Toast and other QR-menu SaaS charge $29+ a month, forever, with per-location fees and your menu held hostage in their cloud. Menuly builds your menu in a drag-and-drop editor and serves a fast, phone-first menu page from your own server. $24, once. Change a price or 86 a dish and it updates the instant a guest scans.
If you've searched for a Toast QR menus alternative, Menuly is the pay-once option worth putting at the top of the list: Menuly is $24, one time, and covers the same core job Toast QR menus charges $29+/mo for.
What makes Menuly the pick for 2026
- Menu builder — Categories and items with name, description, photo and dietary tags, all drag-to-reorder.
- Server-rendered menu page — Pure HTML with inline critical CSS and no JS bundle, so it loads instantly on any phone with sticky category nav.
- 86 it in one click — Toggle an item out of stock and it vanishes from the live menu immediately, toggle back when the kitchen restocks.
- Specials section — Mark items as specials and flip one switch to show a Today's Specials section at the top of the menu.
- Branding per venue — Dark or light theme, accent color, logo and tagline, all respected on the public page.
Menuly vs Toast QR menus, at a glance
| Menuly | Toast QR menus | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $24 once | $29+/mo |
| Cost after 1 year | $24 | $348+ |
| Your data | Your SQLite file | Their cloud |
| Locations | Unlimited | Per-location pricing |
| Menu page speed | Server-rendered HTML, no JS | Bloated hosted pages |
| Works offline (builder) | Yes — desktop mode | No |
| Source code | MIT, on GitHub | Closed |
Menuly pays for itself in under one month of a QR-menu subscription — and it never charges you per location.
Common questions
Is it really free on GitHub?
Yes — Menuly is MIT-licensed at github.com/bensblueprints/restaurant-menu-qr-mvp. The $24 buys the packaged Windows installer with zero setup; building from source is free.
Where does my menu live?
In your own SQLite file with images in local storage, served from your own server — no telemetry and no third-party calls, so your menu is never hostage to a SaaS.
Do I pay more for extra locations?
No. Menuly supports unlimited locations from one admin for the same $24, versus the per-location pricing the subscription tools charge.
The bottom line
Menuly won't out-feature Toast QR menus on every axis — no subscription tool with a bigger team and a bigger roadmap loses on everything. But for the core job, $24 once against $29+/mo forever is a trade most people should at least look at. Menuly is part of OneTimeSuite, a catalog of pay-once apps that replace subscription SaaS.
Try Menuly — $24, once
Self-hosted QR digital menu builder for restaurants and cafes with printable table tents.