RTC SCORE
7.3
#4 of 16 with enough data
Square
Square's card processing, built into Square for Restaurants: flat rates from 2.6% + 15¢ in person on Square Free (2.5% on Plus and 2.4% on Premium), with no PCI, statement or chargeback fees, month to month and with no early termination fee. Its surcharge only covers in-person credit card sales.
Not enough data to score Toast Payments
Toast's card processing, required with Toast POS: a flat rate Toast quotes to each restaurant and doesn't publish. Toast Dual Pricing, for eligible new customers, passes the card cost to your customers. The term is set in your order form, and leaving early costs the software fees left in it.
Key differences
| Data point | Square | Toast Payments |
|---|---|---|
| Published pricing (points out of 100) | 100 | 20 |
| In-person rate | 2.6% | 2.49% |
| Online rate | 3.3% | 3.5% |
| Online fee per transaction | 30¢ | 15¢ |
| Equipment lease you can't cancel | No | Yes |
| Automatic renewal | Month to month | 12 months |
| Notice to avoid renewal | 0 days | 30 days |
| Liquidated damages clause | No | Yes |
| Works with these restaurant POS | Square, Others | Toast |
| Requires the vendor's own POS | No | Yes |
| 24/7 support for merchants | No | Yes |
| Support channels | Phone, Chat, Email or form | Phone, Chat |
Side by side
| Feature | SquareRTC Score: 7.3 out of 10 | Toast PaymentsRTC Score: Not enough data |
|---|---|---|
| Type of processor and pricing | ||
| Type of processor | Flat-rate payment company (payment facilitator)Source: Square (opens in a new tab)A flat-rate payment company whose processing comes with its own POS. | Processing built into a restaurant POSSource: Toast (opens in a new tab)This is the processing that comes with Toast POS: you also pay the POS software, which we compare in our restaurant POS section. |
| Pricing model | Flat rateSource: Square Support Center (opens in a new tab) | Flat rate()Source: Toast (opens in a new tab)Flat rates by card-present and card-not-present sale, quoted per restaurant. Toast's help center also mentions interchange-plus customers. |
| Published pricing (points out of 100) | 100(Best value)Source: Square (opens in a new tab)In-person rate 25, online and keyed-in rates 15, plan fees 20, $0 early termination fee stated 20, other fees 20 (PCI, chargebacks, inactivity, transfers and international cards are listed). | 20Source: Toast (opens in a new tab)Early termination fee published (the software fees left, or $150 a month on pay-as-you-go) 20. Card rates, monthly and other processing fees are only in your quote: 0. |
| Card rates | ||
| In-person rate | 2.6%Source: Square (opens in a new tab)On Square Free. Square Plus is 2.5% + 15¢ and Square Premium 2.4% + 15¢. Businesses processing over $250,000 a year can ask about custom pricing. | 2.49%(Best value)()(due for a re-check)Source: NerdWallet (opens in a new tab)Rate with hardware paid up front, as reported by NerdWallet; Toast does not publish its rates on its own site. Pay-as-you-go (Starter Kit) is 3.09% to 3.69% + 15¢. |
| In-person fee per transaction | 15¢Source: Square (opens in a new tab) | 15¢()(due for a re-check)Source: NerdWallet (opens in a new tab)As reported by NerdWallet (Aug 6, 2026). Toast quotes each restaurant its own rate ("custom-built rate") and doesn't publish it. |
| Online rate | 3.3%(Best value)Source: Square (opens in a new tab)On Square Free. Square Plus and Square Premium charge 2.9% + 30¢ online. | 3.5%()(due for a re-check)Source: NerdWallet (opens in a new tab)As reported by NerdWallet (Aug 6, 2026). Toast quotes each restaurant its own rate ("custom-built rate") and doesn't publish it. |
| Online fee per transaction | 30¢Source: Square (opens in a new tab) | 15¢(Best value)()(due for a re-check)Source: NerdWallet (opens in a new tab)As reported by NerdWallet (Aug 6, 2026). Toast quotes each restaurant its own rate ("custom-built rate") and doesn't publish it. |
| Keyed-in rate | 3.5%Source: Square (opens in a new tab)The same on every plan, also for cards on file. | 3.5%()(due for a re-check)Source: NerdWallet (opens in a new tab)NerdWallet reports one card-not-present rate for keyed and online payments (Aug 6, 2026); Toast quotes its rates and doesn't publish them. |
