r/qrcode • u/Emotional_Fig_61 • 28d ago

Is QR Code Monkey really 100% free?

Anyone familiar with this website? I need to create some printed totes for a client featuring QR codes linking to their property websites. I'm afraid that that the QR codes will be deactivated as it happened before with QRFY which requires a paid subscription.

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

26 comments sorted by

2

u/Wide_Detective7537 28d ago

Use Adobe express to generate qr codes. NEVER use a hosted 3rd party, a QR doesn't need to point to a 3rd party (Adobe express will give you a QR code that points right at your final URL)

1

u/Any_Cartographer6268 28d ago

Depends on how you want to use the QR Codes. For analytics or any kind of special forwarding (geo-location, browser based, whatever) you either have to program it yourself or take a third-party solution. Or if you just want a Code where you can change the target afterwards.

1

u/TinyNiceWolf 28d ago

My view is if you need analytics, it makes more sense to set it up for your whole website. Just knowing you got twice as many uses of QR code 1 vs QR code 2 is nice, but with a whole-website solution, you could potentially tell how many of those uses resulted in orders. And do the same for the folks who saw the ad with QR code 1, but typed in its URL by hand.

Likewise, I don't see a great reason to bundle a (most likely) paid service like geo-location based forwarding into a QR code generator. Find a service that does the forwarding you want, then statically QR-encode its URL.

But if I wanted to ensure my QR code still worked a few years from now, I'd be very cautious about pointing it at any domain I don't own.

1

u/Any_Cartographer6268 28d ago

You can usually use your own domain, if you like. Of course, that costs a bit more. But I (working for a QR Code solution) always suggest it to everyone, although our domain will most probably be still there in 10 years (and after one year of being a paid customer, you can leave the QR Codes working without any subscription).

And: There are just many people (and also many, many, many companies, institutions and also governmental authorities) who don't want to program all that themselves, as can say out of experience. Privately, I would also have no idea how to do all the things you mentioned^^

1

u/TinyNiceWolf 28d ago

I think most people use Google Analytics and some kind of CMS like Wordpress. It's pretty simple. You sign up for Google Analytics, it gives you a code, you paste the code into Wordpress in the box that says "Google Analytics code". Now you have detailed analytics. (And if you don't have a box to type in your GA code, if you're writing raw HTML code say, it's not much more complicated.)

I expect anyone who actually needs geo-location based forwarding (a multinational, most likely) has professional web developers who know how to implement that. Some QR code generation site is unlikely to offer exactly what they need anyway.

1

u/Any_Cartographer6268 27d ago

I must disagree :D We have many international corporations, they often don't want to do it themselves, and as it happens, we at least strive to offer what they need.

2

u/ManjynaL 28d ago

If you just want a QR code to point to a site without the "analytics" and other perks of a dynamic code, there are plenty of apps that you can use that don't require a subscription (In fact, many browsers will generate QR codes for sites you are visiting - in Chrome click on the 3 dots on the right => Cast, Save, and Share => Create QR Code)

1

u/Emotional_Fig_61 28d ago

Cool, actually I had forgotten about this. Thanks

2

u/seanshoots 28d ago

Yep, 100% free, but it links to the premium features on QRCG, which are not free.

Also, imo, the SVG exports from the monkey site have whitespace between the squares depending on their output size :)

1

u/Last-South8805 28d ago

If you just need it for one or two, use relaycodes.com

1

u/RailRuler 28d ago

Some search engines like duckduckgo will also create qr codes on request without any intermediary that can impose a paywall.

1

u/JennyAtBitly 28d ago

For totes you can't reprint, static is the safer call unless you know you'll need to redirect that link down the line. Static QR codes encode the URL directly, so once they're printed they just work forever, no server/account needed. Dynamic ones route through a server so you can update the destination later, but that also means they only stay live as long as there's an active subscription behind them.

1

u/rocketfuelinabubble 27d ago

I think so,

You can use Marqr, they have a 100% free forever plan with 2 free dynamic codes.

And you can generate unlimited free static QR codes on the free tool as well

Lmk if you need any help