Trying to decide between Toast or Square as your restaurant's point of sale system? Read our guide to discover the best fit for your business.

New and established food service business owners will find Toast POS and Square POS during their restaurant POS system research. But which one is the better fit for small businesses?
Keep reading this Toast VS Square comparison to find out which restaurant POS system is right for your business size, budget, and unique needs.
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Square |
Toast |
Ideal For |
- Small food establishments
- Low-budget food businesses
- Popup location food businesses
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- Larger restaurants
- Full-service restaurants
- Multi-location food businesses
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Pricing |
- Free
- $60/month/location
- Enterprise package available
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- Pay-as-you-go ($0 upfront)
- $69/month
- $165/month
- $272/month
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Processing Fees |
- In-person: 2.5-2.6% + $0.10
- Online: 2.6-2.9% + $0.30
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- In-person & online orders: 2.49-2.99% + $0.15
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Standout Features |
- Free website, online ordering system, and delivery
- Free QR ordering code generator
- Unlimited devices on free plan
- Integrated Google Ordering & social media
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- Durable Android-based hardware
- Excellent inventory management and reporting features
- Lots of customizations for server/kitchen display devices
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What’s Missing |
- Perishable inventory monitoring
- Built-in waitlist function
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- Full pricing transparency
- Short-term contracts
- Solid customer service
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Visit Site Read Review |
Visit Site Read Review |
Toast VS Square For Restaurants At A Glance
Toast and Square are both strong restaurant point of sale systems. However, Square offers more free features like a free online ordering platform and Google Ordering integration, while Toast offers more extensive restaurant-specific features like perishable inventory management and menu performance reports.
Pros & Cons Of Toast
Pros
- Highly customizable mobile POS and kitchen display system
- Excellent online ordering features
- Thorough perishable inventory management
- Restaurant-grade hardware
Cons
- Locked into a long-term contract
- Higher payment processing fees on a pay-as-you-go plan
- Can be expensive, especially with add-ons like online ordering and loyalty program
Toast is a great choice for busy small to midsize restaurants because there are several restaurant-industry-specific features like customizable ordering, tipping, online reservation, and kitchen workflow features. Toast’s self-ordering kiosks, which allow customers to collect and redeem loyalty program points, are great additions to quick-serve restaurants of all sizes.
The system’s ingredient-level inventory tracking, easy 86-ing functions, and automated menu item syncing across locations and ordering platforms also allow for easy inventory management, especially for multi-location restaurant businesses.
Plus, Toast’s Android-based hardware can survive spills, drops, and most other restaurant mishaps (while iOS devices may not.)
Pros & Cons Of Square For Restaurants
Pros
- Free online ordering platform for pickup and delivery orders
- Integrations with popular third-party delivery services
- Very easy to set up and use
- Unlimited devices allowed on free plan
Cons
- Occasional fund holds
- No perishable inventory tracking
- Expensive for multilocation establishments
Square is overall the best free/low-cost restaurant management system for small food service business owners. Square’s free features like your own website, tableside ordering QR code generator, online gift card generator, and social media marketing integrations, make Square a fantastic all-in-one inventory, online ordering, and POS software option for those with a limited budget.
You can use an unlimited number of your own iPads as POS systems (free plan only) or purchase Square’s new durable Android-based mobile POS kit (starting at the Square Plus plan.) Square card readers are compact and affordable, so it’s easy to sell at a restaurant, in a food truck, and on-location at events like farmers’ markets and festivals.
What’s The Difference Between Square & Toast?
Toast offers more restaurant-specific features like highly-custom floor planning, reservation capabilities, and perishable inventory tracking, but comes with a higher price tag. Square offers many more free features and affordable hardware but lacks some features that larger single-location multilocation restaurant businesses need to run smoothly.
While both systems offer similar features, Toast offers more granular levels of control, while Square’s features aren’t as detailed but are much less expensive.
Both Toast & Square Offer…
- Online ordering for pickup and delivery (Square offers this for free)
- Tableside ordering via QR code
- Third-party delivery platform integrations (Doordash, UberEats, Chowly, etc.)