| Keyed-in fee per transaction | 15¢Source: Square (opens in a new tab) | 15¢()(due for a re-check)Source: NerdWallet (opens in a new tab)As reported by NerdWallet (Aug 6, 2026). Toast quotes each restaurant its own rate ("custom-built rate") and doesn't publish it. |
| American Express pricing | Same rate as other cardsSource: Square (opens in a new tab) | Quote onlySource: Toast (opens in a new tab)Toast accepts American Express through the Amex OptBlue program; its rate is in your quote. |
| American Express rate | N/ASource: Square (opens in a new tab)Doesn't apply: American Express costs the same as other cards. | Quote onlySource: Toast (opens in a new tab)Toast quotes each restaurant its own rate and doesn't publish it; you see it in your order form and on your processing statement. |
| Rates by monthly volume | No tiers by volume: the rate depends on the plan (in person, 2.6% + 15¢ on Square Free, 2.5% + 15¢ on Square Plus and 2.4% + 15¢ on Square Premium). Over $250,000 a year you can ask Square for custom pricing.Source: Square (opens in a new tab) | Quote onlySource: Toast (opens in a new tab)Toast publishes no tiers: it builds a custom rate for each restaurant. |
| Monthly and other fees | ||
| Monthly account or plan fee | $0/moSource: Square (opens in a new tab)Square Free, $0 a month per location. Square Plus is $49 and Square Premium $149 a month per location, with lower card rates; for our reference restaurant Square Free costs less. | Quote onlySource: Toast Central (help center) (opens in a new tab)Any monthly processing fee is set in your order form. The POS software subscription is apart (from $69 a month on the Point of Sale plan), and we compare it in our restaurant POS section. |
| Annual fee per account | $0/yrSource: Square (opens in a new tab)Square publishes its full fee list (Learn about Square fees), and it has no statement, annual, batch or minimum fee: on Square Free you only pay processing fees when you take a payment. | Not publishedSource: Toast Central (help center) (opens in a new tab)Toast publishes no fee schedule for its processing: the line items of its processing statement show card fees based on your rate, monthly adjustments and withholdings, but Toast doesn't say it charges no such fee. The fees are in your order form. |
| Annual fees per device or location | $0/yr per deviceSource: Square Support Center (opens in a new tab)Square publishes its full fee list (Learn about Square fees), and it has no annual, PCI or regulatory fee per device. What it does charge per device is monthly: the KDS and Kiosk apps on Square Plus and Premium. | Not publishedSource: Toast Central (help center) (opens in a new tab)Toast publishes no fee schedule for its processing: the line items of its processing statement show card fees based on your rate, monthly adjustments and withholdings, but Toast doesn't say it charges no such fee. The fees are in your order form. |
| PCI compliance fee (yearly) | $0/yrSource: Square Support Center (opens in a new tab) | Not publishedSource: Toast Central (help center) (opens in a new tab)Toast publishes no fee schedule for its processing: the line items of its processing statement show card fees based on your rate, monthly adjustments and withholdings, but Toast doesn't say it charges no such fee. The fees are in your order form. |
| PCI non-compliance fee (monthly) | N/ASource: Square (opens in a new tab)Doesn't apply: Square keeps the PCI certification as merchant of record, so you don't validate your own. | Not publishedSource: Toast Central (help center) (opens in a new tab)Toast publishes no fee schedule for its processing: the line items of its processing statement show card fees based on your rate, monthly adjustments and withholdings, but Toast doesn't say it charges no such fee. The fees are in your order form. |
| Statement fee | $0/moSource: Square (opens in a new tab)Square publishes its full fee list (Learn about Square fees), and it has no statement, annual, batch or minimum fee: on Square Free you only pay processing fees when you take a payment. | Not publishedSource: Toast Central (help center) (opens in a new tab)Toast publishes no fee schedule for its processing: the line items of its processing statement show card fees based on your rate, monthly adjustments and withholdings, but Toast doesn't say it charges no such fee. The fees are in your order form. |
