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Toast lists its Starter Kit from $0 per month and its Point of Sale plan from $69 per month, while Build Your Own is custom-priced. Those are starting prices, not full monthly costs: eligibility, card processing, hardware, implementation, add-ons, and contract terms can change what a restaurant pays. Toast’s public bundle page also lists processing rates that vary by card type and whether payment is in person or online. Check the current pricing details and get the complete terms in writing before comparing offers.
How much does Toast POS cost for new restaurants?
Toast’s published 2026 starting prices are $0 per month for the Starter Kit and $69 per month for Point of Sale. Build Your Own is custom-priced. Toast’s own pricing guide presents restaurant POS costs as a combination of setup expenses, subscriptions, and transaction-based fees, so a plan’s advertised monthly price is only one part of the budget. Toast pricing and its restaurant POS cost guide are vendor-published materials, not independent comparative testing.
| Plan | Published price | What the public offer describes |
|---|---|---|
| Starter Kit | Starts at $0/month | For eligible new single-location restaurants; bundle page lists Toast Flex POS, Toast Tap, a router, POS software, and support. |
| Point of Sale | Starts at $69/month | Core POS with a custom hardware configuration; additional products or devices may affect the price. |
| Build Your Own | Custom-priced | Configurable products may include digital ordering, marketing, gift cards, loyalty, payroll, scheduling, inventory, and management tools. |
Toast’s pages qualify the Starter Kit offer for eligible new customers at a single location. The $0 figure does not mean that processing or every device is free. Toast says Pay-as-You-Go includes a platform fee on each transaction and a two-year agreement. Confirm which offer, hardware, and agreement apply to your business in the written quote. Toast’s pricing FAQ and its POS quote page describe the offer and qualifications.
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What are the upfront costs?
Budget separately for setup and ongoing operation rather than treating a monthly software price as the total. Toast’s cost guide identifies upfront setup expenses, recurring subscriptions, and payment processing as distinct cost categories. For a useful first-year estimate, request separate line items for implementation, hardware and shipping, software, processing, training, add-ons, integrations, support, and likely replacement equipment. Then compare the first-year amount with the ongoing annual cost after one-time setup expenses. Toast’s cost guide recommends comparing equivalent hardware, features, processing assumptions, and contract periods.
#1 Best Overall
- Optimized for Toast Terminals, Toast Go, and Toast Tap. Perfect for fast manager overrides, employee logins, and secure staff access during busy shifts. Toast POS Cashier Cards
- 25 Card Pack: High-quality white PVC cards with HiCo magnetic stripes. Durable design resists wear and demagnetization from daily use in high-volume restaurant environments.
- 1 PRO Cleaning Card: Includes 1 pre-saturated IPA cleaning swipes. Safely removes grease, dust, and grime from card reader heads to prevent read errors and extend hardware life.
- The ultimate bundle for restaurant managers. Keep your staff moving with reliable swipe cards and keep your hardware clean for seamless payment processing.
- The perfect size for small to medium teams. This 25-pack provides a professional, uniform look for your staff while ensuring you always have spare cards on hand for new hires.
- Hardware: Count the terminals, handhelds, printers or kitchen display screens, readers, routers, kiosks, and guest displays in the proposed setup.
- Software and add-ons: Identify which capabilities are included and which are separately priced.
- Implementation and training: Ask whether they are included, billed once, or subject to other terms.
- Processing: Estimate charges using your own sales volume, average ticket, card mix, and in-person versus online payment mix.
- Agreement: Compare the full term and payment arrangement, not only the monthly subscription.
There is no defensible single total for every restaurant: the result depends on sales and transaction mix, location and device count, selected products, and the written offer. Ask Toast for a quote that spells out those assumptions and charges.
What are Toast’s card processing rates?
Toast’s bundle page lists the following public offer rates. They are not a personalized rate promise; the page says custom pricing is available above $500,000 in annual processing volume. Confirm the rate schedule that will appear in your merchant agreement. The figures below are from Toast’s bundle offer as accessed October 7, 2026. Toast’s bundle page carries the rate footnotes.
| Card type | Card-present rate | Card-not-present rate |
|---|---|---|
| Visa, Mastercard, and Discover | 2.49% + $0.15 per transaction | 3.59% + $0.15 per transaction |
| American Express | 3.29% + $0.15 per transaction | 3.89% + $0.15 per transaction |
The percentage and fixed fee both matter. The fixed $0.15 portion accounts for a larger share of a small transaction than of a large one. To compare processing costs, use the same assumptions for each provider: expected annual volume, average ticket, card mix, and share of transactions taken in person versus online. Toast describes itself as a payment facilitator that partners with processors; it is not itself a payment card processor. Toast’s pricing FAQ states this distinction.
