The short version
The $0 Starter Kit fits if
- You do under about $10,000 to $20,000 a month in card sales
- You are opening with little cash
- You need a POS running in weeks
The paid plan fits if
- You do more than about $20,000 a month in card sales
- You can pay for hardware up front or finance it
- You plan to stay on Toast past the first contract
Both plans run the same software. The difference is who pays for the hardware: you, up front, or the processing rate, every month for the whole contract. At a busy restaurant the higher rate costs thousands a year more than the hardware would have. Toast quotes every restaurant, so treat the numbers here as a benchmark and get your own quote on your real card volume.
Toast plans at a glance
| Plan | Software | Card-present rate | Hardware |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter Kit (pay-as-you-go) | $0 a month | About 3.09% to 3.69% + $0.15 | $0 up front, paid through the higher rate |
| Point of Sale (standard) | $69 a month and up | About 2.49% + $0.15 | Bought up front, financed, or leased through Toast Easy Pay |
| Build your own / multi-location | Quoted | Quoted, negotiable on volume | Quoted |
Online and keyed-in payments cost more on every plan: about 3.50% + $0.15, and Merchant Maverick lists 3.89% + $0.15 for American Express. Toast processing is mandatory. You cannot bring your own processor.
Plan names move around. Older reviews call the same two offers "Quick Start" and "Core". What matters is the shape: a free plan with a higher rate, and a paid plan with a lower rate and hardware you pay for.
Processing: the cost that matters
For most restaurants, processing is 80% to 90% of what they pay Toast each year. A restaurant doing $40,000 a month in card sales pays about $12,000 a year in processing at 2.49%, before the $0.15 per transaction. The monthly software fee is a rounding error next to that.
Three things to know about Toast's rates:
- They are quoted, not published. Toast says it will try to match your current processor. Bring a recent statement to the demo.
- They can change during the contract. Toast's merchant agreement lets it raise rates with 30 days' written notice, and Merchant Maverick reports customers saying it has.
- The headline rate is not the whole rate. Ask for the effective rate on your real card mix, including Amex, keyed and online orders, and chargebacks (about $15 to $25 each, per UpMenu).
Our POS processing fee calculator runs these numbers on your own volume and ticket size.
When the $0 plan costs more
The table compares the $0 plan with the $69 plan plus a $1,203 countertop starter kit (NerdWallet's figure), spread over a two-year contract. Per-transaction fees are the same on both plans, so they are left out. A positive number means the $0 plan costs you more each year.
| Monthly card sales | $0 plan at 3.09% | $0 plan at 3.69% |
|---|---|---|
| $10,000 | $710 cheaper | About even |
| $25,000 | $370 more | $2,170 more |
| $50,000 | $2,170 more | $5,770 more |
| $100,000 | $5,770 more | $12,970 more |
The break-even is about $20,000 a month in card sales at 3.09%, and about $10,000 a month at 3.69%. Past the two-year contract the gap grows, because the paid-plan hardware is already paid for. POS USA puts its own break-even at $14,000 to $15,000 a month, which sits between the two.
If cash is the problem, look at Toast Easy Pay before you take the $0 plan. It is a 180-day hardware lease that Toast collects as 0.75% of your card sales (1.75% before you go live), with no interest, and then it ends. The $0 plan's higher rate never ends.
Hardware prices
Toast sells its own Android hardware, and nothing else runs its software. It has no resale value if you leave. Toast does not list prices; these are the figures 2026 reviews report.
| Item | Reported price |
|---|---|
| Countertop starter kit | $1,203 |
| Handheld starter kit | $1,113 |
| Self-service kiosk starter kit | $1,454 |
| Toast Go 3 handheld | $599 |
| Toast Flex terminal | $799 to $1,199 |
| Kitchen display | $499 to $1,199 |
| Toast Tap card reader | $149 |
| Receipt printer | $149 to $350 |
| Cash drawer | $119 to $149 |
A typical full-service room with two terminals, three handhelds, two kitchen screens and two printers lands somewhere around $5,000 to $7,000 in hardware. Add installation: UpMenu reports onboarding at up to $95 an hour. Get the install cost in the quote, in dollars.
