Platebill
A Canva alternative for restaurant menus
Canva is a great general design tool, and plenty of restaurants make good menus in it. But a menu is not really a poster. It is a list of dishes and prices that changes every few months and has to appear in several places. That difference is worth understanding before you pick a tool.
Text boxes versus a list of dishes
In a general design tool, a menu is made of text boxes placed on a page. The dish name, description and price are separate pieces of text, positioned by hand. That gives you complete freedom, and it also means the tool does not know that a line is a dish, that a number is a price, or that a green dot means vegetarian.
A menu maker like Platebill works the other way round. You type sections and dishes, each with a name, description, price, size options, add-ons and diet marks, and the layout places them for you. The design is applied to the data rather than drawn around it.
Where the difference shows up
| Task | General design tool | Menu maker with typed dishes |
|---|---|---|
| Change a price | Find the text box and edit it, in every version you keep | Edit it once, every format updates |
| Add a dish mid section | Move every line below it by hand | Add a row, the column reflows |
| Try a new template | Usually means re-entering or pasting your text | Switch layout, dishes stay |
| Same menu as a table tent or TV board | A new design file to keep in step | Switch size, same dishes |
| Half and full price columns | Align them by hand | Set as columns automatically |
| Veg, non-veg and egg marks | Place icons by hand | Pick a mark per dish, legend added |
When a general design tool is the better choice
To be fair about it, Canva and tools like it are the better pick in a few cases. If your menu is really a one off poster with a handful of items, or you need a very custom illustrated layout that no template covers, free placement is exactly what you want. They also do far more than menus, such as flyers, social posts and signage in one place, and they have a large library of stock images and graphics.
If you already have a Canva menu you are happy with and rarely change it, there is no need to move.
When a menu maker saves you time
- Your prices or dishes change several times a year.
- You need the same menu as a printed card, a table tent, a counter board and a phone menu.
- You serve half and full portions or several drink sizes.
- You need veg, non-veg and egg marks, vegan and gluten free tags, and allergens on every dish.
- You want to try a different look without retyping 60 dishes.
What Platebill does and does not do
Platebill is only for menus. Its layouts come in groups such as everyday, bold layouts, tiles and cards, with photos, fine dining, regional, and pattern and print. Sizes run from A5 to A3, US Letter, bi-fold and tri-fold, table tents, slim cards, TV boards and social posts. It exports a print PDF with 3 mm bleed and crop marks, or PNG images, and can set the same dishes as a phone menu. You can paste an existing menu as text to get started.
It is not a free canvas. You cannot drag a dish anywhere you like or draw your own shapes, because the layout does the placing. That is the trade off: less freedom, far less fiddling. You can start without an account, and the pricing page explains what the free plan and Pro include.
Questions people ask
Can I move my Canva menu into Platebill?
There is no direct import, but you can copy the text of your menu and paste it into Platebill. Lines that end in a price become dishes and lines without a price become section headings.
Is Platebill free?
You can make, edit and download menus for free, with a small credit line on each page and up to 3 saved menus in your browser. Pro removes the credit line, saves menus to your account and publishes a phone menu link.
Can I use my own fonts and colours?
Each layout comes with its own type pairing and colours chosen to work together, and you can adjust the type size. Custom fonts are not supported.