The short answer
For a full-service restaurant that wants one system for tables, kitchen screens and online orders, Toast is the most complete restaurant POS of the five, at 2.49% + 15¢ per card plus $69 a month on its Traditional plan, with a 2-year agreement. For a new or counter-service spot that wants no contract, Square starts at $0 a month and 2.6% + 15¢. If the card rate matters most, Clover charges the lowest published in-person rate here, 2.3% + 10¢, but its restaurant hardware runs on a 36-month subscription. SpotOn publishes a month-to-month plan at $55 a station, and Lightspeed Restaurant suits groups that want deep menu and floor control but does not publish its card rates.
This page is about choosing the POS system. If you already have a POS and want to cut what you pay to process cards, read our best payment processors for restaurants ranking instead.
How we compared them
We read each provider's own restaurant pricing page, plus Toast's shop configurator and merchant agreement. Square and Clover figures come from our fee data, checked Oct 2026, and match their restaurant pricing pages; Toast, SpotOn and Lightspeed were checked Nov 2026. We did not test hardware or open accounts.
We compared five things a restaurant actually pays for or gets stuck with: the in-person card rate, the monthly software fee, the hardware cost, the contract, and whether the price is published at all. Where a monthly cost is shown, it assumes a $50 average check, the same assumption our ranking engine uses.
Restaurant POS systems at a glance
| System | In-person card rate | Monthly software | Hardware | Contract |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toast | 2.49% + 15¢ (Traditional); 3.09% to 3.69% + 15¢ (Pay-as-you-Go) | $69, $219 or $578 (Traditional); $0 (Pay-as-you-Go) | Countertop kit $1,153, or $0 on Pay-as-you-Go | 2-year agreement, auto-renews yearly |
| Square | 2.6% + 15¢ Free; 2.5% + 15¢ Plus; 2.4% + 15¢ Premium | $0, $49 or $149 per location | From $59 | No contract |
| Clover | 2.3% + 10¢ on Restaurant Growth | Restaurant Growth from $89.95 | Full-service systems $179 to $354 a month for 36 months, or $1,799 to $4,447 upfront | 36-month hardware subscription |
| SpotOn | 2.45% + 15¢ (Essentials, Amex 3.19% + 15¢); 2.79% + 20¢ (All-In) | $55 per station (Essentials); $0 (All-In) | Station $750, handheld $297, or included on All-In | Month-to-month (Essentials); 2-year minimum (All-In) |
| Lightspeed Restaurant | Not published | Starter $69, Essential $189, Premium $399 (USD) | Not published on the pricing page | Not published |
What each one costs at $50K a month
Here is one location doing $50K a month in card sales at a $50 average check, on each provider's most likely plan. Square and Clover come from our ranking engine. Toast and SpotOn are not in the engine, so we applied the same formula to their published rates: the percentage, plus the per-sale fee divided by $50, plus the monthly software fee.
| System and plan | Monthly cost at $50K | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|
| Clover, in person (engine, Retail Growth plan) | $1,335 | 2.67% |
| SpotOn POS Essentials, 1 station | $1,430 | 2.86% |
| Square Plus, in person (engine) | $1,450 | 2.90% |
| Toast Traditional, Basic | $1,464 | 2.93% |
| SpotOn All-In, 1 station | $1,595 | 3.19% |
| Toast Pay-as-you-Go, Basic | $1,695 | 3.39% |
| Lightspeed Restaurant | Cannot be priced | Rates not published |
The first four sit within $129 of each other, so at this volume features and contract terms decide more than the rate does. Three things the table leaves out. Hardware: Toast's Traditional kit is $1,153 upfront and Clover's full-service systems start at $1,799 upfront or $179 a month for 36 months. Extra devices: Toast adds $50 a month per extra terminal, Square charges $30 a month per Square KDS app device on Plus, and SpotOn charges per station. And American Express: SpotOn Essentials charges 3.19% + 15¢ on Amex, which our figure does not include.
Toast: the deepest restaurant system
Toast is built for restaurants, with a separate retail product. Its pricing page lists table and order management, kitchen display, online ordering, Toast Delivery Services, third-party delivery integrations, payroll, inventory and marketing modules, plus an offline mode that keeps taking cards during an outage. Support is included 24/7/365.
The cost is commitment. Toast's shop states a 2-year software agreement that then renews for a year at a time unless you give 30 days' written notice, and the early exit fee is the rest of your software fees, or $150 per remaining month on Pay-as-you-Go. Toast hardware only runs Toast. Keyed and online card rates are not published. Pick Traditional above roughly $20K a month; Pay-as-you-Go costs 0.60% more per dollar. Compare it head to head in Square vs Toast and Clover vs Toast.
