| Product | Best for | NerdWallet rating | Payment processing fees | Monthly fee | Learn more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Free POS system | In-person: 2.6% + $0.15 Online: 3.3% + $0.30 | $0 Free plan; $49 Plus plan; $149 Premium plan. | on Square's website | |
| | Startup food trucks | 2.49% + $0.15 if you buy hardware upfront; 3.09% + $0.15 for pay-as-you-go option. | $0 Starter Kit; $69 Point of Sale plan; custom Build Your Own plan. | on Toast's website | |
| | Mobile POS hardware | In-person: 2.5% + $0.10 Online: 3.5% + $0.10 | $0 and up. | on Clover's website | |
| | Restaurant add-ons | 4.7
/5
| 1.99% + $0.25 For most cards in paid plans. | $0 and up. | on SpotOn's website |
Square Restaurant POS
Best for Free POS system
Online: 3.3% + $0.30
Free plan; $49 Plus plan; $149 Premium plan.
on Square's website
Pros
- Free plan available.
- App and card readers are compatible with iOS and Android devices.
- Can pay for hardware in installments.
- No long-term contracts or installation fees.
- All plans include free online ordering.
Cons
- Free plan doesn’t include 24/7 support.
- Customer loyalty program is an add-on for all plans.
Toast POS
Best for Startup food trucks
if you buy hardware upfront; 3.09% + $0.15 for pay-as-you-go option.
Starter Kit; $69 Point of Sale plan; custom Build Your Own plan.
on Toast's website
Pros
- 24/7 customer support via web messaging.
- Free plan available with one POS terminal.
- Built specifically for restaurants.
- Flexible payment options.
Cons
- Contract required.
Clover POS
Best for Mobile POS hardware
Online: 3.5% + $0.10
and up.
on Clover's website
Pros
- 24/7 customer support.
- Can pay for hardware in installments.
- Customer loyalty program available.
- Includes online ordering capabilities.
Cons
- Cannot use existing tablets that weren’t bought through Clover.
SpotOn Restaurant
Best for Restaurant add-ons
For most cards in paid plans.
and up.
on SpotOn's website
Pros
- Offers a free plan.
- Restaurants can customize plans by adding loyalty programs, reservation capabilities, online ordering or employee scheduling software.
- 24/7 phone support.
- No long-term contract or termination fees.
Cons
- Charges setup fee.
- Offline mode includes the hidden cost of a router.
Online: 3.3% + $0.30
Free plan; $49 Plus plan; $149 Premium plan.
on Square's website
Pros
- Free plan available.
- App and card readers are compatible with iOS and Android devices.
- Can pay for hardware in installments.
- No long-term contracts or installation fees.
- All plans include free online ordering.
Cons
- Free plan doesn’t include 24/7 support.
- Customer loyalty program is an add-on for all plans.
Square Restaurant POS
Best for Free POS system
Best for Free POS system
Online: 3.3% + $0.30
Free plan; $49 Plus plan; $149 Premium plan.
on Square's website
Pros
- Free plan available.
- App and card readers are compatible with iOS and Android devices.
- Can pay for hardware in installments.
- No long-term contracts or installation fees.
- All plans include free online ordering.
Cons
- Free plan doesn’t include 24/7 support.
- Customer loyalty program is an add-on for all plans.
if you buy hardware upfront; 3.09% + $0.15 for pay-as-you-go option.
Starter Kit; $69 Point of Sale plan; custom Build Your Own plan.
on Toast's website
Pros
- 24/7 customer support via web messaging.
- Free plan available with one POS terminal.
- Built specifically for restaurants.
- Flexible payment options.
Cons
- Contract required.
Toast POS
Best for Startup food trucks
Best for Startup food trucks
if you buy hardware upfront; 3.09% + $0.15 for pay-as-you-go option.
Starter Kit; $69 Point of Sale plan; custom Build Your Own plan.
on Toast's website
Pros
- 24/7 customer support via web messaging.
- Free plan available with one POS terminal.
- Built specifically for restaurants.
- Flexible payment options.
Cons
- Contract required.
Online: 3.5% + $0.10
and up.
on Clover's website
Pros
- 24/7 customer support.
