Toast vs Square for restaurants: a fair POS comparison
Short answer: Square publishes every plan price and card rate: Free, Plus at $69 a month and Premium at $165 a month, with Plus and Premium both charging 2.6% plus 10 cents per in-person payment, as of October 2026. Toast starts at $0 a month on its Starter Kit and $69 a month on its Point of Sale plan, but it gives card rates and hardware costs in a quote. Choose Square if you want clear costs and a fast setup for a counter-service spot. Choose Toast if you run a busy full-service room and want dedicated hardware with 24/7 support.
You're comparing Toast and Square for your restaurant and want the real monthly cost once card fees are added in, not just the software sticker price.
I'm Ranjit, and I run Blur Studio: 15+ years building software, 120 apps taken live, and clients who have gone on to raise $10M+. I build AI systems and processes that help businesses do a lot more with a lot less time. I also work differently from most of what else is out there, more on that further down this page. Say hello.
How much does Square for Restaurants cost?
Square lists four plans for restaurants. The first three have fixed prices and fixed card rates. The fourth is a custom plan.
| Square plan | Monthly fee per location | In person (tap, dip, swipe) | Online |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 2.6% + 15¢ | 3.3% + 30¢ |
| Plus | $69 | 2.6% + 10¢ | 2.9% + 30¢ |
| Premium | $165 | 2.6% + 10¢ | 2.9% + 30¢ |
| Pro | Custom | Custom | Custom |
Square Pro is for businesses that process over $250,000 a year. It can come with custom card fees, hardware discounts, onboarding help and account managers.
Square's pricing page no longer lists per-device fees for the kitchen display app or kiosk software. Plus now includes the kitchen display software at no extra cost, along with 24/7 phone support, split checks, seat and course management, and reservation links. Square also no longer publishes a separate keyed-in card rate on this page.
Square also charges a 1.5% fee on cards from other countries, on every plan.
What does each Square plan add?
- Free: Menu and item management, pickup and local delivery, and a branded online ordering page.
- Plus: Inventory tracking, close of day reports, the kitchen display app, 24/7 phone support, split checks, seat and course management, reservation links and 500 marketing texts a month.
- Premium: Coursing and seat management, 2,500 marketing texts a month and no fee on gift card loads.
How much does Toast cost?
Toast lists three restaurant plans in its October 2026 pricing guide. It gives starting software prices, but it does not print card rates or hardware prices.
| Toast plan | Software price | Card rate | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter Kit | From $0 a month | A pay-as-you-go rate, higher than paid plans | Single locations with lower card volume |
| Point of Sale | From $69 a month | A lower rate, set in your quote | Places that need more than two terminals or do high volume |
| Build Your Own | Custom | A lower rate, set in your quote | Restaurants that want a tailored setup |
Toast's pricing page says these prices apply to new customers with a single location. The Starter Kit price includes the first terminal. Each extra device costs more.
Hardware and setup costs depend on your package and install needs. You can pay for them up front. Toast also offers Toast Easy Pay, a 180-day lease in the US. Toast takes 0.75% of your daily card sales to pay down the lease once you are live, or 1.75% before you go live. Any balance left at the end comes out of your bank account.
Toast's pricing page also says its software runs only on approved Toast hardware. It describes Toast as a payment facilitator that works with card processors. Toast Care, its 24/7 phone and chat support, is included in every software plan.
How do Toast and Square compare side by side?
| Toast | Square for Restaurants | |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest monthly price | $0 (Starter Kit) | $0 (Free plan) |
| Next plan | From $69 a month | $69 a month (Plus) |
| Card rates published | No, set in a quote | Yes, on the pricing page |
| Hardware | Approved Toast hardware only, price by quote | Hardware discounts on the Pro plan |
| Hardware payment plan | Easy Pay lease over 180 days | Not described on the pricing page |
| Support | 24/7 Toast Care in every plan | Pro adds onboarding help and account managers |
| Offline payments | Offline mode listed as a feature | Processed when the device reconnects, declined after 24 hours offline |
| Large business plan | Build Your Own, custom | Pro, custom, over $250,000 a year |
What will card fees cost me each month?
Card fees often cost more than the software, so do the math on your own numbers.
Here is an example on Square Plus. Say you take $40,000 a month in card payments in person, across 1,600 payments. The percentage fee is 2.6% of $40,000, which is $1,040. The fixed fee is 10 cents times 1,600, which is $160. Add the $69 plan fee and your total is $1,269 for the month.
On Square Premium, the card rate is the same, 2.6% plus 10 cents, so the card fees are also $1,200. Add the $165 plan fee and you pay $1,365. Premium only pays off once you need its extra features, such as coursing, seat management or the higher marketing text allowance, since the card rate itself no longer drops on the higher plan.
