A restaurant-only POS and payments platform built for the front and back of house.
Best for
Restaurants, bars, and cafes wanting an all-in-one hospitality POS with payments built in.
Every fee we track, grouped by where it applies.
In-person terminal and tap-to-pay transactions.
Point of Sale ($69) plan. Free Starter plan is 3.09% + 15c. Rates are negotiable and can be raised with notice.
Per terminal: Starter Kit $0, Point of Sale $69, Build Your Own ~$110-165+. $69 used as the core-plan figure.
Reported setup fee. Verify in your quote.
Online checkout and keyed-in card transactions.
Online / card-not-present. Verify the exact CNP figure in your quote.
Per terminal: Starter Kit $0, Point of Sale $69, Build Your Own ~$110-165+. $69 used as the core-plan figure.
Reported setup fee. Verify in your quote.
Reported range; verify. Plus a small per-batch fee.
30 days notice. Software-term ETF on bundled deals.
Reported; verify in your agreement.
Pay-as-you-go month-to-month is offered; the bundled deal is usually multi-year. Verify.
Memberships and recurring billing, restaurant-focused.
Cards, wallets, and other methods supported by Toast for US merchants.
Toast is built specifically for restaurants, bars, and cafes, combining payments with deep hospitality features like online ordering, kitchen display, table management, and loyalty. For food and drink businesses it is one of the most complete platforms available.
Pricing is quote-driven and bundle-heavy: software runs from a free Starter tier to higher monthly plans per terminal, and the card rate is negotiable and can be raised with notice. Hardware is proprietary, and the entry contract is often multi-year, so the total cost is best understood through a tailored quote rather than a single published rate.
Toast was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Boston, USA.
Side-by-side with the closest alternatives by estimated cost.
Assumes $15,000/mo volume, $50 average transaction, 70% in-person and 30% online.
Toast
$533/mo est.
Clover
$511/mo est.
Stripe
$452/mo est.
Square
$452/mo est.
The same questions US merchants ask before signing up.
Toast is built for restaurants and prices in bundles. Software runs from a free Starter tier up to higher monthly plans per terminal, the in-person card rate is around 2.49% + 15c, and online ordering is charged at 3.5% + 15c. Pricing is quote-driven, so the total depends on your hardware, modules, and negotiated rate. Get a tailored quote before committing.
Yes. Toast is a restaurant-only platform, designed for restaurants, bars, and cafes. It includes hospitality features that general processors do not, such as kitchen display screens, online ordering, table management, and loyalty. If you run a non-food retail business, a general processor like Square or Clover is a better fit.
Toast's software fee is From $0-165/mo on its core plan, charged per terminal, with a free Starter tier available in exchange for a higher card rate and higher-tier plans that add modules. Because Toast bundles software, hardware, and processing, the monthly figure is only part of the picture, so review the full quote.
Often, yes. Toast's bundled deals are typically multi-year, though a pay-as-you-go month-to-month option exists at a higher rate. Early termination on a term contract is calculated from the months remaining. The card rate can also be raised with notice, so confirm both the term and the rate-change terms before signing.
Toast has native AI built for restaurants: ToastIQ is a conversational assistant, Sous Chef surfaces operational insights and voice tools, and the AI Marketing Assistant helps with campaigns. Toast does not publish an official Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, so connecting it to AI agents currently relies on third-party or community tools.
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