QR Code Ordering for Restaurants: How It Works, What It Costs, and How to Run It Free

How QR code ordering and payment work, what QR ordering really costs a restaurant in India, and how to run it free, or with counter billing for ₹100 a month.

What is QR code ordering?

QR code ordering (also called scan-to-order) is a way for a guest to order food by scanning a printed code with their own phone's camera, instead of a waiter taking the order or a guest queuing at a counter. The code opens the restaurant's menu directly in the phone's browser: no app to download, no account to create. The guest browses, adds items, and in most systems pays right there too, before the kitchen ever sees the order. It is used across full-service restaurants (table ordering), quick-service and cafes (counter ordering), and takeaway-only outlets (pickup and order-ahead), each in a slightly different way, covered below.

Two different jobs: table QR and counter/takeaway QR

A table QR is fixed to a specific table. The order attaches to that table, the kitchen knows where to send it, and the bill can run on a tab or be settled at the end. A counter or pickup QR is not tied to a table at all. It suits quick-service restaurants, cafes and takeaway-only counters, where the guest orders, pays up front, and collects when the order is ready.

The counter version has a useful side effect: because the link is not tied to a place, you can print it on a flyer, a takeaway bag or your social media page, and regulars can order ahead from home and walk in to a ready order. It is the format most takeaway restaurants and small cafes actually want, and the cheapest one to start with.

How does QR code payment work?

After the guest adds items and taps to pay, the phone hands off to a payment gateway (UPI, card or wallet) the same way any online checkout would. The guest authorises the payment on their own phone, and the gateway, not the guest's screen, confirms back to the restaurant's system that money actually moved. That confirmation is what should fire the kitchen ticket. A system that trusts the guest's phone showing "payment successful" without a check from the gateway can be fooled by a guest closing the tab early or a flaky connection, and you end up cooking food nobody paid for. Guests who would rather pay at the counter can do that too, if you allow it: the order waits for staff to take the money before it reaches the kitchen.

What happens after the scan, step by step

• The menu opens in the guest's browser, showing what is available today at today's prices. An item that is sold out is simply not orderable.
• They add items, choose options and notes (no onion, less oil), and check out.
• Payment is confirmed by the payment gateway on the server, not just by the guest's screen showing "success"; or the guest pays at the counter.
• The order prints a kitchen slip (or reaches the kitchen screen), and a GST-correct bill is made for the guest.

What QR code ordering costs a restaurant

This is the question most guides skip. Restaurants in India usually meet one of three ways of paying for QR ordering:

• A commission on every order, a percentage of each bill, the way the delivery marketplaces charge. It grows with your sales, so the busier your QR menu gets, the more you pay.
• A per-order or per-payment fee, either a small amount for each order or a percentage added on top of the payment charges.
• A flat monthly price, the same whatever your volume.

On top of any of these, online payments carry your payment gateway's own charge, at the rate your Razorpay or Cashfree account has. That part is the same whichever software you use; what differs is what the software adds on top.

Here is what the difference looks like for a small counter cafe taking 30 QR orders a day at an average of ₹300 (about ₹2,70,000 of QR sales a month):

The percentages are only examples to show the shape of it; check any provider's own price list. The point holds whatever the rate: a fee on every order is a tax on your QR menu doing well.

QR ordering with EasyBills: free, or ₹100 a month with counter billing

• QR ordering only: free. One counter QR code, your menu, a kitchen slip and a GST-correct bill for every order, with the owner's login. Guests pay online through your own Razorpay or Cashfree account, and the money settles straight to your bank, or they pay at the counter if you allow it. EasyBills takes no fee on these orders.
• The Billing plan: ₹100 a month. Everything above, plus billing at the counter for walk-ins and phone orders, expenses, and a simple daily profit (sales less expenses). Orders guests place from your QR page stay free: the ₹100 is the whole price, however many QR orders you take.
• Growing into tables and staff? Table QR codes, staff logins, the kitchen screen and stock come with Operations (₹199 a month), and the books and GST returns with Finance (₹299 a month); or take everything for ₹599 a month. See the prices.

Prices are plus 18% GST. There is no setup fee and no contract, and you can move from QR ordering only to a paid plan at any time without losing your menu, settings or sales.

What a QR ordering system actually needs

"QR code ordering" sounds like just a menu link, but a system built for real service needs a few things working together:

• Live menu state: a dish switched off in the kitchen disappears from the guest's screen within seconds.
• Gateway-verified payment: covered above; this is the difference between a real ordering system and a menu with a payment link bolted on.
• A kitchen slip or screen: a guest's order reaches the kitchen the same way a staff order does.
• Proper bills: every QR order is a GST-correct bill in the same sales record as everything else you sell, not a separate list someone has to add up.

When QR ordering pays off

• Counter-service and quick-service outlets with peak-hour queues, where every order you do not take by hand frees a person.
• Takeaway-only restaurants that want order-ahead without paying a marketplace commission: print the counter QR on the takeaway bag itself.
• Small teams where one or two people are carrying the floor.
• Menus that change often, since you edit once instead of reprinting.

It helps less in a fine-dining room where the conversation with the server is part of the product, or where many guests are not comfortable ordering from a phone.

Mistakes that make guests give up

• A slow or clumsy menu page. If it takes a minute to load on ordinary mobile data, you have lost them.
• Out-of-date items. Guests order the dish you ran out of an hour ago, and someone has to walk over and apologise. Switching an item off in one tap fixes this.
• No fallback. Some guests will never scan. Keep a way to take their order and payment at the counter in the same system.
• Payment that does not confirm. Any flow where the kitchen starts before payment is verified is a walk-out waiting to happen.

Questions owners ask

• Is QR ordering really free with EasyBills? Yes. On its own it costs nothing: you need your own Razorpay or Cashfree account connected, which is where guests' online payments go. With the ₹100 Billing plan, QR orders stay free and you can bill at the counter too.
• Do guests need an app? No. The menu opens in the phone's browser when they scan.
• Can guests pay at the counter instead? Yes, if you allow it. The order waits until staff take the money, then goes to the kitchen.
• Do I need a printer? It helps: each order prints a slip for the kitchen and a bill for the guest on any thermal printer. You can also share the bill on screen.
• Can I have a QR code on every table? Yes, with Operations (₹199 a month) or the all-in-one plan, which bring tables, staff logins and the kitchen screen.

What to look for in software

Ask what you pay per QR order, not only per month; whether the codes are permanent (print once, not every time the menu changes); whether payment is verified with the gateway before the kitchen starts; and whether QR orders land in the same bills and sales as everything else. EasyBills does all of that, with QR ordering free on its own and counter billing for ₹100 a month. Start with QR ordering, free.