- Gift card programs (Square online gift cards are free)
- Custom tipping and order splitting rules
- Self-ordering kiosks
- Built-in payment processing systems which support cash, card, and check payments
- Mobile and tabletop register hardware
Only Toast Offers…
- Extensive perishable inventory management
- Extensive floor planning capabilities
- Credit-card-based loyalty program, so customers automatically earn points as they spend
- Several restaurant-specific analytics reports
Only Square Offers…
- Free integration with Google Ordering, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook
- Free built-in appointment scheduler (great for catering and as a makeshift reservation system)
- Free eCommerce/online ordering website builder
- Month-to-month subscription plans
Toast VS Square Pricing
|
Toast |
Square |
Monthly Subscription Pricing |
- Starter Plan: $0/month (1-2 POS terminals)
- Standard Plan: $69/month (1-2 POS terminals)
- Essential Plan: $165/month
|
- Free Plan: $0/month (single-location)
- Plus Plan: $60/month/location
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In-Person Payment Processing |
- Starter Plan: 2.99% + $0.15 per transaction
- Standard Plan: 2.49%+ $0.15 per transaction
- Essentials Plan: Custom quote
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- Free Plan: 2.6% + $0.10 per transaction
- Plus Plan: 2.5% + $0.10 per transaction
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Online Payment Processing |
3.5% + $0.15 (includes online, phone, and third-party delivery orders) |
- Free Plan: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction
- Plus Plan: 2.6% + $0.30 per transaction
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Mobile POS |
- Starter Plan: $0 upfront + higher processing fee (2.99% instead of 2.49%)
- Standard Plan: $609 + $69/month
- Essentials Plan: Custom quote
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- Square Card Reader: $49
- Square Mobile POS: $299
- Square Terminal: $299
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Online Ordering Platform |
- Starter Plan: 0.4% additional transaction fee (as part of digital marketing suite package)
- Standard Plan: $75/month
- Essentials Plan: Custom quote
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$0 |
Self-Ordering Kiosks |
Toast software is compatible with Elo self-ordering kiosks, which cost $450-$700 each |
- $0 (QR codes that link to free online ordering platform)
- $50/month/location (self-ordering kiosk screens)
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Kitchen Display Systems (KDS) |
- Starter/Standard Plans: $499 + $25/month (one KDS only)
- Essentials Plan: Custom quote
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- Free Plan: $20/device/month
- Plus Plan: Unlimited number of KDS
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Gift Card Program |
- Starter Plan: 0.4% additional transaction fee (as part of digital marketing suite package)
- Standard Plan: $50/month
- Essentials Plan: Custom quote
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- $0 for online gift cards
- $0.80-$2.00 per printed card
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Loyalty Program |
- Starter Plan: 0.4% additional transaction fee (as part of digital marketing suite package)
- Standard Plan: $50/month
- Essentials Plan: Custom quote
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$45/location-$105/location (dependent on number of loyalty customer visits) |
Chargeback Fee |
$15 |
$0 |
Contract Length |
1-3 years |
Month-to-month |
Early Termination Fee |
- Paid Plans: Fee equal to the remaining subscription term
- Starter Plan: $150 multiplied by remaining months of the subscription term
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$0 |
Subscription Renewal Price Changes |
Automated 3% increase at the start of each subscription renewal |
$0 |
Square and Toast both offer plans that cost $0/month.
However, Toast charges higher payment processing fees to cover the cost of the “free” plan. Toast is a more advanced restaurant POS system, but it’s quite expensive considering the cost of add-ons like online ordering and eGift cards (which Square offers for free.)
Toast VS Square Features
|
Toast |
Square |
Split Tickets |
- Split by item, dollar amount, seat number, or split amount evenly
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- Split by item, dollar amount, or split amount evenly
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Custom Tipping |
- Decide whether tips are automatically added and pooled vs shared
- Create rules for which roles can receive tips, what types of items count for tipping, and for minimum tips based on party size or transaction volume
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- Create manual/automated tipping options
- Set suggested tips based on percentage or dollar amount
- Tip pooling available on Square Team Plus plan ($35/location/month subscription)
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Offline Payments |
- Swiped card payments only
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- Only available with Square Terminal ($299)
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Menu Management |
- Customize based on time of day, location, and ordering platform
- 86 menu items on handheld POS
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- Customize by time of day and ordering platform
- Customize by location starting on Plus plan
- POS with auto-86 menu items when an ingredient runs out
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Inventory Tracking |
- Extensive inventory management and menu item performance tracking
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- No built-in perishable inventory tracking
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Online Ordering, Takeout, & Delivery |
- Additional $75/month (Standard plan), 0.4% transaction fee (part of Starter plan digital marketing package), or custom-quoted (Essentials plan)
- Integrations with Grubhub, Doordash, Caviar
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- Free online ordering platform with optional paid branded domain name
- Integrations with Google Ordering, Chowly, Uber Eats, DoorDash, Postmates, Deliverect, and more
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Self-service Kiosks |
- Software compatible with Elo devices
- Customers can collect/redeem loyalty points at self-ordering kiosks
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- Use free QR codes or pay additional monthly fee for self-ordering kiosks on iPads
- Integration with Kiosk Buddy, Kyoo, and KIOS also available
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Reservations |
- Integrates with OpenTable and Tock reservation systems
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- Free appointment scheduler can be used for reservations *OpenTable integration available
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Floor Planning |
|
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Open Tabs |
|
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Marketing Tools |
- Email marketing suite
- Highly customizable loyalty and gift card programs
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- Integration with Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter
- Loyalty points and gift card programs *Email and SMS marketing suite (paid add-on)
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Employee Management |
- Available through Toast Team Management (paid monthly add-on)
- Integration with Homebase is also available
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- Free shift scheduling, time clock, break tracking, tip tracking, and labor cost reports
- Integration with Homebase also available
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Multilocation Management |
|
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Restaurant Reporting |
- Extensive number of restaurant-specific reports for single and multiple locations
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- Reports on menu item performance, customer engagement, labor, etc.
