QR menu systems look almost identical on the market: a menu on the phone, a code on the table, a panel to edit it. The differences that actually cost money sit in the contract and the architecture, not on the features page.
Below are ten questions worth asking before you sign. Each with the answer that should send you looking elsewhere.
1. What is the commission on orders
The most expensive line on the whole bill if you sell takeaway. The difference between 0% and 10% on €7,000 monthly turnover is €700 every month — more than most systems charge for a year.
Warning sign: a commission quoted as "from 2%" with no ceiling, or tied to a plan the provider can change unilaterally.
For context, delivery platform commissions run 10–35%.
2. Does the menu address belong to you
The QR code on the table points at a specific address. If that address belongs to the provider and expires with the subscription, moving means reprinting every code and losing everything Google indexed.
Warning sign: an address only on the provider's domain, with no option to attach your own.
3. Who updates the menu, and for how much
This question settles it most often. A system where the provider makes a price change on request is more expensive to run than a pricier subscription with self-service editing — because there are dozens of changes a year.
Warning sign: a price list with a line reading "menu update — €X". That line is the bill.
4. How does the menu look on an old phone
Open the provider's demo on a four-year-old phone with a weak signal. Some systems render heavy pages. On one bar of LTE that is fifteen seconds of waiting.
Warning sign: a demo that exists only as screenshots, with no public address of a working menu.
5. Is the menu visible in Google
A menu as an ordinary page brings traffic from searches for specific dishes: a 60-item menu is 60 phrases. One rendered by a script, or hidden behind a redirect, gives none of that.
Checking takes a minute: type site: and the address of one of the provider's client menus into Google.
6. How many languages, and how are they made
The question is not "how many" but what happens to the translation when a price changes. If language versions are separate documents, they will drift apart within a quarter.
Warning sign: languages as a paid add-on, charged per language.
7. Can you mark allergens at the item
Not a convenience question but a duty under Regulation 1169/2011. A system with no allergen field at the dish forces you to keep a second document, which will drift away from the menu.
8. What happens to your data when you leave
A 200-item menu with photos and descriptions is dozens of hours of work. Ask outright what format you get an export in, and whether you get one at all.
Warning sign: no answer, or "please write to support and we will arrange something".
9. What is the notice period, and what about prepayment
An annual prepayment with a discount looks good right up to the moment the system turns out to be wrong in month two.
Warning sign: automatic renewal for another year, with termination requiring three months' notice.
10. Who answers when the menu is down on Friday at 20:00
Weekend support response time matters more than the length of the feature list. A menu unavailable at peak is a room with no menu.
Warning sign: email-only support during office hours, on a product used mainly in the evenings and at weekends.
How to compare two offers without being sold features
Feature lists always look similar, because marketing writes them. Count the cost of three years instead: subscription × 36 + commission on projected turnover + update cost × changes per year + the cost of leaving.
That number orders the offers differently from the table on the website.
Our comparisons with specific systems: WMenu vs ChoiceQR and WMenu vs Restaumatic. If you are looking at free options — free QR menu.
Frequently asked questions
Is it worth taking a system with ordering if I only want a menu for now?
It is worth checking what adding ordering later costs. If it is a plan change rather than a migration, you can start with the menu alone.
What matters more: subscription price or commission?
With takeaway sales, commission. With just a menu on the table — the subscription and the cost of updates.
Can a menu be moved between systems?
It depends on the export. Without one, moving a 200-item menu means dozens of hours of retyping — which is why the export question gets asked before signing, not on the way out.
