Every restaurant POS system, priced and compared
Toast will not put a processing rate in writing. We publish what all of them charge, with the source next to every number. Then we build the right one for your restaurant and install it in your dining room.
Get your rate checked
Send your numbers and we come back with what you are really paying, and what we would quote against it. No pitch on the first call.
It reaches Judd Alsup and the Equip team. If we have a crew near you, that is who calls. If we do not, Judd handles it himself. We never ask for card or bank details on this site.
Judd Alsup and the Equip team install and support these systems in all fifty states. Local crews in twenty one of them. Call 501-710-5862 and a person picks up.
Move the sliders. Watch what each system would actually cost you.
Card processing is the bill that never stops. These are the published rates, run against your numbers, updating as you drag.
Card sales only, not total revenue. It is on line one of your statement.
Drag this down toward a coffee shop and watch the flat fee per swipe take over.
Some systems charge per terminal, some per location. This makes that difference visible.
What a processor keeps on top of the card networks' cost. It is the one number in a quote you can negotiate.
Drag a slider to begin.
Square, Genius and Shift4 software figures are published by those vendors and were read on their own pages on 8 August 2026. Toast publishes no processing rate anywhere, so Toast figures are reported by Merchant Maverick and Expert Market, cross checked against each other. Interchange is assumed at 1.95% plus 10c, which is a typical card present restaurant blend and moves with the cards your guests actually use. Clover is left uncomputed because its rate depends entirely on the reseller. This is an estimate for comparison, not a quote.
A steakhouse and a taproom need different systems
Start with the kind of restaurant you run. Every guide names which systems handle that room well and which ones quietly do not.
Full service
Coursing, seat numbers, table turns and the tip pooling reports that keep payroll clean.
Fine dining
Fire timing, wine list depth and tableside payment that does not interrupt a table.
Bars and nightclubs
Open tabs, card pre authorisation, and food and liquor taxed separately on one check.
High volume kitchens
Ticket routing across stations, kitchen displays, and holding up on a Friday at seven.
Multi location groups
One menu pushed to four rooms, reporting that rolls up, permissions set per manager.
Steakhouse and grill
Modifier depth on temperature and sides, coursing, and a high average ticket to protect.
Toast will not quote you a rate. It told its shareholders anyway.
Toast collected $5.04 billion in financial technology revenue on $195.1 billion of payments in 2025. That is an average of 2.58 cents on every dollar its restaurants ran. The year before was 2.55%. If a rep will not put your rate in writing, that is the number to hold them to.
Toast Q4 and full year 2025 results, released 12 February 2026. Figure computed from the two published totals.
What actually happens after you send your numbers
No pitch on the first call. If your current system is fine and your rate is fair, we will tell you that and you will not hear from us again.
We read your statement with you
Send last month's and you get your real effective rate back, line by line, showing what is interchange, what is the processor's margin, and what is a junk fee. Free, whether or not you buy anything.
We quote against it in writing
Interchange plus, with the markup visible, so you can compare it to anything else on your desk. Every fee named, including the annual ones most reps leave out.
We build your menu, not you
Every item, modifier, combo and tax group, programmed and tested by us, then walked through with you on a screen share before a single live ticket runs.
We install it and stand in the room
Mounted, cabled, tested on your floor. Staff trained across every shift. Somebody there on go live night, which is the night things break.
The questions that decide this, answered plainly
How much does a restaurant POS system cost?
There are four costs and most quotes only show you one. Software runs from nothing to about $69 a terminal a month. Hardware runs from a few hundred dollars for a single terminal into the thousands for a full kitchen. Card processing is by far the largest and it never stops. Installation and training may be free or may not be. Our full cost breakdown puts real numbers on all four.
Why will Toast not tell me its processing rate?
Because it quotes each restaurant individually, which it describes as building a custom rate. The practical effect is that you cannot compare it to anything until you are already in a sales conversation. Third party reporting puts it between 2.49% and 3.69% plus 15 cents depending on plan and add-ons, and Toast's own investor filings show it collected an average of 2.58% across all its restaurants in 2025.
Is the free Square plan actually free?
The software is. The processing is not, and the free plan charges 2.6% plus 15 cents against 2.4% plus 15 cents on the paid plan. Above roughly $25,000 a month in card volume the free plan costs you more overall. Kitchen display screens and self order kiosks are also excluded from it.
Can I get out of my current POS contract?
Sometimes, and it depends on the exact termination clause and whether your hardware is leased separately, which is where most owners get caught. Send us the agreement and we will read it and tell you what it allows, including when the answer is that you should wait it out. See getting out of a contract.
Do you only recommend the systems you sell?
No, and the site would be worthless if we did. We place Shift4 Dine and Clover. Where Toast or Square is the better fit for a restaurant we say so on the comparison page and on the first call. Our Shift4 Dine versus Toast page names the situations where Toast wins.
Tell us what is actually going wrong
Bring last month's statement. We will read it with you, free, and be straight about whether we are the ones to fix it.
Send your numbers
About a minute. It goes straight to the Equip team.
It reaches Judd Alsup and the Equip team. If we have a crew near you, that is who calls. If we do not, Judd handles it himself. We never ask for card or bank details on this site.