Marketing Strategy
Toast vs Square for Restaurants: Fees and Contracts
Square publishes its prices. Its pricing page, opened on 2026-10-24, lists three plans at $0, $49 and $149 a month per location, with in-person card rates of 2.6% + 15¢, 2.5% + 15¢ and 2.4% + 15¢. Toast does not. The copy of Toast's pricing page we could read shows no dollar amounts or card rates, so this article gives no Toast number. It explains what each company says and how to get a like-for-like quote.
This guide is for owners of cafés, restaurants and takeaways deciding on a point-of-sale (POS) system. Square's figures come from its general pricing page. Square's restaurant-specific page returned an error when we tried it, so check that the restaurant plan matches before you sign.
$0→
Square Free, per location per month
Square pricing page, checked 2026-10-24
$49→
Square Plus, per location per month
Square pricing page, checked 2026-10-24
$149→
Square Premium, per location per month
Square pricing page, checked 2026-10-24
$59→
Square hardware, starting price
Square pricing page, checked 2026-10-24
Estimates for illustration; actual numbers vary.
What Does Square Charge a Restaurant?
Square sells three tiers: Free, Plus and Premium. All include its POS features for food and beverage. Higher tiers lower the card rates and add tools such as loyalty, marketing and staff management.
| Square Free | Square Plus | Square Premium | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee per location | $0 | $49 | $149 |
| Tap, dip or swipe | 2.6% + 15¢ | 2.5% + 15¢ | 2.4% + 15¢ |
| Online or invoice | 3.3% + 30¢ | 2.9% + 30¢ | 2.9% + 30¢ |
| Manual entry or card on file | 3.5% + 15¢ | 3.5% + 15¢ | 3.5% + 15¢ |
| Kitchen display app, per device | Not available | $30 a month | $20 a month |
| Phone support | Weekdays, first 90 days | Weekdays | 24/7 |
Square's hardware starts at $59 and the page says you do not have to buy hardware to take payments, since options include Tap to Pay on iPhone. For contracts, Square states "No hidden fees or locked-in contracts. Cancel or switch anytime", and Plus and Premium have a free 30-day trial. Accounts processing over $250,000 a year can ask for custom rates.
What Else Does Square Charge Beyond Cards?
Square's page lists several add-ons that change a restaurant's real bill. Gift cards carry a 2.5% load fee on Free and Plus, with no extra fee when a card is redeemed. Text marketing includes 500 texts a month on Plus, then 3¢ each, and 2,500 texts on Premium, then 1.5¢ each. Full-service payroll starts at $35 a month plus $6 per person paid. EBT payments for SNAP-eligible items cost 1.8% + 5¢.
None of these are required. They matter because a POS quote that looks cheap on card rates can cost more once you add the pieces you actually use. List the add-ons you expect to need, then price them on both sides.
What Does Toast Say About Its Prices?
The readable Toast pricing page, which says it was last updated on August 20, 2026, lists "flexible pricing options" but no amounts. Our automated fetch of the same address also returned a 403 error, so treat anything outside the text below as unverified. What the page does say:
- Pricing applies to new customers and single locations only.
- Upfront costs are hardware and implementation, which vary by package. 0% interest financing is available by application.
- A Pay-as-You-Go plan inside the Starter Package lowers upfront hardware and installation costs through an all-in-one platform rate.
- Toast works only on approved Toast hardware, so you cannot bring your own devices.
- Toast Care, 24/7 support, is included in every software subscription.
- Toast is a payment facilitator that partners with processors, not a card processor itself.
The page does not state the contract length, the monthly software fee or the card rate. Get these in writing from a rep.
What Should You Ask Toast Before You Compare?
Square's total is easy to model. Toast's is a quote. Ask the rep for the following, and ask for it by email so you can compare it later:
- Monthly software fee for the exact modules you will use.
- Card processing rate for in-person and online orders.
- Hardware and installation cost, and whether the Pay-as-You-Go option raises the card rate.
- Contract length, and the fee for leaving early.
- What happens to your hardware if you leave.
Toast's own page offers a "Toast vs. Square" comparison, written by Toast, so use it as a lead and not as evidence.
What Does Square Cost on $40,000 and $60,000 a Month?
These inputs are assumptions: all sales are in-person card sales, the average ticket is $25, and fees are Square's published rates. This ignores hardware, taxes and any add-on.
| Monthly card sales | Tickets | Free | Plus | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $40,000 | 1,600 | $1,280 | $1,289 | $1,349 |
| $60,000 | 2,400 | $1,920 | $1,909 | $1,949 |
The math: each 0.1 point of rate saved on $40,000 is $40. Plus costs $49 more than Free, so it only pays off above $49,000 a month in card sales. Premium beats Free above about $74,500 and beats Plus above $100,000. Put the same two lines through Toast's quote and see where it falls.
Which Should You Pick?
- New or small place, sales under about $49,000 a month in cards: Square Free is the cheapest on its own rates and has no commitment.
- Several locations or a busier restaurant: run the table with your real card volume. Fees are per location.
- You want one price sheet and a bundled kit: Toast may suit you, but only after you have the quote above in hand.
- You are not ready to switch your whole kitchen: start with Square hardware at $59 and a phone, and move later.
A POS is part of your marketing, too, because it feeds loyalty, email and review requests. See our marketing automation for restaurants guide and email marketing for restaurants. If you are also selling online, our Shopify vs Square Online comparison shows the other side of that choice.
FAQ
Is Toast more expensive than Square?
We cannot say from published data. Square lists $0, $49 and $149 plans. Toast lists none, so only a written quote makes the comparison fair.
Does Square require a contract?
Square says there are no locked-in contracts and you can cancel or switch anytime.
Can I use my own tablets with Toast?
Toast says its services work only on approved Toast hardware.
Does Square charge more for online orders?
Yes. Online and invoice card payments are 3.3% + 30¢ on Free and 2.9% + 30¢ on Plus and Premium. In-person is lower.
What are the other costs?
Square lists a kitchen display app at $30 or $20 a month per device and kiosk software at $99 a month per device on the paid plans. Ask Toast for the matching items.
Sources
- Square: Pricing (opened 2026-10-24)
- Toast: Restaurant POS pricing and plans (opened 2026-10-24; no prices shown on the readable copy, one automated fetch returned 403)
- Toast's own "Toast vs. Square" page (vendor-written, secondary for any comparison claim) was not used for figures.
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Nataliia
Local marketing strategist with 10+ years at global agencies — OMD, Dentsu, GroupM, and BBDO. Now helping small businesses get the same data-driven edge. Based in Europe, working with clients in the US, UK, Australia, and beyond.
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