Toast is the most complete restaurant platform on the market — kitchen, front-of-house, online ordering and payroll in one system — but pricing is quote-based and contracts are real.
Pros
- Deep, restaurant-specific tooling: KDS, coursing, 86ing, tableside handhelds
- Built-in online ordering that avoids marketplace commissions
- Native payroll, scheduling and team management add-ons
- Hardware is spill- and grease-resistant, built for the line
Cons
- Pricing is opaque and negotiated; effective cost is often higher than it looks
- Multi-year contracts with early-termination fees are common
- Processing is locked to Toast — no bring-your-own-processor
How Toast scores
- Ease of use
- 4.2
- Pricing
- 3.7
- Features
- 4.8
- Support
- 4.1
- Integrations
- 4.3
What is Toast?
Toast is a point-of-sale and payments platform. Restaurant-specific POS with deep kitchen and online-ordering tools.
Who Toast is for
Full-service and multi-unit restaurants, bars and fast-casual brands that want one vendor for POS, kitchen, online ordering and labor.
Toast pricing
| Plan | Starter Kit | Point of Sale | Build Your Own |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | $0 | $69/mo per terminal | Custom |
| In-person rate | Quote-based | Quote-based | Quote-based |
| Online rate | — | — | — |
| Keyed rate | — | — | — |
| Hardware | $0 down (pay-as-you-go) | — | — |
| Commitment | 3-year contract | 3-year contract | 3-year contract |
Toast feature breakdown
| Feature | Toast |
|---|---|
| Payments | |
| Card-present payments | Yes |
| Offline mode | Yes |
| Inventory | |
| Inventory tracking | Yes |
| Purchase orders | Yes |
| Reporting & analytics | |
| Sales reporting | Yes |
| Online ordering | |
| Menu / modifier management | Yes |
| First-party online ordering | Yes |
| Loyalty & marketing | |
| Loyalty program | Yes |
| Gift cards | Yes |
| Multi-location | |
| Multi-location management | Yes |
| Integrations & API | |
| Open API | Yes |
| App marketplace | Yes |
Our full Toast review
Toast started as a restaurant company and it shows. Menu management handles modifiers, combos and prep stations cleanly, the KDS is genuinely good, and handhelds cut table-turn times in busy rooms.
The trade-offs are commercial, not technical. Pricing is quote-based, hardware is frequently financed, and you are committing to Toast for payments as well as software. For a single small café those terms rarely pencil out better than Square; for a growing restaurant group the depth usually wins.
What users say
“The KDS and coursing features paid for themselves in table turns.”
“Great system, but read every line of the agreement before you sign.”
“Onboarding was thorough; day-to-day support is hit or miss.”
What’s changed
- September 7, 2026
Refreshed pricing, processing rates and scores for the current quarter.
- June 25, 2026
Re-tested checkout speed, hardware and support response times.
- March 23, 2026
Published our first hands-on review.
Frequently asked questions
Does Toast require a contract?
Most Toast deals include a 1–3 year term with early-termination fees. Ask for month-to-month terms in writing if that matters to you.
Can I use my own payment processor with Toast?
No. Toast bundles payment processing with the platform; you cannot bring an outside processor.
Is Toast good for a small café?
It works, but the pricing model favors larger or growing operations. A single low-volume café often does better on Square for Restaurants.
Compare Toast
Is Toast right for your business?
Toast in our guides
Small-business software writer · former café & retail operator
Jordan ran a multi-location café group before writing about the tools that keep small businesses running.
They focus on day-to-day usability: checkout speed, staff training, inventory and the things that only show up during a rush.