| Monthly minimum | $0/moSource: Square (opens in a new tab)Square publishes its full fee list (Learn about Square fees), and it has no statement, annual, batch or minimum fee: on Square Free you only pay processing fees when you take a payment. | Quote only()Source: Toast Central (help center) (opens in a new tab)With Toast Dual Pricing packages: if your card fees in a month are below the minimum, you pay the difference (Toast's example is a $1,600 minimum). It's waived the month you go live and the next two. Pay-as-you-go plans can also carry processing minimums. |
| Fee per batch | $0Source: Square (opens in a new tab)Square publishes its full fee list (Learn about Square fees), and it has no statement, annual, batch or minimum fee: on Square Free you only pay processing fees when you take a payment. | Not publishedSource: Toast Central (help center) (opens in a new tab)Toast publishes no fee schedule for its processing: the line items of its processing statement show card fees based on your rate, monthly adjustments and withholdings, but Toast doesn't say it charges no such fee. The fees are in your order form. |
| Chargeback fee | $0Source: Square Support Center (opens in a new tab)Square doesn't charge for chargebacks or dispute management; you still lose the disputed amount if the customer wins. | Not publishedSource: Toast Central (help center) (opens in a new tab)Toast doesn't publish it; a Toast order form a county made public in 2025 charged $15 per chargeback. |
| Other fees | Cards issued outside the US: an extra 1.5%. Gift card loads: 2.5% on Square Free and Plus. Afterpay: 6% + 30¢. ACH bank transfers on invoices: 1% ($1 minimum). Instant or same-day transfers: 1.95%. KDS app: $30 a month per device on Square Plus ($20 on Premium); Kiosk app: $50 ($30 on Premium).Source: Square (opens in a new tab) | Toast Easy Pay (hardware lease): Toast keeps 0.75% of your daily card sales (1.75% before you go live) for 180 days. Instant deposit: Toast doesn't publish its cost. Toast Dual Pricing packages can carry a Monthly Minimum Processing Fee, and pay-as-you-go plans an inactivity fee when you miss their processing minimums.Source: Toast (opens in a new tab) |
| Equipment | ||
| How you get the equipment | You buy itSource: Square (opens in a new tab)You buy it, upfront or in monthly installments financed by Block (for example $27 a month for 12 months for Square Terminal). | You buy it, LeaseSource: Toast (opens in a new tab)You pay the hardware upfront (0% financing by application) or with Toast Easy Pay, a 180-day lease paid from your card sales. |
| Price of a countertop terminal | $299 one-timeSource: Square (opens in a new tab)Square Terminal, a countertop and portable card terminal. Square Register costs $899. | Quote onlySource: Toast (opens in a new tab)Toast doesn't publish the price of a terminal on its own. |
| Equipment lease you can't cancel | No(Best value)Source: Square (opens in a new tab)You buy Square's hardware; the installments are a purchase loan from Block, not a lease. | YesSource: Toast (opens in a new tab)Only if you choose Toast Easy Pay: you owe the whole lease amount, and Toast collects what's left at the end of the term. Buying the hardware upfront avoids it. |
| Equipment lease term | N/ASource: Square (opens in a new tab)Doesn't apply: Square doesn't lease its hardware. | 6 monthsSource: Toast (opens in a new tab)180 days. |
| Equipment at $0 upfront: what it commits you to | No equipment at $0 upfront tied to a term. Square gives you the magstripe reader at no cost and sells the rest, with optional installments.Source: Square Support Center (opens in a new tab) | Toast's pay-as-you-go plan in the Starter Package lowers the upfront hardware cost through a higher all-in rate; leaving it early costs $150 for each month left in the term.Source: Toast (opens in a new tab) |
| Equipment only works with this processor | UnconfirmedSource: Square (opens in a new tab)Square's hardware runs Square's own apps, but its hardware pages, sales policy and terms don't say whether it can work with another processor. | YesSource: Toast Central (help center) (opens in a new tab)Toast's services only run on approved Toast hardware, and Toast requires its own processing. |
