SMS QR code
An SMS QR opens the messaging app with the destination number and the text already filled in. Whoever scans it just taps send. It is used to confirm attendance, vote, subscribe to an alert or sign up for a service with a keyword, without anyone having to copy a phone number by hand.
It has one advantage no link or chat-app QR can match: SMS does not need internet. In a basement, at an event with a saturated network, or in an area with poor data coverage, the message still goes out on cellular signal alone.
Your QR code
Start typing and your QR code appears here instantly.
How it works
- 1
Enter the number with country code
Always in international format, starting with +. Without the country code the message fails as soon as someone scans from another country or on another carrier.
- 2
Write the prefilled message
It is optional, but it is the whole point of this type of QR. Short text with a clear keyword works best.
- 3
Download and test on both systems
Scan the code with an iPhone and an Android before printing, because SMS handling is where they differ most.
When SMS beats a chat app
SMS can look like a format from the past, but it still wins in three specific situations. The first is an older or less technical audience, who have messaging on their phone even if they use no chat app at all. The second is anywhere without reliable mobile data. The third is automated systems that respond to a keyword: alerts, show voting, service sign-ups, surveys.
It also helps when you do not want a personal number exposed inside a chat app complete with profile photo and status. SMS is more impersonal, and for a small business that is sometimes exactly what you want.
Limits worth knowing before you print
The message is paid for by the sender, according to their plan. That matters if the QR targets the general public: it is worth saying so on the sign, with a line like "your carrier's standard rates apply". A short code or premium number can cost more than a normal text.
On length, a standard SMS is 160 characters. If the prefilled message is longer, the phone splits it into several messages and the sender pays for each one. Since the text also travels inside the QR, a long message makes the code denser and harder to scan. In practice, if it does not fit in a sentence or two, this is not the right format.
This tool generates the SMSTO format, which both Android and iPhone read. There is another variant, sms: with the text in the query string, whose separator differs between platforms and ends up failing on one of them. If you tried an SMS QR from another generator and someone reported that on iPhone the number appeared without the text, that is almost always why.