What each one is actually good at
QR codes are visual, scannable from across a room, free to produce, and work on any phone with a camera. They live well on flyers, posters, store windows, packaging, and anything someone will photograph and share.
NFC tags are tap-only. The phone has to physically touch (or come within ~1cm of) the tag. They're invisible: no logo cluttering the surface, no QR square ruining the design. They're reprogrammable: same tag, different destination, no reprinting.
The destination URL is identical. The interaction is completely different.
When QR wins
- One-shot, one-direction interactions. Scan-this-poster-to-see-our-Spotify. Scan-the-window-to-watch-our-WebAR. The QR is a sign saying "tap here," and the tap is the whole interaction.
- Distance scanning. A QR on a billboard works from across the street. NFC requires you to walk up and touch it.
- Cost-sensitive runs. A QR is free to print. NFC tags are about $0.40 each at any reasonable volume. Not expensive, but not free.
- Photographable. QR codes can be photographed and sent. "Scan this," shared in a group chat. NFC can't.
When NFC wins
- Tap-friendly contexts. Bar tops, retail counters, business cards, branded objects, networking events. Anywhere the phone is already in someone's hand and tapping is faster than scanning.
- Embedded inside an object. A 3D-printed logo with a sealed NFC tag inside is invisible-tech magic. A QR code on the same object is a sticker.
- Reprogrammable destinations. Tag goes to your IG today, your booking link next week, your latest project the month after. No reprinting.
- Small, repeated interactions. A coaster, magnet, or fridge clip that gets tapped a dozen times a week.
What we usually do
Most of our work uses both. The 3D-printed signing-bonus object has an embedded NFC tag (invisible, tappable) and a small QR on the underside (scan from across a desk). The Trends LIC scavenger hunt used QR codes at clue-stop posters and NFC chips inside the finisher trays. SPDRBT spider-magnets use NFC for tap-and-launch and a dynamic QR sticker on the back as a fallback for older phones and scan-from-photo sharing.
The right answer is rarely "QR or NFC." It's "which of these two does each part of the customer journey need."
The real failure mode
Picking the wrong one means people don't engage. Putting NFC on a poster behind glass kills the activation. Putting a QR code on a tap-friendly bar coaster wastes the medium.
The rule we use: if it can be touched, NFC. If it has to be seen from distance, QR. If it's both, do both.