MeCard vs vCard: Which Contact QR Code Format Should You Use?

A contact QR code lets someone scan your business card, badge or sign and save your details without typing. Behind the pattern, the code holds plain text in a contact format the phone recognizes. There are two common formats for this: vCard and MeCard. They do the same basic job, but they differ in how much they can hold and how dense the finished code is. This guide compares them side by side so you can pick the right one.

The short answer

• vCard is the standard contact-card format used by phones, email programs and address books. It supports many fields and is the safe default for most people.
• MeCard is a shorter, simpler format originally created by NTT DoCoMo for Japanese mobile phones. It supports fewer fields but uses fewer characters, so the QR code can be a little less dense.

If you want a contact code that works the way most people expect, use vCard. If you only need a name, phone and email and want the smallest possible code, MeCard is worth a look.

What each format looks like

A vCard is written as one field per line, wrapped in begin and end lines. This is the vCard 3.0 style QR Studio generates:

BEGIN:VCARD / VERSION:3.0 / FN:Jane Doe / ORG:Acme Inc. / TEL:+15550100 / EMAIL:jane@example.com / URL:https://example.com / END:VCARD

(Each item separated by a slash is its own line in the real code.)

A MeCard puts everything on one line, with fields separated by semicolons and two semicolons at the end:

MECARD:N:Doe,Jane;TEL:+15550100;EMAIL:jane@example.com;URL:https://example.com;NOTE:Acme Inc.;;

Notice two differences already. MeCard writes the name as "Last,First," and it has no company field, so the company goes in the note.

Side-by-side comparison

How much space each format takes

Fewer characters means a QR code with fewer modules (the little squares), which is easier to scan at small sizes. We encoded the two examples above with the same details, so you can see the actual difference:

The MeCard version is smaller, but not dramatically so. In practice, the number of fields you include matters more than the format. Adding a street address, a second phone number or a long job title to either format will grow the code more than switching formats saves. For how error correction affects size, see QR code error correction levels, and for the full picture on capacity, how much data a QR code can hold.

Phone compatibility

Modern iPhone and Android camera apps generally recognize contact QR codes and offer to add the contact. vCard is the more widely used format, so it is the safer choice when you cannot test on every device. Support can vary between phones, operating system versions and scanner apps, especially for less common fields, so the rule is simple: scan your code with at least one iPhone and one Android phone before you print. Our guides to scanning on iPhone and scanning on Android show how.

When to choose vCard

• Business cards and badges where you want company and job title to appear properly.
• More than one phone number, such as a work and a mobile number.
• Wide compatibility when you cannot control which phone people use.
• You also share a .vcf file by email, so the same format works everywhere.

When MeCard can make sense

• Very small codes, such as on a tiny sticker or a crowded label, where every character counts.
• Simple details only: a name, one phone number and an email.
• Codes with a logo, which need higher error correction and so grow quickly. A shorter payload helps keep the code scannable; see can a QR code have a logo.

How to make either one in QR Studio

vCard:

1. Open QR Studio and choose the vCard tab.
2. Enter your full name, organization, phone, email and website. Leave out anything you do not need.
3. Download the PNG and scan it with your own phone.

MeCard:

1. Write your MeCard text, starting with MECARD: and ending with ;;, for example the line shown above.
2. In QR Studio, choose the Text tab and paste the whole line.
3. Download and scan it. Check that the name, number and email land in the right fields.

Because a semicolon ends each MeCard field, a semicolon inside a value must be written with a backslash in front (\;). The original format also asks for backslashes before colons, commas and backslashes inside values, but scanner apps do not all handle this the same way, which is one more reason to test.

Tips for any contact QR code

• Use international phone format, such as +1 followed by the number, so it dials correctly anywhere. See QR codes for phone numbers.
• Keep it short. Fewer fields mean a cleaner code that scans faster.
• Leave a quiet zone around the code; see the QR code quiet zone.
• Print it large enough. Our QR code size guide gives practical sizes for cards and badges.
• Remember it is permanent. Contact details are stored in the code, so a new number means a new code. If you need to change details later, a link to an online profile is an alternative; see static vs dynamic QR codes.

For a full walkthrough of contact codes, read the vCard QR code guide.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between MeCard and vCard?

Both store contact details in a QR code. vCard is the widely used standard with many fields, one per line. MeCard is a shorter single-line format with fewer fields, originally designed for mobile phones in Japan.

Is MeCard smaller than vCard?

For the same details, MeCard usually uses fewer characters. In our example, the same contact took 95 characters as a MeCard and 120 as a vCard, one QR version smaller at low error correction.

Do iPhones read MeCard QR codes?

Modern phone cameras generally recognize both formats, but support can vary by device and app. Always scan a test print with the phones your audience is likely to use.

Which format should I use on a business card?

vCard is the safer default, because it supports company, job title and multiple phone numbers, and it is the most widely used contact format.

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