Toast vs Clover
Clover publishes package prices for its restaurant hardware and software bundles; Toast publishes almost nothing about recurring cost. Neither publishes a processing rate. Toast tends to fit restaurants with heavier floor and kitchen complexity; Clover fits an operation that wants a published device-plus-software number before it talks to a salesperson.
Toast vs Clover, side by side
Figures below come from each vendor's own published pricing pages, checked 17 September 2026. Where a vendor withholds a figure, the cell says "not published."
| Factor | Toast | Clover |
|---|---|---|
| Software plans, monthly price | Not published | Restaurant packages published: $1,799 up front + $89.95/mo, up to $4,447 up front + $129.85/mo; or as a single figure over 36 months ($179–$354/mo) |
| Card processing rate | Not published; quoted per restaurant | Not published on either pricing page; quoted per account, can vary by reseller |
| Hardware cost | Not published; varies by package and installation, 0% financing available on application | Bundled into the package prices above, either paid up front or spread over 36 months |
| Contract / early termination | Not published | 36-month framing published for the bundled price; cancellation, renewal and early-termination amount not published |
| Use your own processor | No — sold as a bundle with Toast's own processing | Sold with Clover's own processing; pricing pages state prices shown are for buying online |
| Offline mode | Not published on the pricing page | Not published on the pricing pages reviewed |
| Restaurant features | Table and floor plan management, kitchen routing, menu management, staff management | Restaurant packages include order and menu management; rapid deposit (instant funds access) charged at 1.75% per transfer on every plan |
Choose Toast if
- You run a restaurant with real floor and kitchen complexity and want software built specifically for that workflow.
- You are comfortable working through a sales process to get software, hardware and processing costs confirmed in writing before you commit.
- You want 0% hardware financing built into the offer, subject to approval.
Choose Clover if
- You want a published bundle price for hardware plus software before speaking to a rep, even without a published processing rate.
- You are open to either paying the device cost up front or spreading it as a monthly figure across a 36-month term — and understand the total cost is the same either way over that period.
- You want a POS platform that also serves retail, in case your business spans both.
Processing rates: both fixed, neither shoppable through the vendor
Neither Toast nor Clover publishes a processing rate, and both are sold with the vendor's own processing attached — Toast as a straight bundle, Clover with pricing pages that specifically flag the prices shown are for buying online through Clover. Because the rate is not published up front and the platform does not offer a documented path to run an outside processor, the leverage in either deal is in the sales conversation: insist on the full rate, by channel, in writing before signing. An independent agent can compare that quoted rate against interchange-based pricing once you have it, even though neither system lets you swap processors after the fact without replacing hardware.
What to get in writing before choosing either
- The full processing rate — percentage and per-item, card-present, keyed and online — with monthly fees itemised separately.
- Whether hardware is bought outright, rented, or financed under a separate agreement, and that agreement's name.
- The term, renewal mechanism, notice period and the early termination amount as a number, not a formula you haven't read.
- Whether the 36-month Clover framing or Toast's implementation charge recurs or is one-time.
- How menu, sales and customer data export if you switch systems.
Both of these run for years once signed. Price each against your own last three months of card statements rather than a brochure figure — the free statement analysis does that, and our restaurant payment processing page covers the tip-handling and downgrade-ladder detail specific to hospitality.
Related reading
- Toast POS pricing: what Toast publishes
- Clover POS pricing: what Clover publishes
- POS pricing compared: what ten providers publish
- Buy, rent or lease your payment hardware
- Payment processing for restaurants
Sources
- Toast, pricing, checked 2026-09-17 (the page returns 403 to automated requests and was read in a browser on the same date): pos.toasttab.com
- Clover, retail systems pricing, checked 2026-09-17: clover.com
- Clover, restaurant systems pricing, checked 2026-09-17: clover.com
Toast and Clover are trademarks of their respective owners and are used here for identification only. CELER Merchants is independent and is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, either company. Prices and terms change; confirm current pricing with each provider before deciding.
Related questions
Clover publishes more of the software cost than Toast does. On Clover's restaurant pricing page, checked 17 September 2026, full-service packages run from $1,799 up front plus $89.95 a month to $4,447 up front plus $129.85 a month, or as a single monthly figure over 36 months. Toast publishes no monthly software price at all. Neither publishes a card-processing rate, which is usually the largest recurring cost.
Neither is published. Toast's pricing page, checked 17 September 2026, states only that hardware and implementation vary by package. Clover's restaurant and retail pricing pages do not show a processing percentage or per-transaction fee; it is quoted per account and can differ by reseller.
No, with either as typically sold. Toast bundles its own processing with the POS. Clover's pricing pages state that the prices shown apply to buying online through Clover, and Clover is sold together with its processing; whether a specific device can run on another processor depends on who sells it, so ask before ordering.
Toast is purpose-built for full-service and quick-service restaurant floor operations with deep kitchen and table-management tooling. Clover is a more general point-of-sale platform used across retail and food service, with restaurant packages that bundle hardware into a published monthly figure. A restaurant with heavy floor and kitchen complexity tends to lean Toast; one that wants a published device-plus-software number up front tends to lean Clover.
Send one statement. Every fee named, back, usually within 4 hours.
It is free, there is nothing to sign and nothing to cancel. We read your current merchant statement line by line, name every fee on it — including the ones buried in the fee schedule — work out your true effective rate, and send the written analysis back, usually within 4 hours. Do not want to wait? Call 1-888-705-7896 and we will read your statement with you on the call in about 5 minutes.
Every fee named, usually within 4 hours. Or call now and we quote you on the spot.
Everyone else in this industry says twenty-four hours. We say four — and if that is still too slow, pick up the phone and get your numbers while you are on the call. No contract, nothing to cancel, no pressure.