I built a free QR code generator for myself.I built a free QR code generator for myself. Restaurants showed up and
It started stupidly simple.
I needed a QR code for a WiFi password at my place. Every generator I found either had watermarks, forced registration, or bombarded me with upsells after download.
So I spent a weekend building my own. No watermarks. No email required. Just: enter URL → get QR → download. Done.
I called it QR Studio and put it online mostly for myself.
Then something unexpected happened.
Restaurant owners started signing up. Not for URL QR codes — for menus.
They wanted a QR on each table that opens a digital menu. And they wanted to update prices without reprinting anything. And they really, really didn't want to pay $40/month for it.
So I built that too.
What started as a weekend QR tool is now two things:
1. A free QR code generator — 16 types, no registration for basics, no watermarks ever. URL, WiFi, vCard, PDF, gallery, landing page, dynamic QR with scan analytics. Download as PNG, SVG, JPEG or WebP.
2. An AI-powered digital menu system for restaurants — upload a photo of your paper menu, AI builds the digital version in 60 seconds. QR per table, cart ordering, waiter call via Telegram, analytics.
Both free to start. Both built by one person.
What I learned shipping this:
"Free, no registration" removes so much friction that people actually try it. My conversion from landing → first QR generated is embarrassingly high. The hard part isn't getting people to try — it's getting them to come back and create an account for the advanced features.
The restaurant menu product has the opposite problem: higher intent, but longer sales cycle. A café owner needs to trust you before putting your link on every table.
Two very different user psychology problems in one product. Figuring that out has been the most interesting part.
What I'm still figuring out:
Should these be two separate products with separate brands, or stay together?
Is "free forever" positioning sustainable, or does it attract the wrong users?
How do you build trust with offline business owners who've been burned by SaaS before?
Would love brutal feedback from anyone who's navigated this. 👇
