Toast vs Square
Toast publishes almost nothing about recurring cost; Square publishes its processing rates in full but not its paid-plan price. Toast tends to fit a full-service restaurant with real floor complexity; Square fits a simpler counter-service or smaller full-service operation that wants published, checkable numbers. Neither lets you shop the processing rate elsewhere — get both quotes in writing before you sign.
Toast vs Square, side by side
Figures below come from each vendor's own published pricing or terms pages, checked 17 September 2026. Where a vendor withholds a figure, the cell says "not published."
| Factor | Toast | Square |
|---|---|---|
| Software plans, monthly price | Not published | Free plan $0; paid-plan prices load dynamically, not published in page source |
| Card processing rate | Not published; quoted per restaurant | Published in full: in person 2.6% + 15¢ (free plan), 2.5% + 15¢ or 2.4% + 15¢ (paid plans); online 3.3% + 30¢ or 2.9% + 30¢; keyed/card-on-file 3.5% + 15¢; ACH 1%, $1 minimum |
| Hardware cost | Not published; described as varying by package and installation, 0% financing available on application | Sold outright, prices published in Square's own shop |
| Contract / early termination | Not published | States no locked-in contracts; cancel or switch at any time |
| Use your own processor | No — sold as a bundle with Toast's own processing | No — Square processes its own payments |
| Offline mode | Not published on the pricing page | Not published on the fees/pricing pages reviewed |
| Restaurant features | Table and floor plan management, kitchen routing, menu management named on its restaurant line | Table management and menu tools offered under Square for Restaurants; full feature detail not itemised on the fees page |
Choose Toast if
- You run a full-service dining room with real floor complexity — multiple sections, a kitchen display workflow, and staff scheduling needs.
- You are prepared to work through a sales process to get software, hardware and processing figures in writing before committing.
- You want 0% financing on hardware as part of the deal, subject to approval.
Choose Square if
- You run a counter-service concept or a smaller full-service restaurant and want to see the actual processing rate before you talk to a salesperson.
- You want to buy hardware outright with a published price rather than negotiate it.
- You want the flexibility to cancel or switch without being tied to a term, as Square's pricing page states.
Processing rates: both fixed, neither negotiable through the vendor
Toast and Square both lock card processing to their own platform — there is no published path to running an outside processor through either system. That means the rate you are quoted at signing is effectively the rate you keep for as long as you run that POS, because changing it later means changing the till. An independent agent can still shop the processing on some POS platforms that permit a third-party gateway, but Toast and Square are not among them; the leverage available here is getting the rate itself, and the contract terms behind it, fully in writing before you sign — not negotiating the rate afterward.
What to get in writing before choosing either
- The processing rate in full, by channel — card-present, keyed, online — with any monthly fees itemised separately from the percentage.
- The monthly software cost per terminal and per location.
- Whether hardware is bought outright, rented, or financed under a separate agreement, and the name of that agreement.
- The term, renewal mechanism, notice period and early termination amount as an actual number.
- How your menu, sales and customer data export if you switch systems later.
A restaurant POS decision typically runs for years; both systems are worth pricing against your own last three months of card statements rather than against a brochure. The free statement analysis does that arithmetic, and our restaurant payment processing page covers the tip handling and downgrade-ladder detail specific to hospitality that a generic POS comparison skips.
Related reading
- Toast POS pricing: what Toast publishes
- Square POS pricing: what Square publishes
- POS pricing compared: what ten providers publish
- POS vs payment processing: two bills, two contracts
- 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
- Square, payment processing fees (US), checked 2026-09-17: squareup.com
- Square, pricing (US), checked 2026-09-17: squareup.com
Toast and Square 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
Neither publishes enough to answer that directly. Toast publishes no monthly software price and no processing rate on its pricing page, checked 17 September 2026 — only that hardware and implementation vary by package, with 0% financing available on application. Square publishes its processing rates in full but not its paid-plan monthly price, which loads dynamically. Get both in writing and price them against your own ticket volume.
Toast does not publish a processing rate; it is quoted per restaurant. Square publishes 2.6% + 15 cents in person on its free plan, 2.5% + 15 cents or 2.4% + 15 cents on paid plans, and 3.5% + 15 cents for keyed or card-on-file payments, as read on Square's US fees page on 18 September 2026.
No, with either. Toast sells its point of sale bundled with its own processing. Square processes its own payments as well; its pricing page states there are no locked-in contracts, but the processing itself stays with Square.
Toast is built specifically for restaurant floor operations — table and menu management, kitchen routing — and full-service restaurants with real complexity in the dining room tend to be its core customer. Square for Restaurants fits a simpler counter-service or smaller full-service operation that wants transparent published rates and no locked-in term. Confirm both against a written quote before choosing.
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.