What is the best QR code ordering system for restaurants?

There is no single best one. Start from the POS you already run. If you are on Square Plus or Premium, Clover Restaurant Growth, or Lightspeed Essential or Premium, QR ordering is already in your plan, so turn it on first. If your plan leaves it out, or you want no monthly fee at all, compare an add-on such as MENU TIGER with Ser.vi, where QR ordering has no monthly fee and the guest pays 5% at checkout.

How much does a QR code ordering system cost?

On the pages we read on October 28, 2026, the monthly cost to get QR ordering ranged from $0 (Ser.vi, and MENU TIGER Free up to 75 orders a month) to $49 per location on Square Plus, $189 on Lightspeed Essential, $319 a month billed annually on ChowNow Grow, and $179 a month for 36 months on a Clover Starter bundle that includes hardware. Toast lists Mobile Order & Pay without a price. Card fees come on top of most of these.

Who pays the fees on a QR order?

It depends on the system. On Square, Clover, Lightspeed, ChowNow and Toast the restaurant pays the card processing on each order. On Ser.vi the restaurant pays no monthly fee, no commission and no card fee on QR orders; the guest pays a flat 5% at checkout, which is $2.00 on a $40 order.

Is QR ordering included in Square for Restaurants?

Not on Square Free. Square's restaurant pricing table lists QR code ordering on Square Plus ($49 a month per location) and Square Premium ($149 a month per location). Online card payments are 2.9% + 30¢ on both of those plans and 3.3% + 30¢ on Square Free.

Does Toast include QR code ordering?

Toast sells it as Toast Mobile Order & Pay. Guests and servers can start and add to the same tab, and orders go to the kitchen through the Toast POS. Toast does not publish a price for it on the product or pricing pages we read, and its pricing FAQ says Toast may only be used on approved Toast hardware.

Do guests need to download an app to order by QR code?

Not with most systems. With Ser.vi the menu opens in the phone's browser when the guest scans the code, they order and pay, and the order prints to your kitchen printer.

What should I check before choosing a QR ordering system?

Check which plan includes it, the card rate on QR orders, whether it prints to your kitchen or needs a kitchen screen, whether staff can mark sold-out items from the floor, whether guests pay per order or can keep a tab, what hardware it needs, and the contract term.

Blog / October 28, 2026

QR ordering compared

The best QR code ordering systems, compared on published prices

Short answer: start from the POS you already have. QR ordering is already in Square Plus and Premium, Clover Restaurant Growth bundles and Lightspeed Essential and Premium, so if you're on one of those, turn it on before you buy anything. It is not on Square Free or ChowNow Launch, it's an unpriced add-on on Lightspeed Starter, and Toast doesn't publish a price for it. If you want QR order-and-pay with no monthly fee, Ser.vi charges the restaurant nothing on QR orders; the guest pays a flat 5% at checkout.

Updated October 28, 2026 · Every competitor price below was read from that company's own pricing or product page on October 28, 2026 · Ser.vi is our product, and we say where others fit better

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A guest ordering from a restaurant table with a QR code ordering system on their phone

7 QR code ordering systems side by side

US prices as published. "Not published" means we couldn't find it on the company's own page, not that there's no charge.

