How to Create a Free QR Menu for Your Restaurant, Step by Step

MenuForma2026-11-05

A free QR menu lets guests open your menu on their own phone by pointing the camera at a code on the table. This guide walks through creating one with MenuForma, from the menu you have today to tested codes on every table, counter or hotel room.

It costs nothing to follow. Free Forever is $0 a month with no end date, MenuForma adds no fee per order, and signing up does not ask for a card. Guests install nothing either: the menu opens in the phone's browser.

What you need before you start

Gather three things first. Most of the setup is checking, not typing.

Your current menu in any form: a photo of the printed card, a PDF, an Excel or Word file, or the address of a menu page on your website.
A list of the places that will carry a code: table names or numbers, the counter, hotel rooms, the window.
Your logo if you want it in the middle of the code, plus a printer or a print shop for the final cards.

Step 1: Create your free account

Choose Sign up with Google, Sign up with Apple or Sign up with Email Code. With the email option, MenuForma sends a code to confirm the address. No card is requested at any point.

The first screen, Create Your Restaurant, asks for the Restaurant Name, Cuisine Type, Menu Language and Currency. On the free plan the menu language you choose here is the one guests read, so pick the language most of your guests use.

Step 2: Get your dishes into MenuForma

The setup offers to read your menu for you: upload a photo or document, paste the link of a menu page, or skip ahead and add items by hand. The same reader lives in Menu Manager as AI Import, which takes photos, PDFs, Excel and Word files (several at once) or a picture taken with your phone, while Extract Menu from URL reads a web page. The free AI menu generator page explains the import in more detail.

New accounts get 30 welcome credits that stay usable for 30 days, and each AI import uses 5 of them. Typing dishes in yourself never costs credits, and neither do QR codes, orders or later edits.

Read through the result before you print anything. Check every name and price, set Variants / Sizes where a dish comes in portions with their own price, add a Description where guests need one, and use Upload Image for your own food photos.

If the import spots possible allergens, MenuForma offers to label them, and Yes, auto-label adds them for you to review. The list covers the 14 allergens EU law asks restaurants to declare, plus others such as buckwheat or garlic. Check each label yourself: the restaurant remains responsible for allergen information, and the guest menu reminds diners to tell staff about allergies.

Step 3: Settle the menu address before you print

Every code points to your Menu URL, the public address of the menu (menuforma.com/m/your-name). The code holds that address itself rather than a short link that can be switched off, so it keeps working for as long as the menu is published there.

Editing a dish, a price, a photo or an allergen never touches the address. Changing the address does, so choose a name you are happy to keep before the cards go to print.

Step 4: Choose what each code should do

Open QR Codes & Links. The tabs decide what happens after a guest scans, and five of them belong to the free plan. If you plan to take orders at the table, the guide to restaurant QR code ordering covers the service side.

Per-Table: one code per table. Guests order from their phone and the order reaches Orders and the Kitchen Display with the table number.
Unified: one code for the whole room, made for counters, cafés, bars and food courts. Every order gets its own Order Number.
Hotel: one code per room. Room-service orders arrive with the room number, guests can choose a delivery time, and rooms you set up can use Charge to room.
Display Only: the menu without ordering, for the window, your social profiles or a map listing.
Self-Select: guests pick dishes and show the list to a waiter, who takes the order. Nothing is sent to the system.

Add your tables, rooms and a code for the wine list

For Per-Table, open Manage Tables and add tables one by one, use Batch Generate for a range such as Table 1–Table 20 or 101–120, or choose Import from File with a CSV, Excel or TXT list of names. Hotels add rooms the same way under Manage Rooms.

The By Category tab makes one code per menu category. Put the drinks code on the bar, the wine-list code in the wine stand or the desserts code on the dessert trolley: each one opens the menu at that category.

Delivery and Tablet codes belong to the paid Regular plan. Everything else in this guide stays on Free Forever.

Step 5: Design a code that scans easily

Customize QR Design opens the designer. Start from one of the nine Templates, then adjust the Dot Pattern, Eye Shape, Dot Color and Background Color. Under Logo, choose Use Restaurant Logo or upload another image for the centre of the code, and add a short line under the code such as Scan to Order or View Menu. Save Design applies the look to every code in that tab.

