Square vs Toast vs Clover vs Loyverse: what each one really costs in 2026
You started on Square because it was free and the card reader showed up in two days. A year later you're wondering if you've outgrown it, staring at Toast, Clover and Loyverse and trying to work out which one is honest about its price and which one traps you in a three-year agreement you never fully read. This is that comparison, with the numbers each vendor actually publishes and the ones you have to ask for in writing.
None of these four are bad products. Millions of businesses run on them every day. The problem owners keep describing in reviews and forum threads isn't that the software breaks, it's that the number on the sales page and the number on the twelfth month's bill are two different numbers.
We read each vendor's own pricing pages where they'd let us, cross-checked the figures against independent payment-industry reviewers, and pulled out what owners actually say once they've lived with each system. We do recommend one option at the end, and we say exactly why.
Square: cheap to start, tight once you grow
Square's free plan is real. You get the POS app and card payments with no monthly fee, and you pay per transaction instead. According to Square's own published fee page, the Free plan charges 2.6% + 15¢ for a tap, dip or swipe in person, and 3.3% + 30¢ for an online payment. Manually keyed or card-on-file transactions run 3.5% + 15¢ across every tier.
Square's Plus and Premium plans add a monthly software fee on top, in exchange for a slightly lower per-transaction rate (2.5% and 2.4% in person) and features like advanced reporting or 24/7 phone support. Square doesn't display the exact monthly price for those tiers on the page we checked, only a free trial, so get the current figure in writing.
Where owners get tripped up is scale. Square works well for a food truck, a boutique, or a counter-service café. Reviewers who set up Square for a full-service, sit-down restaurant more often describe hitting a ceiling on course timing, seat-level ordering and kitchen routing, and moving those locations to a restaurant-first system.
Toast: built for restaurants, priced like it
Toast leads with a Quick Start Bundle at $0 a month for a small, single-location restaurant, and a Core plan around $69 a month for the fuller POS suite with custom hardware, according to independent reviews of Toast's plans. Above that, pricing is quote-based per location.
The complaint that comes up again and again from restaurant owners isn't the headline plan price, it's what gets added on top. Reports describe monthly bills reaching several hundred dollars once payroll, scheduling, extra reporting and other modules are stacked on, well before card processing is even counted. One owner, describing a mid-sized restaurant's experience, put it plainly: they were paying for reports and services they never actually used.
Toast's own processing rates are quoted per merchant rather than published as one flat number, so ask your rep for the exact card rate in writing. Independent reviews also describe Toast contracts running up to three years, renewing automatically if not cancelled, with an early termination fee roughly equal to the remaining software fees on the term. Restaurant owners on industry forums describe feeling stuck: the contract and a leased card reader made switching too expensive until the term ran out. Toast also has a reputation for cloud outages hitting during dinner service, so ask directly what its offline fallback covers.
Clover: the contract nobody reads first
Clover's software plans look reasonable on paper: a processing-only option at $0 a month, an Essentials plan around $14.95 a month, and retail or restaurant plans in the $55 to $85 a month range, according to Clover's own pricing pages and independent reviews of them. In-person processing runs roughly 2.3% to 2.6% plus 10¢, with card-not-present transactions around 3.5% plus 10¢.
The number that causes the most damage is the contract length, not the monthly fee. Reviewers who've read Clover's standard agreement describe a three-year term as the default when you buy directly from Clover or through a bank-affiliated reseller. Shorter or month-to-month terms show up only through certain independent resellers, not as Clover's default offer. Clover hardware is also tied to its own processing network, so leaving usually means buying new hardware too, on top of whatever remains on a lease.
Some of the harshest reviews we read anywhere in this comparison come from merchants who tried to exit early, several describing hundreds of dollars paid just to get out of a contract they call confusing, and citing slow support as the reason they wanted to leave. Whatever you take from those accounts individually, get the exact term length and exit cost in writing before you sign, from whichever reseller you're talking to.
Loyverse: free is real, the extras add up
Loyverse is genuinely free at its core: the POS app, dashboard, kitchen display and customer display cost nothing, with no time limit and no contract, according to Loyverse and independent reviews of it. That's rare among the four names in this article, and it's a large part of why Loyverse shows up so often in small-shop recommendations.
The paid add-ons are where the free plan stops. Employee Management and Advanced Inventory are each priced separately per store, roughly $25 a month each based on Loyverse's published pricing and independent reviews, with a discount for paying annually. Confirm current figures directly on Loyverse's site.
As of August 2026, reviews of Loyverse note two gaps worth knowing: inventory tracks by item or by weight but not by volume, which matters if you pour drinks by the glass, and some new features reportedly reach Apple devices before Android. Neither is a dealbreaker for most retail shops, but ask Loyverse directly if either affects you.
Side by side: software, fees and contract
Rough numbers as published or reported at the time we checked. Rates vary by plan, get the exact figure for your business in writing.
| System | Software from | In-person fee | Typical contract |
|---|---|---|---|
| Square | $0/mo (Free plan) | 2.6% + 15¢ | None, month to month |
| Toast | $0 to ~$69/mo | Quoted per merchant | Up to 3 yrs, auto-renews |
| Clover | $0 to ~$85/mo | ~2.3% to 2.6% + 10¢ | 3 yrs standard |
| Loyverse | $0/mo core | Depends on your own processor | None |
| digabloPos | $0/mo, free forever | No forced processor | None |
What it actually costs to leave
The monthly price is not the real cost of a POS. The real cost is what you'd owe if you walked away next year. Add up three things before you sign anything: the early termination fee, whatever's left on a leased card reader, and the staff hours to retrain on a new system.
