Complete Toast Pricing Guide

The Starter Kit is a no-upfront-cost plan available for very small food service establishments that like Toast hardware and software but have no means of paying for POS hardware upfront.

With the Starter Kit, you may choose one countertop, handheld, or self-ordering kiosk POS device with Toast’s core POS in-person ordering and menu management software for no upfront cost and no monthly fee as long as you agree to higher payment processing fees. You may add one additional POS device to your Starter Kit as well as hardware like Toast’s kitchen display system screens, receipt printers, and cash drawers, but you have to pay for the hardware upfront.

Toast has built the Starter Kit so that if you agree to higher payment processing fees (much higher than the average for POS systems), you’ll get more Toast add-ons for no monthly fee. Here is the increased payment processing fee breakdown:

• 3.09 %+ $0.15: Includes Toast in-person ordering software and Starter Kit
• 3.39% + $0.15: Includes online ordering and third-party delivery service ordering (DoorDash, GrubHub, Uber Eats)
• 3.69% + $0.15: Includes gift cards, loyalty program builder, email marketing, website builder, and catering software

Increased fees are for all orders, not just orders that are placed online or on third-party delivery order platforms.

Important Note: At some point, you will end up paying more in payment processing fees than you would if you got Toast add-ons for a flat monthly subscription fee. If you only need one or two POS devices and can afford to purchase your POS equipment upfront, consider signing up for the Point Of Sale plan. If you can get equipment financing or a small business loan, consider doing so as an alternative to paying these high payment processing fees.

The Point Of Sale plan starts at $69/month. With this plan, you can build a 1-2 POS terminal starter kit or a custom hardware package that includes more than two terminals and Toast’s base in-person POS ordering software.

If you choose to build a starter kit with the Core plan, you’ll pay for a countertop POS, handheld POS, or self-serve kiosk upfront, the $69 monthly fee, and a payment processing fee of 2.49% + $0.15 per order.

You may add on hardware accessories like the kitchen display system for a one-time fee as well as software such as online ordering or event catering for a flat monthly fee.

If you need more than two POS terminals, you’ll build a custom plan with a custom payment processing fee.

The Point Of Sale plan includes everything offered in the Starter Kit. The only difference is that you pay for your hardware upfront, a flat monthly fee for the core POS software, and a flat monthly fee for add-ons, which is worth it to avoid steep per-order payment processing fees.

The Payroll Bundle costs $90/month plus $9/employee. This plan is a POS/payroll package that combines Toast’s core POS software with a “lite” version of Toast Payroll and Toast Scheduling. We recommend it for restaurant owners with more than a few employees who want all-in-one scheduling software and restaurant payroll software. Toast also is running a longstanding promotion where it offers this plan for $69/month (plus $9 per employee per month) through the Toast website.

Toast also offers restaurant insurance and 401(k) referrals with this plan.

In terms of POS software and hardware, it’s the same as the Point Of Sale plan. You pay for your hardware upfront, get a custom payment processing fee, and pay a flat monthly fee for POS software. You’ll also pay a flat monthly fee for add-ons like catering and loyalty program software.

The Build Your Own plan is a completely custom plan we recommend for multi-location business owners or those who want to mix and match from Toast’s entire ecosystem of restaurant management products.

We especially recommend this Toast plan if you’re looking for a franchise POS system.

Square For Restaurants is one of the best free restaurant POS systems because restaurant owners get free in-person POS software, a free Square Online ordering platform, and free Square gift card sales management.

You must use Square Payments for payment processing and purchase Square POS hardware to use Square software, but the payment processing fees are lower than on Toast’s no-upfront-cost plan, and the hardware is less expensive ($49-$799). Square also offers hardware financing options.

We recommend Square over Toast when you have a smaller establishment, smaller menu, and fewer perishable ingredients since Toast significantly outperforms Square in these areas.

Lightspeed Restaurant is a great restaurant POS for small to midsize restaurants. Costs range from $189/month for the core POS offering plus a loyalty program, online ordering and advanced inventory management to $399/month for multi-revenue support and open API access.

Lightspeed allows you to use most iPads as POS registers, self-serve kiosks, and kitchen display screens. Card readers cost $299.

We recommend Lightspeed over Toast when you want an affordable loyalty program and strong inventory and menu management.