Best POS for Restaurants (2026): Toast vs Square vs SpotOn vs Clover vs Lightspeed, Prices Checked
By the HospitalityStack editors · written from hotel & resort F&B experience
The short answer
There is no single best restaurant POS; the right one depends on your service style and how much you want to pay up front. Square for Restaurants is the lowest-risk start: a $0/month plan, published card rates and no contract. Toast is the most complete restaurant-only platform (handhelds, KDS, online ordering, payroll, invoice costing from one vendor), but its card rate isn't published. SpotOn publishes per-station software pricing ($55/station a month on POS Essentials, month-to-month) and a $0 All-In plan where hardware is paid through a higher card rate. Clover sells one known monthly bundle price with a published 2.3% + 10¢ card rate, but on a 36-month subscription that can't be canceled. Lightspeed Restaurant publishes software tiers from $69 but quotes processing. Every price below was read on the vendor's own pages (checked Oct 2026).
How to choose a restaurant POS
Service style first. Full service needs table maps, coursing, split checks, open tabs and handhelds for tableside ordering. Counter service needs speed, modifiers, kiosks and a kitchen display.
Total monthly cost, not the headline price. Add software per location or per station, extra terminals, KDS screens, kiosks, online ordering and the card rate on your real sales.
Published vs quoted card rates. Square and Clover publish theirs; Toast, SpotOn and Lightspeed quote. A quote is fine, but get it in writing before you sign.
Contract and hardware lock-in. Toast and SpotOn run only on their own hardware; Clover hardware subscriptions can't be canceled; Square plans can be canceled anytime.
Offline mode for when the internet drops, and who carries the risk on offline card payments.
Labor tools. If you plan to schedule in 7shifts or another app, check the integration and any fee for it (Toast charges $50/month per location for integration access, per 7shifts' Toast setup guide).
Toast: $0 Starter Kit or $69/month, quote-based card rate
Toast lists a Starter Kit from $0/month for single-location restaurants that need 1–2 terminals (hardware kit with no upfront cost), Point of Sale from $69/month with your choice of hardware, and a custom-priced Build Your Own plan. A POS + Payroll bundle for new restaurants starts at $69/month plus $9 per employee a month and adds basic scheduling. Prices apply to new customers and single locations only. Processing is described as a simple flat rate but the number isn't published. Toast runs only on approved Toast hardware; 24/7 Toast Care is included; offline mode keeps orders, tickets and card payments going. Toast's pricing page was also advertising 60% off Toast hardware for new US customers who sign by Dec 31, 2026 (terms apply). Full breakdown: Toast POS pricing (checked Oct 2026).
Square for Restaurants: $0, $49 or $149/month, published rates
Square lists Free $0, Plus $49 and Premium $149 per location per month. In-person card rates are 2.6% + 15¢, 2.5% + 15¢ and 2.4% + 15¢; keyed-in or card-on-file payments are 3.5% + 15¢ on every plan; online is 3.3% + 30¢ on Free and 2.9% + 30¢ on Plus and Premium. The KDS app is $30/device a month on Plus or $20 on Premium, and Square Kiosk is $99/device a month; neither is available on Free. Premium adds coursing and seat management and 24/7 phone support. Plus and Premium have a 30-day free trial, and businesses processing over $250,000 a year can ask about custom pricing. Full breakdown: Square for Restaurants pricing (checked Oct 2026).
SpotOn: $0 All-In or $55 per station, hardware listed
SpotOn's restaurant pricing page lists an All-In plan at $0/station per month with POS hardware included, where hardware and software are paid over time through a higher card processing rate and a monthly processing minimum applies. POS Essentials is $55/station per month, month-to-month, with hardware bought separately: Station 15 $750 (listed down from $995), Station 10 $415, guest-facing display $200, handheld $297 and wireless router $300, plus implementation costs (financing available). A Build Your Own plan is for multi-unit and high-volume operators. SpotOn's optional Core software bundle (Profit Assist, SpotOn Order and Marketing Assist) was listed as a special offer of $50/month per location plus 0.20% of monthly payment volume (the volume part capped at $200 per location). Card rates aren't published; 24/7 support is included and hardware is SpotOn's own. See SpotOn vs Toast (checked Oct 2026).
