Who each one is for
Canva is a design tool that happens to make QR codes. Open a design, add the QR code element, paste a URL, set the foreground and background color and the margin, and the code sits on the page with everything else. That is the point: the menu, poster or business card is already being made in Canva, and the code is one more element. Canva’s help center adds a second tool for dynamic codes on every plan. On Free and Pro those carry the Canva logo; scan insights, expiry dates and your own logo need Business, Enterprise or Nonprofit.
QR Studio is the reverse: a QR tool that exports into your layout software. It suits the person who wants the code itself to be right.
Where QR Studio is better
- QR-specific design. Dot and eye shapes, logo placement with a safe-area check, and an AI partner that generates and checks variants. Canva’s static code offers color and margin; corner and pattern options are on dynamic codes only.
- Logo without the top plan. Free in QR Studio. In Canva, your own logo in the code needs Business.
- Scannability testing. Every export is checked. Canva places an image and trusts you.
- Offline. QR Studio makes and exports codes without a connection. Canva’s offline mode edits existing designs on desktop and Android, but creating new designs and downloading need the internet, and the iPhone and iPad apps are not supported.
- Price of tracking. Scan counts cost $29.99 a year in QR Studio; Canva’s insights need Business at $250 a year per person.
Where Canva is better
- Layout. The code is one element on a finished page with thousands of templates.
- Print the whole thing. PDF of the design, or order the printed product from Canva.
- Teams. Brand kits, shared folders, comments.
- Reach. Web, iOS and Android under one account.
Pricing side by side
| Plan | QR Studio | Canva |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0, unlimited static codes with design | Free plan, static codes, color and margin |
| Yearly | Pro $29.99 | Pro $144 a person; Business $250 a person |
| Dynamic codes | Pro | Every plan (Canva logo on Free and Pro) |
| Scan analytics | Pro | Business, Enterprise or Nonprofit |
| One-off | Lifetime $69.99 | None |
Switching
Design the code in QR Studio, export SVG or PNG, and drop it into the Canva design in place of the Canva element. Static Canva codes need nothing else. Dynamic Canva codes route through Canva. Canva’s QR code help answers “Do my QR codes expire?” with “Not unless you set one” and “Without an expiry date, your QR code never expires.” An expired code sends scanners to a fallback URL you set, or to Canva’s generic error page. The QR code expiry explainer sets out which codes can stop working and why a static one never does.
Note
Prices change. We read Canva’s QR generator page, US pricing page (yearly prices) and help center articles on QR codes, download file types and offline editing on 24 September 2026. Canva’s help center does not say what happens to a dynamic code if you downgrade or close your account, so we have not guessed.
Try it yourself