| Getting your money | ||
| Standard deposit speed | Next business daySource: Square Support Center (opens in a new tab)Every Square merchant starts on the standard next-business-day transfer, at no extra cost: payments taken before 5 p.m. PT (8 p.m. ET) arrive the next business day, and later ones by the second business day. Instant or same-day transfers cost 1.95%. With Square Checking, your money is available right after each sale. | Two business daysSource: Toast Central (help center) (opens in a new tab)Batches that process before 9:30 p.m. ET deposit the next business day, but Toast says most restaurants batch after closing and often miss that cutoff; then the deposit takes two to three business days. We count two business days, because Toast says most restaurants miss the cutoff. Toast's processing terms say 1 to 2 business days after settlement, and instant deposit is also available. |
| Instant payout fee | 1.95%Source: Square (opens in a new tab)For instant and same-day transfers, from $25 up to $10,000 per transfer. | Not publishedSource: Toast (opens in a new tab)Toast offers instant deposit (up to $10,000 a day, not for American Express Direct sales) but doesn't publish its cost. |
| Holds and reserves | Square may delay payouts or require a reserve if it considers your business risky, and it can hold chargeback amounts and delay payouts while chargebacks are pending (Payment Terms §14 and §20).Source: Square (opens in a new tab) | Toast may delay payouts, set a reserve of your funds or require you to keep funds in your account to cover risks, and may defer payouts during an investigation or dispute (Payment Processing Terms §4 and §8).Source: Toast (opens in a new tab) |
| Contract and exit | ||
| Contract term | Month to monthSource: Square (opens in a new tab) | Quote onlySource: Toast (opens in a new tab)Set in your order form (Merchant Agreement §8.1). NerdWallet reports terms of two to three years, and Toast order forms made public by local governments show 36 months (2023) and 24 months (2025). |
| Automatic renewal | Month to month(Best value)Source: Square (opens in a new tab)Month to month, with no renewal term. | 12 monthsSource: Toast (opens in a new tab)A renewal is under the then-current Merchant Agreement, and earlier promotions no longer apply (§8.1). |
| Notice to avoid renewal | 0 days(Best value)Source: Square (opens in a new tab)No notice: you deactivate your account. | 30 daysSource: Toast (opens in a new tab) |
| Notice to cancel | 0 daysSource: Square (opens in a new tab)You end the agreement by deactivating your account, with no notice period. | 0 daysSource: Toast (opens in a new tab)You can end the agreement before its term if you pay the early termination fee; the agreement sets no notice period for that. To stop the automatic renewal you give 30 days' written notice. |
| Early termination fee | No early termination fee. Subscription fees already paid are not refunded.Source: Square Support Center (opens in a new tab) | The software subscription fees left in the term; on a pay-as-you-go plan such as the Starter Kit, $150 for each month left. Plus any processing fee tied to software financing (Merchant Agreement §8.4). If Toast raises your card rates and you terminate before they take effect, the fee doesn't apply (§6.2).Source: Toast (opens in a new tab) |
| How the early termination fee is calculated | No early termination feeSource: Square Support Center (opens in a new tab)Square lists early termination among the things it doesn't charge for. | Liquidated damages: the fees or processing left in the termSource: Toast (opens in a new tab)The software fees left in the term, or $150 for each month left on pay-as-you-go (Merchant Agreement §8.4). |
| Liquidated damages clause | No(Best value)Source: Square Support Center (opens in a new tab)No early termination fee or liquidated damages. | YesSource: Toast (opens in a new tab) |
