Tallo vs Toast
Tallo vs Toast
An honest side-by-side for independent venues. Every Toast fact links to its source, checked October 30, 2026.
Toast · Traditional · Basic
$22,613 /yr
Tallo · Pro
$19,047 /yr
Difference
$3,566 less /yr on Tallo
Example: $60,000/month in in-person card sales at a $28 average check. Software + processing only. Run your own numbers.
Side by side
| Toast | Tallo | |
|---|---|---|
| Published pricing | Plan prices and in-person rates on shop pages; pricing page leads to salessource | Fully published, including interchange-plus |
| Software | Basic $69/mo, Core $219/mo, Growth $578/mo (Traditional); $0/mo on Pay-as-you-Gosource | Free, Pro $59/mo, Plus $149/mo |
| In-person card rate | 2.49% + 15¢ (Traditional); 3.09%–3.69% + 15¢ (Pay-as-you-Go)source | 2.29% + 10¢ (Free), 2.19% + 10¢ (Pro/Plus), or IC + 0.35% + 8¢ (Plus) |
| Bring your own processor | No — Toast is the exclusive payment processorsource | Yes, on every plan, no penalty |
| Hardware | Toast hardware only; extra terminals $749 + $50/mo, kitchen screens $749 + $35/mosource | Runs on affordable Android tablets and phones. Optional Stripe readers bought outright |
| Contract | Initial term set per order, then auto-renews yearly. Early termination: remaining subscription fees (or $150/month remaining on Pay-as-you-Go)source | Month to month. No early termination fee |
| Card rate changes | Card rates can change during the term with 30 days' noticesource | Published on our pricing page |
| Kitchen display | Kitchen Flex hardware, $749 + $35/mo per screensource | Included on Pro. Runs on any tablet, no per-screen fee |
| Offline mode | Yessource | Yes |
| Tip pooling | Tips Manager, in the Team Management Essentials add-onsource | Pooling and tip-out by role on Pro |
| Online ordering | No commissions; flat fee per delivery ordersource | Commission-free, on Plus |
| QR order & pay | Toast Mobile Order & Paysource | On Plus |
| Surcharging | Surcharge product (max 3%) and Dual Pricing for new customerssource | Off by default. State rules built in if you enable it |
Toast information is from its public US web pages as of October 30, 2026; your own agreement may differ. Tallo is onboarding its first venues, and some features roll out in stages. Spot something out of date? Email hello@tallopay.com and we'll fix it.
Where Toast is strong
- One of the most widely used restaurant POS systems in the US, with a large integration marketplace.
- Purpose-built rugged hardware, including handhelds.
- Mature payroll, delivery and marketing add-ons.
Why venues pick Tallo
- Keep your own processor on any plan — or use ours at a published rate.
- No hardware contract. Run on affordable Android tablets.
- Kitchen display, tips and tip-out included on Pro, with no per-screen fees.
- Month to month, with your menu and staff migrated for you in 48 hours.
Thinking about leaving Toast?
Join the waitlist and we'll walk you through switching — menu migration, staff setup and timing it around your current contract.
How switching from Toast works