The short version
On the $69 plan, expect about 2.49% + $0.15 for in-person cards and about 3.50% + $0.15 for online and keyed payments. On the $0 Starter Kit, the in-person rate starts at 3.09% + $0.15 and climbs to 3.69% + $0.15 as you add online ordering and marketing. Toast can raise rates during your contract with 30 days' notice, and it did in 2022 and 2024. Ask for your effective rate on your real card mix before you sign.
Processing fees
Toast processes every card payment on its system. You cannot bring your own processor. Toast quotes each restaurant, so these are the rates 2026 reviewers report.
| Payment | $0 Starter Kit | $69 Point of Sale plan |
|---|---|---|
| In-person card | 3.09% + $0.15 base | About 2.49% + $0.15 |
| In-person, with online ordering added | 3.39% + $0.15 | Same rate; online ordering is a monthly add-on |
| In-person, with marketing suite added | 3.69% + $0.15 | Same rate; marketing is a monthly add-on |
| Online orders | About 3.39% to 3.50% + $0.15 | About 3.50% + $0.15 |
| Keyed-in cards | About 3.50% + $0.15 or more | About 3.50% + $0.15 or more |
| American Express, card not present | 3.89% + $0.15 (Merchant Maverick) | |
On the Starter Kit, Merchant Insiders reports that the higher tier applies to every transaction, not only to the online orders or the marketing that caused it. Take one add-on and your whole card volume moves up a tier.
Your exact rates are in your Toast contract. Toast's support pages say you can also see the fees on each deposit in Toast Web under Reports, Payments, Deposit Totals Overview.
Monthly software and add-on fees
| Item | Reported fee |
|---|---|
| Starter Kit software | $0 |
| Point of Sale plan | $69 a month and up |
| Kitchen display software | About $25 a month per screen |
| Online ordering | About $75 a month |
| Loyalty | About $50 to $75 a month |
| Gift cards | About $50 a month |
| Email marketing | About $75 a month |
| Payroll | About $69 to $90 a month plus $9 per employee |
| Typical add-on total | About $150 to $400 a month |
The Toast pricing guide covers plans and hardware prices, and when the $0 plan costs more than the $69 plan.
Delivery fees
Toast Delivery Services sends your own online orders out with Uber Direct or DoorDash Drive drivers. Toast's support page lists flat fees per delivery, paid by the restaurant:
| Distance | Uber Direct | DoorDash Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Short trips | $6.99 under 6 miles | $7.49 within 5 miles |
| Longer trips | $8.74 to $9.99 for 6 to 10 miles | $7.49 plus $0.50 per mile past 5 |
| Local regulatory fee | About $2 in California, $3 in New York City, $5 in Seattle | |
By default Toast adds a $3.99 delivery service charge to the guest's order, which you can change in Toast Web. The default delivery radius is 10 miles. The longer trips cost more, so ask Customer Care to cut the radius if most of your orders are close.
One-time and contract fees
- Onboarding and training. Up to $95 an hour, per UpMenu and Merchant Insiders. Merchant Insiders estimates a full implementation at $500 to $2,000 or more. NerdWallet lists the onboarding fee as a con.
- Hardware. Bought up front, financed, or paid through the $0 plan's higher rate. Toast Easy Pay is a 180-day lease that Toast collects as 0.75% of card sales (1.75% before you go live), with no interest.
- Chargebacks. Toast passes disputed payments back to you and shows them as CHB lines on your bank statement. UpMenu reports about $15 to $25 per dispute. Ask for the fee in your quote.
- Early termination. The remaining software fees for the term plus any processing commitment. Merchant Insiders says this can be thousands of dollars; POS USA has seen $1,000 to more than $5,000.
Rate increases
Toast's merchant agreement lets it raise processing rates during your contract with 30 days' written notice. Merchant Maverick and Merchant Insiders both report this. According to Merchant Cost Consulting, Toast has used it at least twice:
- December 2022: about 0.15 points. Restaurants could instead pass a $0.99 fee to guests on online orders of $10 or more.
