Free PayPal QR code generator

First, create your PayPal.me link

The QR is only useful once you have a PayPal.me link to put in it, and making one is free. Go to paypal.me (or paypal.com/paypalme), sign in with your PayPal account, and claim a handle, so your link reads paypal.me/yourname. Share that and anyone can pay you from a phone or a computer without knowing your email or number. Want to ask for a specific amount? Add it to the end: paypal.me/yourname/15 opens a payment page pre-filled with 15 in your account currency, and paypal.me/yourname/15USD sets the currency too. The payer can still change the amount before they send, which is what you want for a tip jar. Once you have the link, paste it above.

Where a PayPal QR code earns its keep

The pattern is the same everywhere: someone points a camera at the square, lands on your payment page, and pays with no typing. A tip jar at a coffee counter or a salon chair. A market stall or craft-fair table where you would rather not fumble a card reader. A busker's guitar case or a street performer's sign. A donation line at the bottom of a flyer or event poster. An invoice or quote, with the code next to the total so a client pays on the spot. A club, class, or fundraiser collection. Print it once and it works for all of them. Add a short line next to the code like 'Scan to tip' so people know what the square does before they aim a phone at it.

PayPal.me link vs PayPal's in-app QR code

This tool encodes your PayPal.me link. That is the right choice for tips, donations, and personal payments, and it is the fastest way to get a printable code. It is not PayPal's official in-person seller QR. Inside the PayPal app there is a separate QR code built for selling goods and services face to face, which routes the payment as a Goods and Services transaction with the seller protection and fees that come with it. If you run a real storefront and want that protection on every sale, generate the code in the PayPal app instead. With a PayPal.me link, the payer picks on the payment page whether they are paying a friend or paying for goods and services, so you do not control that from the code itself. For tips and personal payments, that is fine. For protected sales, use the app's own QR.

Keep it scannable, and what this static code can't do

A dark code on a light background scans fastest, so keep that contrast and leave the blank quiet-zone margin around it clear (this tool bakes in a four-module margin, so do not crop into it). Size it to the scan distance: a tip-jar code read at arm's length is fine at about 3 cm, a poster read across a room needs to be much bigger. Download the SVG for print so the edges stay sharp at any size, and scan a printed proof with your own phone before you run a stack. Now the honest part: a static code cannot change. Your PayPal.me link is baked into the pattern, so if you switch handles or want a different preset amount later, the printed code points at the wrong place and you reprint. It reports nothing either, so you cannot tell how many people scanned or paid. The QR image is drawn by our server from the link you type and then downloaded to your device; it is not saved to an account. When those limits start to cost you, a dynamic QR is the fix (below).