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Toast and Square both have strong tipping, check splitting, menu management, online ordering, loyalty program, gift card creation, floor planning, card pre-authorization, and email marketing features. Toast offers more customization in most of these categories, but for the average restaurant, you may not need such granular levels of custom settings.
Toast has a definitive edge over Square in terms of inventory management. Square, on the other hand, has better built-in online ordering, marketing, and offline payment capabilities.
For many restaurant needs, like reservations, Square offers free and low-cost workarounds, while Toast offers either proprietary (paid) solutions or (paid) integrations with third-party restaurant software providers.
The biggest difference between Toast and Square, though, is the way you get (and pay for) your restaurant hardware. You have to use Toast’s proprietary hardware, while Square allows you to bring your own iPad-based devices or purchase affordable Square hardware.
Let’s dig into a more detailed feature comparison so you can decide which POS system you need.
Toast VS Square POS Features
Both Toast and Square have great POS software features, many of which are designed with servers in mind. Both systems allow servers to:
- Add conversational modifiers from handheld and countertop POS devices
- Take tips based on custom tipping rules
- Take chip card and digital wallet payments
- Hold and fire orders to kitchen screens or kitchen ticket printers
- Make quick inventory adjustments
- Remove sold-out items from the menu based on available inventory (although Square systems can do this automatically, while servers have to do it manually on Toast systems)
- Split up checks by item, dollar amount, or split a check into equal amounts for all members of a party
- Add a service charge for large parties
- Open a tab for patrons
The biggest differences between Toast and Square POS systems are the hardware requirements.
Toast requires you to use its proprietary Android-based hardware, which is a good investment but can be pricey.
Square, on the other hand, allows you to bring your own iPads to use as mobile POS devices, self-ordering kiosks, and kitchen display screens. You can also purchase affordable Square hardware, including Square’s new Android-based mobile POS devices that are similar in design to the Toast Go 2 handheld POS.
Finally, the Square Terminal allows you to take many payment types completely offline, while Toast devices can only accept magstripe card payments. This makes Square a better offline POS system.
Square and Toast both allow you to make custom menus based on course, ordering method, and physical location. For example, you can make entirely different menus for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You can also remove dine-in menu items from third-party delivery menus, create a menu just for catering large events, and make menus for different locations if you have multiple establishments.
You can also use either system to create promotional deals, build combo meal options, and set automated discounts for things like happy hour drinks and Sunday brunch specials.
Toast has an edge over Square in menu management, though, since you can get more specific about your menu setup and generate more insight into how menu items perform and where your inventory is going.
Toast also has an edge over Square in restaurant inventory management. This is because Square has no built-in perishable inventory tracking.
You’ll have to cobble together some form of labeling system to incorporate FIFO (first in, first out) inventory management practices in your kitchen if you use Square to manage your inventory. Toast has a built-in ingredient-level inventory tracking system, which will be easier to use.
Toast VS Square Online Ordering Features
Square excels as an omnichannel payments provider. Square makes it easy (and virtually free) for all sellers, no matter their business type, to sell in-person, online, and even on social media channels and Google.
You can use the free Square Online website builder to create your own ordering platform, plus build pages for things like a history of your establishment, list upcoming events/promotions, and create a contact form for things like catering and custom order inquiries.
Toast’s online ordering platform for takeout and delivery is an extra paid add-on. You can either pay an extra monthly subscription fee for online ordering or pay a percentage of each online order.
Both POS providers charge a higher transaction fee for online orders. Square charges a 2.9% fee while Toast charges a 3.5% fee (unless you have a custom-quoted payment processing agreement with Toast.)
You can integrate both Toast and Square with third-party delivery apps. Toast and Square both also have streamlined order-to-kitchen workflow setups that receive in-person, online, and third-party delivery platform orders on one centralized display or be routed to specific screens.
Square VS Toast Waitlist & Reservation Features
Unfortunately, Toast does not currently have a built-in waitlist and reservation system, but the company is rolling out a waitlist/reservation app. Toast has integrations for popular restaurant integration software like Tock and OpenTable.
