Verdict
Toast is a restaurant point of sale first and a card processor second. It fits a single-location restaurant that wants ordering, kitchen screens, online orders and payroll from one vendor and is willing to sign a 2-year software agreement to get them. On the plan most restaurants will pick, Toast charges 2.49% + 15¢ per card plus $69 a month for the Basic software pack, which lands close to Square and a little above Clover at $50K a month. Skip Toast if you want to keep your hardware when you leave, need month-to-month terms, or run a retail shop where a general POS costs less.
We did not open a Toast account or test its hardware. Every figure below comes from Toast's own pricing pages, shop configurator and merchant agreement, checked Nov 2026.
Toast fees, line by line
Toast sells two pricing plans on its Starter Kits. Pay-as-you-Go puts the hardware at $0 and charges a higher card rate. Traditional asks you to buy the hardware upfront and pay a monthly software fee in exchange for a lower card rate. Toast's shop says both plans apply to new customers and single locations only. Multi-location groups and the Build Your Own plan are priced by quote.
| Fee | What Toast publishes |
|---|---|
| In person, Traditional | 2.49% + 15¢ per card transaction on all three feature packs |
| In person, Pay-as-you-Go | Basic 3.09% + 15¢; Core 3.39% + 15¢; Growth 3.69% + 15¢ |
| Keyed and online cards | Not published on the pricing pages we read. Toast's payments page says its team "will create a rate for you based on your business" |
| Monthly software, Traditional | Basic $69; Core $219 (adds online ordering and delivery integrations); Growth $578 (adds gift cards, loyalty, marketing, websites, catering) |
| Monthly software, Pay-as-you-Go | $0 on every feature pack |
| POS plus payroll bundle | From $69 a month plus $9 per employee a month, for new restaurants |
| Starter hardware | Countertop Starter Kit (Toast Flex terminal, Toast Tap reader, router): $0 on Pay-as-you-Go, $1,153 on Traditional |
| Extra devices | 14" Toast Flex with stand $749 + $50 a month; Toast Go 3 handheld $599 + $50 a month; kitchen display Flex $749 + $35 a month; receipt printer $329; kitchen printer $339; cash drawer $99; Toast Tap $99 |
| Setup | Self install and self-built menu included; virtual-led install $250; menu built by Toast $250; first-day phone support $225 |
| Hardware financing | Toast Easy Pay: a 180-day lease repaid by withholding 0.75% of daily card sales once live, or 1.75% before go-live |
| Payouts | Instant deposit to a debit card, minimum $25 per transfer, with daily caps. Fee and standard deposit timing not published on the pages we read |
| Chargebacks | No per-chargeback fee published |
| Contract | 2-year software agreement, then automatic 1-year renewals unless you give 30 days' written notice |
| Early exit | The remaining software fees for the term, or $150 times the months left on Pay-as-you-Go |
Two smaller notes. Toast's FAQ text on the Starter Kit page quotes the plans as 3.09% and 2.49%, while the checkout configurator adds 15¢ per transaction to both; we use the configurator figure. And Toast describes itself as a payment facilitator that partners with processors, not as a card processor.
What Toast costs at $10K, $50K and $250K a month
Toast is not in our ranking engine, so we priced it the same way the engine prices everyone else: a $50 average sale, the published percentage, the per-sale fee spread over that $50, and the monthly software fee spread over volume. At $50, Toast's 15¢ adds 0.30% to every sale. Square and Clover figures come straight from our engine (prices checked Oct 2026), on the plan the engine picked as cheapest at each volume.
| Monthly card volume | Toast Traditional, Basic ($69) | Toast Pay-as-you-Go, Basic | Square, in person | Clover, in person |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10K | $348 (3.48%) | $339 (3.39%) | $290 (2.90%, Free) | $280 (2.80%, Starter) |
| $50K | $1,464 (2.93%) | $1,695 (3.39%) | $1,450 (2.90%, Plus) | $1,335 (2.67%, Retail Growth) |
| $250K | $7,044 (2.82%) | $8,475 (3.39%) | $6,900 (2.76%, Premium) | $6,325 (2.53%, Retail Growth) |
Read the table with three caveats. First, Toast Traditional also needs the $1,153 Countertop kit upfront; spread over the 2-year agreement that is about $48 a month more. Second, Core and Growth cost $219 and $578 a month on Traditional, so a restaurant that wants Toast online ordering pays $150 more than the Basic column every month. Third, our engine priced Clover on Retail Growth; Clover's Restaurant Growth plan lists at $89.95 a month, $5 more.