Square for Restaurants: no contract, easy start
Square puts its food and beverage features in every plan. Free is $0 a month per location at 2.6% + 15¢ in person and 3.3% + 30¢ online. Plus is $49 a month at 2.5% + 15¢ and 2.9% + 30¢, and adds the Square KDS app at $30 a month per device and kiosks at $99 a month per device. Premium is $149 a month at 2.4% + 15¢, with coursing and seat management and the KDS app at $20 a month per device. Restaurants processing over $250,000 a year can ask about custom pricing.
Next-day transfers are free, and instant transfers cost 1.95%. There is no contract, and hardware starts at $59. The trade-off is depth: Square covers counter service and simple table service well, but the kitchen and multi-station tools cost extra per device. For a coffee shop, food truck or small cafe, it is the lowest-risk start.
Clover: lowest published card rate, longest hardware term
Clover's full-service restaurant systems all run the Restaurant Growth software plan at 2.3% + 10¢ for tapped, swiped or inserted cards and 3.5% + 10¢ for typed-in cards. The Starter system, a Station Solo with cash drawer and receipt printer, is $179 a month for 36 months or $1,799 upfront plus $89.95 a month. Standard adds a Flex handheld at $239 a month or $2,548 plus $109.90 a month. Advanced adds a Station Duo at $354 a month or $4,447 plus $129.85 a month. Quick-service systems start at $135 a month for 36 months. Rapid Deposit costs 1.75%.
The catch is the term. Clover's hardware subscriptions run 36 months and cannot be canceled, and Clover notes that the prices shown are only available on Clover.com, so a bank or reseller may quote different terms. See Square vs Clover if you are choosing between the two.
SpotOn: published rates and a month-to-month plan
SpotOn offers three restaurant plans. All-In is $0 a station per month with POS hardware included, at 2.79% + 20¢ for card-present sales and 3.79% + 20¢ keyed, but processing minimums apply and there is a 2-year minimum term. POS Essentials is $55 a station per month, month to month, at 2.45% + 15¢ card present (3.19% + 15¢ on Amex) and 3.45% + 15¢ keyed, with hardware bought outright: $750 per Station 15 and $297 per handheld at the time we checked, plus implementation costs. Build Your Own is custom pricing for multi-unit groups.
An optional Core Bundle adds online ordering, a branded guest app and marketing tools for $50 a month plus 0.20% of volume, which SpotOn says is capped at $200. SpotOn is a good fit for a table-service restaurant that wants published rates and no long contract, and can pay for hardware upfront.
Lightspeed Restaurant: strong control, opaque payments
Lightspeed lists three plans, Starter at $69, Essential at $189 and Premium at $399 (USD), plus a quoted Enterprise plan. The plan cards do not state a billing period, and integrated payments are marked "Default" on Starter and "Custom" on Essential and Premium, with no rate shown. Its kitchen display is $30 per screen a month on every plan, and Lightspeed says prices may vary by business and industry.
Depending on the plan, features include menu management, floor plans, pre-auth bar tabs, Advanced Insights reporting, multi-location management, multiple revenue centers for hotels and raw API access. It suits bars, hotel restaurants and multi-site groups that want that control. Get the processing rate in writing before you compare it with the others.
How to choose
- Full service, one location, staying for years: Toast Traditional or Clover. Toast has more restaurant modules; Clover has the lower card rate.
- Counter service, cafe or food truck: Square Free or Plus. No contract and hardware from $59.
- Table service that wants no long contract: SpotOn POS Essentials or Square Plus.
- Bar, hotel or multi-site group: Lightspeed or Toast, both by quote at that size.
- Tight on cash at opening: Toast Pay-as-you-Go or SpotOn All-In, both $0 hardware, but both carry a higher rate and a 2-year term.
Before you sign anything, ask each sales rep the same five questions and get the answers in writing:
- What is my rate for tapped, keyed and online cards, including American Express?
- What does each extra terminal, handheld and kitchen screen cost, upfront and per month?
- How long is the term, does it renew on its own, and what does it cost to leave early?
- When do card sales reach my bank, and what does faster payout cost?
- If I leave, does the hardware work with another provider?
The answers to the third and fifth questions matter most. A slightly lower rate is not worth much if the system ties you in for three years on hardware nobody else supports.
Whichever you choose, check how the system handles tips and whether the hardware works with anyone else. Our guides to tipping fees on POS systems and restaurant POS setup cover both.