Toast vs Square vs Clover

Toast, Square and Clover package their restaurant systems very differently: Toast as a restaurant-specific system on its own hardware, Square as published plans you can start for free, and Clover as monthly bundles that include its own devices. Everything below comes from each company's own website, checked October 1, 2026.

Side by side

What the numbers mean at your volume

A restaurant takes $40,000 a month in cards in person over 1,600 transactions. At Square Plus (2.5% + 15¢) that is $1,000 + $240 = $1,240 a month in processing. At Clover's 2.3% + 10¢ it is $920 + $160 = $1,080. Toast doesn't publish a rate, so ask Toast to price the same volume in writing before comparing.

Add software and hardware on top: Square Plus is $49 a month plus hardware you buy; Clover's cheapest restaurant bundle is $179 a month for 36 months with hardware included. The three-year cost guide shows how to add it all up.

What each plan actually includes

The plan names hide real differences. These are the restaurant features each company lists by plan on its own pricing page, checked October 1, 2026.

Square for Restaurants

• Free ($0 per location): item and menu management, pickup and local delivery, and a branded online ordering page.
• Plus ($49): adds integrated inventory tracking and close-of-day reports. Square's kitchen display app is $30 a month per device and its kiosk app $50 a month per device on this plan.
• Premium ($149): adds coursing and seat management and 24/7 support; the kitchen display app drops to $20 and the kiosk app to $30 per device.
• Every plan includes offline payments. Square's pricing page says offline payments are declined if you don't reconnect within 24 hours of the first one; its help article says to reconnect within 24 hours and no later than 72. Plan on 24.

Clover

• All three restaurant bundles run the "Restaurant Growth" software plan with table mapping, open tabs with card pre-authorization, bill splitting, QR-code order and pay, and no-fee online ordering with pickup and delivery.
• Starter ($179 a month for 36 months): a Station Solo terminal, cash drawer and receipt printer. Clover's own feature table lists tap cards and mobile wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay) as not included on Starter, and tableside ordering as not included.
• Standard ($239): adds the Flex handheld with built-in receipt printer, tableside ordering, and tap and wallet payments on the Flex.
• Advanced ($354): adds the Station Duo with an 8-inch customer screen.
• Clover's Rapid Deposit, which gets funds within minutes of a card sale, carries a 1.75% fee.

Toast

• Starter Kit (from $0): for single locations with one or two terminals, with a hardware kit and no upfront cost.
• Point of Sale (from $69): core functionality with flat-rate processing, on Toast hardware you choose.
• Build Your Own: custom pricing. Payroll is offered at $69 a month plus $9 per employee.
• Toast's pricing notes that the price includes the first terminal's subscription and that additional devices cost extra, and that listed prices apply to new customers and single locations.

Tap-to-pay is not on every plan

Many guests now pay by tapping a card or phone. Check that it is included on the plan and hardware you're quoted. On Clover, for example, its feature table shows tap and wallet payments included only on the Flex and Station Duo, not on the Starter bundle's Station Solo. Ask every vendor to tap a card and a phone on the exact device you're buying.

Getting paid

Ask how fast card sales reach your bank account and what faster deposits cost. Square's plans include next-day transfers. Clover charges 1.75% for Rapid Deposit within minutes. Toast's deposit timing isn't stated on its pricing page; ask.

Choose Toast if…

• You run a full-service restaurant and want one restaurant-specific system for ordering, kitchen, payments and back-office add-ons.
• You're comfortable with Toast hardware and with getting the processing rate as a quote.

Choose Square if…

• You run a café, counter-service or small restaurant and want to see every rate before you sign up.
• You want to start on a free plan and use your own choice of Square hardware.

Choose Clover if…

• You'd rather pay for hardware monthly than upfront, and a 36-month bundle fits your plans.
• Clover's published in-person rate works out well at your volume.

Questions to ask all three

1. What will I pay in processing at my volume and card mix, in writing?
2. What happens to my hardware, my data and my gift card balances if I leave?
3. What exactly works offline, and up to what limits?
4. Which features on my list are on the plan I'm quoted, and which are add-ons?

Other systems worth a look

SpotOn, Lightspeed Restaurant, TouchBistro, Shift4 Dine and KwickPOS each fit particular kinds of restaurant. They are compared on the same terms in restaurant POS systems compared.