A digital QR menu costs anywhere from £0 to several thousand pounds. A PDF menu with a free QR code costs nothing but your time. Monthly menu tools typically charge from about £5 to £50 a month per venue as of 2026, with ordering systems costing more. QR Dining costs £89 a year (about £9 a month) with everything included. A custom-built menu website or app from an agency usually starts at around £1,500 and can run far higher.
• Free DIY: £0 — a PDF online plus a free static QR code. You pay with your time.
• Monthly menu tools: typically £5–£50 a month per venue (about £60–£600 a year).
• QR Dining: £89 a year, unlimited scans, items and changes, table stickers included.
• Custom build by an agency: typically from £1,500 for a simple menu website, and tens of thousands for a bespoke ordering app.
• Watch for: setup fees, per-location pricing, order commissions and QR codes that die when you cancel.
Digital menu costs at a glance
| Option | Typical cost (2026) | What you get | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free DIY (PDF + free QR code) | £0, plus your time | Your existing menu as a PDF, a static QR code that never expires | Small menus that rarely change, tight budgets |
| Monthly menu subscription | Roughly £5–£50 a month per venue; more with ordering | Online menu editor, hosting; features vary by plan | Venues that want an editable menu and don’t mind a monthly bill |
| QR Dining | £89 a year (about £9 a month) | Mobile menu, photos, allergens, 7 languages, analytics, unlimited scans and changes, table stickers | Restaurants, cafés and bars that want a proper phone menu at a fixed, low price |
| Custom build by an agency | Typically £1,500–£6,000 for a website; tens of thousands for an app | A site or app designed just for you, plus ongoing maintenance costs | Groups and brands with specific needs and a real budget |
Not sure whether you need a digital menu at all? Our comparison of QR code menus vs PDF menus vs printed menus covers the pros and cons of each format before you look at prices.
Tier 1: the free DIY route (£0)
You can have a working QR menu today without spending a penny. Save your menu as a PDF, put it online (Google Drive, Dropbox or your own website), copy the link and turn it into a QR code. Our step-by-step guide on how to put your restaurant menu PDF online and make a QR code walks you through every option, from no website at all to your own hosting.
For the code itself, our free QR code generator needs no sign-up. The codes are static, which means your link is stored inside the code itself, so they never expire and nobody can switch them off.
The real costs:
- Your time. Designing a phone-friendly PDF, uploading it and re-exporting it every time a price changes. For a busy owner, an hour here and there adds up.
- Hosting you already pay for. If the PDF sits on your website, it uses hosting you are paying for anyway. Google Drive and Dropbox have free plans.
- A weaker guest experience. PDFs are hard to read on a phone, can’t switch language with a tap and give you no idea how many people opened them.
Tier 2: monthly menu subscriptions
Most digital menu platforms charge a monthly fee. As of 2026, menu-only plans typically range from about £5 to £50 a month per venue, depending on features. That works out at roughly £60 to £600 a year for one location. Plans that add table ordering, payments or delivery usually cost more, often well above £50 a month, and some charge extra per order on top.
Check the price in pounds, including VAT. Low entry prices often come with limits: a cap on menu items, scans or languages, a platform logo on your menu, or key features such as photos and allergens kept for a higher tier.
Tier 3: QR Dining at £89 a year
QR Dining is a single annual plan: £89 a year, about £9 a month, with a 30-day money-back guarantee. There are no tiers to compare and nothing is held back for a more expensive plan. Everything below is included:
- Unlimited scans, unlimited menu items and unlimited changes.
- Hosting of your menu, so there is no website or server to manage.
- Stickers with your personalised QR code for your tables.
- Help getting started and responsive technical support.
- Sections and sub-headings, dish photos, prices and sizes (g, ml or per serving), calories and alcohol %.
- Allergens and ingredients per dish, section-level allergen notes and an optional nutrition PDF per section.
- Up to 7 languages (English, Romanian, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Greek) with one-tap switching.
- “Currently unavailable” marking for sold-out dishes.
- Themes (colours, font, font size), your logo, social links, phone, public email and footer text for opening hours or Wi-Fi details.
- Analytics: menu views by day, 7, 30 and 365 days, most-opened sections and dishes, languages, phone systems and browsers.
- A shareable link such as
qrdining.com/menu/your-codeand an embed code for your website.
The menu works in any phone browser, with no app to install. Changes go live instantly and your QR code never changes, so you never reprint your table stickers because of a new price.
