How hard it is to make a QR code for free?

Keeping in mind I don't know how to use a smart phone.

But the idea is that I could make one of those square pattern things (I think they are called QR code) and when a phone 'looks' at it, it will go to a youtube video (or playlist).

Is this a thing that is possible?  Or did I dream it?  

If so, how do I do it for free or cheap?  (I want the code to be pretty permanent so I can use it in multiple places and times)

If you search online for "QR Code generator" there's quite a few that show up. For example, this one - https://www.qr-code-generator.com/. Browsing with an adblocker is probably advisable, "simple" services like this tend to be free, paid for by obnoxious piles of ads crammed into the pages that host them.

QR codes are just 2D barcodes, so from a technical perspective there's not much to them, it's "just" encoding text.

There are sites that let you create ones that track how many times they're scanned, and change the URL after the fact, and whatnot, though that requires that you have an account with them, and all requests go through their servers, so they get to track all those stats themselves too.

I use duckduckgo.com as my default search engine. If you type "QR code <any string>" the first thing that shows up in the results is a QR code that the search engine generates for you. I've attached the output code generated when I entered "QR code https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWV6cd3pgOQ" which I just happened to have up in a handy tab. (ETA: I just verified that Google doesn't do the same thing.)

I could see how this might actually be useful for you. If you are selling yarn or other craft goods you can have a label with a QR code that will link to your youtube videos, or online shop to give more story behind the items for people. This raises the profile of your site and hence revenue through other adverts or future sales, since more popular sites get promoted more, which is sad but apparently true.

(....another non smartphone user - I have one I use as a camera now)

I like the duckduckgo option, but if you use firefox, I may have one even easier. I use the Offline QR Code Generator add-on.

1) Click it's icon, which I keep onscreen for easy access.



2) By default it will create a QR code pointing to the site you're on. Edit the plain text to whatever you want.



3) Scan with your phone. (If you want to save the code for someone else to scan, right click the QR code and follow the prompts.)

does anyone have a phone and can tell me if this worked?
(it's supposed to go to a specific video)

Flax to Linen, I think it works!

thank you!

for my future self, I used: https://www.qrcode-monkey.com/ (don't need to create a login while it's making the QR code)

Final card printed and laminated for today's demonstration.

It was a great success!   Lots of people took photos and used the qr code.  It was especially useful when it was raining too hard for demonstrating.