OpenQR.io: €0 → €300 MRR After Nearly 4 Years

€300 MRR · €4K total revenue · ~60 customers · €0 spent

OpenQR.io started with a freelance project.

Nerijus needed a flexible QR code solution for a client. While looking at existing products he noticed that many were expensive or overly complicated.

There was another problem.

Some QR code platforms would stop dynamic QR codes from working when a subscription expired.

That didn't make sense to him.

If a QR code is already printed on a menu, business card or sign, it shouldn't suddenly become useless because a subscription ended.

So he built OpenQR.io.

What is OpenQR.io?

OpenQR.io is a QR code platform for individuals and businesses.

Users can create, customize, manage and analyze QR codes.

It supports static and dynamic QR codes, custom branding, custom domains, analytics and an API.

The product started as a small project and slowly grew into a SaaS.

Building the MVP

Nerijus built the MVP himself using PHP, Laravel, JavaScript and MySQL.

He already had experience with those technologies so he used what he knew.

The first goal wasn't to build a huge platform.

It was simply to get the core QR functionality working and put it online.

One of the first use cases was generating a QR code from a URL.

The MVP took about six months to launch.

He spent €0 apart from his own time.

Getting the First Customers

The first customer came about a year after starting.

Nerijus used content, social media, Reddit and communities to get the product in front of people.

The first 100 active users took about a year.

Reddit was part of the strategy although it wasn't exactly easy.

"I still do not understand how it works"

Many of his Reddit posts were banned.

Paid ads brought traffic but almost no paying customers.

SEO took longer but the users coming from search were more valuable because they were already looking for a QR code solution.

What Didn't Work

Product Hunt didn't generate the traction Nerijus hoped for.

He also tried Reddit Ads.

The ads sent people directly to the homepage instead of a landing page built specifically for the campaign.

The result was poor.

The biggest mistake was spending too much time building and not enough time marketing.

As a developer, building was the part he naturally enjoyed.

That made it easy to keep adding features while marketing was pushed aside.

The Six Month Break

At one point Nerijus stopped working on OpenQR.io for about six months.

He wasn't building.

He wasn't marketing.

He wasn't talking about the product.

When he came back he noticed that more than 10 new competitors had appeared.

Instead of quitting he saw it as proof that the idea had a market.

He started pushing marketing, SEO and content again.

That's when things started improving.

The Timeline

January 2023

Started building.

June 2023

Launched and was mentioned on Product Hunt.

October 2023

Got the first customer.

April 2025

Reached €50 MRR.

February 2026

Reached €100 MRR.

April 2026

Reached €200 MRR.

June 2026

Reached €300 MRR.

September 2026

Still building.

The Biggest Lesson

For Nerijus the biggest lesson is simple:

"Don't stay silent."

A good product doesn't automatically get users.

He learned that consistency matters. You don't always need to build something new. Sometimes you just need to keep showing up, talking to users and getting the product in front of people.

"Silence is expensive."

OpenQR.io is still growing.

And Nerijus is still building.