Square does not have a traditional restaurant reservation system or waitlist system. Restaurant owners can set up Square’s free appointment scheduler feature as a makeshift reservation system, or integrate Square with OpenTable. Square also integrates with Waitly and TablesReady waitlist software (which both have free starter plans available.)
Toast VS Square Marketing Features
Toast and Square allow restaurant owners to start a loyalty and gift card program.
Square’s loyalty program requires customers to enter a phone number, while Toast’s loyalty program saves customer card readers and rewards points automatically to the name associated with the card.
Toast and Square offer email marketing as a paid add-on. You may include promo codes and a link to an online ordering platform.
Square has several social media integrations so you can advertise your new menu items, promos, and special events on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter.
Square VS Toast Payment Processing
Both Toast and Square require you to use an in-house payment processor, which is fine if you’re comfortable with the rates you’re getting.
Square for Restaurants has a flat fee of 2.6% plus $0.10 cents for in-person transactions and 2.9% plus $0.30 for online transactions.
Toast advertises payment processing rates of 2.49% and 2.99% plus a $0.15 flat fee for in-person transactions, depending on your Toast monthly subscription plan. Online transactions have a 3.5% plus $0.15 flat fee. These listed fees are advertised for customers who purchase the Toast starter kit, which includes 1-2 tabletop or handheld POS devices and Toast POS software.
Often, though, Toast requires merchants to sign a merchant agreement with a custom payment processing rate. You won’t really know how much you can expect to pay until you contact Toast for a quote.
Toast VS Square User Reviews
As you would expect with two companies that are used by thousands of merchants across the country and the world, there is a wide range of positive reviews as well as complaints.
In general, Square user reviews praise the software’s ease of use and that it’s a straightforward, all-in-one POS, online ordering, team management, and payment processing solution. They dislike very little, but the complaints that do exist are mostly about payment processing.
Toast users, on the other hand, have many pain points. While users praise the software’s server-centric features and like the level of customization that’s possible, they have many complaints about customer service, contracts, software glitches, and the price point of said customizations.
Square For Restaurants Complaints & Common Problems
- Limited restaurant-specific reporting and inventory management
- Occasional fund holds if there’s a suspicious transaction
- Payment processing fees for businesses with higher transaction volume
Toast Complaints & Common Problems
- Horrible customer service
- Trapped in long-term contracts
- High card-not-present payment processing fees
- Expensive add-ons
- Frequently glitching hardware and time-consuming software updates
Which Is Best For My Business Needs: Toast Or Square?
Toast and Square are both great restaurant POS systems, but each one fits a certain business type. Here’s how to tell which restaurant POS is right for your business.
Choose Toast If…
- Your larger, full-scale restaurant needs in-depth features
- You have several restaurant locations that could benefit from master menu and inventory management
- You fully understand and are comfortable with Toast’s processing fees and contract requirements
- You want to take advantage of Toast’s sleek and innovative hardware options
Choose Square For Restaurants If…
- You want a free/low-cost restaurant management solution
- You want affordable, diverse restaurant hardware options
- Your restaurant would benefit from a simple, all-in-one POS system
- You don’t process a high volume of transactions
- Your restaurant could benefit from helpful add-ons like Square Loyalty and Square Payroll
- You want a month-to-month contract
Toast VS Square Comparison: The Final Verdict
Toast and Square restaurant POS systems both have great feature sets for restaurant owners. Toast features are more in-depth, but can also be much more expensive.
Square’s payment processing fees and hardware costs are consistent and transparent, while Toast’s custom-quoted pricing plans and customer service are anything but consistent and transparent.
If cost and responsive customer service are significant issues for your business, then Square for Restaurants is the better option. However, if you need a true top-of-the-line restaurant management system and are willing to pay for it (with your time, money, and possibly your tears of frustration), then choose Toast for your restaurant POS needs.
If, after reading this Toast VS Square comparison, neither of these POS providers sounds like the right fit for you, read our post on the best restaurant POS systems to find the software that will take your food service business to the next level.
FAQs: Toast VS Square
What's the difference between Toast and Square?
The difference between Toast and Square is that Toast has many more restaurant-specific features and customization, but is generally much more expensive than Square for Restaurants.
Toast is made for larger and multilocation restaurant businesses, while single-location restaurants, food trucks, and on-the-go food service businesses will benefit more from Square’s affordable software and hardware.
Which is cheaper: Toast or Square for Restaurants?
Square for Restaurants is cheaper than Toast unless you have very high transaction volumes. At a certain point, Toast’s expensive monthly subscriptions can be worth it if you get a lower payment processing rate than what Square charges.