Pricing and privacy at QR Kontor
Static QR codes are free, with no sign-up, no limit and no watermark. Dynamic QR codes, where you can change the destination after printing, cost €4.99 one-time per code. No subscription, no recurring fees.
Your data is hosted in Frankfurt, Germany (Supabase EU and Vercel fra1). Only essential cookies for the login session, no marketing tracking and no third-party pixels.
Why a digital menu makes sense at all
The math is unspectacular and still clear. A set of new menus for thirty tables quickly costs three figures depending on paper and binding, and that every time the winery changes vintage or the supplier raises prices. Doing that four times a year means printing four times.
The code on the table is printed once. After that only what sits behind it changes. For places with a rotating lunch menu this is not a convenience, it is the difference between printing daily and never printing again.
Then there is the side effect many underestimate: a sold-out dish can be taken off the menu the moment it sells out. That spares your staff the same conversation over and over.
Step 1: Where the menu should live
This is where the most common decision goes wrong. The three options, from good to bad:
A real page on your website (recommended) Loads fast, adapts to the phone, can be changed in seconds and is readable for Google. If you have a website, the menu belongs there.
A PDF Works, but is unpleasant on a phone: the guest zooms and pans instead of reading. If it has to be a PDF, then in portrait and at a font size readable without zooming. A landscape letter-size or A4 PDF is practically unusable on a phone.
A photo of the scanned paper menu Not recommended. Not searchable, often blurry, and allergen information is regularly unreadable on it.
Step 2: Allergens and dietary information
This is not a detail. It is the part where the authorities get involved. Allergen rules apply to the digital menu just as they do to the printed one. In the UK, information on the 14 major allergens has to be available for every dish, in writing or verbally with a clear notice. In the US there is no federal allergen rule for restaurant menus, but chains have to show calories and several states and cities have their own requirements. Check what applies to your business. Either way, the guest needs to find the information before ordering.
In practice this means:
- Labeling directly at the dish, not as a collective note somewhere at the bottom
- Alternatively the usual footnote solution with numbers or letters and a key that is reachable without clicking through
- A note that the information is also available from staff belongs on the menu
The advantage of the digital menu: if a recipe changes, the labeling is corrected everywhere at once. With thirty printed menus, that is exactly what gets forgotten.
Step 3: Create the code and place it
Paste the menu address into the generator above, match the color to your place, download. SVG for the print shop, PNG for table tents from your own printer.
On placement:
| Place | Size | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Table tent | from 3 cm (1.2 in) | The standard. Printing both sides is worth it |
| Sticker on the table top | from 3 cm (1.2 in) | Lasts longer than a tent, but disappears under plates |
| Window or entrance | from 8 cm (3 in) | For guests who want to see prices before coming in |
| Bill folder | from 2.5 cm (1 in) | A good spot for the review code, less so for the menu |
The window code is the most underrated one. Anyone who can read the menu outside is more likely to walk in, and it costs you nothing but a sticker.
Step 4: The words next to it
A bare QR code on the table gets ignored by some guests because it is unclear what is behind it. Three words solve that: "Scan for menu" or "Our menu".
Why dynamic is not optional here
For most uses, a dynamic code is a question of convenience. For the menu it is the whole point.
A static code holds the address permanently. If you switch websites, move to a different system or the menu's address changes, every table tent is worthless. And that is exactly what happens in hospitality all the time: new website, new provider, new structure.
With a dynamic code the printed code points to a fixed short address that you can redirect to any destination. On top, you see how often and when it gets scanned. That is the only reliable number on how many guests read the menu digitally at all.
With us: €4.99 one-time per code, no subscription, hosted in Frankfurt. Other providers charge $49 to $197 for a "lifetime" code. Ours holds at €4.99 because a dynamic code is only a short redirect, no menu files stored on our side, on EU infrastructure that costs little to run.
The obligation that remains
A menu that is only digital risks excluding guests, and accessibility rules (the ADA in the US, the Equality Act in the UK) expect you to serve them all. Anyone without a smartphone, with a dead battery or who simply does not want to scan has to get a menu. A few printed copies behind the counter are enough, but they have to be there and they have to be current.
It is also practical: the share of guests who prefer paper is considerable depending on the place, and nobody orders more because they got annoyed while ordering.
FAQ
Do I need a cookie banner for the digital menu? Only if the page sets tracking or marketing cookies. A plain menu page without analytics tools does not need one. Our dynamic codes count anonymously and set no cookie on the guest's phone.
What if there is no reception in the restaurant? A frequently overlooked problem in basements and old buildings. Check it with a phone on mobile data at the worst table. If nothing works there, a guest Wi-Fi helps, with its login details also on the table as a code.
Can I offer several menus through one code? Yes, if the destination page is an overview: lunch, dinner, drinks, wine. One code per menu on the table is confusing, a selection page behind one code is not.
Is a separate code per table worth it? Only if you want to know which areas scan more, or if you plan to switch to ordering at the table later. For the menu alone, one code for all tables is enough.
How often should I look at the scans? Once a month is enough. The absolute number matters less than the trend: if it drops, usually a table tent is crooked, covered, or the destination is broken.
Need a dynamic QR code?
Change the target any time, even after printing. €4.99 one-time, no subscription.
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