Another week, another POS company enters Australia. Toast is a restaurant only platform from the United States, bundling point of sale, payments, online ordering, kitchen displays and staff tools into one integrated system. It is capable, but almost nothing it offers is new to the Australian market, and it arrives with a payments lock in and a multi year contract that most local options do not. Here is our honest read.
Toast is built for one industry only, and it shows. Point of sale, payments, online ordering, kitchen display, loyalty, email marketing and staff tools all sit inside a single platform rather than a stack of integrations you stitch together. For a venue that wants the front counter, the kitchen and the website talking to each other without middleware, that integration is the pitch. The catch is that it is no longer a rare one, because several Australian systems already bundle the same things.
The flip side is the commitment. Toast runs on its own restaurant grade Android hardware, so you cannot bring an iPad or reuse existing terminals. You must use Toast payments, with no option to shop your processing rate elsewhere. And the agreement typically runs for two to three years. The product is strong, but you are buying the ecosystem, not just the till.
Order flow, coursing and kitchen routing are designed around how real service teams work, not adapted from retail.
POS, online ordering, kitchen display, loyalty and staff tools live in one system rather than a patchwork of apps.
Spill and dust resistant terminals and the Toast Go handheld, built to survive a working kitchen and floor.
Keeps taking orders and card payments if the internet drops, so service does not stop mid shift.
Toast can suit a full service or growth focused venue that wants one connected platform for dine in, takeaway and online ordering, and will commit long enough to use the depth. That is the honest case for it. The harder truth is that almost everything it does is already done by systems that have been here for years, often without the payments lock in, the proprietary hardware or the multi year contract. So the real question is not whether Toast is good, it is whether it gives you anything a local provider does not. For most operators the answer is no, and a local option will get you the same outcome with less commitment.
We rate suppliers independently. We do not earn a referral fee from Toast. Here is the balanced picture, the good and the points to weigh up.
Toast uses a plan plus payments model, with a choice between paying for hardware upfront for a lower processing rate, or taking hardware with no upfront cost and a higher rate. Most of Toast's published figures are set in the United States, and Australian pricing is largely quote led, so treat the figures below as the shape of the cost and confirm current AUD pricing and processing rates directly with Toast. The number that usually matters most is the processing rate, because Toast payments are mandatory and apply to every dollar you take.
| Plan | Monthly software | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|
| Starter Kit | $0 per month | Single location venues and food trucks that want no software fee and will accept a higher processing rate to offset it. Limited to a couple of terminals. |
| Point of Sale | $69 per month, USD guide | Established venues that want the core POS with a lower processing rate and the freedom to choose their hardware setup. |
| Build Your Own | custom | Full service and multi location venues that want the full platform with online ordering, loyalty and the rest bundled to their needs. |
| Scenario | Indicative rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| In person, hardware paid upfront | 2.49% + 15c | The lower card present rate, available when you buy the hardware rather than take it at no upfront cost. USD guide figure. |
| In person, no upfront hardware | 2.99% + 15c | The higher card present rate that offsets free or financed hardware on the Starter Kit. USD guide figure. |
| Online and keyed in | 3.5% + 15c | Card not present rate for online orders and manual entry. Higher again. |
| Custom rate | negotiated | Higher volume venues can negotiate. Confirm the AUD rate and whether it can rise during the term. |
| Item | Indicative | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal | one off | Proprietary Android terminal. Widely reported in the high hundreds of dollars each. The Starter Kit offers a terminal at no upfront cost in exchange for the higher rate. |
| Toast Go handheld | one off | The tableside handheld. An additional device cost on top of the terminal. |
| Kitchen display and kiosk | one off + monthly | KDS screens and self serve kiosks are extra hardware and can carry an added monthly fee. |
| Online ordering, loyalty, marketing | + monthly each | Sold as separate modules. Stacking several can add a few hundred dollars a month before processing. |
| Contract and exit | 2 to 3 yr | Longer term agreements are standard, with early termination fees. Read the term and exit conditions closely. |
Toast's real monthly cost is rarely the headline plan price. Once you add the modules you need, the mandatory processing on every sale, and the hardware, single venues commonly land well above the base figure. The figures above are mostly United States guide rates, so the honest comparison for an Australian venue is the full AUD quote: plan, processing, hardware and add ons, lined up against systems that let you choose your own payment provider. From 1 October 2026 the surcharge ban means the processing fee comes out of your margin, so confirm your post ban position. Getting you that itemised quote and an honest comparison is exactly what we do, free.
Toast is one option. Here is how it sits alongside the other POS systems we review, so you can weigh them side by side.
We can get you an accurate Toast quote in AUD for your exact setup, including the processing rate and contract term, and compare it honestly against systems that let you choose your own payment provider. Free, no obligation, and we will be in touch within 48 hours.