Add-ons
Toast sells most features as separate monthly line items, and they add up. These are the prices reviewers report; your quote may bundle them differently.
| Add-on | Reported price |
|---|---|
| Online ordering | About $75 a month |
| Delivery services | About $75 a month plus fees |
| Loyalty | About $50 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 |
| Scheduling and team tools | About $25 to $50 a month |
| Inventory, catering, multi-location | Quoted |
Three or four add-ons can cost more than the base plan. Decide which ones you will really use before the demo, and ask for the all-in monthly figure with exactly those.
One fee your guests see: some restaurants report a $0.99 service fee added to online orders through Toast's ordering page. Ask whether it applies to you and whether you can turn it off.
Contracts and leaving
Toast agreements usually run two years, sometimes three on promotions, and renew for another year unless you cancel in the window. POS USA suggests acting 60 to 90 days before renewal. Leave early and you owe the remaining software fees for the term, plus any hardware balance. POS USA has seen exit costs from $1,000 to more than $5,000.
Before you sign, get three things in writing: the early termination amount in dollars, what happens to the hardware if you cancel, and whether the processing rate can change during the term. If you are coming off an older system, our POS migration checklist covers the contract and data steps in order.
A worked example
A full-service restaurant doing $40,000 a month in card sales at a $32 average ticket, 15,000 card transactions a year, with one countertop kit:
| Plan | Year one | Year two |
|---|---|---|
| $0 Starter Kit at 3.09% + $0.15 | about $17,100 | about $17,100 |
| $69 plan at 2.49% + $0.15, kit bought | about $16,200 | about $15,000 |
Even in year one, buying the hardware is cheaper at this volume. By year two the paid plan saves about $2,000 a year, and more if your quoted $0-plan rate is higher than 3.09%.
How to get a lower Toast quote
- Bring twelve months of processor statements. Toast says it tries to match your current rate, so give it the number to match.
- Ask for the paid plan's rate and the $0 plan's rate side by side, on your volume.
- Price the hardware against the reported figures above. Ask about Toast Easy Pay if cash is tight.
- List the add-ons you need and get one all-in monthly figure.
- Ask for the exit amount in dollars and whether the rate is fixed for the term.
Comparing Toast with another system? Our Toast vs SpotOn guide runs the same numbers against SpotOn's published rates, and the POS comparison grid covers the wider field.
Common questions
How much does Toast POS cost per month?
The Starter Kit is $0 a month with a higher processing rate of about 3.09% to 3.69% + $0.15. The standard plan starts at $69 a month with about 2.49% + $0.15. Add-ons like online ordering, loyalty and payroll cost extra, and processing is the biggest part of the bill.
Is the Toast $0 plan really free?
No. You pay for the hardware through a higher processing rate for the whole contract. Above about $10,000 to $20,000 a month in card sales, the $0 plan costs more per year than buying the hardware and paying $69 a month.
What is Toast's processing rate?
Toast quotes each restaurant. Reviewers report about 2.49% + $0.15 for in-person cards on the paid plan, 3.09% to 3.69% + $0.15 on the $0 plan, and about 3.50% + $0.15 for online and keyed payments.
Can I use my own payment processor with Toast?
No. Toast processing is required on every plan.
How long is a Toast contract?
Usually two years, sometimes three, with automatic renewal for another year. Leaving early means paying the remaining software fees plus any hardware balance.
How much does Toast hardware cost?
Reported 2026 prices are about $1,203 for a countertop starter kit, $599 for a Toast Go 3 handheld and $149 for a Toast Tap reader. A full-service room often needs $5,000 to $7,000 in hardware.
Sources
- Toast: Pricing
- Toast: Payment options and Toast Easy Pay terms
- NerdWallet: Toast POS review (Aug 2026)
- POS USA: Toast POS pricing (Jun 2026)
- Merchant Maverick: Toast POS review (Jan 2026)
- UpMenu: Toast pricing breakdown (May 2026; UpMenu sells a competing product)
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.
