Point of Sale Systems
Top Companies in 2024
Square POS vs Toast
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- No fees outside of transaction fees
- Transparent prices
- Free introductory plan
- 24/7 support, year-long
- Detailed analytics and real-time reports
- Menu and inventory management
- POS system can work offline
- Free demo available
- Incompatible with Windows systems
- Random account deactivation
- Prolonged fund withholding
- Limited protection against scams
- Payroll and team management only available as add-on
- Limited to the restaurant industry
- Payment processing is inflexible
- Requires long contract commitments
Square POS, founded in 2009 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a transformative point-of-sale system provider delivering streamlined transactions for retail, restaurants, and service-oriented businesses. Renowned for their commitment to user empowerment, Square provides a versatile range of services that go beyond transactional tools. The company places a strong emphasis on customer experience, offering a user-friendly interface and features like a 30-day free trial for the Plus plan, allowing businesses to explore advanced offerings risk-free. Their industry-leading security measures include card swipe encryption, secure software development practices, and 24/7 server monitoring. This ensures a secure environment for businesses and their customers. Square's services extend to advanced inventory management, seamless eCommerce integration, and payroll processing. The company stands out for their transparent pricing structure, clear of hidden charges or contracts. Their adaptability is showcased through third-party hardware integration, enabling businesses to tailor their POS setup according to unique operational needs.
Toast is a Boston-based software development company specializing in providing POS products and services for the restaurant industry. They cater to around 100,000 restaurants of all sizes in the United States, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. Their offerings include tools for in-location, takeout, and online point-of-sale, orders, payment processing, bookkeeping, marketing, team management, and integration capabilities. Toast POS is a user-friendly platform that offers solutions to help restaurant owners manage their business better, attract more customers, and keep their employees productive. They are compliant with PCI-DSS as a Level 1 service provider, ensuring the highest payment card security standards. They have an excellent reputation among their peers and have won several awards, including the Hottest Startup at the 2016 NEVY awards. They are also featured on Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 list. Moreover, they have a B rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and are accredited. While their customer service receives mixed reviews from clients, scoring 3.7 out of 5 on Trustpilot, they are generally praised for their software and features.
- Trustpilot Score : 4.1
- Customer Experience : Fair
- Transparent Pricing : True
- Pricing Model : Paid plans and transaction fees
- BBB Rating : A+
- Money-Back Guarantee : True
- Trustpilot Score : 3.7 out of 5
- Customer Experience : Good
- Transparent Pricing : True
- Pricing Model : Monthly fee, flat rate, separate feature rates & charges
- BBB Rating : B
- Money-Back Guarantee : False
- 30-day free trial for the plus plan
- Robust Integration with third-party hardware
- Automatic tax calculation and filing
- Benefits administration
- Employee timesheets and scheduling
- Detailed analytics and real-time reports
- Employee scheduling
- Mobile apps available for managers, staff, & guests
- No upfront fees to start using the system
- Automated Payroll—Undisclosed
- Automated Tax Filing—Undisclosed
- Billing & Invoicing
- Cloud-Based Services
- Customizable Hardware—Undisclosed
- Electronic Receipts
- Free Hardware
- HR Add Ons—Undisclosed
- Inventory Management—Undisclosed
- Inventory Tracking—Undisclosed
- Loyalty Program—Undisclosed
- Mobile App
- Mobile Card Reader
- Real-Time Reports
- Third-Party Software Integration
- Time Tracking—Undisclosed
- Virtual Terminal
- Automated Payroll
- Automated Tax Filing
- Billing & Invoicing
- Cloud-Based Services
- Customizable Hardware
- Electronic Receipts
- Free Hardware
- HR Add Ons
- Inventory Management
- Inventory Tracking
- Loyalty Program
- Mobile App
- Mobile Card Reader
- Real-Time Reports
- Third-Party Software Integration
- Time Tracking
- Virtual Terminal
- EMV Compliant
- NFC
- Payment Fraud Protection
- PCI Compliance
- EMV Compliant
- NFC
- Payment Fraud Protection
- PCI Compliance
- Accounting Software
- Processing Services
- Productivity Software
- Accounting Software
- Processing Services
- Productivity Software
- Barcode Scanner—Undisclosed
- Credit Card Reader
- Customer-Facing Display—Undisclosed
- Display Screen—Undisclosed
- POS Terminal
- Receipt Printer—Undisclosed
- Self-Service Kiosk—Undisclosed
- Barcode Scanner
- Credit Card Reader
- Customer-Facing Display
- Display Screen—Undisclosed
- POS Terminal
- Receipt Printer
- Self-Service Kiosk
- Android
- Cloud-Based
- iOS—Undisclosed
- macOS
- On-Site Installation
- Windows
- Android
- Cloud-Based
- iOS
- macOS
- On-Site Installation
- Windows
- Annual Subscription
- Free Trial
- Freemium
- Monthly Subscription
- One-Time License
- Annual Subscription
- Free Trial
- Freemium
- Monthly Subscription
- One-Time License
- Documentation—Undisclosed
- In-Person—Undisclosed
- Live Online—Undisclosed
- Videos—Undisclosed
- Webinars—Undisclosed
- Documentation
- In-Person
- Live Online
- Videos
- Webinars
- ACH Processing
- Cash Transactions
- Check—Undisclosed
- Credit Card Terminals
- Electronic Signature
- Gift Cards
- In-Person Payments
- Mobile Payments
- Online Payment Processing
- ACH Processing
- Cash Transactions
- Check
- Credit Card Terminals
- Electronic Signature
- Gift Cards
- In-Person Payments
- Mobile Payments
- Online Payment Processing
- Demos
- FAQs/Forum
- Help Guides
- Live Chat—Undisclosed
- Mobile App
- Phone
- Social Media
- Demos
- FAQs/Forum
- Help Guides
- Live Chat
- Mobile App
- Phone
- Social Media
Square vs. Toast
Explore Square and Toast's Point of Sale (POS) features, usability, integration, security, and pricing, uncovering their tailored solutions for retail and food service businesses. Discover each platform’s distinctive characteristics to determine which aligns better with your needs.