The plan choice matters more than it looks. Pay-as-you-Go costs 0.60% more of every dollar you take. Traditional costs $69 a month plus the kit. Ignoring the kit, those two lines cross at about $11,500 a month. Counting the $1,153 kit over two years, they cross at roughly $20K a month. Below that, Pay-as-you-Go is cheaper; above it, Traditional wins and the gap grows with every sale. At $250K a month the difference is $1,431 a month.
Toast's own pricing page also lists a Point of Sale plan from $69 a month with a custom configuration of Toast hardware, and a Build Your Own plan priced by quote. If a sales rep offers you a custom rate, ask for it as a percentage plus a per-transaction fee, and run it through the same math: percentage, plus the fixed fee divided by your average check, plus software divided by volume.
Your real number will differ if your average check is far from $50. A coffee counter at $9 a ticket pays a much larger share in fixed fees than a steakhouse at $120.
What works
- Built for restaurants. Table and order management, kitchen display screens, online ordering and third-party delivery integrations all sit in one system, and Toast lists offline mode so cards can still be taken during an internet outage.
- A real $0 upfront path. Pay-as-you-Go puts a terminal and reader in the building for $0, and Toast's FAQ says you own that hardware from day one. For a new restaurant short on cash, that is useful.
- One flat card rate on Traditional. 2.49% + 15¢ on every feature pack. Moving from Basic to Growth changes your software fee, not your card rate.
- Support included. Toast says 24/7/365 phone and web support is included in every software subscription.
- Payroll and back office in the same login. The payroll bundle starts at $69 a month plus $9 per employee, and the Growth pack adds loyalty, gift cards and email marketing.
- A way out if Toast raises rates. The merchant agreement lets you terminate without the early termination fee if you object in writing to a change in card processing rates or the core POS fee before it takes effect.
What to watch
- A 2-year agreement with auto-renewal. Toast's shop states a 2-year software agreement. After that it renews for a year at a time unless you give 30 days' written notice. Put the date in your calendar on day one.
- Leaving early is expensive. The exit fee is the rest of your software fees for the term, or $150 for each month left on Pay-as-you-Go. Twelve months early on Pay-as-you-Go is $1,800.
- Hardware does not travel. Toast says its services only run on approved Toast hardware. If you switch providers, the terminals stop being a POS.
- Rates can move mid-term. The agreement lets Toast change card processing rates during the term with 30 days' notice. You can leave if you object in time, but you have to act.
- Online and keyed rates are not published. If phone orders or your own website matter, get those rates in writing before you sign.
- Pay-as-you-Go has fine print. The agreement says it can carry an inactivity fee if you miss card processing minimums. The minimum and the fee are not published.
- Add-ons stack up. Each extra terminal or handheld is $50 a month on top of its purchase price, and each kitchen screen is $35 a month.
- Reserves are possible. Toast and its payment providers can require a reserve under the agreement, as most processors can.
Who should use Toast
- Full-service and quick-service restaurants that want front of house, kitchen display and online ordering in one system.
- New single-location restaurants with tight cash, on Pay-as-you-Go, as long as volume stays under about $20K a month or you plan to move to Traditional.
- Restaurants doing $20K a month or more that are happy to commit for 2 years in exchange for 2.49% + 15¢.
Who should skip Toast
- Retail shops, salons and service businesses. Square or Clover give you a general POS without a restaurant agreement.
- Anyone who wants month-to-month terms. Square has no contract on its plans.
- Restaurants that care most about the card rate above $50K a month. Clover's Growth bundles charge 2.3% + 10¢ in person, and interchange-plus providers can go lower again.
- Pop-ups and seasonal sellers who may stop processing for months, given the Pay-as-you-Go inactivity fee and the 2-year term.
Toast alternatives
- Square: 2.6% + 15¢ in person on a $0 plan with no contract, and $290 a month at $10K in our engine. See Square vs Toast.
- Clover: 2.3% + 10¢ in person on Growth bundles and the lowest of the three at $50K and $250K in our engine, but its hardware subscriptions run 36 months. See Clover vs Toast.
- Helcim: interchange-plus with no monthly fee and no contract, $1,020 a month at $50K in person in our engine. It is a processor with a basic POS, not a restaurant system. Compare it in our restaurant processor ranking.
If you are still deciding which kind of system you need, our small business POS comparison covers retail and service options, and our guide to hardware lock-in explains what happens to your terminals when you switch. Tips are their own cost line; see tipping fees on POS systems.