For Toast, ask for a written quote that shows the percentage, the fixed fee per payment and any monthly fees. Then run the same sum. Comparing the two totals is the only fair way to know which costs less for you.
Which restaurants suit Toast, and which suit Square?
Choose Toast if
- You run a busy full-service room: You want a system built around restaurants, with several terminals.
- You want support around the clock: Toast Care is included in every software plan.
- You are happy with dedicated hardware: Toast's software runs on Toast's own approved devices.
- You want to spread hardware costs: The Easy Pay lease pays for hardware out of daily card sales.
Choose Square if
- You want to know your costs up front: Every plan price and card rate is on Square's page.
- You are a cafe, food truck or counter-service spot: The free plan covers online ordering and basic menus.
- You want to start small: You can begin on Free and move to Plus or Premium later.
Prices and offers can change. Before you sign, ask each one about contract length, cancellation, hardware returns and how you get your data out if you leave.
What are the limits of each POS?
Every POS has trade-offs. These come from each vendor's own pages.
- Toast: Card rates and hardware prices need a quote. The software only runs on approved Toast hardware. The listed starting prices apply to new single-location customers.
- Square: The free plan has no kitchen display app or kiosk software. Kitchen displays and kiosks cost extra per device on paid plans. Offline payments that do not reconnect within 24 hours are declined, and you carry the risk on them.
When does neither Toast nor Square fit?
Most restaurants should buy a POS and stop there. Building your own payment system is costly and hard, and it rarely pays off.
A custom tool makes sense next to your POS, though. Here are common cases.
- Several locations with mixed tools: One site runs Toast and another runs Square after a buyout. You need one view of sales across both.
- Special reports: You want food cost, labor and sales in one daily report that neither POS gives you.
- Phone orders and bookings: An AI receptionist for restaurants can take calls and send orders or bookings into your systems.
- Stock and suppliers: A custom inventory system can link POS sales to stock counts and supplier orders.
In each case, the POS stays in place. The custom part reads its data and does the extra work. That keeps your payments safe with a proven provider.
How would Blur Studio work alongside your POS?
I would first look at the systems you already pay for. I check what your POS, reservation tool and accounting software can share with each other. Many problems go away with better setup and a few links between tools. If you need more, I build the missing piece, such as a group sales dashboard or an AI phone agent. Your restaurant keeps the code and the logins, and I look after the tool once it is live. If you also take bookings, my OpenTable alternatives guide covers the reservation side. If you want a flat-priced, fully owned alternative to either POS instead, see my guide to Toast alternatives.
Need something completely custom?
Everything above is a path to get it running quick and cheap. But sometimes the honest answer is that none of those quite fit, and what you actually need is something custom that you own, built uniquely for your business from the ground up, with AI thoughtfully designed into the parts of it that your processes actually benefit from. An asset that grows in value, not a generic, one-size-fits-all boilerplate that's an expense with a lock-in. This is a complete bespoke build, and it's something I do very well. Get in touch to know more.
Questions people ask
Is Toast or Square cheaper for a restaurant?
It depends on your sales and setup. Square publishes its rates, starting at 2.6% plus 15 cents per in-person payment on its free plan, as of October 2026. Toast sets card rates and hardware costs in a quote, so ask for one in writing and compare the monthly totals.
Does Toast publish its card processing rates?
Toast's pricing pages do not list card rates as of October 2026. They say the Starter Kit uses a higher pay-as-you-go rate and the paid plans use a lower rate. You get the exact rate in a quote.
Can I use my own hardware with Toast?
Toast's pricing page says its software may only be used on approved Toast hardware. You can pay for hardware up front or through its 180-day Easy Pay lease.
What does Square for Restaurants Plus include?
Square Plus costs $49 a month per location as of October 2026. It adds inventory tracking, close of day reports and 500 marketing texts a month. In-person cards cost 2.5% plus 15 cents each.
Which POS is better for a small cafe?
Many small cafes start with Square's free plan because it has no monthly fee and clear rates. Toast's Starter Kit is also $0 a month for one location, so get a quote from both and compare.
Did Square raise its restaurant prices recently?
Yes. As of October 2026, Square's Plus plan moved from $49 to $69 a month and Premium moved from $149 to $165 a month, with both plans now charging the same 2.6% plus 10 cents per in-person card payment. The kitchen display app is now included free on Plus, where it used to cost extra per device.
Roughly what does this cost?
As a broad reference, fixes and finishes start at around $1,500, and new builds start higher, always a fixed price agreed in writing before I start, never an hourly rate. My AI app cost guide explains what actually drives a quote up or down.
Is my project too small for this?
No. Most of the owners I work with have no tech team at all, that is the whole point. If the smarter move is a cheap software subscription instead of custom software, I will tell you that on the first call, even though it means I do not get paid.