Toast vs Square for Restaurants (2026): Fees, Contracts and Who Each Fits

The short version

Pick Toast if

You run full service with coursing, a busy kitchen and handhelds
You run or plan more than one location
You want 24/7 phone support on every plan

Pick Square if

You run a café, counter-service spot or food truck
You will not sign a multi-year contract
You want to start on hardware you already own

Square publishes its rates, needs no contract and runs on iPads you can reuse. Toast is built only for restaurants, so its kitchen, handheld, inventory and multi-location tools go deeper, and support runs 24/7 on every plan. The cost of that is a two-year contract and a rate you have to get quoted. Price both on your real card volume.

Side by side

Toast vs Square for restaurants, 2026, from Square's restaurant pricing page, NerdWallet (Aug 2026) and POS USA (Jun 2026). Toast quotes its rates; its figures are the ones reviewers report.
What	Toast	Square for Restaurants
Software	$0 Starter Kit (higher rate), $69/mo Point of Sale, quoted above that	$0 Free, $49/mo Plus, $149/mo Premium, per location
In-person rate	About 2.49% + $0.15 on the paid plan, 3.09% to 3.69% + $0.15 on $0	Published: 2.6% + $0.15 Free, 2.5% + $0.15 Plus, 2.4% + $0.15 Premium
Online rate	About 3.50% + $0.15	3.3% + $0.30 Free, 2.9% + $0.30 Plus and Premium
Keyed rate	About 3.50% + $0.15	3.5% + $0.15
Contract	Usually 2 years, sometimes 3, auto-renews. Early exit costs the remaining software fees	None. Cancel or change plans any time
Hardware	Toast-only Android devices: countertop kit about $1,203, Go 3 handheld about $599	Register $899, Terminal $299, Handheld $399, Stand $149 (with your iPad)
Kitchen display	Toast KDS hardware, part of the system	KDS app $30/device/mo on Plus, $20 on Premium, not on Free
Coursing and seats	Yes	Premium only
Inventory	Built in, with deeper add-ons	Plus and Premium
Offline mode	Yes	Yes, on every plan. Offline card payments decline if the device stays offline more than 24 hours
Payroll	Toast Payroll, first party	Square Payroll, about $35/mo + $6 per employee
Gift card load fee	Ask in the quote	2.5% on Free and Plus, 0% on Premium
Phone support	24/7 on every plan	Weekdays 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT on Free and Plus, 24/7 on Premium

What it costs on real volume

Take a restaurant doing $40,000 a month in card sales at a $32 average check: $480,000 a year and 15,000 card transactions. One Toast countertop kit, or one Square Register. No add-ons, kitchen screens or online orders.

Worked example: $480,000 card sales a year, 15,000 transactions
Plan	Year one	Each year after
Toast Point of Sale ($69, ~2.49% + $0.15)	about $16,200	about $15,000
Square Free (2.6% + $0.15)	about $15,600	about $14,700
Square Plus ($49, 2.5% + $0.15)	about $15,700	about $14,800
Square Premium ($149, 2.4% + $0.15)	about $16,500	about $15,600

Every option lands within about $850 a year of the others. At this size, price should not decide it. Two things move the numbers more than the plan does:

Your Toast quote. Toast says it will try to match your current processor. A quote 0.2 points under 2.49% saves about $1,000 a year at this volume.
The add-ons. A full-service room needs kitchen screens. On Square Plus, three KDS screens add $1,080 a year in app fees. Payroll, loyalty and online ordering change both bills. Price the setup you will really run.

Run your own numbers in the POS processing fee calculator, and see the Toast pricing guide for Toast's plans, hardware and add-ons in detail.

Contracts: the biggest real difference

Square has no contract. You can stop paying for a plan this month, and the iPads and Square devices still have some value. Toast's agreement usually runs two years, renews for another year unless you cancel in the window, and leaving early means paying the remaining software fees plus any hardware balance. Toast hardware runs only Toast.

That does not make Toast the wrong choice. A two-year contract is fine if the system fits and the rate is fixed. Before you sign, get the exit amount in dollars and ask whether the rate can change during the term. Toast's merchant agreement allows increases with 30 days' notice.

Where Toast is stronger

Full service. Coursing, seat numbers, a mature kitchen display and Toast Go handhelds are part of the standard system, not a premium tier.
Multi-location. Shared menus with location pricing and group reporting. Our multi-unit POS comparison goes deeper.
Support. 24/7 phone support on every plan. Square gives it only on Premium.
Restaurant-only focus. Inventory, payroll, reservations, kiosks and delivery all come from one vendor and were built for restaurants.

Watch out for: the contract, a quoted rate that can rise, add-ons that stack up, and hardware with no resale value.

Where Square is stronger

No contract and published rates. You know the price before you talk to anyone, and you can leave.
Cheap to start. The Free plan and an iPad on a $149 stand get a counter running for a few hundred dollars, plus an iPad you may already own.
Fast setup. Most cafés can set up Square themselves without an install visit.
Mixed businesses. If you also sell retail goods, Square covers both.

Watch out for: kitchen screens and kiosks that cost extra per device, coursing only on Premium, weekday-only phone support below Premium, and the 24-hour offline limit on card payments.

Which one should you pick?

Pick Toast if you run full service with a real kitchen line, servers on handhelds, or more than one location, and you want one vendor and 24/7 support. Get the rate quoted on your statement and the exit cost in writing.

Pick Square if you run a café, bakery, counter-service spot or food truck, you want to start cheap and stay flexible, or you are not sure the concept will last two years.

Comparing Toast with a third option? See Toast vs SpotOn or the POS comparison grid.

Want Toast's real rate for your restaurant? Get a free Toast quote and hold it against Square's published rates.

Common questions

Is Square cheaper than Toast for restaurants?

Not by much. On $40,000 a month in card sales, both land within about $850 a year of each other before add-ons. Square's published rates are slightly higher than Toast's commonly quoted paid-plan rate, but Square has lower hardware costs and no contract.

Does Toast require a contract?

Yes, usually two years and sometimes three, with automatic renewal. Square has no contract on any plan.

Can I use an iPad with Toast?

No. Toast runs only on its own Android hardware. Square runs on iPads and its own devices.

Which is better for a full-service restaurant?

Usually Toast. Coursing, handhelds, kitchen screens and 24/7 support come standard. On Square, coursing and 24/7 support need the $149 Premium plan, and kitchen screens cost extra per device.

Which is better for a café or food truck?

Usually Square. It is cheap to start, needs no contract and most owners can set it up themselves.

Do both work offline?

Yes. Square stores offline card payments and declines them if the device does not reconnect within 24 hours. Toast also keeps taking orders and cards offline; ask the rep to unplug the network during the demo.

Sources

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.