Best QR code scanner and generator apps for iPhone and iPad

Every QR app says it is the best. Here is the same set of questions asked of each one, with the answers taken from their own listings. QR Studio is in the first column; we say where it loses as well as where it wins.

Best for each job

Short answers first. Each pick is decided by what that product's own listing says it includes, on the verification date shown on its page — not by our opinion of it. Two of the six are not us.

• You just want to scan a code

  iPhone Camera and Code Scanner

  The Camera app already does it. Nothing to install, nothing to buy. Only worth adding an app when you need to make codes, scan in bulk, or read one from a screenshot.

• Free static codes, no account

  QRCode Monkey

  Unlimited static codes with logo, shapes and colors, straight from the browser with no sign-up. Static codes never expire, from any tool, so this is a genuinely complete answer for one-off printing.

• The most generous free dynamic tier

  ME-QR

  Up to 10,000 dynamic codes with unlimited scans on the free plan. The trade is that free codes show an advert on every scan, so read the fine print before putting one on packaging.

• A free iPhone scanner with no upsell

  QR Pro - QR Code Scanner

  Everything is included and there is nothing to buy. A scanner rather than a designer: no dynamic codes, no export formats.

• Design control and print-ready export on iPhone

  QR Studio

  QR Studio. Custom dot and eye shapes, a logo in the code, SVG and print-ready PDF with bleed and crop marks, and a scannability check before you commit to print. Generation happens on the device, so nothing you encode is sent anywhere.

• Paying once instead of subscribing

  QR Studio

  QR Studio Lifetime, or one of the ad-supported iOS apps below with a cheaper one-off unlock. The web platforms are subscription-only, and a dynamic code stops resolving when the subscription does — which is the thing to check before printing anything you cannot replace.