Features
Square and Toast provide comprehensive solutions for retail and food service businesses, offering robust inventory management, payment processing, and order management functionalities. Both platforms provide customer loyalty programs, scalability, and various hardware options. To ensure work optimization, the companies support employee management, invoicing, omnichannel integration, analytics tools, and multistore capabilities.
While similar, their key differences are found in their target markets and offerings. Toast is tailored for the food industry, emphasizing cloud-based solutions for eateries. On the other hand, Square positions themselves as a versatile solution for businesses of all sizes and industries. Toast offers self-service kiosks and handheld devices for restaurants and integrates with a broader range of food industry apps. Square focuses on a wide range of industries with diverse integrations but has a more general scope.
Usability & integration
Toast and Square prioritize user-friendly interfaces and seamless integrations. Toast is recognized for their mobile app functionality, ease of use, and detailed reporting features, allowing for menu management directly from smartphones. Toast’s robust integration capabilities enable seamless connection with third-party services like DoorDash and Uber Eats for real-time menu syncing. Similarly, Square, leveraging their (POS) API, enables developers to integrate Square payments into custom POS applications, supporting in-person payments with Square hardware.
While both platforms share similarities, they differ in integration approaches and supported features. Toast's integration ecosystem is tailored to the food industry, emphasizing a user-friendly experience through easy menu management from smartphones. In contrast, Square has a broader scope with their sleek API for in-person payments, targeting businesses beyond the food industry. The Square Bridge application facilitates connections with ERP systems such as Oracle NetSuite and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
Level of security & compliance
Square and Toast POS prioritize security and compliance in their POS services. Square ensures a strong security posture by following important payroll and employment laws such as PCI-DSS and PA-DSS. They provide a PCI-compliant solution with advanced protective measures like tokenization and end-to-end encryption to safeguard sensitive data. Similarly, Toast is recognized as a PCI-DSS Level 1 service provider with a PA-DSS validated payments application, ensuring secure collection and storage of customer data. Both systems offer offline POS capabilities for uninterrupted order processing and credit card transactions even without an internet connection.
The primary distinction between Square and Toast lies in their specific setup and additional features. Square POS stands out for its emphasis on industry collaboration and providing PCI-compliant software at no extra cost. This highlights Square's commitment to global payment data security and adherence to industry standards. In contrast, Toast focuses on features tailored specifically for the restaurant industry, including Toast Pay Card & PayOut, Tips Manager, and Partner-Enabled Products (Insurance & Benefits).
Pricing
Square Point of Sale offers a straightforward and transparent pricing structure, providing free access to their software without setup or monthly fees. With a clear transaction fee of 2.6% + 0.10, Square allows businesses flexibility without long-term contracts. For advanced features, Square for Retail Plus is available at $60/month per location.
In contrast, Toast offers a range of plans with varying monthly fees, starting at $69/month to $165/month. Their pricing does lack transparency in payment processing fees and hardware costs. Both systems boast cloud-based functionalities, employee management tools, and 24/7 customer support.
In summary, Square and Toast POS present comprehensive solutions for retail and food service businesses, each with its own set of features, usability, integration capabilities, security measures, and pricing structures. This exploration of distinctive characteristics sheds light on the suitability of these platforms for different needs. While Square stands out for their versatility, emphasis on industry collaboration, and transparent pricing, Toast excels in tailoring features specifically for the restaurant industry. Ultimately, the choice between them depends on the unique requirements of businesses.
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