QR code vs MaxiCode

MaxiCode is a fixed-size 2D code - about 25 x 25 mm, 866 hexagonal modules around a central bullseye - designed by UPS in 1992 for high-speed parcel sortation. It holds roughly 93 characters. Unless you are printing UPS shipping labels you will never need one; use a QR code.

The comparison

	QR code	MaxiCode
Standard	ISO/IEC 18004	ISO/IEC 16023
Origin	Denso, 1994	UPS, 1992
Module shape	Square	Hexagonal, 866 of them
Physical size	Any, scales with version and module size	Fixed: roughly 25 × 25 mm (1 inch)
Capacity	Up to 7,089 digits / 2,953 bytes	About 93 characters
Finder	Three corner squares	Central bullseye of concentric rings
Error correction	Selectable, 7–30%	Reed-Solomon, two grades (SEC/EEC)
Who reads it	Every phone, every imager	Conveyor scanners in parcel hubs
Who generates it	Anyone	Shipping systems, almost exclusively for UPS

A code built for one job

MaxiCode makes sense only once you picture its habitat: a parcel moving along a conveyor at several metres per second under a fixed camera array. Every design choice follows from that.

Fixed size. Scanners at a known distance need a known target. MaxiCode does not scale: the symbol is defined at about one inch square, always, so the optics never refocus.

Hexagonal modules. Hexagons pack more tightly than squares, squeezing usable data into the small fixed area.

Central bullseye. Like Aztec's, the concentric-ring finder is locatable at any rotation in a single pass, but MaxiCode's is optimised for detection at conveyor speed, with the data arranged radially around it.

Structured payload. In its primary modes (2 and 3), MaxiCode does not carry free text but a structured carrier message: postal code, three-digit country code and service class, packed in a fixed layout the sorter reads first. The secondary message carries the rest. It is a machine's shipping manifest, not a link for a human.

The trade-off is capacity: roughly 93 characters, about 3% of a QR code's byte ceiling. For sortation, that is plenty.

Why you will never choose it

MaxiCode is an open ISO standard, but in practice it is UPS infrastructure: their labels carry it, their hubs read it, and effectively nothing else does. No phone camera decodes it. No consumer use case fits a fixed one-inch symbol holding 93 characters. Even in logistics, anyone not printing UPS-routed labels reaches for Data Matrix, Code 128 or QR, the label formats and their trade-offs are covered under QR codes on shipping labels.

If you are generating codes for humans to scan: a URL, WiFi credentials, a payment: the choice was never really between QR and MaxiCode. The one situation where MaxiCode appears in your life is a shipping platform emitting it automatically onto a UPS label, correctly, without asking you.

FAQ

What is the bullseye barcode on shipping labels?

That is a MaxiCode, the fixed-size hexagonal symbology UPS designed in 1992 for high-speed parcel sortation. The concentric rings let conveyor scanners locate it at any rotation while packages move at speed.

Can a phone scan a MaxiCode?

Not with any stock camera app, and only rarely with specialist apps. MaxiCode is read by industrial conveyor scanners in parcel facilities; it was never intended for consumer devices.

How much data does a MaxiCode hold?

About 93 characters, structured primarily as a shipping manifest of postal code, country code and service class. That is roughly 3% of a QR code's 2,953-byte maximum.

Should I ever use MaxiCode instead of a QR code?

Only if you are producing UPS shipping labels, in which case your shipping software generates it for you. For every human-facing or general logistics purpose, QR or Data Matrix is the correct choice.