Clover: $179 to $354/month for 36 months (full service)
Clover's full-service restaurant bundles all run on the Restaurant Growth software plan: $179/month for 36 months (or $1,799 up front plus about $90/month), $239/month for 36 months (or $2,548 plus about $110/month) and $354/month for 36 months (or $4,447 plus about $130/month). Card rates are 2.3% + 10¢ tapped, swiped or inserted and 3.5% + 10¢ typed in on all three. Table mapping, open tabs with pre-authorization, bill splitting, QR order and pay, no-fee online ordering and 3rd-party menu integrations are included in all three; tableside ordering and firing is not included in the entry bundle. Rapid Deposit (funds within minutes) costs 1.75%. Clover says these prices are only available on Clover.com, and its hardware subscriptions can't be canceled (checked Oct 2026).
Lightspeed Restaurant: tiers from $69, quote-based processing
Lightspeed's US restaurant pricing page lists Starter 69, Essential 189 and Premium 399 (USD), plus a custom Enterprise tier, with floor plans, Advanced Insights, Lightspeed AI, Lightspeed Tempo service pacing and integrated payments among the listed features. The page doesn't state the billing term next to the figures or publish a card rate, so confirm both in your quote. The Kitchen Display System is listed at $30 per screen per month. See Lightspeed vs Toast (checked Oct 2026).
Example: what card fees cost at $30,000 a month
For $30,000 a month in in-person card sales at a $30 average ticket (1,000 payments), card fees alone are about $930 on Square Free (2.6% + 15¢), $900 on Square Plus (2.5% + 15¢) and $790 on Clover's published 2.3% + 10¢. Add software: Square Plus is $49, so its total is about $949; Clover's entry full-service bundle is $179 including hardware, so about $969. Toast, SpotOn and Lightspeed depend on your quoted rate, so run the same math on the number they give you. Use your own sales and ticket size; small tickets make the fixed cents per payment matter more.
Which fits your restaurant
New or small, budget first: Square Free or Plus, with nothing to cancel if plans change. Full service with handhelds, KDS, payroll and online ordering from one vendor: Toast or SpotOn; get the card rate in writing and price the extra devices. One fixed monthly price including hardware, published rate: Clover, if a 36-month subscription that can't be canceled works for you, and pick a bundle above the entry one if you need tableside ordering. Complex menus or multi-concept groups already talking to Lightspeed: get the billing term and card rate in writing. Head-to-heads: Toast vs Square, SpotOn vs Toast, Toast vs Clover, Square vs Clover.
Sources (checked Oct 2026)
FAQ
What is the cheapest restaurant POS?
Square Free is $0/month with a published 2.6% + 15¢ in-person card rate. Toast's Starter Kit and SpotOn's All-In plan are also $0/month in software, but both recover the cost through card rates that aren't published, so compare total cost on your own sales (checked Oct 2026).
Which restaurant POS systems publish their card rates?
Square (2.6%/2.5%/2.4% + 15¢ in person by plan) and Clover (2.3% + 10¢ in person on its full-service bundles) publish rates. Toast, SpotOn and Lightspeed quote them (checked Oct 2026).
Can I use my own hardware?
Toast says its services work only on approved Toast hardware, SpotOn says it uses its own proprietary POS hardware, and Clover devices are Clover's. Square sells its own hardware and also takes payments with Tap to Pay on a phone (checked Oct 2026).
Is there a contract?
Square plans can be canceled anytime. SpotOn POS Essentials is month-to-month. Clover's hardware subscriptions run 36 months and can't be canceled. Toast and Lightspeed terms come with your quote, so read them before signing (checked Oct 2026).