode worth knowing about is a raster image wearing a vector extension: a PNG pasted into a document and exported as PDF or EPS. It satisfies the file-type request and prints exactly as badly as the PNG did.
Zoom to 1600 per cent.
Vector edges stay knife sharp at any zoom. If the squares blur or show pixel steps, it is raster inside a vector wrapper.
Check the file size.
A vector QR code is usually a few kilobytes. A multi-megabyte "vector" file almost always has an embedded bitmap in it.
Open the SVG in a text editor.
You should see path and rect elements. If you see a long base64 blob inside an image tag, the vector is a wrapper around a picture.
Outline before you send.
This matters for the text next to the code rather than the code itself, but a missing font is the most common reason a print job comes back wrong.
Use it without an account
Static QR codes need no email, no signup and no account of any kind.
Free PNG and SVG download
Both formats, full resolution, no account. Vector export is the thing most generators put behind a signup.
No watermark, ever
Nothing is stamped on your code on any plan, including the free one.
Static codes never expire
A static code has the URL encoded directly in it. It cannot be switched off later, by us or anyone else.
Your URL never reaches our servers
Static codes are generated entirely in your browser. We could not log what you encode if we wanted to.
Dynamic codes are the only paid part
Trackable, editable codes run through our servers, so they need an account. Free covers 5 codes and 500 scans a month; paid starts at $3.
Static, for the same reason as every other print format: once it is on paper the code cannot be changed, so it should not depend on anything that can be switched off.
A static QR code has the URL encoded directly in the pattern. It works forever and offline, but the destination can never be changed. A dynamic QR code is a short link that redirects, so you can edit the destination and count scans after the code is printed. Static codes are free here with no account. Dynamic codes need a free account (5 codes and 500 scans a month), and paid plans start at $3/month.
Download a free SVG QR code with no account and no watermark. Vector output stays sharp at any size, from a business card to a trade show banner.
Generate a print quality QR code free, with no account. Download a high resolution PNG, or an SVG that stays sharp at any size you print it.
Make a plain black and white QR code free, with no account. Maximum contrast and square modules, which is the most reliable option for printing.
Make a QR code with a transparent background, free and with no account. Download PNG with a real alpha channel, or SVG with no background at all.
Make a QR code that never expires, free and with no account. A static code has the destination encoded in the pattern, so it cannot be switched off.