How to Choose a QR Menu System: 9 Criteria
Commission, languages, hardware, data ownership, setup time — the nine criteria that separate a QR menu you'll keep from one you'll regret.
Most venues pick a QR menu in an afternoon and live with it for years. The wrong choice means re-training staff, re-printing codes and migrating data later. Here are the nine criteria that actually matter — and the red flags to walk away from.
1. Commission on orders
Some "free" systems quietly take 1–4% of every order, or push you into a delivery marketplace that takes 15–30%. Look for a flat subscription with 0% order commission, so growth in sales doesn't grow your platform bill.
2. Does it actually take orders?
A display-only QR menu just shows the food. Decide upfront whether you need ordering and payment, or only a digital card. If you have table service, ordering that lands straight on a kitchen display is where the real time savings come from.
3. Languages and translation
If you serve any tourists, multilingual is not optional. Check how many interface languages ship by default, whether menu translation is automatic, and whether right-to-left languages (Arabic) render properly. Qoro includes 17 languages on every plan.
4. Hardware requirements
The best systems are browser-based and run on the tablets and phones you already own — including the kitchen display. Be cautious of vendors that require proprietary terminals or an on-site installer; that's cost and lock-in disguised as a feature.
5. Setup time
Ask how a menu gets in. Manual entry of 120 items is a full day. AI import from a photo, PDF or spreadsheet takes minutes. Self-serve onboarding means you go live the same afternoon instead of waiting for a sales-led setup.
6. Data ownership and export
Your menu, customer and order data should be yours to export at any time, in full. If export is "contact support" or a stripped-down CSV, treat it as a lock-in warning — switching away later will be painful by design.
7. Stock and availability sync
When the kitchen runs out, the item should disappear from the menu automatically. Without live stock sync you're back to "sorry, we're out" mid-order, which is exactly the friction a QR menu is supposed to remove.
8. Branding and themes
The menu is the first thing a guest sees. Check whether you can match your colors, add your logo, and remove vendor watermarks. A watermarked menu on a competitor's free tier tells guests you cut corners.
9. Multi-branch and growth path
Even if you run one venue today, check what happens at three. Can you manage branches under one login with separate reporting? A platform that scales from a single café to a chain saves you a migration later.
The red flags, in one line
- Per-order commission on a "free" plan.
- Proprietary hardware or a mandatory installer.
- No real menu export.
- Two or three languages only, no RTL.
- Watermarks you can't remove.
See how Qoro scores on each criterion on the features page, or compare plans.