Toast vs Square 2026: Fees, Contracts and Which POS to Pick

Square is the cheaper and safer pick for most small operators in 2026: Square Free costs $0 a month with 2.6% + 15¢ per in-person card, needs no contract, and Plus adds the restaurant tools for $49 a month per location. Toast's no-subscription Starter Kit charges 3.09% + 15¢, a higher rate on every card. Toast's Traditional plan, from $69 a month at 2.49% + 15¢ under a 2-year agreement, comes within $14 a month of Square Plus for a busy full-service restaurant but does not beat it on the printed numbers.

Our view: the deciding line is not features but how you want to pay. Square prints every rate and lets you leave any month. Toast trades that freedom for deeper restaurant tooling and a lower subscription rate, with hardware and add-ons you only see priced after a sales quote.

Prices below were read on 19 October 2026 on Toast's pricing page and Countertop Starter Kit configurator, and on Square's restaurant pricing page, plan page and hardware shop.

Toolradar data: among the 35 restaurant POS tools that Toolradar, the software directory we run, tracks as of 19 October 2026, Toast POS is both the most cross-shopped (listed as an alternative to more tools than any other) and the most compared, with 160 side-by-side comparisons in the last 90 days, per its restaurant POS ranking. Buyers who look at Toast almost always price it against something else, usually Square.

Toast vs Square at a glance

Toast's published prices apply to new customers and single locations only, according to its pricing page footnote. Square invites businesses processing over $250,000 a year to ask for custom rates, so a multi-site group should treat both pages as a starting point, not the final number.

Which is cheaper per card?

On pay-as-you-go terms, Square is cheaper on every single card. Square Free's 2.6% sits 0.49 points under Toast's Basic package, and both add 15¢. That gap is roughly half a cent on every dollar you take by card, and it widens to 1.09 points if you need Toast's Growth package for loyalty and email marketing.

Toast's Starter Kit earns that premium in one way: the basic hardware, a Toast Flex terminal, a Toast Tap payment device and a router, costs nothing upfront, and Toast says you own it from day one. Square Free also has no monthly fee, but the hardware is yours to buy, from $59 for a card reader to $899 for the Square Register.

On subscription terms the gap narrows: Toast's Traditional rate of 2.49% + 15¢ per in-person card, printed in Toast's own card reader guide and read on 19 October 2026, undercuts Square Free and Square Plus on the percentage, with the same 15¢ per card. The monthly software fee is what it has to earn back.

What the monthly bill looks like for two restaurants

These scenarios apply each vendor's printed in-person rate, monthly fee and per-card fee to one location. Hardware is left out except where noted.

A coffee shop: $8,000 a month in card sales across 1,600 cards ($5 average ticket).

Small tickets make the per-card fee the biggest line. At a $5 ticket, the 15¢ charge is worth 3% of each sale on its own, so on Square's plans the coffee shop pays more in flat per-card fees than in percentages, and on Toast's Basic package nearly as much. That is also why Toast Traditional's lower percentage cannot cover its monthly fee here: it comes to $508.20, $60.20 above Square Free. Our best POS for coffee shops ranking compares more options for this ticket size.

A full-service restaurant: $60,000 a month across 1,200 cards ($50 average ticket).

Square Free is left out of this table on purpose. Its restaurant chart marks split checks, tableside ordering, bar-tab preauthorization, timecards and tip pooling as not included, so a table-service restaurant needs Plus at minimum.

Toast Traditional lands $14 a month above Square Plus here and $26 below Square Premium. Add two Toast Go 3 handhelds, which the configurator prices at $50 a month each, and it reaches $1,843, $114 above Plus, if your quote carries the same device fees. Square's pricing lists per-device monthly fees only for its KDS and Kiosk software, not for handhelds.

Toast's Starter Kit is the most expensive way to run this restaurant, $305 a month above Square Plus. A high-volume room should never sit on Toast's pay-as-you-go rates.

Contracts and switching costs

Toast's software subscription comes with a 2-year agreement, per the Starter Kit configurator, and recurring charges begin the day you go live. Toast's public pages do not list early termination terms, so get them in the quote. Square says Plus and Premium can be cancelled or switched anytime, both come with a 30-day free trial, and Square Free has no subscription to cancel.

Hardware locks you in further, because Toast says its services run only on devices it approves, so a Toast terminal will not move to another system and an iPad will not run Toast. Square sells its own hardware too, but it also takes payments with no hardware at all through Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android, invoices, payment links and a virtual terminal.