A little restraint keeps the code readable for every phone:

Keep dark dots on a light background. Inverted codes do not scan on every phone.
Leave a clear margin around the code and keep the logo small.
Size the code for the distance. A common rule of thumb is a code about a tenth as wide as the scanning distance, so a code read from a seat 40 cm away should be about 4 cm wide.
Skip glossy lamination that throws back the ceiling lights.

Step 6: Download and print

Each code card has a Download button for a PNG image. The designer also exports PNG or SVG, and SVG is a vector file that a print shop can enlarge to any size without blur. Download All (ZIP) saves every table or room code in one file, and Print A4 opens a ready sheet with three codes per row, each labelled with its table or room and framed by a border to cut along.

Put the codes where people decide what to eat: a table tent or sticker at each seat, a card on the counter, a sign at the entrance or in the window, and a card in every hotel room. On a phone, long-press the code to save it to your photos for a quick test.

Step 7: Share the same menu online

Copy display-only link gives you the read-only menu link for your Instagram bio, Google Business Profile, website or messaging apps, so people can browse before they arrive. Copy ordering link copies the ordering version for places where ordering makes sense.

Step 8: Test before the first service

A short test now saves an awkward evening. Run through this list with the printed cards in place:

Scan every code with at least one iPhone and one Android phone from a seated position, in the room's real light.
Send a test order from a Per-Table code and check that it arrives in Orders with the right table number.
Open a Display Only code and confirm there are no add buttons.
Hand a phone to someone who has never seen the menu and watch where they hesitate.

Keep the menu current without reprinting

Because the code points to an address and not to a file, you change the menu in Menu Manager and leave the printed cards alone. Raise a price, add a seasonal dish or retire one, and guests see the change from the same code.

When a dish runs out mid-service, Mark Sold Out keeps it on the menu with a Sold Out badge and removes its add button, so nobody orders something the kitchen cannot make.

What a free QR menu includes, and what Regular adds

Everything in the steps above runs on Free Forever. Regular is an optional paid plan for restaurants that need more.

	Free Forever	Regular
Price	$0 a month, no end date	Paid, optional
Restaurants	1	Several
Menu languages	1	More, with automatic translation
QR code types	Per-Table, Unified, Hotel, Display Only, Self-Select, By Category	Adds Delivery and Tablet
QR designer, PNG and SVG, ZIP, A4 sheets	Included	Included
Orders and Kitchen Display	Included	Included
Fee per order	None	None
Payment	Guests pay staff by Cash or Card	Adds Pay Online through Stripe
Menu design	Classic template	More templates, custom colours and fonts
Food photos	Your own	Your own or AI-generated
MenuForma credit on the menu	Shown	Can be removed

Frequently asked questions

Is the QR menu really free?

Yes. Free Forever costs $0 a month with no end date, and MenuForma adds no fee per order. You pay only if you choose Regular for features such as delivery, more languages or online payment.

Will my QR code expire?

No. The code contains your menu address itself, not a short link that can be switched off, so it works for as long as your menu is published at that address. Only changing the Menu URL means reprinting.

Do guests need an app?

No. The phone camera opens the menu in the browser. Guests need a working internet connection, but no app, account or card.

Can the wine list have its own code?

Yes. The By Category tab creates one code per category, so a code can open the menu straight at the wines, the drinks or the desserts.

Can guests pay from the menu?

On the free plan guests send their order and pay staff by cash or card. Online card payment through Stripe is part of Regular. MenuForma takes no commission on Stripe payments, but Stripe processing fees still apply.

What happens when the welcome credits run out?

Credits pay for AI work such as menu imports. You can always add or edit dishes by hand in Menu Manager, and QR codes, orders and menu edits never use credits.

Your menu is probably closer to ready than it looks: the photo on your phone or the PDF from the printer is enough to start. Create your free account, import the menu and print your first codes. To see what the plan includes first, visit the free QR menu generator page, or read the shorter guide on how to create a QR code for a menu.