This is version 1.0 of the kitchen display model, and it's published: these weights are final. The table below is generated from the model itself, so its weights are always the ones we use.
We score what a kitchen feels during a rush:
- Cost of two screens. What one location with two kitchen screens, a prep station and an expo station, pays in a year: the KDS license, the screens and one-time fees. The POS plan is never added. When the KDS runs on a tablet you bring and the vendor sells no screen, each screen is priced as the cheapest iPad on apple.com, the same way for every vendor. A price that isn't published counts as missing, never as zero.
- POS and hardware. How many of the most common restaurant POS systems it works with, and whether you can use the vendor's screens, your own tablet or both.
- In the kitchen. Whether in-house orders keep reaching the screens when the internet goes down, routing by station, kitchen time reports, all-day item counts, bump bars and order-ready texts to guests. Only what the vendor documents counts.
- Contract and support. The initial term, the early termination fee, the notice to avoid a renewal and 24/7 live support. When the KDS is sold with a POS, the contract is the POS agreement. Every vendor gets the same contract template.
In the Spanish edition of this site, the Spanish-language criteria count too: the KDS screen, support and the website or help in Spanish. Menu item names stay in the language you write them in, so they don't count. In this English edition these criteria aren't part of the score.
Third-party ratings, promotions and anything commercial never count toward the score. We haven't tested any kitchen display in a kitchen: the score comes from what each vendor publishes. A vendor needs enough verified data before it enters any ranking.
Criteria and weights
Spanish-language criteria count only in the Spanish edition
These criteria count only in the Spanish edition of this site: KDS screen in Spanish, support in Spanish, and website or help in Spanish. In this English edition they aren't part of the score, and the weights in the table add up to 100% without them. So a kitchen display system can have a different RTC Score in each edition.
| Criterion | Pillar | Weight | What we measure | How it's scored |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12-month cost of 2 kitchen screens | Pricing | 26% | 12-month cost of two kitchen screens | 12-month cost of two kitchen screens at one location: full score at $1,200, zero at $3,600 |
| Keeps working without internet | In the kitchen | 9% | If the internet goes down | By option: In-house orders keep reaching the screens over your local network → 10/10; Depends on how it connects to your POS → 5/10; Needs the internet → 0/10 |
| Routing by station | In the kitchen | 8% | Routing by station | Yes = 10/10, No = 0/10 |
| Support 24/7 | Support | 8% | Support 24/7 | Yes = 10/10, No = 0/10 |
| Kitchen time reports | In the kitchen | 7% | Kitchen time reports | Yes = 10/10, No = 0/10 |
| Initial term | Contract and exit | 7% | Initial term | By steps: Up to 11 months → 10/10; 12–23 months → 7.5/10; 24–35 months → 5/10; 36–47 months → 2.5/10; 48 months or more → 0/10 |
| Published pricing | Pricing | 6% | Published pricing | By option: Published → 10/10; Partly published → 5/10; Quote only → 0/10 |
| POS systems it works with | POS and hardware | 6% | Works with these POS systems | By option: Toast → 1.4/10; Square → 1.4/10; Clover → 1.4/10; Shift4 POS → 1.4/10; Lightspeed → 1.4/10; SpotOn → 1.4/10; TouchBistro → 1.4/10; Other POS systems → 0/10 |
| Choice of kitchen screens | POS and hardware | 6% | Kitchen screens | By option: The vendor's screens or a compatible device of yours → 10/10; A compatible tablet or screen you bring → 8/10; Only the vendor's screens → 5/10 |
| All-day item counts | In the kitchen | 4% | All-day item counts | Yes = 10/10, No = 0/10 |
| Bump bar support | In the kitchen | 4% | Bump bar support | Yes = 10/10, No = 0/10 |
| Early termination fee | Contract and exit | 4% | How the early termination fee works | By option: No early termination fee → 10/10; A fixed amount → 5/10; The fees left in the term → 2.5/10; Another formula → 2.5/10 |
| Notice to avoid renewal | Contract and exit | 3% | Notice to avoid renewal | Linear: full score at 30 days, zero at 90 days |
| Order-ready text to the guest | In the kitchen | 2% | Order-ready text to the guest | Yes = 10/10, No = 0/10 |
The formula
Each criterion gives a partial score from 0 to 1. The RTC Score is 10 × the weighted average of the criteria we could verify, reduced when data is missing: × (1 − 0.5 × (1 − completeness)). Completeness is the share of the total weight we could verify.
Below 60% completeness, a kitchen display system is marked as not having enough data and isn't ranked. That check always uses the base weights, so a ranking by type of restaurant never includes a system the overall ranking leaves out. A price the vendor doesn't publish counts as missing: it lowers completeness, and with too little data the system isn't ranked.
Reference profile for cost
Reference: 1 location, 2 kitchen screens (prep and expo), 12 months: 1 location(s), 15 people with an account and 2 screen(s) per location, over 12 months.
Assumptions behind the cost criteria
- The cost adds the cheapest plan that covers the reference restaurant (priced per account, location, user or screen), the monthly and yearly fees, usage fees (per guest, text message or invoice) and one-time setup and hardware.
- Optional add-ons are shown on each pricing page but not added. A module the reference restaurant always needs is added.
- A price the provider doesn't publish never counts as $0: the estimate stays incomplete and the cost criterion counts as missing.
- Promotions, like free months, are never taken off the cost and never count in the score.
Weights by type of restaurant
Rankings by type of restaurant multiply some weights. The overall ranking always uses the base weights.
| Type of restaurant | Adjustments |
|---|---|
| Quick service and fast casual | All-day item counts ×1.5 · Order-ready text to the guest ×2 · 12-month cost of 2 kitchen screens ×1.1 |
| Full service | Routing by station ×1.25 · Bump bar support ×1.5 · Keeps working without internet ×1.25 |
| Food trucks and small kitchens | 12-month cost of 2 kitchen screens ×1.25 · Choice of kitchen screens ×1.5 · Initial term ×1.25 · Early termination fee ×1.25 |
| Multi-location | 12-month cost of 2 kitchen screens ×0.8 · Kitchen time reports ×1.5 · Keeps working without internet ×1.25 · POS systems it works with ×1.25 |
What never affects a score
Commissions, affiliate deals, sponsorships and price requests. The scoring engine has no access to them, and every vendor gets the same rubric.
Changelog
v1.0.0 ·
Published version. The weights of the 0.1.0 draft are now final, so no score changes with this version. This section is no longer a draft.
v0.1.0 ·
First draft for kitchen display systems. The score covers the 12-month cost of two kitchen screens at one location (32% with published pricing), the POS systems it works with and the choice of screens (12%), what it does in the kitchen: working without internet, routing by station, time reports, item counts, bump bar and order-ready texts (34%), contract terms (14%) and 24/7 support (8%). The POS subscription is never added to the cost. In the Spanish edition, Spanish-language criteria (KDS screen, support and website in Spanish) count for 10% and every other weight is scaled by 0.9. Third-party ratings and promotions don't count toward the score. Weights are pending external validation.