Frequently asked questions

No. Guests scan the QR code with their phone camera and the menu opens instantly in their browser. There is nothing to install and no account to create.

Yes, and it is a real plan, not a trial: 3 menus with unlimited items, 20 table QR codes, 5,000 scans per month, item photos, your branding, table ordering, and a live kitchen dashboard — free forever, no credit card.

Yes. Click “Live demo” at the top of this site and you are signed straight into a fully set-up demo restaurant — menus, table QR codes, live orders, reservations, and analytics — with nothing to install and no account to create. The demo is shared with other visitors and resets every few hours; guest payments in it are simulated, so nothing is billed or sent anywhere.

Create a free account, add your restaurant profile, build your menu (or import an existing one), and generate table QR codes from the dashboard. Most restaurants are live in under 15 minutes.

No. Everything runs in the guest's phone browser and in your dashboard on any laptop, tablet, or phone. Print the QR codes on paper, stickers, or table tents.

There is no time-limited trial — Free is the free tier and it never expires. Upgrade to Pro whenever you want card payments, loyalty, staff accounts, or AI menu import, and cancel anytime; you drop back to Free with everything intact.

Yes. Your QR codes are permanent. Update prices, add specials, or mark items unavailable in your dashboard and every table sees the change instantly — no reprinting.

Free includes 3 menus and 20 table QR codes. Pro includes unlimited menus and 200 table QR codes.

Yes, on every plan. Create separate menus for lunch, dinner, drinks, happy hour, or seasonal specials, and schedule when each one shows automatically.

Yes. Toggle an item off when it sells out and toggle it back on later. Its photo, description, and price stay saved.

Yes, on every plan including Free. Upload item photos so guests can browse visually. Photos on signature dishes noticeably lift orders.

Yes, on Pro. Upload a photo, PDF, or CSV of your current menu and the AI importer creates the sections, items, prices, and descriptions for you. On Free you add items in the editor.

Yes. Add translations for each language you serve and guests can switch languages on their phone.

Yes, on every plan including Free. Guests add items to a cart from the QR menu and the order appears on your live kitchen dashboard in real time.

With cash or at the counter. Orders arrive on the kitchen dashboard and your staff mark them paid. Online payments at the table — Apple Pay, Google Pay, or card, with tipping, split bills, and receipts — are part of Pro.

Yes, on Pro ($20/month). Guests pay from their phone — one tap with Apple Pay or Google Pay where their device supports it, or by card — with tipping and split-bill support, powered by Stripe. Money settles to your own Stripe account.

Yes. Every menu on every plan has waiter-call and bill-request buttons that alert your dashboard instantly.

No. MenuBeacon never takes a percentage of orders or tips. Only standard Stripe processing fees apply if you enable card payments on Pro.

It can. Pro supports ESC/POS receipt printers alongside the live kitchen dashboard.

Yes. Pro includes digital stamp cards: set how many stamps earn a reward and guests collect them as they order.

Yes, on Pro. Digital gift cards can be sold straight from your menu page and redeemed at the table.

Yes, on every plan. Guests can leave a thumbs-up or thumbs-down on any dish and you see a summary in your dashboard.

Yes, on Pro. Guests book a table from the menu page, optionally with a deposit, and reservations show in your dashboard.

Yes, on every plan. Set your logo, primary color, accent color, cover image, and footer text so the menu looks like your restaurant, not a template.

Yes, on Pro. Free menus show a small "Powered by MenuBeacon" line; Pro menus and printed QR cards are fully white-label.

Yes, on every plan. The QR designer lets you pick colors, corner styles, and add your logo, and exports print-ready PNG, SVG, and PDF table cards.

Yes, on Pro. Serve your menu from a domain you own instead of the MenuBeacon link.

Guests see a fast, mobile-first menu with sections, photos, prices, descriptions, dietary tags, allergen details, and an order button.

Every plan records scans with time, table, and device and shows totals and trends. Pro adds advanced analytics: heatmaps, peak-hour forecasts, prep reports, and a weekly digest email every Monday.

Yes, on Pro. Invite up to 20 staff members with their own PIN logins to run the kitchen board and orders without full account access.

Yes, on Pro. Group several restaurants under one account and switch between them from the dashboard.

Scan analytics include an anonymized IP-derived location, browser, device type, referrer, and timestamp. Raw IP addresses are anonymized before storage.

MenuBeacon has two plans: Free ($0, forever — digital menus, table ordering, and a kitchen dashboard included) and Pro ($20/month — card, Apple Pay and Google Pay payments, loyalty, reservations, staff accounts, integrations, and white-label). No contracts, no commission on orders, cancel anytime.

Card, Apple Pay & Google Pay at the table, loyalty & gift cards, reservations, staff accounts, multi-location, AI menu import, integrations, and white-label. Everything else — menus, photos, branding, ordering, the kitchen dashboard, cash orders, and basic analytics — is free.

You drop back to the Free plan: your menus, QR codes, ordering, and kitchen dashboard keep working. Card payments, loyalty, staff logins, and integrations pause, and your data is preserved so you can resume any time.

No. Pro is a monthly subscription you can cancel anytime from your dashboard.

Billing is processed by Stripe and supports all major credit and debit cards.