Toast POS
by Toast, Inc. · POS Integration
Cloud POS and operations platform built for restaurants and food-forward retail.
Updated August 2026 · By the ERP Research Editorial Team · Independent and vendor-neutral.
- Works with
- QuickBooks
- Deployment
- Cloud
- Company size
- SMB, Mid-market, Enterprise
- Pricing
- Tiered software subscription plus hardware and payment-processing fees, with a Pay-As-You-Go option
- Founded
- 2011
- Headquarters
- Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Overview
Toast is a cloud-based point-of-sale and business-management platform built by Toast, Inc. (NYSE: TOST), founded in 2011 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The system runs on Toast's own Android-based terminals and handhelds and is used primarily by restaurants, with a growing retail line for stores that also sell food or drink. Toast reports 171,000+ restaurant locations as of Q1 2026 and 180,000+ total locations across its restaurant and retail base as of Q2 2026.
Beyond order entry and payments, Toast bundles an operations suite (POS, catering and events, mobile order and pay, retail inventory), a marketing suite (email, loyalty, gift cards, advertising, guest CRM), a digital storefront suite (commission-free online ordering, branded websites, branded mobile app, third-party delivery routing), a payroll and team-management suite, and xtraCHEF by Toast, an invoice-automation, recipe-costing and inventory product Toast acquired that also syncs sales data into QuickBooks Online. An AI layer, Toast IQ, surfaces sales, labor and menu insights and can complete some tasks directly from a chat interface, included at no additional cost.
Toast markets its own hardware line (Flex countertop terminal, Toast Go 3 handheld, self-ordering kiosk, kitchen display system, guest display terminal, Toast Tap card reader) around durability and offline reliability, and operates as a payment facilitator rather than a direct card processor. It documents 200+ third-party integrations through its Partner Directory.
Screenshots & demo
Demo video from the vendor's YouTube channel. Screenshots sourced from Toast, Inc..
Features & capabilities
Point of Sale & Order Entry
Core order-taking, table and check management across terminals and handhelds.
- In-store order entry with nested modifiers
- Table and tab management with check splitting
- Menu management with real-time updates across locations
- Offline mode that keeps orders, tickets and card payments running without internet
- Multi-location menu and reporting management
- Configurable display modes and order views, including dark/light mode
- Unlimited SKUs for combined retail and food-service operations
- Barcode scanner and scale support, plus phone-based SmartScan
Payments & Guest-Facing Hardware
Integrated, PCI-compliant payment acceptance across Toast's own hardware line.
- Integrated, PCI-compliant payment processing (Toast is a payment facilitator, not a direct processor)
- Toast Flex countertop terminal
- Toast Go 3 handheld with all-day battery and cellular connectivity
- Self-ordering kiosk
- Guest display terminal for tableside/contactless payment
- Toast Tap card reader for swipe, dip or tap payments
- Toast Router built-in cellular backup connectivity for outages
- Device Hub for centralized hardware monitoring
Online Ordering & Digital Storefront
Commission-free direct ordering and guest-facing digital properties synced to the POS.
- Commission-free branded online ordering pages
- Toast Mobile Order & Pay
- Branded mobile app for guest ordering and reordering
- Websites that auto-sync menu, hours and live inventory from the POS
- Third-party delivery orders (Grubhub, Uber Eats, DoorDash) routed to a single kitchen screen
- Toast Delivery Services
- Kitchen Display System
Marketing, Loyalty & Guest CRM
Guest-data capture at the terminal and tools to convert one-time visitors into repeat customers.
- Guest CRM with unified customer profiles
- Loyalty program with tiered rewards and sign-up bonuses
- Gift cards
- SMS and email marketing campaigns
- Advertising campaigns launched on Google and Meta
- Toast IQ Grow AI-driven guest win-back recommendations
Team Management, Payroll & Back Office
Labor, payroll and supplier/accounting tools that pull from the same POS data.
