How to make a QR code for free (and why it is worth connecting it with a short link)

You are sitting in a pub, there is a sticker with a code on the table. You take out your phone, point the camera, and a menu opens. Another second and you are already browsing what they have for lunch. No one thinks about how this image works. And it works simply: it encodes the website address. That's it.

And that is exactly why the question "how to make a QR code" sounds more intimidating than it actually is. You paste a link, you get an image. Job done.

At cutty.dev you don't even look for a separate tab for this. You shorten the link, and the QR code pops up under it automatically, for free.

Three clicks and you have an image

You go to cutty.dev, paste the destination address, and click Shorten. A QR code is right there under the finished short link. You download it with one click.

No account required. No watermark in the corner. No annoying "free plan: 3 codes, then pay" message. You get a clean file that you can drop onto a poster, flyer, business card, or slide.

Why not encode a long link directly?

You can. Really, any address can be pushed into a QR code, even that monster with ten utm parameters at the end. The only question is whether it's worth it.

The first issue is readability. The longer the address, the denser the pattern. More tiny squares, a finer grid. Scan it later from a poster on the wall, from three meters away, with a poor camera on an old phone. A short link provides a rare and clear code, captured in half a second.

Second, and in my opinion more important: you can change the destination after printing. The code from the short link points to something like cutty.dev/menu, and only this ending leads further. Has the landing page changed? You enter the panel, move the destination, and you're done. 500 printed flyers still work. If you had hardcoded the old address, those 500 pieces would end up in the trash.

And the statistics. Since every scan goes through your short link, in the panel you see how many opens there were, from which countries, from which sources. A regular static QR code is blind in this regard. It won't tell you anything.

Where this actually works in practice

Restaurant or cafe: menu under a code on the table, you change the offer without running to the print shop. Product packaging: instructions, warranty registration, "how to use this" page. Business card or CV: one scan instead of retyping the address from a photo. Presentation slide: the whole room scans, instead of scribbling down a link on their knee.

It is worth including a QR code on the flyer and poster, with the same short link written out in text underneath it. For people who prefer to type manually rather than scan (and there are such people, I know a few).

Printing is a commitment

A QR code lives exactly as long as the link it encodes works. That is the whole secret. At cutty.dev, once a slug is created, it is yours permanently; nothing goes back into the pool or ends up with someone else. This means a code printed today will lead where it is supposed to, even a year from now. And two years from now.

With printed materials, which cannot be simply withdrawn, it is a saving of nerves. A concrete one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does code from cutty.dev expire? No. Unless you manually set an expiration date or a click limit for the link. By default, it lasts indefinitely.

Can I use my own suffix? Yes. You type menu instead of a random string of characters and the code points to cutty.dev/menu. It looks nicer, easier to dictate over the phone.

How much does it cost? Zero. Generating QR codes is free and without limits.

It's truly a one-minute job. Paste any address, download the code from the short link and check for yourself how it scans from the other side of the room. If something isn't working, write: [email protected].