| Price increases during the contract | With notice, and you can leave without a feeSource: Square (opens in a new tab)Square can change its fees with reasonable advance notice; since there is no term or early termination fee, you can leave if you don't accept the change. | With notice, and you can leave without a feeSource: Toast (opens in a new tab)Scored on card processing rates, the same for every vendor: Toast can change them with 30 days' written notice, and if it raises them you can terminate without the early termination fee (Merchant Agreement §6.2). If it raises another non-software fee, you can only drop that product or service, not the agreement; at or during a renewal Toast can change any fee with 30 days' notice; and prepaid amounts aren't refunded. |
| Right to raise prices | Square may change its processing fees with reasonable advance notice (Payment Terms §4), and its terms at any time with the notice it considers reasonable (General Terms §2).Source: Square (opens in a new tab) | Software fees stay the same during the initial term. Toast may change card rates and other non-software fees at any time with 30 days' written notice, and any fee at or during a renewal. If it raises card rates or the core POS fee, you can terminate without the early termination fee (Merchant Agreement §6.2).Source: Toast (opens in a new tab) |
| Personal guarantee by the signer | No()Source: Square (opens in a new tab)Neither Square's General Terms nor its Payment Terms contain a personal guarantee by the signer. | NoSource: Toast (opens in a new tab)Neither the Merchant Agreement, its payment processing terms nor a public Toast order form (2025) contains a personal guarantee. Each owner of 25% or more authorizes Toast to pull personal credit reports. |
| Dual pricing and surcharges | ||
| Dual pricing or surcharge program | YesSource: Square Support Center (opens in a new tab)Credit card surcharging, in open beta in the US: in person only, credit cards only, up to 3% and never above your cost of acceptance, and not available in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts or Puerto Rico. Square publishes no dual pricing program. In our estimate, card processing on in-person credit card sales costs your restaurant $0 with the surcharge and your customers pay it; debit and online sales keep Square's rate. In practice part of that cost stays with you: Square charges its fee on the whole sale, including tax and tip, tips can't be surcharged, and the 3% cap can fall below Square's fee on small tickets (2.6% + 15¢ is about 3.03% of a $35 ticket). Card network rules and state laws apply. | YesSource: Toast (opens in a new tab)Toast publishes two programs: Toast Dual Pricing (card price and a cash price 4% lower by default; for now only for eligible new US customers) and Credit Card Surcharging (credit cards only, up to 3%, not in CT, ME or MA). With the program, card processing costs your restaurant $0 in our estimate and your customers pay the difference. Toast itself says surcharging offsets your costs by adding revenue, not by lowering your fees. Toast's cash discount applies to the subtotal before tax and tip, so the card fee on tax and tips isn't offset. Card network rules and state laws apply, and some states limit or ban surcharges. |
| Cards the program covers | Credit cards only (surcharge)Source: Square Support Center (opens in a new tab) | Every card, debit and credit (dual pricing or cash discount)Source: Toast Central (opens in a new tab)Toast also offers credit card surcharging, which only covers credit cards. When a vendor publishes both, we use the program that covers every card, the same for every vendor. Toast says you still pay your contract rate on every card sale; the card price your customers pay offsets it. Toast Dual Pricing is for eligible new US customers. |
| Monthly fee for the program | UnconfirmedSource: Square Support Center (opens in a new tab)Square's surcharge article and its fee list don't mention a fee for the program, and Square doesn't say it charges none. | Unconfirmed()Source: Toast Central (help center) (opens in a new tab)Toast doesn't publish a separate fee for Dual Pricing or surcharging; its Dual Pricing packages can carry a monthly processing minimum. |
| Your POS and your business | ||
