POS Systems
Toast review
Restaurant-only POS and payments platform with its own hardware and tiered software plans, sold mostly on quote.
Toast at a glance
- Category
- POS Systems
- Starting price
- $0/month on pay-as-you-go Starter Kit; $69/month standard Point of Sale plan (per a Toast article)
- Pricing model
- per location
- Public pricing
- No
- Free plan
- No
- Contract
- About 2 years (third-party source)
- G2 rating
- 4.2 (370 reviews)
- Founded
- 2012
- Headquarters
- Boston, Massachusetts, US
- Employees
- 5,700 (2024)
- Funding or owner
- Public (NYSE: TOST)
Buying Toast: security, admin and contract
- Contract
- About 2 years reported by a third-party source; not verified on vendor site.
Questions to ask Toast before you sign
- Which plan includes SAML SSO, and what does it cost for our seat count?
- Is SCIM provisioning included, or a paid add-on?
- Which plan includes audit logs, and how long are they kept?
- Where is our data stored, and can we choose the region?
- Can we sign your standard DPA without changes?
- What will the price be at renewal, and is the increase capped?
Questions are listed where Toast's public pages leave the answer open.
Who Toast is for
Choose Toast if
- Restaurants, bars and cafes needing table service, kitchen display and online ordering.
- Single-location operators who can use the Starter Kit.
Look elsewhere if
- Retailers or service businesses (Toast is restaurant-focused)
- Operators wanting to bring their own processor or avoid multi-year terms.
Toast pricing
| Plan | Price | Unit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pay-as-you-go tiers | $0 | per month | Third-party (Korona POS): 3.09%/3.39%/3.69% + 15c for Basic/Core/Growth |
| Traditional tiers | $69 / $219 / $578 | per month | Third-party (Korona POS): 2.49% + 15c each; about $1,024 one-time hardware |
Toast does not publish full pricing. Tier figures are third-party and may be outdated. An $85/month inactivity fee may apply on pay-as-you-go (third-party).
Toast features by buying criteria
| Criterion | What we found |
|---|---|
| Hardware and terminals | Proprietary Toast terminals, handhelds, kitchen display and kiosks; tiered hardware bundle around $1,024 (third-party) |
| Payment processing terms | Toast Payments only; rates vary by plan and pay-as-you-go vs traditional. |
| Online and omnichannel sales | Core and Growth add online ordering and loyalty (third-party) |
| Industry features | Restaurant-specific: table service, kitchen display, online ordering. |
| Reporting and analytics | G2 reviewers flag missing reporting features. |
| Pricing model | Software tier plus processing percentage plus hardware. |
| Target company size | Single restaurants to multi-location groups. |
What reviewers say about Toast
Praised for
- User-friendly interface.
Common complaints
- Customer support wait times.
- Transaction and hardware costs.
Themes paraphrased from public reviews on G2 and similar sites, not quotes.
What most Toast reviews leave out
- 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.
Toast alternatives
Square POSSingle-shop retailers and service businesses that want to start at $0 software.$0/month (Square for Retail Free)
CloverSmall restaurants and retailers wanting bundled hardware plus software.Varies by vertical; Standard bundle $130/month or $849 + $84.95/month (as listed by Clover)
LightspeedMulti-category retailers needing deeper inventory and reporting.Retail Basic $89/month billed annually or $109 monthly (third-party)
TouchBistroFull-service restaurants that want floor plan and tableside ordering on iPads.From $69/month (Point of Sale, hardware and payment processing extra)
Revel SystemsExisting Revel restaurant operators already on the platform.Contact sales
Epos NowSmall retail and hospitality shops wanting bundled hardware.$399 + $84/month (Epos Now US page)
Toast compared
Sources
Every fact on this page comes from Toast's own pricing, product or documentation pages, G2 and company records, checked on October 24, 2026. Unknown values are left out instead of estimated.