How to Generate QR Codes for Free: API Guide for Developers

Free QR Code API — No Signup, No Limits on Free Tier

Need to generate QR codes in your app, website, or workflow? The Pandan QR Code API lets you create QR codes with a simple GET request. No authentication needed for the free tier.

Quick Start

Generate a QR code in seconds:

GET https://qr.pandan.is/v1/qr?data=https://example.com

That's it. You'll get a PNG image back. Drop it into an <img> tag and you're done.

Formats

The API supports three output formats:

Format	Parameter	Best For
PNG	`format=png` (default)	Web, email, print
SVG	`format=svg`	Scalable graphics, high-res print
Base64	`/v1/qr/base64`	Embedding directly in HTML/CSS

Customization Options

Size

Control the image size with the size parameter (in pixels):

GET /v1/qr?data=hello&size=500

Colors

Customize foreground and background colors:

GET /v1/qr?data=hello&dark=0066ff&light=ffffff

Error Correction

Choose error correction level for damaged/dirty QR codes:

ec=L — Low (7% recovery)
ec=M — Medium (15% recovery, default)
ec=Q — Quartile (25% recovery)
ec=H — High (30% recovery)

Use Cases

1. Dynamic Links

Generate QR codes for short URLs that you can track. Combine with the Pandan Link Shortener for analytics.

2. Business Cards (vCards)

Encode contact information directly in a QR code:

GET /v1/qr?data=BEGIN:VCARD%0AFULL:John%20Doe%0ATEL:123456%0AEND:VCARD

3. Wi-Fi Sharing

Let guests connect to your WiFi by scanning:

GET /v1/qr?data=WIFI:T:WPA;S:MyNetwork;P:MyPassword;;

4. Payment Links

Generate QR codes for payment URLs, Bitcoin addresses, or invoice links.

5. Event Tickets

Encode ticket IDs or event URLs for easy check-in.

Integration Examples

HTML

<img src="https://qr.pandan.is/v1/qr?data=https://example.com&size=200" alt="QR Code">

JavaScript (Node.js)

const response = await fetch('https://qr.pandan.is/v1/qr/base64?data=hello');
const json = await response.json();
console.log(json.base64); // data:image/png;base64,...

Python

import requests
response = requests.get('https://qr.pandan.is/v1/qr', params={'data': 'hello', 'format': 'svg'})
with open('qr.svg', 'wb') as f:
    f.write(response.content)

Free Tier

The free tier includes 200 QR codes per month — more than enough for personal projects, prototypes, and small apps. No credit card, no signup, no API key.

Need more? Paid plans start at $5/month for 5,000 QR codes with priority support.

Try It Now

Visit qr.pandan.is to generate your first QR code, or start using the API directly in your code.