System	Where QR ordering is	Monthly cost to get it	Fee on each QR order	Hardware
Ser.vi	Self-service QR order-and-pay at the table or counter; QR codes, table toppers and stickers provided	$0, no monthly fee	Restaurant pays $0. The guest pays a flat 5% at checkout	Orders print to your kitchen printer. Ser.vi POS (optional) runs on your existing iPad, iPadOS 15 or later
Square	QR code ordering on Square Plus and Premium; not on Square Free	$49 (Plus) or $149 (Premium) per location	Online card rate 2.9% + 30¢ on Plus and Premium	Square says you don't need to buy hardware to take payments; KDS app $30 or $20 per device per month
Toast	Toast Mobile Order & Pay, sold with the Toast POS	Not published on the pages we read	Not published	Approved Toast hardware only, per Toast's pricing FAQ
Clover	"Contactless dining (QR-code order & pay)" included in all three full-service bundles	Starter $179/mo for 36 months, or $1,799 + $89.95/mo (hardware included)	Rate for QR orders not published; in person 2.3% + 10¢, typed in 3.5% + 10¢	Clover Station Solo, cash drawer and receipt printer in the bundle
Lightspeed Restaurant	Order and pay at table included on Essential and Premium; an add-on on Starter, add-on price not published	189 USD (Essential) or 399 USD (Premium); no billing term printed	Integrated payments rate not published	iPad-based; KDS $30 per screen per month
ChowNow	QR Code Ordering on Grow and Elevate; not on Launch	Grow $319 billed annually or $349 monthly, plus a $119–$499 setup fee	2.95% + 29¢ per transaction	Printer $250–$420
MENU TIGER	QR code ordering on every plan, including Free (75 orders a month); table-based ordering and split bills only on Premium	$0 (75 orders), $17 (500), $46 (2,000) or $119 (unlimited)	0% commission; card fees not listed on the pricing page	Runs in a browser; POS add-on $30/mo and printer management $20/mo below Premium

Sources, all read October 28, 2026: Square restaurant pricing; Toast Mobile Order & Pay and Toast pricing; Clover full-service restaurant pricing; Lightspeed Restaurant pricing; ChowNow pricing; MENU TIGER pricing. Ser.vi: our pricing page and self-service page. Listed prices and quotes can differ from what you're offered, so check yours. All names are trademarks of their owners; Ser.vi is not affiliated with any of them.

What 600 table orders a month cost the restaurant

Take a casual restaurant doing 600 QR orders a month at $40, or $24,000 in table orders. Here is what each system's published numbers add up to for the restaurant, before tax and tips:

Ser.vi: $0. No monthly fee, no commission and no card fee to the restaurant. Guests pay 5%, which is $2.00 on each $40 order, or $1,200 across the month.
Square Plus: about $925. $49 for the location plus 2.9% + 30¢ on each order ($876).
ChowNow Grow: about $1,201. $319 a month billed annually plus 2.95% + 29¢ on each order ($882), after a one-time $119–$499 setup fee.
MENU TIGER Advanced: $66 plus card fees. $46 covers up to 2,000 orders, plus $20 for kitchen printer management. Card fees aren't on its pricing page. Table-based ordering and split bills need Premium at $119.
Clover Starter: $179 plus card fees. The bundle includes the hardware and runs 36 months. Clover doesn't publish the rate on QR orders.
Lightspeed Essential: 189 USD plus card fees. Lightspeed doesn't publish its integrated payments rate, so ask for yours.
Toast: ask for a quote. Neither the Mobile Order & Pay price nor the card rate is on the pages we read.

Read the Ser.vi line honestly: the cost doesn't vanish, it moves to the guest. If you'd rather not add a fee to your guests' checks, a system where the restaurant pays the card fee may suit you better, and Square Plus is the lowest published monthly price of those in the table. If you already pay for Square Plus, Clover Restaurant Growth or Lightspeed Essential, QR ordering is already in your bill, so try it before you add another vendor.

Ser.vi's fees on other order types work the same way: online pickup and delivery orders are also 0% commission with the guest paying 5%, and staff-entered POS orders are 3.0% + 20¢, paid by the restaurant by default or passed to customers with a cash discount program. For comparison, delivery apps typically charge restaurants 25–30% commission. See pricing.

Which one fits your restaurant

Ser.vi: QR ordering with no monthly fee

You want guests to scan, order and pay from their phone browser with no app, tickets printed in the kitchen, and staff able to mark an item sold out from the tablet in one tap so the QR menu stays right. Ser.vi provides the table QR codes, toppers and stickers. The restaurant pays no monthly fee and the guest pays 5%. If you also want a POS, the Ser.vi POS runs on your existing iPad, with optional Ser.vi hardware.

Square: you already run Square Plus or Premium

QR code ordering is in your plan and orders land in the POS you already use. On Square Free it means moving to Plus at $49 a month per location, which also lowers the online card rate from 3.3% + 30¢ to 2.9% + 30¢.