Rank #2
- 50 High-Durability Swipe Cards: Premium PVC cards designed for high-volume daily use. Our Cards are Packed in 25 Card Packs. Oracle Micros Simphony (Sonic Logo) POS Employee Mag Swipe Cards.
- 3 Card Cleaning Kit included. Removes 99% of skin oils and dust. Removes 99% of skin oils and dust. Prevents abrasive buildup on sensitive magnetic heads. A 5-second swipe once a week prevents hours of POS lag.
- Complete POS Continuity Kit: Includes 100 premium PVC server cards and a 3 Card cleaning kit to ensure your restaurant or bar remains fully operational without hardware-related downtime.
- 25-PACK CONVENIENCE: The perfect size for small to medium teams. 50 Cards packaged in 25 Card Packs provides a professional, uniform look for your staff while ensuring you always have spare cards on hand for new hires.
- READY TO USE: Cards arrive Preprogrammed and are standard CR80 credit card size (3.375"×2.125"). Easily assign them to any user profile within your Micros back-office software in seconds.
Can I use my own hardware?
Not every terminal or accessory will work with Toast. Toast says its services may be accessed only through devices it identifies as compatible and approved, and that approved compatibility can change. Check the exact make and model of equipment you already own with Toast before including it in a purchase plan; do not assume that a generic POS terminal is a drop-in replacement. Toast’s pricing FAQ and hardware information describe the compatibility limitation.
Hardware in a typical setup
Toast’s hardware FAQ says a typical operation may need a terminal, card reader, receipt or kitchen printer (or a kitchen display system), and a secure router. The service model may also call for handhelds, kiosks, or guest displays. Its Starter Kit bundle lists a Flex POS terminal, Toast Tap, router, software, and self-service installation support. Toast’s hardware page describes the product range and setup considerations.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How do Toast’s payment options work?
Toast describes Pay Now as an upfront payment for hardware, implementation, shipping and handling, and taxes, with software billed monthly. Toast Easy Pay is described as a 180-day lease in the United States. The published Easy Pay page says Toast withholds 0.75% of card sales for live Toast customers or 1.75% for customers not yet live and applies that amount to the lease. If withholding does not cover the full balance, Toast collects the remainder by ACH at the end of the term. Easy Pay is unavailable to Mid-Market Enterprise customers; terms apply, and Toast may change or discontinue the option. Toast’s payment options page provides these conditions.
Rank #3
- 100 Aloha POS Employee Swipe Cards designed for high-volume daily use. USA-MADE QUALITY: Proudly manufactured in America by POS Depot. High-quality PVC cards with durable HiCo magnetic stripes designed to withstand the heavy daily use of busy bars and kitchens.
- 1 Card Cleaning Kit included. Removes 99% of skin oils,dirt, and dust. PRO-GRADE MAINTENANCE: Our cleaning cards use 99% IPA to safely deep-clean sensitive internal sensors. Extend the life of your hardware with maintenance tools manufactured right here in the USA.
- 25-Card Packs: The perfect size for small to medium teams. This 25-pack provides a professional, uniform look for your staff while ensuring you always have spare cards on hand for new hires.
- Cards arrive Preprogrammed and are standard CR80 credit card size (3.375"×2.125"). Easily assign them to any user profile within your Micros back-office software in seconds.
- Choose the trusted American brand for POS accessories. We focus on durability and reliability so you can focus on your customers. Quality you can count on, shift after shift.
Compare the cash due at signing, recurring charges, withholding, end-of-term balance, and equipment obligations before choosing. Deferred payment is not free hardware. Review the lease and platform agreements together, including the agreement duration, cancellation charges, and any hardware-return requirements; the public pages do not establish how those terms will apply to every individual quote.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsWhat should I verify in a Toast quote?
Ask for a written, itemized quote and check that it answers the following questions before you compare it with another POS provider:
- Which published plan and offer eligibility apply to your restaurant and location count?
- What hardware models and quantities are included, and what do additional devices cost?
- Which software features and add-ons are included, and what are their recurring charges?
- What processing rates and other transaction fees apply to each payment type?
- What are implementation, shipping, training, integration, and support charges?
- What is the agreement term, and what cancellation or hardware-return obligations apply?
- For a financing or lease option, what is due upfront, what is withheld, and how is any remaining balance collected?
For a provider-to-provider comparison, hold the product configuration, hardware count, transaction mix, processing assumptions, setup costs, and contract period constant. Toast states that Toast Care is included with every software subscription and is available 24/7/365 by phone or web messaging; that is Toast’s stated support offer, not independent evidence of service quality. Toast’s pricing FAQ gives the support details.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