- Payroll with hours and tips flowing from terminal closeouts
- Employee scheduling
- Tips management and pooling with an approval workflow
- Toast Pay Card & Toast PayOut
- xtraCHEF invoice automation and recipe costing
- xtraCHEF inventory management with actual-vs-theoretical variance analysis
- Multilocation management and cross-location benchmarking
- Toast Now mobile management app for real-time sales and labor visibility
Toast IQ (AI Layer)
An AI layer built into the platform that surfaces and can act on operational data.
- Sales forecasting
- Menu-item performance insights
- Labor-hours optimization suggestions
- Chat-based task completion, e.g. adjusting a schedule
- Included at no additional cost across the platform
Common use cases
- Running a full-service or quick-service restaurant's front-of-house, kitchen routing and payments on one system
- Adding a commission-free online ordering channel and branded website without third-party marketplace fees
- Running a hybrid retail-and-food-service concept, such as a bottle shop or bakery with a counter, on a single POS
- Automating restaurant accounts payable and syncing daily sales journal entries into QuickBooks Online via xtraCHEF
- Managing labor costs, scheduling and tip pooling across multiple locations from one back office
- Consolidating third-party delivery orders from Grubhub, Uber Eats and DoorDash onto a single kitchen display screen
- Financing new-location buildouts or equipment through Toast Capital loans
Strengths & considerations
Strengths
- Purpose-built, spill-resistant hardware line designed for restaurant/retail floor conditions, with offline mode for outages
- Owns the stack from POS to payroll to guest marketing to accounting (via xtraCHEF), reducing the number of separate systems an operator reconciles
- Commission-free online ordering and branded storefronts, positioned as an alternative to paying marketplace commissions
- Large documented footprint: 200+ integrations and 171,000+ restaurant locations as of Q1 2026
- Toast IQ AI layer included at no additional cost rather than sold as a separate add-on
ERP integrations
Automatically creates daily sales journal entries in QuickBooks Online, mapped once to sales categories and GL codes, syncing on a configurable schedule as fast as within 24 hours.
Pricing
Toast quotes tiered software pricing after a demo based on hardware, locations and payment volume; it is not published as fixed plan prices. Upfront costs are hardware and implementation, which vary by hardware package; 0% interest hardware financing is available by application. The Pay-As-You-Go plan sets the first device's hardware cost to $0 (software and processing fees still apply, and an $85/month inactivity fee may apply). Toast is a payment facilitator that partners with processors rather than a direct card processor. Get an independent shortlist with pricing guidance below.
Technical & security
- Hosting
- SaaS (cloud-based, runs on Toast's Android hardware)
- Compliance
- PCI DSS
- Mobile app
- Yes
About the vendor
- Founded
- 2011
- Headquarters
- Boston, Massachusetts, United States
- Employees
- ~6,500
- Ownership
- Public (NYSE: TOST)
- Notable customers
- Caribou Coffee, Rebel Cheese, Trick Dog, Bodhi, Caribe Royale Orlando
Alternatives to Toast POS in POS Integration
Toast POS — frequently asked questions
Is Toast POS only for restaurants?
No. Toast also serves retail businesses, especially hybrid concepts that combine retail with food or beverage service, such as wine shops, bakeries and cafes. Toast reports serving thousands of retail stores in addition to 171,000+ restaurant locations as of Q1 2026.
Does Toast POS work if the internet goes down?
Yes. Toast's offline mode lets staff continue placing orders, printing tickets and receipts, and taking card payments during an internet or network outage, syncing automatically once connectivity is restored.
What does Toast POS cost?
Toast does not publish fixed software tier pricing; it quotes a plan after a demo based on hardware, locations and payment volume. Its Pay-As-You-Go plan prices the first hardware device at $0, with software and processing fees layered on top, and 0% interest hardware financing is available by application.
Does Toast POS integrate with QuickBooks?
Yes, via xtraCHEF Sync, a premium xtraCHEF by Toast feature that automatically creates daily sales journal entries in QuickBooks Online mapped to the operator's GL codes, without manual data entry.
Is Toast a payment processor?
Toast is not itself a card processor; it is a payment facilitator that partners with processors to provide integrated, PCI-compliant payment acceptance across its own hardware.
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