A Toast alternative for restaurants
Last reviewed 2026-08-05 · by the RetailPOS team
Toast is purpose-built for restaurants and does a lot well. The friction owners cite is commercial, not functional: mandatory Toast-supplied hardware, often on a multi-year lease, and processing locked to Toast Payments. If those are your reasons, here is how RetailPOS compares — factually.
Why restaurants look for a Toast alternative
Hardware lease. Toast hardware is frequently quoted at $0 down with an $80–120/month lease across three years — often $2,800–4,300 over the contract for equipment you could buy outright for far less.
Locked processing.Payments are tied to Toast at their rate; you can't bring a processor you've negotiated.
Tier creep. Core features are fine on the mid plan, but some needs push you to a higher tier plus per-feature add-ons.
RetailPOS vs Toast for a restaurant — factually
| RetailPOS | Toast | |
|---|---|---|
| Hardware | Use your own, buy once | Toast-supplied, often leased |
| Card processing | Bring your own | Toast Payments (locked) |
| Monthly pricing | $29–69/shop, all features | Core ~$69 + add-ons, per location |
| Kitchen tickets / KDS | Yes | Yes |
| Recipe / food-cost tracking | Every plan | Higher tier / add-on |
| Works offline | Yes | Yes |
When to stay on Toast
Toast's deep restaurant ecosystem — handhelds, online ordering, delivery integrations and payroll all under one roof — is a real advantage if you want a single vendor to run everything and don't mind the lease and locked processing. If you value owning your hardware and choosing your processor more than a single-vendor bundle, RetailPOS is the lighter, flatter option.
Migrating from Toast
Export your menu and customers, import into RetailPOS, rebuild your kitchen-ticket routing (usually quick), and run a soft launch for a shift before cutting over. The full steps are in the Toast migration guide.
Frequently asked
- Can I get out of a Toast hardware lease?
- That depends on your Toast contract terms, not on RetailPOS — check your lease. RetailPOS itself has no hardware lease; you run it on tablets and printers you own.
- Do I have to replace all my hardware?
- Not necessarily standard peripherals (tablets, many receipt/kitchen printers, cash drawers) often carry over. Toast-proprietary terminals tied to Toast Payments are replaced.
- Does RetailPOS do online ordering and delivery?
- RetailPOS focuses on the in-store point of sale and integrations; a single-vendor, deeply-bundled online-ordering-plus-delivery stack is an area where Toast goes further.
Open your shop in 30 seconds.
No card. Free until your first 100 sales. Bring your own Stripe; keep your hardware.