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Food & Restaurant · head to head

Toast POS vs Square for Restaurants

Toast POS logo

Toast POS

Food & Restaurant

All-in-one restaurant management platform

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Square for Restaurants logo

Square for Restaurants

Food & Restaurant

Restaurant POS system that works for you

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Square for Restaurants has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Toast POS free tier limited to one or two terminals; Square for Restaurants the Square KDS and Square Kiosk apps are not available on the free plan
  • They diverge on capability: Toast POS covers Cloud POS, Square for Restaurants covers Table management.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Toast POS and Square for Restaurants actually diverge.

Attributes where Toast POS and Square for Restaurants differ
AttributeToast POSSquare for Restaurants
Starting priceOn requestFree
Free tierNoYes
Founded20112018

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), platforms (Web, Ios, Android), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Food & Restaurant).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Toast POS

  • Cloud POS
  • Menu management
  • Inventory tracking
  • Employee management
  • Online ordering
  • Grubhub
  • Uber Eats
  • Xero

Only in Square for Restaurants

  • Table management
  • Menu customization
  • Split checks
  • Offline mode
  • Kitchen display
  • Caviar
  • Postmates

Both cover

  • Real-time reporting
  • DoorDash
  • QuickBooks
  • Web support
  • Ios support
  • Android support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Toast POS

  • Point of Sale
  • Order Management
  • Inventory Control
  • Staff Scheduling

Square for Restaurants

  • Point of Sale
  • Order Management
  • Inventory Control
  • Staff Scheduling

Both are used for point of sale, order management, inventory control, staff scheduling, on those jobs the choice comes down to price and fit rather than capability.

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Toast POS

  • Free tier limited to one or two terminals
  • Setup fees and hardware requirements for paid plans
  • Mobile ordering requires additional configuration
  • Reporting and analytics features limited on entry-level plans

Square for Restaurants

  • The Square KDS and Square Kiosk apps are not available on the free plan
  • KDS and Kiosk are billed per device per month on top of the plan, so cost scales with terminals rather than locations
  • Restaurants processing over $250,000 a year are moved to custom pricing rather than the published rates

Pricing, plan by plan

Toast POS

On request
  • Starter KitFree
    • Cloud-based POS
    • Order management
    • Reporting
  • Point of Sale$69/month
    • Menu management
    • Reporting & analytics
    • 24/7 support
  • Build Your Own$165/month
    • Online ordering
    • Delivery
    • Marketing

Square for Restaurants

Free
  • FreeFree
    • POS
    • Menu management
    • Basic reporting
  • Plus$60/month
    • Advanced features
    • Live sales
    • Seat management
  • PremiumFree
    • Custom pricing
    • Dedicated support

Which should you pick?

Choose Toast POS if

  • You need cloud pos.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want menu management.
Toast POS review

Choose Square for Restaurants if

  • You need table management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want menu customization.
Square for Restaurants review

Questions people ask

Is Toast POS or Square for Restaurants better?
Neither clearly leads. Toast POS starts at On request and Square for Restaurants at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Toast POS or Square for Restaurants?
Square for Restaurants has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Toast POS and Free for Square for Restaurants.
Does Toast POS or Square for Restaurants run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, Ios, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Square for Restaurants for free?
Yes. Square for Restaurants has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Toast POS starts at On request.
What is Toast POS best used for?
Toast POS is most often used for point of sale, order management, inventory control, staff scheduling.
What can Toast POS do that Square for Restaurants cannot?
Toast POS covers Cloud POS, Menu management, Inventory tracking, Employee management. Square for Restaurants covers Table management, Menu customization, Split checks, Offline mode. Both handle Real-time reporting, DoorDash, QuickBooks, Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Toast POS: Does Toast POS have a free tier?

Yes. Toast's Starter Kit is free and designed for small restaurants with one or two terminals. It includes cloud-based POS, payment processing, order and table management, real-time reporting, and 24/7 customer support.

Source
Toast POS: What integrations does Toast POS support?

Toast integrates with payment processors, online ordering platforms, delivery services, accounting software, and customer data platforms for comprehensive restaurant operations management.

Source
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Related pages

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More on Square for Restaurants

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