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SpotOn vs Toast: two $0 restaurant plans on 2-year terms
Updated Oct 6, 2026
SpotOn's All-In Plan and Toast's Starter Kit both cost $0 a month with hardware included, on 2-year terms. SpotOn charges 2.79% + 20¢ per card sale, about $1.04 on $30; Toast 3.09% + 15¢, about $1.08. Both include table management and split checks. Leaving Toast early costs $150 for each month left; leaving SpotOn within a year means paying the hardware's full list price difference.
At a glance, by our score
- Lowest price
#3 Toast
Restaurants: $0 Starter Kit hardware and software at 3.09% + 15¢, on a 2-year agreement
6.4/10FairOur scoreVisit ToastOn pos.toasttab.com - Lowest price
#7 SpotOn
Restaurants wanting $0 software and hardware upfront, at 2.79% + 20¢ on a 2-year term
5.1/10PoorOur scoreVisit SpotOnOn spoton.com
Side by side
| Criterion | SpotOn | Toast |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 5.1/10PoorOur score #7 of 8 | 6.4/10FairOur score #3 of 8 |
| Card rate (30%) | 5.8 / 10 | 5.0 / 10 |
| Monthly software fee (25%) | 10.0 / 10 | 10.0 / 10 |
| Contract (15%) | 0.0 / 10 | 0.0 / 10 |
| Cheapest card reader (15%) | 2.0 / 10 | 10.0 / 10 |
| Included on the entry plan (15%) | 4.0 / 10 | 6.0 / 10 |
| Price from | $0 / month | $0 / month |
| Best for | Restaurants wanting $0 software and hardware upfront, at 2.79% + 20¢ on a 2-year term | Restaurants: $0 Starter Kit hardware and software at 3.09% + 15¢, on a 2-year agreement |
| Visit | Visit SpotOnOn spoton.com | Visit ToastOn pos.toasttab.com |
Who should pick which
- SpotOn: Restaurants wanting $0 software and hardware upfront, at 2.79% + 20¢ on a 2-year term
- Toast: Restaurants: $0 Starter Kit hardware and software at 3.09% + 15¢, on a 2-year agreement
At a glance
| SpotOn | Toast | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry plan | All-In Plan | Starter Kit Basic, Pay-as-you-Go |
| In-person card rate | 2.79% + 20¢ | 3.09% + 15¢ |
| Fee on a $30 card sale | about $1.04 | about $1.08 |
| Monthly software fee | $0 per station, hardware included | $0, with $0 kit hardware |
| Cheapest card reader | SpotOn Terminal $240 | Toast Tap $0 in the kit ($99 alone) |
| Contract | 2-year minimum; hardware fee within a year (pages conflict) | 2 years; $150 for each month left |
| Inventory tracking | through integrations | not in the Starter Kit |
| Online store or ordering | Core Bundle, $50 a month + 0.20% | in the Core pack (3.39% + 15¢) |
| Offline payments | yes | yes |
| Customer directory or loyalty | loyalty in the Core Bundle | Guest CRM; loyalty is an add-on |
| Employee timecards | yes (clock-ins) | yes (timekeeping) |
Entry plans from SpotOn's pricing page and Toast's Countertop Starter Kit page, read Sep 27, 2026.
Price
Both are $0 a month with hardware included, paid for through the card rate.
- SpotOn All-In Plan: 2.79% + $0.20 card present, about $1.04 on a $30 sale; processing minimums apply.
- Toast Starter Kit Basic: 3.09% + 15¢, about $1.08 on a $30 sale. Toast's starter-kits page says "3.09%" without the 15¢, but the kit's order summary shows "3.09% + $0.15"; we use the higher reading.
On $10,000 of card sales, the percentage part is $279 at SpotOn and $309 at Toast, while SpotOn's fixed fee is 5¢ higher per sale.
Both have a lower-rate plan with a software fee. Toast Traditional is $69 a month at 2.49% + 15¢, with kit hardware paid up front ($1,153 for the Countertop kit) and still a 2-year agreement. SpotOn POS Essentials is $55 per station a month at 2.45% + $0.15, month to month, with hardware bought separately.
Where they differ
- Leaving early. Toast's merchant agreement charges "$150.00 multiplied by the number of months remaining" on Pay-as-you-Go, $1,800 with 12 months to go, and renews for one-year terms. SpotOn's terms charge the difference to the hardware's full list price if you cancel within a year of installation. SpotOn's pages also disagree on the term: the terms say "month-to-month", the pricing page "2yr minimum term". We use the worse reading.
- Online ordering. Toast's is in the Core pack, $0 a month but 3.39% + 15¢ on every card sale: $30 more on $10,000 of sales. SpotOn's is in the Core Bundle, $50 a month plus 0.20% of card volume: $70 on $10,000, with the 0.20% part capped at $200. The Core Bundle also adds a loyalty app and marketing.
- Kitchen display. Toast's 14-inch Flex for Kitchen is $749 plus $35 a month. SpotOn KDS is $500 hardware, $100 installation and $20 a month per station (KDS page).
- Customers and support. Toast's Starter Kit includes Guest CRM; SpotOn's All-In Plan lists no customer directory. Toast support is 24/7/365 by phone or web messaging; SpotOn's is 24/7 by phone or email (contact page).
Both include table management, split checks, staff clock-ins and offline mode, and both are on our restaurant list.
Who should pick which
Pick SpotOn if you want the lower percentage rate, sell mostly larger checks, and would rather pay a flat monthly bundle for online ordering and loyalty.
Pick Toast if you want online ordering without a monthly fee, a built-in guest directory and web messaging support, and you are a new, single-location restaurant, which the $0 kit requires.
See both in our POS ranking.