Toast vs Square For Restaurants: Which Is Best?

Toast and Square for Restaurants are cloud-based point-of-sale (POS) systems that regularly appear in our rankings of the best restaurant POS systems. Both systems offer built-in payment processing and a free baseline subscription and are easy to set up and use in any restaurant. Square offers shorter contracts without cancellation fees, while Toast has more robust industry-grade hardware.

In general, here’s where each is the better fit:

• Toast: Best for mid- and high-volume restaurants that need flexible hardware with restaurant-focused software tools like tip pool management
• Square for Restaurants: Budget-minded restaurants and mobile food businesses like food trucks, coffee shops, and other highly focused counter-service concepts

Toast vs Square for Restaurants Quick Comparison

	Overall Score: 4.16/5	Overall Score: 3.88/5
	Visit Toast	Visit Square for Restaurants
Best For	Busy restaurants, multiple locations, drive-throughs, self-serve kiosks, bars	Food trucks, small restaurants, quick service restaurants
Monthly Software fees	$0–$165+	$0–$60+
Processing Fees	From 2.49% + 15 cents (in-person transactions)	From 2.6% + 10 cents (in-person transactions)
Customer Support	24/7 year-round via phone, email, or online chat, Toast University, resource library	Monday–Friday phone support, 24/7 automated chat support, seller community, and resource library
Restaurant Features	Excellent	Good
Integrations	Good, restaurant-focused	Very good, wide-ranging
Ease of Use	Excellent	Excellent
	Toast Review	Square for Restaurants Review

Alternatives to Toast and Square for Restaurant

Neither Toast nor Square will fit if you want to bring your processor or shop for the lowest processing rates. Consider these alternatives instead:

	Best For	Software Pricing	Available Processors	Our Review
	Quick service restaurants (QSRs) and detailed reporting	$69 to $399-plus	Lightspeed Payments, BridgePay, Cayan, and WorldPay
	Visit Lightspeed Restaurant
	Multilocation restaurants (5+ locations)	$99 per terminal monthly	Revel Advantage, triPOS, FreedomPay, First Data, Heartland, TSYS, Worldpay, Chase Paymentech, Elavon	N/A
	Visit Revel Systems
	Cafes, coffee shops, and ease of use	$69 per terminal monthly	TB Payments, Square, TSYS, and Worldpay
	Visit TouchBistro

All three systems listed above are cloud-based POS like Toast and Square, but they offer the option of third-party processing, so you can shop for rates. While they are all strong options, Toast and Square are easy to use for restaurant operators and very popular.

Let’s take a closer look.

Toast vs Square: Pricing

Toast and Square are evenly matched in their free starter-level monthly subscription fees—both offer a free baseline POS, although they go about it differently. Toast offers its Quick Start Bundle POS for no upfront monthly fees but charges a per-transaction fee in a pay-as-you-go method. Square’s Free POS subscription includes software on unlimited terminals, while Toast’s Quick Start Bundle POS can only be used on up to two terminals. But as you’ll see, Toast’s Quick Start Bundle offers more functions than Square’s Free POS.

	Overall Score: 4.16/5	Overall Score: 3.88/5
	Visit Toast	Visit Square for Restaurants
Our Pricing Score	2 out of 5	3.85 out of 5
Monthly Subscription Fees	Quick Start Bundle: $0 Core: $69 Growth: $165 Build Your Own: Custom Quote	Free: $0 Plus: $60 (additional terminals $40 each) Premium: Custom quoted
Contract Length	2 years	Month-to-month

Square has Toast beat when it comes to contract terms, though. Square offers month-to-month subscriptions with no cancellation fees, while Toast generally requires a two-year contract. This is due to having to use Toast’s hardware, which includes setup and support from its team. Expand the sections below to take a deeper look at each system’s hardware and payment terms.

Hardware

Baseline Countertop Terminal	$699 plus $69 per month;or $0 with 2.99% plus 15 cents processing fee	$1,089financing available via Square Sales
Handheld Terminal	$627 plus $69 plus month;or $0 with 2.99% plus 15 cents processing fee	$299 or $27 per month with financing
KDS Screen	$629 plus $25 per month	Software only; $20 per month Operates on iPad
Self-service Kiosk	$1,009 plus $99 per month; or $0 with 2.99% plus 15 cents processing fee	$149; or $14 per month with financing
	Purchase From Toast	Purchase From Square

Toast’s hardware is proprietary and rated for ingress protection from dust, debris, and steam. Toast offers new customers the option to pay for up to two terminals with their credit card processing fees. So, if your budget is tight, you can get started with Toast for no upfront cost.