- Can pay for hardware in installments.
- Customer loyalty program available.
- Includes online ordering capabilities.
Cons
- Cannot use existing tablets that weren’t bought through Clover.
Clover POS
Best for Mobile POS hardware
Best for Mobile POS hardware
Online: 3.5% + $0.10
and up.
on Clover's website
Pros
- 24/7 customer support.
- Can pay for hardware in installments.
- Customer loyalty program available.
- Includes online ordering capabilities.
Cons
- Cannot use existing tablets that weren’t bought through Clover.
For most cards in paid plans.
and up.
on SpotOn's website
Pros
- Offers a free plan.
- Restaurants can customize plans by adding loyalty programs, reservation capabilities, online ordering or employee scheduling software.
- 24/7 phone support.
- No long-term contract or termination fees.
Cons
- Charges setup fee.
- Offline mode includes the hidden cost of a router.
SpotOn Restaurant
Best for Restaurant add-ons
Best for Restaurant add-ons
For most cards in paid plans.
and up.
on SpotOn's website
Pros
- Offers a free plan.
- Restaurants can customize plans by adding loyalty programs, reservation capabilities, online ordering or employee scheduling software.
- 24/7 phone support.
- No long-term contract or termination fees.
Cons
- Charges setup fee.
- Offline mode includes the hidden cost of a router.
Jump to
Best food truck POS systems: additional details
Square Restaurant
- $0 for Square Restaurant’s free plan.
- $49 for Plus plan.
- $149 for Premium plan.
- $0 for Square magstripe-only card reader ($10 for each additional reader) or if using Tap to Pay for iPhone (iPhone not included).
- $59 for Square Reader contactless and chip card reader.
- $149 for Square Stand iPad POS or Square Stand Mount (iPad not included; monthly financing available).
- $149 for Square Kiosk for self-serve ordering.
- $299 for Square Terminal mobile card reader with built-in printer (monthly financing available).
- $399 for Square Handheld portable POS system with built-in barcode scanner (monthly financing available).
- $799 for Square Register two-screen system (monthly financing available).
- 2.6% plus 15 cents for in-person transactions with Free plan.
- 3.3% plus 30 cents for online transactions with Free plan.
- 2.5% plus 15 cents for in-person transactions with Plus plan.
- 2.4% plus 15 cents for in-person transaction with Premium plan.
- 2.9% plus 30 cents for online transactions with Plus and Premium plans.
- 3.5% plus 15 cents for manually keyed transactions.
- Orders: Square for Restaurants POS allows you to customize your menus from anywhere and take orders with QR codes.
- Payments: Square serves as your payment processor with its POS system. You can accept credit and debit cards, cash, checks and gift cards — both online and offline.
- Inventory: Square POS allows you to manage and track your inventory from anywhere. You can edit items, update quantities, receive low stock alerts and import or export inventory items.
- Dashboard: The Square Dashboard gives you the ability to manage your back-office operations in one place, with tools for inventory, managing customer profiles and viewing sales data.
- Team management: Set employee permissions, track employee time and optimize labor costs and staffing with employee reports and analytics.
- Directory: This free feature lets you add customer profiles with contact information, view purchase history and save credit cards on file.
- Analytics: Real-time analytics and sales reporting — giving you the ability to track sales, compare data based on timeframes and see what customers spend and return — at no additional cost.
- Square tools: In addition to the third-party integration options Square offers in its marketplace, you can also buy add-on tools such as
, marketing and customer loyalty.Square payroll - Support: Square provides customer assistance for its free plan Monday to Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. If you upgrade to the Plus plan, you’ll have support 24/7. Help articles, videos and FAQ are also offered.
Toast
- $0 for Starter Kit plan.
- $69 Point of Sale plan.
- Custom plans available.
- $494.10 for Handheld Starter Kit (but $0 if you agree to a higher processing fee).
- $1,123.20 for Countertop Starter Kit (but $0 if you agree to a higher processing fee).
- $1,438.20 for Guest Self-Service Starter Kit (but $0 if you agree to a higher processing fee).
- 3.09-3.69% plus 15 cents per transaction, if you choose a pay-as-you-go plan.