To put £89 in context: a tool at £15 a month costs £180 a year, and one at £30 a month costs £360 a year, before any extras.
Tier 4: a custom menu website or app from an agency
If you want something built entirely to your brief, a web designer or agency can build it for you. In the UK as of 2026, a small brochure-style website from a freelancer typically costs around £1,500 to £3,000, and small agencies often quote £3,000 to £6,000 or more, with London prices higher. A bespoke mobile app with ordering, payments and till (POS) integration is a different league: estimates usually start in the tens of thousands of pounds.
Build cost is only the start. Expect ongoing bills for hosting, security updates, app store fees and changes. Agencies commonly budget yearly maintenance as a percentage of the build cost. And unless you pay for an easy editing system, every menu change may mean emailing the developer.
A custom build makes sense for restaurant groups with their own brand app, loyalty scheme or complex ordering. For a single venue that simply wants guests to read the menu on their phones, it is usually far more than you need.
One-off costs to budget for
Whichever option you pick, a few one-off costs often come up:
- Table stickers, cards or stands. Vinyl stickers are cheap to print; acrylic or wooden table stands typically cost a few pounds each, so a 20-table venue can spend anywhere from very little to over £100. (QR Dining includes stickers with your QR code.)
- Printing window posters, counter signs or flyers with your QR code.
- Dish photos. A modern phone in good daylight is often enough. A professional food photographer usually charges by the half day or day, typically several hundred pounds.
- Translations. Professional translators usually charge per word. A menu is short, so one extra language is normally a modest one-off cost, but have it checked by a native speaker either way.
Hidden costs to watch out for
This is where a cheap-looking plan can become expensive. Read the pricing page and the terms for these:
- Per-scan or scan-limit pricing. Some plans include a set number of scans per month and charge more, or block the menu, once you go over. A busy Saturday shouldn’t cost you extra.
- Per-location fees. Prices are often “per venue”. Two sites can mean double the bill.
- Setup or onboarding fees charged once on top of the subscription.
- Transaction commissions on ordering systems. Table ordering and payment tools commonly charge a percentage of each order, a fixed fee per order, or both, plus card processing fees. On a busy venue, that can far outweigh the monthly fee.
- Feature upgrades. Photos, allergens, extra languages or removing the platform’s branding may need a higher plan.
- Dynamic QR codes that stop working when you stop paying. Many paid QR codes are dynamic: the code points to the provider’s short link, which then redirects to your menu. Cancel the subscription and the redirect may be switched off, leaving every printed sticker useless. Our guide to static vs dynamic QR codes explains the difference and how to protect yourself.
What to ask before you pay
- What is the total cost for 12 months, including VAT, in pounds?
- Are scans, menu items, changes and languages unlimited, or capped?
- Is the price per location? What does a second venue cost?
- Is there a setup fee, or a fee per order or per transaction?
- Are photos, allergens and translations included in this plan?
- What happens to my QR code and menu if I cancel?
- Do I need to reprint anything when the menu changes?
- Is there a money-back guarantee or free trial, and how does renewal pricing work?
- Who do I contact if something breaks during service, and how fast do they reply?
Frequently asked questions
Can I get a QR code menu for free?
Yes. Put your menu PDF online and create a static QR code with a free QR code generator. It costs nothing, and static codes never expire, but you have to update the PDF yourself.
How much does a QR menu cost per month?
As of 2026, menu-only subscriptions typically cost about £5 to £50 a month per venue. QR Dining works out at about £9 a month, billed as £89 a year.
Do QR menu apps charge per scan?
Some plans cap the number of scans or charge more above a limit, so check before you sign up. QR Dining includes unlimited scans.
Will my QR code stop working if I cancel my subscription?
With many dynamic QR codes, yes, because the provider controls the redirect. A static code always holds the same link and never expires; it only stops working if the page it points to goes offline.
Is a digital menu cheaper than printing menus?
Usually, if your prices or dishes change often. Every reprint of laminated or printed menus costs money, while a digital menu can be updated for free. Our QR vs PDF vs printed menu comparison looks at the numbers in more detail.
The bottom line
If your menu is simple and rarely changes, start free: put your PDF online and make a code with our free QR code generator. If you want a real phone menu with photos, allergens, languages and instant changes, without monthly bills, per-scan fees or surprise extras, QR Dining does it all for £89 a year.
One price. Everything included.
£89 a year for your restaurant, café or bar: unlimited scans and changes, photos, allergens, 7 languages, analytics and QR stickers for your tables. 30-day money-back guarantee.
Get started with QR Dining