Toast vs Lightspeed for restaurants
Last updated: September 3, 2026
Toast POS
B
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.
Lightspeed
B+
Lightspeed Commerce is a global cloud-based POS and commerce platform that provides retail, restaurant, and ecommerce businesses with integrated payments, inventory management, analytics, and omnichannel selling tools.
VS
Overview
Toast and Lightspeed both sell a restaurant POS at $69 a month and neither publishes a card processing rate, so the comparison is decided elsewhere. Lightspeed publishes the rest of its price list - $189 and $399 for the upper restaurant tiers, $30 a screen for kitchen display, a $15 chargeback fee - where Toast publishes nothing above $69 and quotes everything else. Toast's contract is the easier one to leave: it renews a year at a time on 30 days' notice, while Lightspeed's renews for the whole length of the original term and needs 90 days. Both charge an early termination fee equal to the rest of the term; only Lightspeed also claws back the discount you were given.
Key Takeaways
- ✓Lightspeed publishes its full plan ladder ($69/$189/$399); Toast publishes only $0 and $69 and quotes the rest.
- ✓Toast's agreement auto-renews one year at a time on 30 days' notice; Lightspeed's renews for the full original term and needs 90 days.
- ✓Both charge the remaining term as an exit fee, but Lightspeed also reclaims any hardware or software discount given.
- ✓Toast deposits next business day when the batch closes before 9:30pm ET; Lightspeed's scheduled payouts take 1-3 business days.
- ✓Lightspeed scores better with users on Trustpilot (3.9 against 2.6) and holds the higher Payment Review grade.
Toast POS
Toast suits restaurants that want one vendor for POS, payroll, online ordering and delivery, and that value a contract which renews annually and can be exited on a month's notice.
Lightspeed
Lightspeed suits operators who want to see the price before they talk to sales, who run retail alongside food service, or who need ingredient-level inventory - provided they read the renewal term carefully.
The Verdict
It Depends on Your Needs
Why?
The tables split cleanly along one line: Toast is the better contract, Lightspeed is the better disclosure. Toast renews a year at a time, needs 30 days' notice and charges only the remaining subscription on the way out - so a wrong decision costs less to undo, and its restaurant platform is deeper if you want payroll, online ordering and delivery from one vendor. Lightspeed publishes its whole plan ladder, its KDS price and its $15 chargeback fee where Toast quotes them, rates better with the people using it, and handles retail alongside food service. But its agreement renews for the full length of the original term on 90 days' notice and its exit fee reclaims any discount you were given, which is the harsher trap of the two. Choose Toast if you may want out; choose Lightspeed if you want to know the price and intend to stay.
Feature by feature
Detailed Comparison
Filter Options
Software pricing
| Feature | Toast POS | Lightspeed |
|---|---|---|
| Entry plan | $0 Starter Kit, or $69/month | $69/month (Restaurant Starter) |
| Toast's $69 Point of Sale plan includes the first hardware terminal subscription; additional devices cost extra. Its Starter Kit has no monthly software fee and takes the cost out in a higher processing rate instead. Lightspeed's Starter plan includes one register. | ||
| Upper plans | Build Your Own, custom pricing | $189 (Essential), $399 (Premium) Winner |
| Toast publishes no price above $69 - everything beyond the core POS goes through a quote. Lightspeed lists its restaurant ladder outright and its retail plans at $89, $149 and $289, with up to 18% off for annual billing. Enterprise is custom on both. | ||
| Kitchen display system | Add-on, price not published | $30 per screen per month Winner |
| Toast lists KDS as an available add-on on its pricing comparison chart without a figure; Lightspeed prices it on the restaurant pricing page. | ||
Entry plan
Toast POS
$0 Starter Kit, or $69/month
Lightspeed
$69/month (Restaurant Starter)
Toast's $69 Point of Sale plan includes the first hardware terminal subscription; additional devices cost extra. Its Starter Kit has no monthly software fee and takes the cost out in a higher processing rate instead. Lightspeed's Starter plan includes one register.