Toast: you are already on Toast

Mobile Order & Pay lets guests and servers add to the same tab, which suits full-service rooms where people order a second round. Ask for the add-on price and the card rate in writing, since neither is published.

Clover: you are buying a POS and hardware together

Every full-service bundle includes QR-code order and pay, with hardware in the monthly price. The trade-off is the 36-month payment plan and Clover-only devices.

Lightspeed: you already run Lightspeed Restaurant

Order and pay at table is included in Essential and Premium, and Lightspeed sells it as an add-on on Starter without a published add-on price. The integrated payments rate is not published, so get it quoted.

ChowNow or MENU TIGER: ordering on top of the POS you keep

ChowNow pairs ordering with its own email and SMS marketing tools, and QR Code Ordering starts on the Grow plan. MENU TIGER is the lowest published monthly price, with a free plan up to 75 orders a month, but table-based ordering needs its $119 Premium plan.

Six questions to ask any QR ordering vendor

Which plan is it on? Several systems keep QR ordering off their entry plan (Square Free and ChowNow Launch leave it out; Lightspeed Starter sells it as an add-on).
What is the card rate on a QR order, and who pays it? Get the number in writing. Some vendors don't publish it.
Where does the order go? Straight to your kitchen printer, to a kitchen screen you pay for per device, or to a tablet someone has to watch.
Can staff mark items sold out from the floor? If the QR menu can't be trusted, staff end up checking every order, which defeats the point.
Pay per order or keep a tab? Pay-per-order is simpler; a shared tab suits rounds of drinks in a full-service room.
What hardware and term come with it? Some systems run only on their own devices or come in multi-year bundles.

New to QR ordering? Our QR code ordering guide covers QR menus vs ordering vs pay-at-table and a setup checklist. For pickup and delivery, see commission-free online ordering and commission-free online ordering systems compared.

Questions restaurants ask

What is the best QR code ordering system for restaurants?: There is no single best one. Start from the POS you already run. If you are on Square Plus or Premium, Clover Restaurant Growth, or Lightspeed Essential or Premium, QR ordering is already in your plan, so turn it on first. If your plan leaves it out, or you want no monthly fee at all, compare an add-on such as MENU TIGER with Ser.vi, where QR ordering has no monthly fee and the guest pays 5% at checkout.
How much does a QR code ordering system cost?: On the pages we read on October 28, 2026, the monthly cost to get QR ordering ranged from $0 (Ser.vi, and MENU TIGER Free up to 75 orders a month) to $49 per location on Square Plus, $189 on Lightspeed Essential, $319 a month billed annually on ChowNow Grow, and $179 a month for 36 months on a Clover Starter bundle that includes hardware. Toast lists Mobile Order & Pay without a price. Card fees come on top of most of these.
Who pays the fees on a QR order?: It depends on the system. On Square, Clover, Lightspeed, ChowNow and Toast the restaurant pays the card processing on each order. On Ser.vi the restaurant pays no monthly fee, no commission and no card fee on QR orders; the guest pays a flat 5% at checkout, which is $2.00 on a $40 order. Who pays the online ordering fee?
Is QR ordering included in Square for Restaurants?: Not on Square Free. Square's restaurant pricing table lists QR code ordering on Square Plus ($49 a month per location) and Square Premium ($149 a month per location). Online card payments are 2.9% + 30¢ on both of those plans and 3.3% + 30¢ on Square Free.
Does Toast include QR code ordering?: Toast sells it as Toast Mobile Order & Pay. Guests and servers can start and add to the same tab, and orders go to the kitchen through the Toast POS. Toast does not publish a price for it on the product or pricing pages we read, and its pricing FAQ says Toast may only be used on approved Toast hardware.
Do guests need to download an app to order by QR code?: Not with most systems. With Ser.vi the menu opens in the phone's browser when the guest scans the code, they order and pay, and the order prints to your kitchen printer.
What should I check before choosing a QR ordering system?: Check which plan includes it, the card rate on QR orders, whether it prints to your kitchen or needs a kitchen screen, whether staff can mark sold-out items from the floor, whether guests pay per order or can keep a tab, what hardware it needs, and the contract term. QR code ordering for restaurants: setup and costs

See QR ordering on your own menu

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