Toast’s hardware is also designed for restaurants. For example, Toast’s kitchen display system (KDS) operates at higher and lower temperatures than the iPad Square uses for its KDS. Toast ranked No. 1 in our list of best kitchen display systems. It is compatible with third-party hardware like Epson printers and cash drawers but does not provide technical support for them unless you purchase directly from Toast.

Square offers its own terminals but is primarily designed to run on iPads. While the baseline Square POS operates on both Android and iOS tablets, Square for Restaurants users should be aware that the restaurant POS currently only runs on iPads and Square Registers. Square’s hardware pricing is competitive―its register kits are a little pricier than Toast’s, but its handheld terminals are cheaper―and it offers easy financing for hardware purchases from $49 to $10,000.

Payments

Toast’s different rate offerings are an excellent option for those looking to get started with minimal upfront costs but are in need of very durable hardware.

A couple of limitations may be vital to you if you accept online payments or use card pre-authorizations on bar tabs. Square accepts PayPal for online store purchases; Toast does not. Toast can pre-authorize bar tabs, but Square does not.

Payment Types	Visit Toast	Visit Square for Restaurants
In-person Processing Rates	Credit, debit, check, and automated clearing house (ACH)	Credit, debit, check, ACH, and PayPal
Calculate Tips	2.49%–2.99% plus 15 cents	2.6% plus 10 cents
Split Payments	✓	✓
Pre-authorized Bar Tabs	✓	✓
Quick Response (QR) Codes	✓	✕
Invoices	✓	✓
Online Payments	✓	✓
Offline Mode	✓	✓

Regarding deposit speed, Square is a little faster than Toast. If you sign on to Square’s banking program Square Checking, you can get credit card payments transferred to your bank account on the same day the payment is processed. Toast does not currently offer same-day deposits, but if you process your credit card batch before 9:30 p.m. Eastern time, you’ll get your funds the next business day. After 9:30 p.m. ET, your deposits generally take two business days.

Toast breaks down on its website how credit card batching works:

Toast vs Square General Features

When comparing the general features of Square vs Toast, they both have the functional POS tools covered, but Toast offers more tools in its baseline free Quick Start Bundle POS than Square for Restaurants includes in its Free tier. For example, Free Square users cannot reopen closed checks and only get one set of user permissions. Toast Quick Start Bundle subscribers get unlimited user permissions and can reopen closed checks.

	Visit Toast	Visit Square for Restaurants
Our Score	4.13 out of 5	3.44 out of 5
Table Management	✓	✓
Manage Online and In-person Orders	✓	✓
Auto 86ing of Items	✓	✓
Reopen Checks	✓	Requires Plus Plan
Course Management	✓	Requires Plus Plan
Employee Scheduling	Via Integration	Requires Plus Plan
Time Clock	✓	✓
Reporting	Robust and customizable	Basic and templated

Square’s Free plan also does not include server shift reports and close-of-day reports, which can limit restaurants with more than a couple of employees. But if your restaurant is a micro-operation that doesn’t need these tools, Square for Restaurants is the only POS offering such a streamlined system, so you won’t pay for tools you don’t use. However, If you like Square and need these tools, you can get them in the Plus and Premium subscriptions.

On the other hand, Square offers some essential services on its free plan. This includes auto-86ing menu items, ticket routing, real-time order updates, and the reports mentioned above. Toast offers features in its free plan such as real-time fraud monitoring, detailed digital menu management, and in-depth order and table management.

Toast vs Square Niche POS Features

Both Toast and Square for restaurants offer additional features for specialty restaurant types. With Toast, most of these tools are built in, although some, such as online ordering, come with additional costs. Most of Square’s niche features require third-party integrations. Square is also missing some key features supporting high-volume quick service operations: dual cash drawer tills and drive-thru management.

	Visit Toast	Visit Square for Restaurants
Our Score	4.58 out of 5	3.33 out of 5
Dual Cash Drawer Tills	✓	✕
Pre-authorized Bar Tabs	✓	✕
Tip Management	Robust; best in class	Basic tip tracking
Loyalty and Marketing	Excellent	Excellent (Add-on)
Online Ordering	Excellent (Add-on)	Excellent (included free)
Delivery Management	Excellent (Add-on)	Good (Add-on)
Drive-thru Management	✓	✕
KDS	✓	✓
Vendor Management	Excellent (Add-on)	Via third-party integration

Toast offers many refined features for tip pool management, including automated tip pool calculations and the ability to pay employees’ earned tips before payday via the Toast Pay Card. This feature is an industry standout, as it allows employees access to their earnings using the Mastercard feature or via most ATMs (without a fee).