Upper plans
Toast POS
Build Your Own, custom pricing
Lightspeed
$189 (Essential), $399 (Premium)
Winner
Toast publishes no price above $69 - everything beyond the core POS goes through a quote. Lightspeed lists its restaurant ladder outright and its retail plans at $89, $149 and $289, with up to 18% off for annual billing. Enterprise is custom on both.
Kitchen display system
Toast POS
Add-on, price not published
Lightspeed
$30 per screen per month
Winner
Toast lists KDS as an available add-on on its pricing comparison chart without a figure; Lightspeed prices it on the restaurant pricing page.
Best For Your Business
Recommendations based on your business type
Full-service restaurant or multi-location group
Recommended
Toast POS
Toast's platform reaches furthest into restaurant operations - payroll, scheduling, online ordering, delivery, invoice automation - and consolidating them with one vendor is worth more than the price transparency Lightspeed offers.
Venue selling retail alongside food, such as a bottle shop, bakery counter or hotel gift shop
Recommended
Lightspeed
Lightspeed sells restaurant and retail products on the same commercial footing, with published retail plans at $89 to $289 and ingredient-level inventory. Toast's retail offering is newer and priced by quote.
Operator who wants a price before talking to sales
Recommended
Lightspeed
Lightspeed publishes $69, $189 and $399 for restaurant, plus $30 a screen for KDS and a $15 chargeback fee. Toast publishes $0 and $69 and routes everything above that through a quote.
Operator who may change systems within a few years
Recommended
Toast POS
Toast renews one year at a time on 30 days' notice and its exit fee is the remaining subscription. Lightspeed renews for the full original term on 90 days' notice and adds back any discount you received on hardware or software.
New restaurant with no capital for hardware
Recommended
Toast POS
Toast's Starter Kit carries no upfront hardware cost and no monthly software fee, paying for itself through a higher processing rate. Lightspeed has no equivalent zero-cost entry.
Toast POS: Best for 3 use cases
Lightspeed: Best for 2 use cases
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about this comparison
Both start at $69 a month for a single terminal or register, so the software is a wash at entry. Above that Lightspeed publishes $189 and $399 while Toast quotes custom pricing, and neither publishes a card processing rate - which is usually the largest line on the bill. Get both rates in writing before comparing, because the subscription is the smaller number.
The length is set in your order form rather than the agreement; two years is commonly reported, with some promotions at three. It then auto-renews for successive one-year periods unless either side gives at least 30 days' written notice. Leaving early costs the software subscription fees remaining in the term, or $150 for each remaining month on a pay-as-you-go subscription.
Lightspeed's service agreement sets the early termination fee as the sum of any unpaid non-recurring fees, all recurring fees that would have come due for the rest of the current term, and the difference between list price and the discounted price on any software or hardware you received a deal on. The last part is the one people miss: discounted hardware is effectively a loan against staying.
No. Toast's pricing page lists plans but no rates, and its merchant agreement lets it change card processing rates on 30 days' notice during the term. Lightspeed's restaurant pricing page publishes no rate either and directs larger merchants to a custom quote. Reported figures - around 2.49% + $0.15 for Toast's $69 plan and 2.6% + $0.10 for Lightspeed in the US - come from third-party reviews, not from either company.
Toast, marginally. Batches closed before 9:30pm ET are deposited the next business day, though a restaurant serving later than that usually sees two. Lightspeed's scheduled payouts take one to three business days. Both offer an instant option in about 30 minutes - Toast at 1.75%, Lightspeed at 1% to 1.75% depending on region.
Lightspeed, on the public evidence. It holds 3.9 out of 5 on Trustpilot across 2,508 reviews against Toast's 2.6 across 1,474, and a higher Payment Review grade of B+ against B. Toast's negative reviews cluster on billing, contract and support rather than on the software itself, which is consistently praised.
Related Comparisons
Explore more payment processor matchups