The two Toast pricing paths, in plain terms
Toast's published rates are for new, single-location restaurants, and its Point of Sale plan starts at $69 a month [1]. Pay-as-you-go folds hardware and basic software into the card rate. You pay nothing up front for the basic kit and no monthly fee for basic software, and every card sale costs 3.09% [2]. Toast says that rate covers all costs except shipping and taxes [2]. It is a way to open without a hardware bill.
Traditional pricing splits the costs out. You pay for the hardware when you buy it, you pay a monthly software fee, and card sales cost 2.49% [2]. Toast describes it as the option "for those who expect to process higher volumes" [2]. For those upfront costs, Toast says it offers financing by application, subject to approval [1].
Toast notes one more thing about its role. It is not a payment card processor itself, but a payment facilitator that partners with processors to offer card processing [1]. For you, that means Toast is the company you deal with for card fees, statements and support.
What Toast costs a month at $10,000, $30,000 and $75,000
Here is a restaurant with a $40 average check and all card sales in person: 250 checks a month at $10,000, 750 at $30,000 and 1,875 at $75,000. Traditional uses Toast's $69 Point of Sale starting price as the software fee [1]. Neither row adds a per-sale cents fee, because Toast's pages do not publish one, and the traditional row leaves out the hardware you buy up front.
| Toast pricing | $10,000 a month | $30,000 a month | $75,000 a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pay-as-you-go, 3.09% | $309.00 (3.09%) | $927.00 (3.09%) | $2,317.50 (3.09%) |
| Traditional, 2.49% + $69 software | $318.00 (3.18%) | $816.00 (2.72%) | $1,936.50 (2.58%) |
The two paths cross at $11,500 a month in card sales. Below that, the 0.6-point saving on traditional is smaller than $69 of software, so pay-as-you-go costs less each month. Above it, traditional pulls ahead: by $111 a month at $30,000 and $381 a month at $75,000, or $4,572 a year. To find your real crossover, add the hardware price Toast quotes you, divided by the months you expect to use it.
What Toast does not publish, and what to ask
Toast's pricing pages leave several costs to the quote. That is common in restaurant POS, but it means you should get them in writing before you sign:
| Item | On Toast's pages? | What to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Per-sale cents fee on 3.09% or 2.49% | Not published | Is any fixed fee added per card sale? |
| Typed-in or online ordering rate | Not published | What rate applies to keyed and online orders? |
| Hardware prices for traditional | Not published | The price of each device in your kit |
| Second and later devices | "Additional charges apply" [1] | The monthly or upfront cost per extra device |
| Contract length and exit fee | Not published | Term, renewal and early termination fee |
| Rate on the $69 Point of Sale plan | Listed as "flat-rate processing" [1] | The exact flat rate on that plan |
Two smaller notes. Toast's pricing page says it was last updated on August 20, 2026 [1], so ask whether a newer price sheet applies. And Toast lists integrated surcharging among its features [1]. If you plan to surcharge in New Jersey, read the state rules on our NJ surcharge law page first.
When an interchange-plus account usually costs less than Toast
To size the gap, we priced an example interchange-plus account from published numbers. Interchange is Visa's April 2026 rate as a stand-in for every card, with 40% regulated debit at 0.05% + 21¢ plus 1¢, 30% basic credit at 1.51% + 10¢ and 30% Visa Infinite at 2.30% + 10¢ [4]. The markup is Helcim's published in-person margin: 0.40% + 8¢ under $50,000 a month, 0.35% + 7¢ from $50,000 to $100,000 [3]. Network fees are extra and not included.
| Monthly card sales | Toast pay-as-you-go | Toast traditional + $69 | Interchange-plus example |
|---|---|---|---|
| $10,000 | $309.00 | $318.00 | $213.30 |
| $30,000 | $927.00 | $816.00 | $639.90 |
| $75,000 | $2,317.50 | $1,936.50 | $1,543.50 |
The honest catch is that the processor and the POS come together at Toast. Toast's services run only on approved Toast hardware [1], so an interchange-plus account usually means a different POS, new hardware and retraining your staff. For a restaurant that likes Toast, the better first move at higher volume is often to switch from pay-as-you-go to traditional pricing, which the table shows can close much of the gap. A full switch makes sense when the remaining gap, after network fees, pays back the new setup within about a year.
BatchOut is our own processing service. If we show it as an option for your restaurant, we label it as ours.