Head to head
Compared side by side on published facts and the same six criteria every review is graded on — generated from the live directory, not a sales page.
Square
POS System · 3.8/5 mean
Square offers simple, transparent payment processing ideal for small businesses. Flat-rate pricing, no monthly fees, and excellent software make it a top choice — but account holds and limited support are key concerns.
Read the full review →Toast POS
Payment Processor · 3.3/5 mean
Toast POS is the leading all-in-one cloud-based restaurant management platform, purpose-built for the food service industry with deep features for ordering, payments, payroll, and analytics, but comes with restrictive multi-year contracts, mandatory payment processor lock-in, and a history of transparency controversies.
Read the full review →Square holds the higher standing — by grade, then mean category score. The row-by-row picture below is what should actually decide it for your business.
Both graded against the same six criteria. How we grade · Last fact-checked September 2, 2026.
| Criterion | Square | Toast POS |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing transparency | 4.0wins this criterion | 2.0 |
| Feature set | 4.0 | 5.0wins this criterion |
| Ease of use | 5.0wins this criterion |
Straight from each provider's published documentation. Where a number isn't published, we say so rather than estimate.
| Metric | Square | Toast POS |
|---|---|---|
| Online rate | 3.3% + $0.30 for Square Online and invoices on the free plan; 2.9% + $0.30 through the Payments API, or on Plus and Premium | 3.50% + $0.15 (Visa/MC/Discover); 3.89% + $0.15 (Amex) |
| Monthly fee | Not disclosed | $69 (for Point of Sale) |
| Payout | Next business day | 1-2 business days |
| Contract | Month-to-month | Toast requires a two-year contract for most plans, with some promotional offers requiring three-year commitments. Contracts auto-renew for successive one-year periods. |
| In-person rate | 2.6% + $0.15 (free plan); 2.5% + $0.15 (Plus); 2.4% + $0.15 (Premium) | 2.49% + $0.15 per transaction (Point of Sale plan); 3.09% + $0.15 per transaction (Starter Kit) |
| Keyed rate |
From the Toast POS review
Square runs month-to-month with no contract or early-termination fee and free POS software, where Toast requires a two-year commitment and mandatory use of its own payment processing. Toast still holds up for full-service and multi-location restaurants that need its deep food-service feature set, spill-resistant hardware, and built-in offline mode.
Pick Square if you want month-to-month terms, free POS software, and freedom from processor lock-in
Ideal for
Not recommended for
Ideal for
Not recommended for
The full reviews carry the pricing narratives, contract analysis and everything else behind these numbers — or let the matching funnel score the whole directory against your business.
| 4.0 |
| Customer support | 1.0 | 3.0wins this criterion |
|---|
| Contract terms | 5.0wins this criterion | 2.0 |
|---|
| Industry reputation | 4.0 | 4.0 |
|---|
| 3.5% + $0.15 |
| 3.50% + $0.15 |
| International rate | Additional 1.5% on cards issued outside your account's country | Not disclosed |
|---|
| Chargeback fee | None | Not publicly listed; industry standard (~$15–$25) |
|---|
| Early termination | Not disclosed | The remaining software subscription fees for the rest of the term (Merchant Agreement s8.4); the $150-per-remaining-month formula applies only to pay-as-you-go subscriptions. Hardware costs may also apply if cancelled early. |
|---|
| Last fact-checked | September 2, 2026 | September 2, 2026 |
|---|