Aim To assess the quality of life in frail older persons (65+ years) living in nursing homes and to examine differences between quality of life perceptions among different gender and age groups. Design Cross‐sectional. Methods Data were collected during 2015‐2017 based on two questionnaires (WHOQOL‐OLD and WHOQOL‐BREF). Seventy‐eight older persons living in nursing homes in southern Sweden answered the questionnaires in structured interviews. Descriptive and comparative statistics were used to analyse the data. The study was guided by Transparent Reporting of Evaluations with Nonrandomized Designs (TREND) guidelines. Results The frail older persons reported low autonomy related to few opportunities to engage in everyday activities and were unable to do the things they liked to do and not feeling in control of their future. Another important result was that frail older persons seemed to have no or little fear of death and dying. No significant differences between gender or age on quality of life were revealed.