Toast’s high-volume tools are also more substantial than Square’s. Toast offers basic drive-thru management, dual cash drawer tills, and extensive nested modifiers for complex combo building.

Meanwhile, Square includes a free online ordering site in all subscriptions, even the Free POS. Toast’s online ordering tools are great, too, but they come at an additional cost―typically around $50 to $75 per month. Both systems include built-in tools or delivery management. With either system, you can accept third-party orders and in-house orders, dispatch deliveries to third-party drivers, or dispatch a team of in-house delivery drivers. However, driver management tools on both systems cost extra.

Both Toast and Square have some of our favorite KDS screens to streamline operations and track kitchen productivity, with Toast’s offering many unique features. Toast’s KDS screens are tempered to handle heat at higher temps than a general iPad. You can also customize items in different languages so that your staff has a more inclusive working experience when using a Toast KDS screen during their shift. Lastly, Toast tracks time at each station and can report back bottlenecks in your service to make them run more efficiently.

You can get excellent ingredient-level inventory management with vendor and purchase order management on both systems via integration. However, Toast owns the xtraCHEF inventory platform, and that integration on Toast works slightly more seamlessly than any of Square’s inventory integrations.

Toast vs Square Ease of Use

Both Toast and Square’s POS interfaces are user-friendly. Toast’s back office is more robust and restaurant-focused than Square’s, so learning takes more time. But Toast’s customer service is also more robust than Square’s, so you’ll have the support you need to learn Toast’s more customizable system. Meanwhile, Toast’s setup takes more lead time than Square’s. Most users can set up their Square POS using Square’s setup wizard in less than a day.

	Overall Score: 4.16/5	Overall Score: 3.88/5
	Visit Toast	Visit Square for Restaurants
Our Score	5.00 out of 5	4.06 out of 5
Personal Assistance	✓	✕
Onboarding Help	Self (free) or Professional (fee)	Setup wizard
Store/restaurant Setup	Good (can take weeks)	Excellent
Live Support	24/7 year-round via phone, email, or online chat	Monday to Friday phone support, 24/7 automated chat support, seller community, and resource library
Online Help Articles	✓	✓
Video Tutorials	✓	✓
Advanced Training	Toast University	N/A
User Reviews (Capterra)	4.20 out of 5 (450+ reviews)	4.3 out of 5 (40+ reviews)
User Ease-of-Use Score	4.3	4.5
Customer Service	3.70	3.80

Real-world users rate ease of use and customer service for Toast and Square pretty closely on popular software review sites. This matches our experience with both systems. They’re both easy to use in different ways. If you want a system that doesn’t require any assistance to use with basic functionality as a POS, then Square is your winner.

If you want more-in depth tools for your restaurant overall then Toast would be your best bet. Operators with more experience in analyzing micro-level data will excel using Toast and all of the reporting and tools it provides. Also, if you prefer a system with 24/7 support, you’ll find Toast much easier to use.

Toast vs Square Expert Score

Toast and Square for Restaurants are both excellent POS systems. You can’t go wrong with either one. They are both popular systems with excellent user reviews and free baseline subscriptions.

Toast stands out with a 5 out of 5 in this category, sheerly because it offers so many niche restaurant-focused software tools. But if you’re not going to use things like automated tip pool management, dual cash drawers, and spill-proof KDS screens, then Toast may not be worth the two-year contract. Square, with a score of 4.69 out of 5 is a better choice for restaurants that want a month-to-month contract with no cancellation penalties and easy self-installation.

	Visit Toast	Visit Square for Restaurants
Our Score	5.00/5	4.69/5

Best Restaurant POS Quiz

Are you still undecided? If neither of these systems seems like a fit, take the quiz below to get our expert recommendation. You won’t need to enter any personal information, and your results will appear on this page:

Find the Best POS System for Your Restaurant

Bottom Line

When choosing between Toast vs Square for Restaurants for your POS system, Toast is generally the better option for most restaurants. It takes a little longer to set up but has the depth of features and more rugged hardware to stand up to the heat of a kitchen. It also offers more in terms of restaurant-specific workforce management and reports. Square is a great option when starting and wanting straightforward POS software. But Toast shines for restaurant operators and offers the granular and necessary tools needed to really dive into restaurant management. Sign up for Toast’s pay-as-you-go program and see for yourself.

Visit Toast