The cheapest way to get a restaurant website in 2026
Every option a café or restaurant owner can choose, from free to fully done for you, with real prices and the costs nobody mentions.
The short answer
- Free: Canva, Carrd, Wix or Square Online, with their branding and their address instead of your own domain.
- Cheapest with your own domain: Carrd, about US$19 a year plus the domain, for one page you build yourself.
- Cheapest made for restaurants: PlatePages, US$99 a year with menu tools, QR codes, a printed menu and your own domain included.
- Best for online ordering: Square Online's free plan, paying card fees on each order.
Every option, by first-year cost
US dollars, cheapest yearly plan, from each company's public website on 13 October 2026. Restaurant marketing platforms with ordering and loyalty built in often cost US$100 or more every month. We make PlatePages, so read the other options with that in mind; each comparison page says when another option is the better choice. Wix, Squarespace, Canva, Square, Carrd and Hostinger are trademarks of their owners. PlatePages is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.
The costs nobody mentions
- Your domain. Usually US$10 to US$20 a year. Builders often include it free for the first year only.
- Renewal jumps. The lowest prices often need you to prepay several years, and renew at three to four times the starting price.
- Card fees and commission. "Free" ordering plans take a fee from every order. Delivery apps take far more.
- QR codes that expire. Many free QR generators stop working after a trial, and every printed table card goes dead with them.
- Your time. A site you design yourself takes a weekend to build, and every menu change means opening the editor again. If you update prices or specials often, this is the biggest cost of all.
What a restaurant website actually needs
Guests visit your site for a few things, almost always on a phone. Whatever you choose, make sure it has:
- A menu that's easy to read on a phone, not a PDF
- Your opening hours, and whether you're open right now
- Your address with a map, and a phone number you can tap
- Allergen and dietary information guests can trust
- A QR code on the tables that opens your current menu
- Your menu, hours and address in a format Google understands
- A way to update prices and dishes yourself in a minute
Which one should you choose?
- Your budget is zero: start with a free Canva site or Square Online, and move when you can.
- Online orders are most of your sales: Square Online, or the ordering service you already use.
- You love design and have time: Wix or Squarespace.
- You want a beautiful site and menu, done for you, for less than general builders: PlatePages. Paste your menu, add photos, print your QR codes, and you're live the same day.
Questions owners ask
What is the cheapest way to get a restaurant website?
Completely free options exist: Canva, Carrd, Wix and Square Online all have free plans, but they show the builder's name or ads and use their address instead of your own domain. The cheapest with your own domain is Carrd at about US$19 a year plus the domain, for a one-page site you build yourself. The cheapest made only for restaurants, with menu tools and QR codes included, is PlatePages at US$99 a year.
How much should a small restaurant pay for a website?
For most cafés and small restaurants, between US$0 and US$200 a year is enough. General builders like Wix and Squarespace cost about US$190 to US$210 a year on their cheapest yearly plans. Restaurant marketing platforms often cost US$100 or more every month, which only makes sense if you use their ordering and marketing tools heavily.
Do I need online ordering on my website?
Not necessarily. If you already use Uber Eats, DoorDash, Square or another service, your website can simply link to it. Building ordering into your own site adds cost and work, so do it only if most of your sales come from online orders.
Are free QR code menus a good idea?
Be careful. Many free QR generators make "dynamic" codes that stop working after a trial or when you stop paying, and every printed table card dies with them. Choose a QR code that points to a website you control, or a service that promises its codes never expire.
Your restaurant online today.
US$99 a year, everything included. Try it free for 14 days, no card needed.