Square vs Toast for a restaurant comes down to processing fees, not software prices. At $60,000 a month in card sales, Square Plus costs about $18,588 in year one and Toast about $18,756, so the two are nearly tied. Pick Square if you want freedom to leave, pick Toast if you want restaurant tools built in from day one.
Square vs Toast restaurant pricing at a glance
Both systems charge you two ways: a monthly software fee and a cut of every card sale. The monthly fee is small and easy to see. The card cut is where your money actually goes. At a busy restaurant, processing is often about 90 percent of what you pay in total.
Square publishes everything. Square Free costs $0 a month, Square Plus $49 a month per location, and Square Premium $149 a month per location. In-person cards cost 2.6 percent plus 15 cents on Free, 2.5 percent plus 15 cents on Plus, and 2.4 percent plus 15 cents on Premium. There is no long-term contract, and you can cancel or switch plans at any time.
Toast works differently. Its Starter plan is $0 a month and its Point of Sale plan is $69 a month. The headline in-person rate on paid plans is 2.49 percent plus 15 cents, but Toast no longer publishes its processing rates openly, and your real rate is quoted to you directly. The Starter plan carries a higher rate, with third-party checks reporting 2.99 percent or 3.09 percent plus 15 cents. Paid plans usually come with a two to three year contract.
| What you pay | Square | Toast |
|---|---|---|
| Free or Starter plan | $0 a month | $0 a month, higher card rate |
| Main paid plan | Plus $49 a month per location | Point of Sale $69 a month |
| Top plan | Premium $149 a month per location | Custom pricing on higher tiers |
| In-person card rate | 2.6% + 15c Free, 2.5% + 15c Plus, 2.4% + 15c Premium | 2.49% + 15c headline on paid plans, quoted to you directly |
| Online or keyed card | 3.3% + 30c Free, 2.9% + 30c paid plans | About 3.50% + 15c online on paid plans |
| Contract | Month to month, cancel any time | Usually 2 to 3 years, with early exit fees |
Prices were checked on squareup.com and toasttab.com in November 2026, and they can change, so check the current plan page before you commit. See the Square pricing page and the Toast pricing page for the latest figures.
Year-one maths at $60,000 a month in card sales
Here is the part that matters. Take a restaurant doing $60,000 a month in card sales, which is $720,000 a year. Ignore the 15-cent per-sale fee for a moment, since both sides charge it, and look at the percentage cut plus the monthly fee.
Square Free costs 2.6 percent of $720,000, which is $18,720 a year, with no monthly fee. Square Plus costs 2.5 percent, which is $18,000, plus $588 a year in fees, for a total of $18,588. Square Premium costs 2.4 percent, which is $17,280, plus $1,788 a year, for $19,068. At this volume, Plus is the cheapest Square plan.
Toast on the $69 plan at the headline 2.49 percent costs $17,928 a year in processing, plus $828 in monthly fees, for a total of $18,756 a year. That is $168 more than Square Plus over a year, about $14 a month. In plain terms, at $60,000 a month the two systems cost almost the same, and the rate on your own quote can flip the winner either way.
Toast Starter looks free but is not. At 2.99 percent, the same $720,000 costs $21,528 a year in processing, nearly $3,000 more than Square Plus. The $0 monthly fee saves you $828, and the higher rate costs you about $2,772 extra, so the free plan is the most expensive choice at this volume.
Where the 15-cent fee and online orders change the answer
The 15-cent fee per sale hits both systems the same way in person, so it rarely decides the winner. But it does punish small tickets. If your average sale is $10, that 15 cents adds 1.5 percent on top of the percentage rate. If your average sale is $40, it adds under 0.4 percent.
Online orders tilt the maths toward Square. Square charges 2.9 percent plus 30 cents on paid plans for online and invoice cards, while Toast reports about 3.50 percent plus 15 cents for online orders. Count your online share before you pick, because a system that wins in person can lose online.
Hardware is a separate bill on both sides. Square sells a reader from $59, a terminal for $299 and a register for $899. Toast hardware is its own, with a handheld around $599 and a terminal around $749, plus about $50 a month for each extra terminal. Toast add-on modules, such as online ordering at about $75 a month, can push a $69 plan to $200 to $400 a month.
What you actually get for the money
Square is a general point of sale that happens to work well in restaurants. It covers orders, payments, an online store, invoicing and basic reporting, and it plays nicely with other tools. Its strength is freedom: no contract, clear published prices, and you can walk away. Its weakness is depth: restaurant features exist, but they are not the core of the product.
Toast is built only for restaurants. Menu management, table and course handling, handheld ordering, kitchen display screens and online ordering sit in one stack. That depth is real, and for a busy full-service restaurant it can be worth more than a small price gap. The trade is lock-in: you must use Toast processing, and the contract usually runs two to three years with auto-renewal and steep exit fees.
If you run a food truck, a cafe or a small counter-service spot, Square gives you almost everything you need with none of the lock-in. If you run a full-service restaurant with servers, courses and a kitchen display, Toast is the tool built for that day. For the bigger picture on payment tools, read our Stripe vs Square comparison for small business payments and our AI tools for small restaurants.
The contract is the real price difference
Here is the honest part most sales calls skip. A two-year Toast contract with an early exit fee can cost thousands if you leave early, and that risk is worth more than the $14 a month gap in year one. Square lets you leave any time, which means you can switch if your rates go up or your needs change.
Before you sign with Toast, ask for three things in writing: your exact processing rate, the full contract length and renewal terms, and the early exit fee. If the rate is only given verbally, do not sign. For a full sense of what software really costs a small business, see how much small business software costs in 2026.
Square vs Toast restaurant: the bottom line
Square vs Toast for a restaurant is nearly a dead heat on price at $60,000 a month in card sales, with Square Plus a little cheaper at $18,588 a year against about $18,756 for Toast, and both sides beaten by nothing except your own quote. Pick Square if you want clear prices and the freedom to leave. Pick Toast if you want deep restaurant tools and are happy to sign a two to three year deal. Either way, get your rate in writing first.
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper for a restaurant, Square or Toast?
At $60,000 a month in card sales, Square Plus costs about $18,588 in year one and Toast about $18,756, so Square is cheaper by about $168 a year. At lower volume the answer can flip, and Toast Starter is the most expensive choice at this volume despite its $0 fee, because its higher rate costs far more than the monthly fee saves.
What is Toast's processing rate in 2026?
Toast's headline in-person rate on paid plans is 2.49 percent plus 15 cents, but Toast no longer publishes its rates openly and your real rate is quoted to you directly. Third-party checks report about 2.99 percent to 3.09 percent plus 15 cents on the Starter plan, and about 3.50 percent plus 15 cents for online orders. Always get your own rate in writing.
Does Square or Toast need a contract?
Square is month to month on every plan, and you can cancel or switch plans at any time with no long-term contract. Toast usually needs a two to three year contract on paid plans, with auto-renewal and early exit fees that can run into thousands, so read the term sheet before you sign anything.
Is Square free plan good enough for a small restaurant?
Square Free works well for a very small spot, since it costs $0 a month and you only pay per sale at 2.6 percent plus 15 cents in person. Once you pass about $49,000 a month in card sales, Plus pays for itself through its lower rate, so most growing restaurants should move up rather than stay on Free.
What does Toast cost with all the add-ons?
The $69 Point of Sale plan is only the start. Online ordering runs about $75 a month, loyalty about $50, gift cards about $50, email marketing about $75 and kitchen displays about $35 each. A small restaurant using the modules most owners actually need can land at $200 to $400 a month in software fees before processing.