A QR code is just a container. What you put inside it decides what the phone does on scan — and picking the right one is the difference between a scan and a shrug.
Make a QR code freeA URL QR code is the one you will use most. It carries a web address and opens it in the scanner's default browser. Point it at a landing page built for the campaign rather than your homepage — someone scanning a poster at a bus stop has very different intent from someone arriving through search. Keep the destination URL short, because every additional character makes the symbol denser and harder to scan in poor light. If your URL runs past roughly 80 characters, shorten it first, then generate the code.
A Wi-Fi QR code encodes the network name, security type, and password using the WIFI: scheme that both iOS and Android support natively in the camera app. Guests scan and tap Join. It is the single highest-value QR code for cafés, hotels, co-working spaces, clinics, and Airbnb hosts. Choose WPA for anything modern, and only tick the hidden network option if the SSID genuinely is not broadcast — ticking it on a visible network causes connection failures on some Android builds.
A contact QR code encodes a full vCard 3.0 record — name, company, job title, phone, email, website, and address — so a scan offers to save you straight into the phone book. Put one on the back of a printed card, in your email signature, or on a conference badge. Because vCards carry a lot of characters, they produce dense symbols, so print them at 3cm square or larger and avoid adding a large centre logo unless you also raise the error correction level.
These four types all open a communication app with your details pre-filled. WhatsApp codes are enormously effective for local businesses in markets where WhatsApp is the default channel — a scan opens a chat with your first message already written, which removes the awkward blank-message hesitation. SMS and email codes work the same way for keyword campaigns and enquiry forms. Phone codes simply open the dialler, which suits service businesses on vehicle livery and signage.
An event QR code encodes a vCalendar VEVENT with a title, location, and start and end times, so scanning offers to add it to the phone's calendar. Use it on webinar promotions, conference agendas, class timetables, and event flyers. It converts a passive impression into a calendar entry with a reminder attached, which is far more durable than someone intending to remember your date.
A social QR code is a URL code aimed at one profile, and the generator prefills the right address pattern for twelve networks — Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, TikTok, YouTube, WhatsApp, Telegram, Snapchat, Pinterest, Threads, and Spotify. Point it at the single profile you actually want to grow rather than a link hub, because every extra tap between the scan and the follow button costs you conversions. If you want one code to reach several networks at once, that is a Multi-URL code, which needs a linkutm account.
These three types resolve through a short link your workspace owns, so they cannot be baked into a static pattern. A PDF code points at a document you can replace with a new version without reprinting the code — the fix for menus, price lists, and manuals that change. A Multi-URL code opens a hosted page listing up to twenty labelled links, with each link tracked separately, which suits an event agenda, a support hub, or a printed link-in-bio card. An App code points at your App Store or Google Play listing so installs driven by packaging and print show up as an identifiable channel instead of untagged direct traffic. All three are created inside linkutm, and all three are editable and measurable for the life of the print run.
Ten types, twelve designs, PNG, SVG, and PDF download. No account, no expiry, and nothing you type leaves your browser.
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