Pricing
freemium
Best For
New restaurants wanting professional POS hardware and software without any upfront capital investment
Rating
8.0/10
Last Updated
Mar 2026
TL;DR
Toast dominates US restaurant technology with over 120,000 locations. The free Starter Kit (hardware included) makes it accessible for new restaurants, while the Growth and Enterprise tiers scale for chains. The POS is fast, the kitchen display system works well, and online ordering is built in. The catch? You're locked into Toast's payment processing, and the add-on costs stack up fast. A fully loaded Toast setup for a mid-size restaurant easily hits $300-500/month.
What is Toast Restaurant?
The Restaurant Tech Giant
Toast went public in 2021 and has since become the dominant restaurant technology platform in the US. Over 120,000 restaurant locations run on Toast — from single food trucks to national chains with hundreds of units. The company's strategy is simple: get restaurants on the POS (even for free), then sell them the entire ecosystem of add-ons.
The Free Starter Kit
Toast's most compelling offer is the free Starter Kit: a POS terminal, card reader, and basic software at zero monthly cost. You pay higher payment processing fees (2.99% + 15 cents per transaction vs. 2.49% + 15 cents on paid plans), but for a new restaurant, getting professional POS hardware for free is a game-changer. It's a brilliant customer acquisition strategy that's hard to say no to.
What Toast Does Well
The POS itself is fast and purpose-built for restaurants. Menu management handles modifiers, combos, and specials intuitively. The kitchen display system (KDS) routes orders to the right stations with clear ticket management. Online ordering integrates directly — no third-party marketplace taking 30% commissions. Tableside ordering with handheld devices speeds up full-service restaurants. The reporting dashboard gives real-time sales, labor costs, and menu item performance.
The Add-On Ecosystem
Here's where Toast gets expensive. Payroll: $45/month + $6/employee. Online ordering: $75/month. Marketing: $75/month. Team management: $29/month. Email marketing: $75/month. Inventory: custom pricing. Each add-on is competent but not best-in-class individually. The value is in the integration — everything talks to the same database, which eliminates double-entry and reconciliation headaches.
The Lock-In Problem
Toast requires you to use their payment processing. Period. You cannot bring your own processor. Their rates are competitive but not the cheapest. If you're processing $50,000/month in cards, the difference between Toast's rate and a negotiated rate from another processor could be $200-400/month. Over a 3-year contract, that's $7,000-14,000 in additional costs. Factor this into your comparison.
Who Should Choose Toast
New restaurants that want professional POS without upfront hardware costs. Full-service and quick-service restaurants that need an all-in-one platform. Multi-unit operators wanting centralized reporting across locations. Restaurants that value having one vendor for everything over getting the absolute best price on each component.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Free Starter Kit with POS hardware included eliminates the biggest barrier for new restaurants getting professional technology
- Purpose-built for restaurants with fast POS, kitchen display, and online ordering that all work together seamlessly
- Over 120,000 locations means battle-tested reliability and an ecosystem of restaurant-specific integrations
- Real-time reporting dashboard with sales, labor costs, and menu performance helps managers make same-day decisions
- Tableside ordering with handheld devices reduces wait times and increases check averages in full-service restaurants
Cons
- Mandatory Toast payment processing with no option to bring your own processor — could cost $200-400/month more than negotiated rates
- Add-on costs accumulate quickly — payroll, marketing, online ordering, and inventory can push total monthly cost to $500+
- Long-term contracts (typically 2-3 years) with early termination fees make switching expensive if you are unhappy
- Free Starter Kit has higher processing fees (2.99% + $0.15) that offset the zero monthly cost for high-volume restaurants
- Hardware is proprietary — Toast terminals don't work with other POS systems if you decide to switch
Toast Restaurant Pricing
Starter Kit
- POS terminal
- Card reader
- Online ordering basics
- Reporting
- Menu management
Growth
- Everything in Starter
- Online ordering full
- Toast Delivery
- Toast TakeOut app
- Lower processing rates
Pricing last verified: March 26, 2026
Who is Toast Restaurant Best For?
- New restaurants wanting professional POS hardware and software without any upfront capital investment
- Full-service restaurants needing tableside ordering, kitchen display, and integrated online ordering in one platform
- Multi-unit restaurant operators wanting centralized reporting and standardized operations across all locations
- Quick-service and fast-casual restaurants that need speed and efficiency in high-volume order processing
Technical Details
The Bottom Line
Toast Restaurant scores 8/10. It stands out for free starter kit with pos hardware included eliminates the biggest barrier for new restaurants getting professional technology. Best suited for new restaurants wanting professional pos hardware and software without any upfront capital investment. Keep in mind that mandatory toast payment processing with no option to bring your own processor — could cost $200-400/month more than negotiated rates. There is a free plan to get started.
Frequently Asked Questions
Based on editorial analysis