MustHaveMenus alternativesThe free plan is gone. The menu still needs fixing.

What changed at MustHaveMenus

Three things stand out on musthavemenus.com on September 29, 2026. First, the free plan is gone: its terms say “As of September, 2025, MustHaveMenus no longer offers free subscription plans.” Second, the pitch has moved up market. The menu management page reads “Restaurant Menu Management Software Built for Multi-Unit Groups.” Third, the plans:

• Design: $24 a month billed yearly ($288), or $29 month to month. “Best for single-location restaurants.” Web links, QR codes, and downloads.
• Pro: $50 a month billed yearly ($600), or $59 month to month, per location. Mobile menus, Toast and Square integrations, teams.
• Add-ons: Display at $20 a month per screen, Listings at $60 a month per location, an extra location at $49 a month.

Its help center is clear that “Mobile Menus are only available on the Pro Plan.” So a single restaurant that wants a menu guests open on a phone, not a PDF link, is looking at $50 to $59 a month.

Where MustHaveMenus is still the best choice

Before the alternatives, the reasons to stay. They are real.

• It prints for you. Order printed menus, table tents, and signs and they ship to a US business address, next business day per its print page. No other tool here prints.
• The template library. Its pages count templates from “Over 10,000” to “25,000.” Every alternative below has far fewer.
• Groups and POS. Pro adds team permissions, Toast and Square integrations, signage, and listings sync to “60+ Publishers.”
• No contract. “Is there a contract or cancellation fee? Nope!”

Five alternatives at a glance

Each row comes from that vendor’s own site on September 29, 2026. Where a vendor does not say, the table says Not listed.

Gaslamp: the mobile menu without the Pro price

Gaslamp (ours) is $19 a month or $190 a year after a 30-day trial with no card. The hosted mobile menu is in that one plan: real text sized for the phone, not a PDF. You pick one of eight designs, type your dishes over its sample menu, and edit from your phone browser; phones see a change about thirty seconds after you save. One QR code per menu never changes, with a table tent, window sign, and counter card to print, and paid plans download a print-ready PDF of the same menu.

What you give up from MustHaveMenus: printing and shipping, the huge template library (Gaslamp has eight designs), POS integrations, teams, signage, and listings. Gaslamp also caps a menu at 12 sections of 20 items, with up to three labeled prices per item from $1 to $9,999.

iMenuPro: the least expensive print-first option

iMenuPro is $16 a month or $135 a year, with no per-location charges. It prints in many sizes, includes 35 designs, and its live QR menu keeps the same code: “Change menus, never need to change or reprint your code.” If you came to MustHaveMenus for print layouts and want to pay less, this is the closest match. The standard plan shows a small iMenuPro credit on the live menu, and fees are non-refundable. See iMenuPro alternatives for more.

MenuZen: a free plan to replace the one you lost

MenuZen has what MustHaveMenus dropped, a free plan, after a 7-day trial: 15 items and 1 live menu on its plan page. Lite is $12 a month and Grow $30 a month there, though other MenuZen pages list other Grow prices. Each menu gets a link, a QR code, and an embed. Its FAQ says it does not print menus directly. See Gaslamp vs MenuZen.

Wix and Square: when the menu comes with a website or a register

If you also need a website, the Wix menus app is free to install and can show your menu on a free Wix site; ordering needs a paid plan ($17 to $159 a month, yearly). If you need a register and ordering, Square Free is $0 a month with processing on every sale, and QR ordering per table is on Plus at $49 a month per location. Neither prints and ships. See Gaslamp vs Wix and Gaslamp vs Square.

Switching without dead codes

1. Export your menu from MustHaveMenus as a PDF, or copy the text, while the account is active.
2. Set it up in the new tool. In Gaslamp, pick a design and start from your exported text as a head start, then tidy it up in the editor. The demo editor works before you make an account.
3. Print the new QR pieces and replace every old code in one night.
4. Update the menu link on your website and Google Business Profile.
5. Then cancel. MustHaveMenus deactivates its QR codes and online menus on cancellation, so the order matters.

For which kind of QR code to print next time, read dynamic vs static QR codes.

The short version

If you run several locations, want menus printed and shipped, or use its POS and listings tools, MustHaveMenus is still built for you. If you are one restaurant that wants a mobile menu and a QR code that stay right, Gaslamp does that for $19 a month, iMenuPro for $16 with more print options, and MenuZen for free on a short menu. For the whole field, see our menu software roundup.