What hardware costs on each

The Toast monthly device fees are the cost that keeps running. Toast's footnote says each plan includes the first terminal subscription and charges for every device after it, so a patio with three handhelds adds $150 a month for as long as they run. Toast currently advertises 60% off hardware for a limited time, which cuts the upfront bill but not those monthly fees.

Square finances its own devices through Block over 3 to 24 months at 15% APR, subject to credit approval, while Toast offers 0% interest financing by application. Both soften the upfront cost; neither changes what you pay per card.

Restaurant depth vs retail breadth

Toast is built for restaurants first. Its packages bundle online ordering with DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub integrations on Core, then gift cards, loyalty, SMS and email marketing, websites, catering and events on Growth. Toast also offers payroll, scheduling, xtraCHEF invoice costing and inventory as add-ons on its subscription plans, though it publishes no price for them, and an offline mode that keeps orders and card payments running during an internet outage. A new restaurant can bundle payroll into the Point of Sale plan for $9 per employee a month.

Square covers restaurants and retail on the same plans. Plus adds inventory tracking, email marketing, timecards, tableside ordering and split checks; Premium adds more reporting and lower card rates. A store is not a second-class customer on Square, while Toast's retail plan starts at $90 a month with no printed card rate, which makes it harder to budget for a convenience or liquor store. Our best POS for liquor stores list covers that segment.

Which should you pick?

• Counter-service café, food truck or pop-up. Square Free, then Plus once you need timecards or email marketing. You pay less per card and can walk away.
• New restaurant with no budget for hardware. Toast's Starter Kit, knowing the higher card rate is how you pay for the free kit; plan to move to Traditional once volume grows.
• Busy full-service restaurant, like the $60,000-a-month example. Get a Toast Traditional quote and set its rate and device fees against Square Plus using the table above. Sign the 2-year agreement only if the quote beats Plus.
• Retail store, or a shop that sells food and goods. Square, for printed rates on every plan and no contract.
• Multi-location group. Neither public price applies; ask both for custom rates.

Read next

For each system on its own, see the Toast POS review and the Square POS review. The single-vendor bills are broken down in Toast POS pricing and Square POS pricing. Stores that also sell online should read Square vs Shopify POS, and the Clover pricing breakdown covers the third system most buyers price. The wider field is in the best POS systems ranking, rewards tools sit in the best loyalty program software list, and Toolradar holds directory profiles for Toast POS and Square.

How we compared

We read Toast's pricing page, Starter Kit plans page and Countertop Starter Kit configurator, the card reader guide that prints its Traditional rate, and Square's restaurant pricing, plan page and hardware shop, all on 19 October 2026. The scenario totals are our arithmetic on those published rates and fees, not quotes, and they leave out tax, hardware purchases and anything a vendor does not print. The category figures come from Toolradar's restaurant POS ranking. Louis Corneloup, founder of Toolradar and Dupple, is the author. Card rates and plan terms change, so re-check both pages before you sign.

FAQ

Is Toast or Square better in 2026?

Square is better for most small restaurants, cafés and all retail stores, because Square Free has no monthly fee, a 2.6% + 15¢ in-person rate and no contract. Toast is better for busy full-service restaurants that want its restaurant tooling and can negotiate its Traditional plan below the printed 2.49% + 15¢.

Is Toast cheaper than Square?

Not on pay-as-you-go terms: Toast's Starter Kit rate of 3.09% + 15¢ is higher than any Square in-person rate. Toast's Traditional plan, at $69 a month and 2.49% + 15¢, beats Square Premium for a high-volume restaurant but lands just above Square Plus in our $60,000-a-month example.

Does Toast require a contract?

Yes. Toast's Starter Kit configurator says the software subscription comes with a 2-year agreement, and recurring charges begin on your go-live date. Square lets you cancel or switch Plus and Premium anytime.

Can I use Square hardware with Toast?

No. Toast says its services run only on devices it approves, so Square hardware, iPads and terminals from other systems will not work with Toast. Square, by contrast, can take payments on a phone with Tap to Pay.

Which is better for a coffee shop?

Square, in most cases. At $8,000 a month across 1,600 cards, Square Free comes to $448 a month against $487.20 on Toast's Basic Starter Kit, because Toast's percentage is higher on every card while both charge 15¢ per card.

Does Square charge a monthly fee for restaurants?

Square Free has no monthly fee, but it lacks split checks, tableside ordering and tip pooling. Square Plus costs $49 a month per location and Premium $149, with lower card rates as you move up.

Cite this: Retailpresso, "Toast vs Square 2026: Fees, Contracts and Which POS to Pick", November 2026.

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