QR Code vs Barcode: Which One Should You Use?

A QR code is a two-dimensional matrix code that a phone camera reads; a barcode is a one-dimensional pattern of bars read by a scanner. Use a QR code when the public scans with phones, a barcode where staff already use dedicated scanners, and both when a product serves both audiences. The deciding factors are data capacity, scanning hardware, damage tolerance and cost.

What is the difference between a QR code and a barcode?

A barcode stores data along one dimension, so more data means a wider strip. A QR code stores it in a square grid, so it holds far more in the same space and reads from any angle.

Figures are from Denso Wave, which also says a conventional barcode holds only about 20 alphanumeric characters.

Which holds more data?

The QR code, by a wide margin. According to the Japan Patent Office, it holds about 200 times the information of a conventional 1D code. The largest version, Version 40, is a 177 x 177 module grid. Most real codes carry only a short URL, but the headroom is why a full vCard or WiFi password fits in one code.

Which is easier to scan?

It depends on who scans. Staff at a checkout have fixed scanners, so the barcode wins there. Customers have phones, so the QR code wins. A phone reads a QR code from the stock camera, and Apple added system QR detection in iOS 11 in 2017.

Damage matters too. QR error correction has four levels, L (about 7%), M (15%), Q (25%) and H (30%), according to Denso Wave, which is why QR codes with logos still scan.

Are barcodes obsolete?

No. According to GS1, the first barcode scan was a pack of Wrigley's gum at a Marsh supermarket in Ohio on June 26, 1974, and GS1 barcodes now sit on over 1 billion products. The QR code arrived in 1994, built by Masahiro Hara at Denso Wave to hold more data (see the history of the QR code). The two coexist: barcodes run operations, QR codes reach consumers.

When should you print both?

Print both when one product serves two audiences. A food package often carries a UPC for the cashier and a QR code to nutrition details or a campaign page. Keep the barcode for any system that scans it today, add a QR code beside it, and retire the barcode only when every scanner reads 2D codes.

Phones can read 1D barcodes inside some apps, but the stock camera is set up for QR codes. Related 2D formats exist too: Data Matrix suits very small marks such as pharmaceutical packs, and Aztec appears on many rail and airline tickets. They lack the stock-camera support QR codes have.

A dynamic QR code is a code that stores a redirect link, which adds what a barcode cannot: you can change its destination after printing and see scan counts. Our guide to static and dynamic codes explains the difference, and the types of QR codes page shows what a code can hold.