Comparison
Square POS vs Toast
How Square POS and Toast compare on price, pricing model, features and reviews, with every fact checked on October 24, 2026.
Quick verdict
Choose Square POS if
- Single-shop retailers and service businesses that want to start at $0 software.
- Merchants who want one vendor for hardware, payments and online store.
Choose Toast if
- Restaurants, bars and cafes needing table service, kitchen display and online ordering.
- Single-location operators who can use the Starter Kit.
Square POS vs Toast side by side
| Square POS | Toast | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Free-to-start POS from Block that bundles its own card processing, with paid per-location plans for retail and restaurants. | Restaurant-only POS and payments platform with its own hardware and tiered software plans, sold mostly on quote. |
| Status | Active | Active |
| Starting price | $0/month (Square for Retail Free) | $0/month on pay-as-you-go Starter Kit; $69/month standard Point of Sale plan (per a Toast article) |
| Pricing model | per location | per location |
| Free plan or trial | Free plan | No |
| SAML SSO | Not published | Not published |
| SCIM provisioning | Not published | Not published |
| Audit logs | Not published | Not published |
| Data residency | Not published | Not published |
| Contract | Not published | About 2 years reported by a third-party source; not verified on vendor site. |
| Support | Not published | Not published |
| G2 rating | 4.6 (1,208 reviews) | 4.2 (370 reviews) |
| Founded | 2009 | 2012 |
| Headquarters | Oakland, US (Block, Inc. principal office; no formal headquarters) | Boston, Massachusetts, US |
| Employees | About 6,000 (Block, Inc., 2026, after Feb 2026 layoffs) | 5,700 (2024) |
| Hardware and terminals | Square sells its own handheld, terminal, register, stand and kiosk hardware (hardware prices not verified) | Proprietary Toast terminals, handhelds, kitchen display and kiosks; tiered hardware bundle around $1,024 (third-party) |
| Payment processing terms | Square-only processing; 2.6% + 10c in person on Free, 2.5% + 10c on Retail Plus. | Toast Payments only; rates vary by plan and pay-as-you-go vs traditional. |
| Inventory management | Free plan includes basic inventory tools and unlimited items; G2 inventory sub-score 8.7/10. | Not verified |
| Online and omnichannel sales | Free online store included on Retail Free plan. | Core and Growth add online ordering and loyalty (third-party) |
| Industry features | Separate Retail, Restaurants and Appointments products. | Restaurant-specific: table service, kitchen display, online ordering. |
| Reporting and analytics | Reviewers on G2 praise reporting (G2 summary) | G2 reviewers flag missing reporting features. |
| Pricing model | Monthly plan per location plus flat-rate processing plus hardware. | Software tier plus processing percentage plus hardware. |
| Target company size | Micro and small businesses; custom Premium for larger. | Single restaurants to multi-location groups. |
Differences most comparisons miss
Worth knowing about Square POS
- Retail Plus discount on in-person rate is only 0.1 percentage point (2.6% to 2.5%) and applies only on the Retail POS signed into Plus.
- Software and processing are tied: Square is the processor, so leaving means replacing hardware.
- Premium plan is quote-only and pitched at merchants above about $250K annual volume.
Worth knowing about Toast
- Pay-as-you-go ($0 software) trades monthly fees for higher processing percentages.
- Reported contract length about 2 years (third-party, verify in order form)
- Pricing is quote-based after a demo, so tier prices differ by source.
What reviewers complain about
Square POS
- Processing fees and upfront hardware costs add up.
- Support access complaints are common across POS vendors, check before buying.
Toast
- Customer support wait times.
- Transaction and hardware costs.
Sources
Both columns use the same sources: vendor pricing and product pages, documentation, G2 and company records, checked on October 24, 2026. Full source lists are on the Square POS and Toast reviews.