Documentation
Running The QR Plan
How a restaurant on the ₹499 QR plan takes orders from one QR code, turns ordering on and off, and runs every order through Accept, Mark ready and Mark paid.
The QR menu plan (₹499 a month) is QR ordering on its own. Guests scan one QR code, order from their phone, and pay you directly. You run every order from the Orders screen. There is nothing else to learn.
It suits a small café, a kiosk, or a stall where one person takes the orders and hands over the food.
What the QR plan includes
| Included | Limit |
|---|---|
| Dashboard with the Taking orders switch and Your QR code card | |
| One QR code for your menu | 1 Location |
| Menu | 50 menu items |
| Orders, with Accept, Mark ready and Mark paid | Unlimited guest orders |
| Order texts to guests | 200 guest messages a month |
| One login (the owner) | 1 login |
The plan has no trial. Onboarding ends at checkout for ₹499 a month.
What the QR plan does not include
These start at Basic or above:
- Kitchen display (KDS), Billing screen and Tables: Basic and up
- Counter POS, inventory, customers and the sales summary: Basic and up
- Staff logins beyond the owner: Basic has three
- Reservations, refunds and "New walk-in order" on Orders
- Shift desk: the QR plan uses the lighter Taking orders switch instead
- Profit Guard: Silver and up
- Zesty AI: not offered on the QR plan at all
If you open one of these screens as the owner, Zesty shows Upgrade to the plan that has it, with a link to billing. See Plans and billing.
Setting up
The launch guide for the QR plan has four steps, in this order:
- Menu: add your categories and items.
- Your QR code: download, print or share it.
- Turn on Taking orders on the dashboard.
- Practice order: scan your own QR code like a guest, then accept it, mark it ready and mark it paid.
An optional Configure payments step adds your UPI ID in Settings → Payments, so guests can pay you by UPI. Without a UPI ID, guests pay at the counter.
Your QR code
The QR plan has one QR code, the menu link for your Location. There are no table codes, takeaway codes or staff-login codes. Guests choose Eat here or Takeaway on the menu itself.
Open it from the Your QR code card on the dashboard, from QR code in the navigation, or from Menu. From there you can:
- download it as a PNG
- download a print-ready PDF card for the counter or a wall
- share it on WhatsApp
- copy the link
On the phone app, QR code is on the dashboard and under More.
The Taking orders switch
The QR plan has no Shift desk. The dashboard, the web header and the phone home screen show one switch instead: Taking orders.
- On opens a light shift: no opening cash, no checklist. Guests can order.
- Off closes it: no cash count, no closing checks. Guests can still open the menu and browse, but they see "Not taking orders right now" and cannot place an order.
Zesty refuses to turn Taking orders off while an order from that shift is still unpaid. It lists those orders; confirm their payment or cancel them on Orders, then turn the switch off.
Token numbers carry on through the business day. Turning the switch off and on again does not start them back at one.
Running an order
Every order moves in three taps on Orders, on the web or the phone:
| Step | Button | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Accept | Accepts the order and starts it. The guest sees "Being prepared". |
| 2 | Mark ready | The food is ready to hand over. |
| 3 | Mark paid | Opens the payment panel: cash (with change), your UPI QR, or a split. Paying the full amount closes the order and takes it off the live list. |
A new order also has Reject order. Give a reason; the guest sees that the order was not accepted.
There is no kitchen display and no Billing screen on this plan, so these three taps cover what those screens would do. You can still print a receipt from the order.
When a guest pays by UPI
If you added a UPI ID, a guest can pay it from their UPI app and tell Zesty they have paid. The order then shows Guest says paid ₹X by UPI with the UTR the guest entered, a UPI claim chip on the order list, and a row under Needs attention on the dashboard.
- Check that the money has arrived in your UPI app.
- Tap Approve, or Reject payment if it has not arrived.
While a UPI claim is waiting, Accept only accepts the order: the kitchen step waits until you approve the payment. Zesty never touches the money; it goes straight from the guest to your UPI ID. See Guest payments.
Order texts
Each order sends the guest one text when it is placed. Everything else (accepted, ready, paid) shows on the guest's live order page. The plan includes 200 guest messages a month. Choose what happens after that, or turn texts off, under Order texts to guests; the Payments settings page links to it. See Zesty credits and add-ons.
Moving up to Basic
Plans only add as you move up. Basic keeps QR ordering and adds counter POS, Billing, Tables, a simple kitchen display with one station, inventory, customers, a sales summary, 100 menu items and three logins. The Shift desk replaces the Taking orders switch.
If you pay by UPI Autopay, changing plan means approving a new mandate. See Changing plans.
Where to go next
- Plans and billing: the full plan ladder
- Guest payments: how guests pay you
- Menu and QR ordering: building the menu