Free Barcode Generator
Type the number or text, pick the symbology, download a print-ready SVG or PNG. It runs in your browser, nothing is uploaded, and there is no account, watermark or expiry.
Barcode type
Any text or numbers - shipping, logistics, inventory
Code 128 takes any ASCII text. Switch the type above for retail (EAN/UPC), cartons (ITF-14) or 2D (Data Matrix).
Size & options
Need a code that people scan with a phone?
Barcodes are for tills and warehouse scanners. For links, menus and posters, make a free QR code instead - or a dynamic one you can edit after printing.
SVG for print, PNG for screens. Free, no watermark, nothing uploaded.
Which barcode type do you need?
The right symbology is decided by who is going to scan the code, not by what looks best. A retail checkout only reads EAN-13 and UPC-A. A warehouse scanner reads Code 128 all day. A parts label that has to survive laser etching on metal is a Data Matrix job. If nobody has told you which type, Code 128 is the safe default: it encodes any text, packs digits tightly, has a check symbol built in, and every handheld scanner made this century reads it.
Use EAN-13 or UPC-A only for products sold through retailers, and only with a number licensed from GS1 - a made-up 12-digit number will scan, but it will collide with someone else's product in the retailer's database. Use ITF-14 on outer cases and cartons, where the thick bearer bars protect the code from corrugated print defects. Use Code 39 when a spec asks for it (badges, older military and automotive standards); it is bigger than Code 128 for the same content and has no advantage otherwise. Use Data Matrix when the label is tiny or the surface is hostile: it fits in a few millimetres and reads with up to about 30% of the symbol damaged.
Printing a barcode that actually scans
Barcodes fail at the printer more often than in the file. Three things decide it. First, the X dimension - the width of the narrowest bar. For a retail EAN it is 0.33 mm at nominal size and must not go below 0.264 mm (80% magnification); for logistics codes GS1 asks for 0.5 mm or more. Second, the quiet zone: the blank margin on each side, ten X on either side of a Code 128 and eleven X to the left of an EAN. A scanner that cannot see white space before the first bar never starts reading. Third, contrast: dark bars on a light, non-reflective background. Red bars do not scan, because most laser scanners read with red light and see red as white.
Download the SVG for anything going to print. It stays sharp at any size, and a vector bar is exactly as wide as the encoder said. A PNG scaled to fit a label rounds bar widths to whole pixels, which is where wide/narrow ratios drift out of tolerance. If you must use a raster, export it at the final printed size and 300 dpi or more, and never scale it in the layout app.
Check digits, done for you
EAN-13, EAN-8, UPC-A and ITF-14 end in a check digit computed from the other digits. Enter the number without it and the tool appends the correct one; enter it with the check digit and the tool verifies it and refuses a wrong one, which is a cheaper place to find out than a rejected retailer listing. Code 128 has a check symbol that is part of the bars and never printed. Code 39 has none by default, and this tool can add the optional mod-43 character for specs that want it.
Barcode or QR code?
A 1D barcode holds one number or short string and is read by fixed scanners at tills, conveyors and docks. A QR code holds a URL or up to a few kilobytes of data and is read by phones. They are not interchangeable: a retail scanner does not read QR codes, and nobody scans a Code 128 with their phone on purpose. If the code is for customers, staff with phones, menus, posters or packaging inserts, you want the free QR code generator instead - and if the destination must change after printing, a dynamic QR code.
Barcode types in depth
- Code 128 Barcode Generator - Code 128 is the workhorse of logistics and inventory: any ASCII text, compact digits, a built-in check symbol, and readable by every scanner.
- EAN-13 Barcode Generator - EAN-13 is the barcode on nearly every product sold outside North America, and scanners everywhere read it.
- UPC Barcode Generator - UPC-A is the 12-digit barcode on products sold in the United States and Canada.
- Code 39 Barcode Generator - Code 39 is the older alphanumeric barcode still required by badge systems, automotive and defence specs.
- Data Matrix Code Generator - Data Matrix is the tiny 2D code on electronics, medical devices and machined parts.
- ITF-14 Barcode Generator - ITF-14 is the barcode on cases and cartons: a 14-digit GTIN in interleaved 2 of 5, framed by thick bearer bars so it prints reliably on corrugated board..
FAQ
Is this barcode generator free?
Yes, for every symbology and every download. The encoder runs in your browser, so there is no server cost to recover and nothing to gate. No sign-up, no watermark, no expiry: a barcode is a picture of a number and it keeps working forever.
Can I use these barcodes on products I sell in shops?
The barcode, yes - it is a standard EAN-13 or UPC-A symbol. The number underneath is the part you have to license: retailers look the number up in the GS1 database, and only a GS1 company prefix guarantees it is unique to you. Retailer-specific and in-store items can use the 02 and 20-29 prefixes GS1 reserves for internal numbering.
What is the difference between a barcode and a QR code?
A barcode is one-dimensional: a row of bars holding a number, read by scanners at checkouts and in warehouses. A QR code is two-dimensional and holds a link or text, read by phone cameras. Use a barcode where a scanner expects one; use a QR code where a person with a phone is the reader.
Does it do GS1-128 or GS1 DataMatrix with application identifiers?
Not yet. Both need the FNC1 function character to mark the start of GS1 data, and the tool does not insert it. Plain Code 128 and plain Data Matrix, which is what most internal, logistics and parts labelling uses, are fully supported.
Which file format should I download?
SVG for print of any kind: it keeps every bar at its exact width at any size. PNG for screens, documents and label software that will not take a vector. The PNG is exported at a high resolution, so it prints acceptably at small sizes - but the SVG is always the safer file.
Is anything uploaded when I make a barcode?
No. The page ships the encoder to your browser and builds the image there. You can disconnect from the internet after the page loads and keep generating.