- 2.49% plus 15 cents for card-present transactions, if you pay for hardware upfront.
- 3.50% plus 15 cents for card-not-present transactions, if you pay for hardware upfront.
- Menu management: This cloud-based system lets you access and update your menus from any device and manage availability of menu items.
- Inventory management: This add-on lets you monitor inventory, determine recipe costs, schedule recurring orders and send orders directly to your suppliers.
- Payments: Toast handles credit and debit card processing in-house, but doesn’t provide rates. Instead, processing rates are quote-based for each business.
- Reporting and analytics: The system lets access key reports and sales performance through a cloud-based system. You can view net sales, labor costs and monitor performance over a set period of time.
- Training: Toast has online lessons, videos and articles that can be used for training, plus live Toast classroom sessions and a test mode that can be used to become familiar with the system.
- Add-ons: For an additional fee, you can get features such as mobile ordering with QR code scanning capabilities, scheduling and team communication, marketing, customer loyalty programs and gift cards.
Clover
- $0 for Clover Go Starter, Retail Basic and Personal Services Basic plans.
- $29.95 for Clover Go Essentials, Professional Services Basic, Home and Field Services Starter and Standard plans.
- $84.95 for Retail Standard and Professional, Personal Services Standard and Advanced, and Home & Field Services Advanced plans.
- $89.95 for Full-Service Dining Starter and Quick-Service Dining Starter and Standard plans.
- $104.90 for Retail Advanced plan.
- $109.90 for Full-Service Dining Standard and Quick-Service Dining Advanced plans.
- $129.85 for Full-Service Dining Advanced plan.
- $199 for chip, swipe and contactless Clover Go card reader.
- $349 for countertop card reader.
- $749 for Clover Flex mobile POS with receipt printer.
- $699 for slimmer Flex Pocket with no printer.
- $849 for Clover Mini POS.
- $799-$899 + $25 per month for kitchen display system.
- $1,799 for Clover Station Solo.
- $1,899 for Clover Station Duo.
- $3,499 + $34.95 per month for self-ordering kiosk.
- 2.3% plus 10 cents for in-person transactions on Full-Service and Quick-Service Restaurant plans.
- 2.5% plus 10 cents for in-person transactions on all Retail plans, Professional Services Standard and Advanced plans, all Personal Services plans and the Home and Field Services Advanced plan.
- 2.6% plus 10 cents for in-person transactions on the Home and Field Services Standard plan.
- 3.5% plus 10 cents for online or keyed-in transactions.
- Menus: The POS system lets you create menu items, select categories and add color-coding to help with order accuracy.
- Ordering: The system accepts all major payment types including contactless and allows you to preset tip amounts.
- Inventory management: To keep inventory current, you can assign categories, labels, modifiers and variants.
- Team performance: The system lets you manage schedules and timesheets, set permissions and run reports to see how employees are performing.
- Analytics: You can track sales from any computer or mobile device and filter reports to show your busiest times and best-selling items.
SpotOn Restaurant
- $0 for Quick Start plan.
- $99 for Counter-service plan, plus $3 per employee.
- $135 for Full-service plan, plus $3 per employee.
- Custom pricing available as well.
- $600 for the KDS.
- $750 for the Station POS.
- $850 for the Counter POS.
- Other hardware devices, like the handheld option, are custom.
- 1.99% plus 25 cents for most cards in the Counter-service, Full-service and Customizable plans.
- 2.89% plus 25 cents for Quick Start plan subscribers (this processing rate includes hardware and software costs).
- 2.99% plus 25 cents for reward, international, corporate and keyed-in cards.
- Menu management: SpotOn lets you add and edit items on your restaurant's menu screen. You can also import menu items.
- Payment processing: Credit card processing fees decrease as you level up from a free to paid plan and, in addition to cards, you can accept Google Pay, Apple Pay, Venmo and PayPal.
- Table layout: Select from a variety of table types and add new tables to your dining room as needed.
- Reporting: You can generate reports on daily sales, hourly sales, payroll, profit and more.
- 24/7 support: Representatives are available around the clock by phone and email.
- Review management tools: SpotOn aggregates online reviews about your restaurant so you can read and respond to them all from one place.





