Square KDS alternatives

Pros

• Works with more than 30 POS and ordering platforms, so you can add it without changing your POS.
• Published per-screen prices, $20 a month on Essentials, month to month, with a 7-day trial of Premium.
• Runs on an iPad or Android tablet you may already own, and supports USB bump bars.

Cons

• Toast and Shift4 POS aren't on its integrations list.
• Whether it keeps working without internet depends on how it connects to your POS.
• Order-ready texts and ticket printing need Premium, at $27 per screen a month.

Pros

• Every price is published: $20 per station a month, $500 per device and $100 for installation.
• Offline mode: in-house orders keep reaching the screens when the internet is down.
• Routing by station, an all-day view and 24/7 support.

Cons

• It needs SpotOn POS at each location.
• No texts to guests or label printing: for those SpotOn points you to Fresh KDS.
• SpotOn doesn't document a kitchen time report for this KDS.

Pros

• Published price: $30 per screen a month on every Lightspeed Restaurant plan.
• Runs in a browser on an iPad, Android tablet or other screen you choose.
• Routing by station and an offline mode served from a POS device on your local network, with 24/7 support.

Cons

• It only works with Lightspeed Restaurant (K-Series), and one POS device must stay on as the hub.
• It falls under the Lightspeed Service Agreement: renewal notice of 90 days and the fees left in the term if you leave early.

Pros

• Published prices: $799 for the 14-inch screen and $25 a month per device.
• A kitchen-grade device rated for heat, with item-level routing, an expo mode and prep time reports.
• With Clover Local Connect, orders from Clover registers keep reaching the KDS when the internet is down.

Cons

• It needs a Clover Register, Table Service or Counter Service plan and Clover's own screens.
• The contract term and any termination fee depend on who sells you Clover.

Pros

• Offline mode: TouchBistro says the KDS keeps working when the internet is temporarily down.
• Station routing, a reporting dashboard with bump times and an optional bump bar.
• Installation by a TouchBistro technician and 24/7 support.

Cons

• The KDS, the screens and the installation are all by quote.
• It only works with TouchBistro POS and the MicroTouch screens it sells.
• If you leave early you owe what is left of the term, including processing fees.

Pros

• Shift4 documents that the KDS keeps working over your local network when the internet is down.
• Routing by prep station, a bump bar and a live box score with average ticket times.

Cons

• The monthly fee per screen and the screen price aren't published.
• It only works with Shift4 POS, under a 36-month processing agreement with a 90-day notice to avoid renewal.
• Leaving early carries liquidated damages per device for each month left.

Pros

• One subscription of $49.95 a month covers any number of screens at a location.
• Runs on any Android tablet, screen or TV box, with no setup fee and a 30-day trial.
• Per-screen setup for each station and kitchen reports included.

Cons

• Only for Clover restaurant or register plans.
• The listing doesn't say whether it keeps working without internet.
• Support isn't 24/7: weekdays and weekend mornings, Pacific time.

Pros

• Toast documents that in-store orders keep reaching the KDS over your local network during an internet or Toast outage.
• Routing by prep station, all-day item counts, kitchen productivity reports and order-ready texts to guests.

Cons

• The module, the screen licenses and the hardware are all by quote.
• It only works with Toast POS and Toast hardware.
• It falls under the Toast Merchant Agreement, which renews for a year at a time and charges the software fees left in the term if you leave early.