- September 2024: about 0.23 points on in-person Visa, Mastercard and Discover payments.
In 2023 Toast added a $0.99 fee to guests' online orders of more than $10. After restaurants objected, the CEO said Toast had "made the wrong decision" and removed it from Toast's own ordering channels (Nation's Restaurant News).
On $40,000 a month in card sales, a 0.23-point increase costs about $1,100 a year. Ask in writing whether your rate is fixed for the term, and read every notice email from Toast.
How to read a Toast statement
Toast's support page lists the codes on your bank statement:
- TOAST, INC. or ST-TOAST: software, hardware and Toast Shop charges.
- CCD: card deposits net of processing fees, and sometimes software and hardware fees.
- CHB: chargebacks.
- TOAST PAYROLL: payroll.
To get your effective rate, add up a month of processing fees and divide by that month's card sales. If it is more than about half a point above the rate in your contract, find out why. Our processing fee calculator runs the same math.
How to lower your Toast fees
- Negotiate with a statement. Toast says it tries to match your current processor. Bring twelve months of statements to the sales call.
- Buy the hardware if you can. Above about $10,000 to $20,000 a month in card sales, the $69 plan with bought hardware costs less than the $0 plan.
- Watch the Starter Kit tiers. On the $0 plan, one add-on can raise the rate on all your card volume.
- Cut what you do not use. List every add-on on your bill and drop the ones nobody opens.
- Shrink the delivery radius. Longer trips cost more per order.
- Mark the renewal date. Contracts renew for a year on their own. Start talking to Toast, or to other systems, 60 to 90 days before.
Want to compare? See Toast vs Square and Toast vs SpotOn.
Common questions
What are Toast's processing fees?
Reviewers report about 2.49% + $0.15 for in-person cards on the $69 plan, 3.09% to 3.69% + $0.15 on the $0 Starter Kit, and about 3.50% + $0.15 for online and keyed payments. Toast quotes each restaurant, and your contract lists your exact rates.
Can Toast raise my rates during the contract?
Yes. The merchant agreement allows increases with 30 days' written notice. Toast raised rates in December 2022 and September 2024, according to Merchant Cost Consulting.
Does Toast charge guests a fee on online orders?
Toast added a $0.99 guest fee on online orders over $10 in 2023 and removed it from its own ordering channels after restaurants objected. Delivery orders get a $3.99 guest service charge by default, which the restaurant can change.
How much does Toast charge per delivery?
Toast Delivery Services charges the restaurant a flat fee per order: $6.99 under 6 miles with Uber Direct, or $7.49 within 5 miles with DoorDash Drive, with more for longer trips and local fees in some cities.
Is there a fee to cancel Toast?
Yes, if you leave before the contract ends. You owe the remaining software fees for the term plus any processing commitment and hardware balance.
Where do I see my Toast fees?
Your contract lists your rates. In Toast Web, go to Reports, Payments, Deposit Totals Overview to see the fees on each deposit.
Sources
- NerdWallet: Toast POS review (Aug 2026)
- Merchant Insiders: Toast fees explained (Mar 2026)
- Merchant Maverick: Toast POS review (Jan 2026)
- POS USA: Toast POS pricing (Jun 2026)
- UpMenu: Toast pricing breakdown (May 2026; UpMenu sells a competing product)
- Toast: Toast Delivery Services (Mar 2026)
- Toast: Understand Toast charge codes on bank statements
- Toast: Card payments FAQ
- Toast: Payment options and Toast Easy Pay terms
- Merchant Cost Consulting: Toast processing rate increases (2024, updated Dec 2025)
- Nation's Restaurant News: Toast to remove 99-cent fee (2023)
Disclosure: we are referral partners for Toast and SpotOn. If you request a quote through a link on this page and become a customer, we may receive a fee at no cost to you. Partner fees do not change what we recommend. How we make money.