| Works with these restaurant POS | Square, OthersSource: Square (opens in a new tab)Processing built into Square's POS, and other POS systems too: Square's Terminal API connects another POS application to Square Terminal (see "Requires the vendor's own POS"). Same rule for every vendor: "others" when the vendor documents its processing on another POS. | ToastSource: Toast Central (help center) (opens in a new tab)Processing built into this POS: it lists its own POS. |
| Requires the vendor's own POS | No(Best value)Source: Square Developer (opens in a new tab)Square's processing comes with Square's POS, and other POS software can use it too: Square's Terminal API connects another POS application to Square Terminal, and its fee list publishes rates for payments through its APIs. Same rule for every vendor: "no" when the vendor documents a way to use its processing with another POS. | YesSource: Toast Central (help center) (opens in a new tab)Toast's processing only runs through Toast POS, and Toast POS only works with it; Toast documents no way to use its processing with another POS. Same rule for every vendor: "yes" unless the vendor documents a way to use its processing with another POS. |
| Monthly volume it's built for | $0/moSource: Square (opens in a new tab)No minimum volume. Over $250,000 a year (about $20,800 a month) Square offers custom pricing. | Quote onlySource: Toast (opens in a new tab)Toast publishes no minimum volume; pay-as-you-go plans and Dual Pricing packages can carry processing minimums set in your order. |
| Accepts high-risk businesses | NoSource: Square (opens in a new tab)Square's Payment Terms list business types it doesn't serve; it isn't a high-risk specialist. | UnconfirmedSource: Toast (opens in a new tab)Toast serves restaurants and retail; its terms don't publish a list of accepted or refused business types. |
| Routes debit to the lowest-cost network | Not publishedSource: Square (opens in a new tab)Square doesn't publish how it routes debit cards; with flat pricing the routing doesn't change your rate. | Not publishedSource: Toast (opens in a new tab)Toast doesn't publish how it routes debit cards. |
| Support | ||
| 24/7 support for merchants | NoSource: Square (opens in a new tab)24/7 phone support comes only with Square Premium ($149 per location a month). On Square Free, phone support is 6 am to 6 pm PT on weekdays for the first 90 days; on Square Plus it's 6 am to 6 pm PT on weekdays. We score the support of the plan our cost uses (Square Free), the same for every vendor. | Yes(Best value)Source: Toast (opens in a new tab) |
| Support channels | Phone, Chat, Email or formSource: Square (opens in a new tab)Chat and email on every plan; phone hours depend on the plan (see 24/7 support). | Phone, ChatSource: Toast (opens in a new tab) |
Contracts compared
| Product | Initial term | Auto-renewal | Early termination fee | Price increases during the term | Trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SquareSource: Square Support Center (opens in a new tab) | Month to monthSource: Square (opens in a new tab) | No auto-renewalSource: Square (opens in a new tab)Month to month, with no renewal term. | No early termination fee. Subscription fees already paid are not refunded. | Square may change its processing fees with reasonable advance notice (Payment Terms §4), and its terms at any time with the notice it considers reasonable (General Terms §2).Source: Square (opens in a new tab) | No data |
| Toast PaymentsSource: Toast (opens in a new tab) | Quote only | Renews for 12 months30 days' notice to cancel renewal | The software subscription fees left in the term; on a pay-as-you-go plan such as the Starter Kit, $150 for each month left. Plus any processing fee tied to software financing (Merchant Agreement §8.4). If Toast raises your card rates and you terminate before they take effect, the fee doesn't apply (§6.2).How it's calculated: 100% of the fees left in the term | Software fees stay the same during the initial term. Toast may change card rates and other non-software fees at any time with 30 days' written notice, and any fee at or during a renewal. If it raises card rates or the core POS fee, you can terminate without the early termination fee (Merchant Agreement §6.2). | No data |
This is general information about published contracts, not legal advice: read your own contract and check with a lawyer before you sign.
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