Toast and Clover are the two systems most independent restaurants end up choosing between, and they are built on opposite bets. Toast bets that a restaurant wants one vendor for everything and will accept Toast’s processing to get it. Clover bets that a restaurant wants good hardware and software and the freedom to choose who processes its cards. We sell Clover. Here is the comparison with the places Toast wins left in.
Side by side, September 2026
| Toast | Clover direct | Clover through a dealer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software | Starter Kit $0 a month; Point of Sale plan about $69 a month; Build Your Own quoted | Counter Service $59.95; Table Service $89.95 a month | Same Clover plans |
| Processing | Starter Kit about 2.99% + 15¢, up to roughly 3.09% to 3.69% + 15¢ with $0-upfront hardware; Point of Sale plan about 2.49% + 15¢ | 2.3% + 10¢ in person; 3.5% + 10¢ online | Dual pricing: $0 to merchant. Or interchange-plus, about 1.9% to 2.1% all-in for a restaurant mix. |
| Processor choice | Toast only | Fiserv | Dealer’s processor; can change behind the account |
| Hardware | Toast Flex terminal, Toast Go handheld, kitchen displays, kiosk; bundles about $449 to $1,024, or $0 upfront at higher processing | Station Duo $1,899, Flex $699 to $749, Mini $849, Kiosk by quote | Placed at no charge for qualifying restaurants |
| Contract | Commonly multi-year; hardware financing | No long-term processing contract | Month to month with us |
| Back of house | Payroll, scheduling, inventory, multi-location, all native | Clover Dining, KDS, online ordering, App Market add-ons | Same |
| Online ordering and delivery | Built in | Clover Online Ordering included; DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub via App Market | Same |
| Support | Toast | Clover | Dealer first; in person in San Diego and LA with us |
Toast figures are from Toast’s published plans and 2026 pricing reviews; Toast quotes vary and change. Clover figures from clover.com.
Worked example: 60-seat full-service restaurant
$60,000 a month in cards, 1,600 transactions, Station-plus-two-handhelds equivalent on each.
| Toast Point of Sale plan | Toast Starter Kit, $0 hardware | Clover direct | Clover through us, dual pricing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software | $69 | $0 | $89.95 | $89.95 |
| Hardware | About $1,000 to $2,000 | $0 upfront | About $3,400 | $0 placement |
| Processing | $1,494 + $240 = $1,734 | About $2,000 to $2,200 | $1,380 + $160 = $1,540 | $0 |
| Annual processing | About $20,800 | About $25,000 | About $18,500 | $0 |
Toast’s $0 hardware offer is paid for in the processing rate, several times over, across a multi-year term. Nothing at Toast is free; it is moved into the rate.
Where Toast wins
- Multi-location groups. Menu management, reporting and permissions across locations are native and excellent.
- One vendor. Payroll, scheduling, tip management, inventory and POS in one system with one support line. Restaurants that value that integration over cost should take Toast.
- Complex kitchens. Toast’s KDS and routing are mature.
- Restaurants that want Toast Capital or Toast’s financing and understand the cost.
Where Clover wins
- Processing choice, and dual pricing. A single-location restaurant doing $60,000 a month keeps roughly $18,000 to $25,000 a year that would go to Toast processing. That number is larger than every other difference on this page. How it works at the table, with tips, is on dual pricing on Clover.
- No lock-in. Month-to-month terms through us; no long-term processing contract direct.
- Hardware you can move between dealers if the relationship goes bad, since Clover runs on many processors’ programs.
- Cost of software. Counter Service at $59.95 covers a cafe or QSR fully.
- A local person for installs and support.
What Clover lacks against Toast
Native payroll and scheduling (Clover uses App Market partners such as Homebase and ADP integrations). Multi-location depth. Toast’s restaurant-specific hardware ecosystem. If your operation is three locations and growing, weigh those honestly.
The decision
Under about 100 seats, single location, and you care about the processing line: Clover through a dealer with dual pricing. Multi-location, or you want payroll and scheduling in the POS and are willing to pay for it in processing: Toast. Either way, get the contract term and the effective processing rate in writing before the hardware shows up. The Clover restaurant setup by type is on Clover for restaurants.