10 More QR Code Types, and When Each One Actually Helps

Menu, vCard, WhatsApp, Event, PDF, WiFi, Email, and SMS QR codes each do something specific enough to warrant their own guide. The other ten types are simpler under the hood - each one just points a scan at a URL - but which URL you point it at is what makes them useful. Here's what each is actually for.

Location

Points to a map link (a Google Maps address, for example) instead of making someone type an address into their own maps app. Works well on a storefront window, a real estate yard sign, a wedding invitation with a venue address, or a conference badge pointing to the venue - more on pasting the right kind of link in the dedicated Location guide.

App Download

Points to your app's store listing. The one thing worth planning for: iOS and Android use different store URLs, so a single QR code either needs to pick one platform or point to a smart-link service that detects the phone and redirects accordingly - more on handling that in the dedicated App Download guide. A dynamic QR code here also means the link can be updated later without reprinting, useful if you ever switch which smart-link service you use.

Images

Points to a photo gallery or portfolio - a photographer's client gallery, a real estate listing's photo set, an event's photo album. Simpler than trying to fit a QR code that encodes actual image data (which real QR codes can't practically do at usable resolution anyway) - the dedicated Images guide covers where the gallery itself actually needs to live.

Video

Points to a video - a YouTube or Vimeo link most commonly. Useful for a product demo linked from packaging, an instructional video taped to equipment, or a testimonial video on a print ad - see the dedicated Video guide for the one thing worth checking before printing.

Link List

Points to a "links in bio" style page - one page with several links, the same idea as a social bio link. Useful when a single scan needs to lead somewhere with more than one option (a creator's storefront, a business's various social profiles and booking links).

Social Media

Points directly to one social profile - Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, whichever platform matters most for that context. A "Follow us" table tent or a business card is the typical use.

Feedback

Points to a feedback form or survey. Common on a receipt, a table tent after a meal, or a post-service follow-up card.

RSVP

Points to an RSVP or registration form. Wedding invitations, conference registration, event invites.

Self Check-in

Points to a self-service check-in flow - a hotel's digital check-in, a gym's kiosk check-in, a clinic's intake form. Functionally the same mechanism as RSVP, just framed for a check-in-on-arrival use case rather than a register-ahead-of-time one.

Blank

No preset framing at all - just a plain destination URL, for anything that doesn't fit one of the other 18 types.

What they all have in common

Every type above works the same way once you get past the label: create it, point it at a URL, and it's a working QR code on the free Starter plan as a static code - checked for safety against Google's own threat database before it saves, same as every other type. Go dynamic on Pro or Business and two things become available on any of them: the destination can be changed anytime without reprinting, and it can be split into scheduled sections that switch automatically by day or time, the same feature that started as a Menu QR capability and now applies platform-wide.

Getting started

All 19 QR code types are available after you sign up free - pick whichever matches what you're actually pointing people to. For a shortcut by industry rather than by type, see the QR code use cases by industry chart, or match a specific goal directly with the QR code type decision chart.