How much does a restaurant POS system cost?

The four parts of a POS bill

1. Software. A monthly fee per location or per device. Some plans are $0 and charge a higher card rate instead.
2. Card processing. A percentage plus a few cents on every card sale. This is most of the bill.
3. Hardware. Terminals, card readers, handhelds, kitchen screens and printers, bought up front, financed, or paid for in the rate.
4. Add-ons. Kitchen display software, online ordering, loyalty, payroll and reservations, each with its own monthly fee.

Install, training and network work can add a one-time cost too. Toast's own onboarding guide says its installers do not run Ethernet cable, so new drops are a separate job. See switching from Aloha to Toast for what that involves.

Restaurant POS prices by system, 2026

Online and keyed payments usually cost more than in-person cards. On Toast, reviewers report about 3.50% + $0.15. Check the online rate in every quote if you take a lot of online orders.

What a POS costs in a year: a worked example

Take a restaurant with $40,000 a month in card sales at a $32 average check. That is $480,000 a year and 15,000 card transactions. One terminal, no kitchen screens, no online orders, hardware not counted.

How the math works: processing is your yearly card sales times the percentage, plus the per-transaction fee times your number of transactions. For Toast Point of Sale that is $480,000 × 2.49% = $11,952, plus 15,000 × $0.15 = $2,250, for $14,202.

Clover looks cheapest only at a direct rate. A reseller at 2.6% + $0.10 with a $135 monthly bundle comes to about $15,600, on par with Toast. A quote 0.2 points lower than the rates above saves about $1,000 a year at this volume. Run your own numbers in the processing fee calculator.

Hardware costs

Hardware is the second cost most owners notice, and the one that is easiest to finance into a higher rate without seeing it.

• Toast. A countertop kit is about $1,203. Reported 2026 prices: Flex terminal $627 to $1,199, Toast Go 3 handheld $599, kitchen display $499 to $1,199, Toast Tap reader $149 to $299, kiosk $799 to $1,899. A one-station counter runs about $1,500 to $1,700 in hardware, and a 60-seat full-service room about $5,100 to $7,900. Toast hardware only runs Toast. See Toast hardware cost.
• SpotOn. Station 15 is $995, included on the $0 All-In plan, which has a 2-year minimum.
• Square. Runs on an iPad you own, or Square Terminal $299, Square Handheld $399 and Square Register $899, bought outright.
• Clover. About $500 to $900 for a Mini or Flex, depending on the seller.
• Lightspeed. Runs on iPads, so you buy or reuse Apple hardware.

Add-ons that change the bill

• Kitchen display software. On Square, $30 a device a month on Plus and $20 on Premium. Three kitchen screens on Square Plus add $1,080 a year. On Toast, the kitchen display is part of the standard system, but extra devices add monthly software charges.
• Online ordering and loyalty. Toast lists online ordering at $75 a month and loyalty at $25 a month as add-ons. SpotOn's Core Bundle includes commission-free online ordering and a guest app for loyalty. Square has a free online ordering page on every plan.
• Payroll, reservations and gift cards. Each is a separate monthly fee unless your plan bundles it. Ask for one all-in monthly figure.

Hidden costs to ask about

• Early termination. Toast and SpotOn All-In have multi-year terms. Bank resellers can sign you to 36 months on Clover.
• Rate changes. Toast's rate can change with 30 days' notice. Ask how rate changes are announced and whether you can leave.
• Leaving your current processor. Toast requires Toast payment processing on every plan, so a switch can end your current processing contract early.
• Gift card balances. Moving them has a cost in staff time and, if your new POS can't import them, a separate tool. See the POS migration checklist.
• Every fee line. Our Toast fees guide lists the charges that do not appear on Toast's pricing page.

How to pay less for a restaurant POS

1. Price on your real card volume. Give every vendor twelve months of card sales and transaction counts, and ask for the yearly total, not the monthly fee.
2. Pick the paid plan once you are busy. On Toast, the $69 plan costs less than the Starter Kit once you pass roughly $10,000 to $20,000 a month in card sales. See Toast pricing.
3. Get two quotes. A rate 0.2 points lower is worth about $1,000 a year at $40,000 a month.
4. Get the contract end and exit cost in writing before you sign.

Not sure which system fits before you price it? Take the 6-question POS quiz or see our best POS for small restaurants.

Common questions

Sources

Every figure on this page comes from our sourced guides, which list the vendor pages and 2026 reviews behind each number: Toast pricing, Toast fees, Toast hardware cost, Toast vs Square, Toast vs SpotOn, Toast vs Clover, Aloha alternatives and best POS for small restaurants.