Digital menu boards vs QR menus: costs and which to choose in the UK

Digital menu boards are screens that show your menu, usually behind the counter. In the UK, one installed screen typically costs about £1,000 to £3,500, plus software from around £7 a month per screen and the electricity to run it. A QR menu puts the same menu on each guest's own phone and can be free. Boards work best for queues. QR menus work best at tables. Many venues use both.

Menuthere makes QR menus, not screens. So this guide gives you the real cost of boards, then shows where each one fits.

What is a digital menu board?

A digital menu board is a screen that replaces a printed or chalk menu board. It has four parts:

1. The screen. A commercial display, usually 43 to 55 inches, mounted in portrait or landscape.
2. A media player. A small box (or a chip built into the screen) that plays your content.
3. Software. A content management system (CMS) where you edit prices and swap designs, often from your phone.
4. Mounting and install. Brackets, power and data cabling, sometimes an electrician.

You'll hear them called digital menu screens, digital menu displays or digital signage. They're the same thing.

How much do digital menu boards cost in the UK?

Prices vary a lot by screen size, brightness and installer. Installed totals are typical ranges from UK suppliers, before VAT. The line items are our own rough guide; get two or three quotes.

The running costs people forget

• Electricity. As an example, a 55-inch commercial screen using about 150 watts, run for 13 hours a day, 360 days a year, uses about 700 kWh. At 25p per kWh, that's roughly £175 a year per screen. Check your screen's datasheet and your own business tariff for a real figure.
• Software. Three screens on a £10 plan cost £360 a year.
• Replacement. Plan for repairs or a new screen after the warranty ends.

Can I use a normal TV?

You can, but it's a false saving for many venues.

If a café is open eight hours a day and the TV is out of direct sunlight, a consumer TV with a cheap media stick may be fine. For a busy takeaway open 14 hours a day, buy a commercial screen. Check the warranty covers business use.

What is a QR menu?

A QR menu is your menu as a mobile web page. Guests scan a QR code on the table or counter and the menu opens in their phone's browser. No app, no screen to buy. You change prices from your phone, and every guest sees the change straight away.

A good QR menu can also take orders. Guests order and pay from the table, or order ahead for collection. See our free QR code menu and QR code ordering pages.

Digital menu boards vs QR menus: side by side

Which should you choose?

When to run both

A board sells to the queue. A QR menu serves the tables and takes orders. If you run both, update both when a price changes. Menuthere doesn't connect to menu board software, so treat them as two separate menus. If a board shows your QR code, guests in the queue can also order ahead from their phones.

Digital menu board design tips

• Fewer items per screen. Six to ten items a screen is easier to read than thirty.
• Big prices and names. Test that you can read them from the back of the queue.
• High contrast. Light text on a dark background, or the reverse. No busy photo behind the text.
• Go easy on animation. Movement draws the eye, but text that changes too fast can't be read.
• Portrait for menus, landscape for promos.
• Show the allergen line on every screen, such as "Allergies? Please ask before you order."

More layout ideas in our restaurant menu design guide.

UK rules for digital menu boards

• Calories (England, 250+ staff). The government guidance treats menu boards and electronic menus as menus. Each item needs its kcal next to the price or description. The statement "Adults need around 2000 kcal a day" must appear on every board, readable from where guests choose. See our calorie labelling guide.
• Allergens. The board doesn't need to list all 14 allergens per dish. But guests must be able to get the information, in writing or by asking. Keep an allergen matrix at the counter. A QR menu helps here: on Menuthere, guests tap a dish to see its tagged allergens and calories.
• Prices include VAT if you're VAT-registered.
• Window screens may need consent. Adverts inside a building usually don't need consent, but an illuminated screen facing the street through a window can. Ask your council's planning team before you install one. Rules differ in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Start with the free option

If you're not sure you need screens, start with a QR menu. It costs nothing, takes minutes, and you can add a board later.

1. Sign up free and upload a photo or PDF of your menu. AI reads your dishes and prices.
2. Add photos and add-ons, and tag each dish's allergens and calories (kcal). Guests see them when they open a dish, on every plan.
3. Print the free QR code on table cards or the counter.

Free plan: QR codes, unlimited items, 50 orders a month, 0% commission.

Create your free ordering page

Thinking about touchscreens instead? Read self-ordering kiosks vs QR ordering.