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Switching from Toast: the fee for each month left, 30 days' notice and your hardware
Updated Oct 1, 2026
Toast's contract renews for one-year periods unless you give at least 30 days' written notice before the term ends. Leaving early on Pay-as-you-Go costs $150 for each month left in the term. Export reports as Excel or CSV and your guest list as CSV first. Unused hardware can be returned within 90 days of shipment.
The steps
- Step 1 · not stated on its pages · $150 × months remaining (Pay-as-you-Go)
Find your term end and the early termination fee
On Pay-as-you-Go the fee is $150 multiplied by the months left in the term.
source - Step 2 · At least 30 days before the term ends · No fee stated for not renewing
Send written notice of non-renewal
The contract renews for one-year periods; notice goes to the address in section 14 of the Merchant Agreement.
source - Step 3 · not stated on its pages · not stated on its pages
Export your reports
Use the download icon on a report, such as the menu report, to save it as an Excel or CSV file.
source - Step 4 · Link expires after 72 hours · not stated on its pages
Download your guest list
From Guestbook, Toast emails a link to download a CSV. Over 250,000 guests: only the past six months.
source - Step 5 · Within 90 days of shipment; 1-2 weeks to process · Refund on return; shipping cost not stated
Return unused hardware
Unused hardware in original condition can be returned for a refund; after 90 days it is yours.
source - Step 6 · not stated on its pages · not stated on its pages
Import items into Square
Use Square's item import tool to add items in bulk from an Excel or CSV spreadsheet.
source - Step 7 · 3-5 business days · Price from Square sales, not published
Or pay Square for setup tasks
Square's task services take specific setup tasks off your hands.
source - Step 8 · not stated on its pages · POS Pro $89 a month per location, billed yearly
Or move to Shopify POS
Free migration and setup support comes with a POS Pro yearly subscription.
source
Carries over
- Reports download as Excel or CSV files.
- Your guest list exports as a CSV.
- Hardware past the 90-day return window is yours to do with as you please.
- Square imports items from an Excel or CSV spreadsheet.
What you lose
- Leaving mid-term costs $150 for every month left on Pay-as-you-Go.
- Miss the 30-day notice and the contract renews for a year.
- Large guest lists export only the past six months.
- Toast doesn't say its devices work with another POS.
Where to switch to
| Destination | Price from | Visit |
|---|---|---|
| Square POS No affiliate relationship | $0 per month | Visit Square POSOn squareup.com |
| Shopify POS No affiliate relationship | $39 per month | Visit Shopify POSOn shopify.com |
The hard part of leaving Toast is the contract, not the data. Toast's agreement runs for a set term, renews itself for a year at a time, and on Pay-as-you-Go charges a fee for every month left if you leave early. We read Toast's help centre and the destinations' own pages on Sep 30, 2026. Toast's main site and Merchant Agreement showed a bot check that day, so the fee terms below come from our read of the agreement on Sep 27, 2026.
Check your term and the termination fee
The Starter Kit comes with a 2-year software agreement. After the first term, the contract renews for successive one-year periods. To stop it renewing, send Toast at least 30 days' written notice before the current term ends. Section 14 of the Merchant Agreement says where to send it.
Leave before the term ends and, on Pay-as-you-Go, the fee is $150 multiplied by the number of months remaining in the term. That is per month left, not a flat $150: with 12 months to go, it comes to $1,800. We found no refund of software fees on cancelling on the pages we could read. Toast's article on closing an account needs a customer login.
Export what you can
Toast reports, such as the menu report, download as Excel or CSV. Your guest list exports from Guestbook as a CSV sent by email link. The link expires after 72 hours. Groups with more than 250,000 guests only get guests who ordered in the past six months. We found no public article on a full menu or item export, and Toast doesn't say on its public pages how long data stays readable after you leave. Download reports for your records before the account closes.
Your hardware
The Countertop Starter Kit is $0 to own. You can return unused hardware within 90 days of shipment for a refund. Toast takes 1-2 weeks to process and approve a return request. After 90 days, Toast says the hardware is yours to do with as you please. Its pages don't say whether Toast devices work with another POS or card processor, so plan on new hardware.
Where to go
Square POS has no long-term contract on standard pricing, and says you can choose Square hardware or use what you already own. You can bulk-import items from a spreadsheet in Excel or CSV format, so you can copy items from your Toast exports into the spreadsheet. For a hand with setup, Square sells task services that take specific setup tasks off your hands. They take 3-5 business days, and the price comes from sales. Square Free takes 2.6% + 15¢ per in-person card payment (read Sep 27, 2026).
Shopify POS offers free migration and setup support with a POS Pro yearly subscription, and points to POS migration apps. POS Pro is $89 a month per location, billed yearly, on top of a Shopify plan. Prices read Sep 30, 2026. Shopify's help-centre migration guide showed a bot check, so we could not confirm which Toast data its apps bring over. Shopify states no migration timeline.
Neither Square nor Shopify publishes an importer built for Toast data. Plan to rebuild your menu, or pay for help with it.
Timing the switch
The cheapest time to leave is at the end of a term. Send your notice at least 30 days before that date, then run Square or Shopify alongside Toast until the new menu is tested. If you are mid-term, weigh the per-month fee against what you would save.
Who should switch
Switch if your Toast term is ending and you want month-to-month terms or to reuse hardware you own. Wait if you are early in a 2-year term: each remaining month adds $150 to the bill on Pay-as-you-Go. Restaurants can compare options on our best POS for restaurants page, see the full POS ranking and read how we score POS systems.