On that measure, Toast and Clover both carry real exit costs according to independent reviews, tied to multi-year terms and hardware. Square and Loyverse carry none, since both run month to month. Our guide to POS contracts and lock-in walks through the exact clauses to ask for in writing, worth ten minutes before you sign anything.
What we recommend
If your only question is "which is cheapest to start," Square wins outright, free software and no contract. But cheapest-to-start and cheapest-over-three-years aren't the same question, and that's where a forced processor and a multi-year contract start costing real money. That's the gap digabloPos is built to close, so we lead with it below, followed by the four names you came here for, ranked honestly.
digabloPos
digabloPos runs on a free-forever base plan, no card required to start. It forces no payment processor and no commission, so you keep the freedom Square, Toast and Clover each take away by tying you to their own processing. It also runs fully offline with no function restricted, syncing once you're back online, and includes customer credit (tabs) and a per-employee discount cap so staff can't quietly give away your margin.
👍 Strengths
- Free forever base plan, no contract, no early termination fee
- No forced processor or commission, keep your own card rate
- Offline mode, no function restricted according to the vendor
- Customer credit/tabs and per-employee discount caps built in
- Barcode scanning, lot and expiry tracking, selling by weight; multi-currency as a paid add-on
👎 Check for yourself
- Newer brand than Square, Toast or Clover in the US market
- You arrange and negotiate your own card processor separately
- Some advanced modules are paid a la carte
Square
The easiest of the four to start, no monthly commitment and a well-known flat-rate card fee, month to month with no contract. Best fit for retail, counter service and food trucks. Weigh the ceiling described above if you're running full table service.
👍 Strengths
- Free software, no contract, transparent published rates
- Fast setup, widely used, familiar hardware
👎 Check for yourself
- Reviewers report limits for full-service, sit-down restaurants
- Card processing tied to Square only
Loyverse
The most genuinely free core plan of the four, and no contract on top of it. Good fit for a small retail shop or café watching every dollar. Check the two gaps noted above, volume-based stock tracking and Android feature lag, against how you actually sell.
👍 Strengths
- Free core POS, no contract, no time limit
- Low-cost paid add-ons when you're ready for them
👎 Check for yourself
- Volume-based inventory tracking not described in reviews as of Aug. 2026, ask Loyverse to confirm
- You still need your own card processor
Toast
Strong, purpose-built restaurant features, kitchen routing, course timing, table management. Worth it if you run full-service and need those specifically. Get the module list and total monthly cost in writing first, and read the contract term before you sign.
👍 Strengths
- Deep restaurant-specific features
- Free entry bundle for a single small location
👎 Check for yourself
- Add-on modules can push the bill well past the headline price
- Contracts up to 3 years reported, with an early termination fee
Clover
Solid hardware and a familiar app marketplace, but the contract is where owners report the most pain. If you're considering Clover, get the term length and exit cost from your specific reseller in writing before you sign anything.
👍 Strengths
- Polished hardware, wide app marketplace
- Processing-only plan available at $0/mo
👎 Check for yourself
- 3-year standard contract reported when bought directly
- Hardware tied to Clover's own processing network
Try a POS with no contract to break
Free forever base plan, no forced processor, offline with nothing restricted, and customer tabs built in.
Try digabloPos freeFrequently asked questions
Is Toast really as expensive as everyone says?
Depends what you compare it to. Toast lists a Quick Start Bundle at $0 a month for one small location and a Core plan around $69, with custom pricing above that. Complaints come from owners who add payroll, scheduling and extra reporting modules and end up several hundred dollars a month before card processing. Ask for a full module-by-module quote in writing.
Why is my Clover contract three years long?
Because that's Clover's standard term when you buy directly from Clover or through a bank-affiliated reseller, according to independent reviews of its contracts. Shorter or month-to-month terms exist only through certain independent resellers. Before signing, get the exact term length, the renewal clause and the early termination fee in writing from every reseller you compare.
Is Square good enough for a full-service restaurant, or just retail?
It handles both, but owners running full table-service floors more often describe outgrowing it, mainly on course timing, seat-level ordering and kitchen routing, and moving to a restaurant-first system like Toast. For counter service, a food truck or general retail, Square's free plan and simple per-transaction pricing tend to fit well.
Is Loyverse actually free, no catch?
The core POS, dashboard, kitchen display and customer display are free with no time limit, per Loyverse and independent reviews of it. The catch: Employee Management and Advanced Inventory are separate paid add-ons priced per store, and a few features, like tracking stock by volume rather than by item or weight, aren't part of the free app as reviewed. Confirm current pricing on Loyverse's site.
What does it actually cost to switch POS systems mid-contract?
Add up three numbers: the early termination fee, any remaining payments on a leased card reader, and the staff hours to retrain on new hardware. Reviewers describe Toast's exit fee as roughly the remaining software fees for the term, and Clover's as tied to a multi-year contract that's expensive to exit early. A system with no contract removes all three costs at once.
Which of these lets me use my own card processor instead of theirs?
Square, Toast and Clover are each built around their own in-house payment processing, so your card rate is set and billed by the same company that sold you the software. digabloPos forces no payment processor and no commission on what you collect, so you stay free to choose and negotiate your own card processing separately from the till software.
Stop paying for modules you don't use
Set up a free till with no contract, no forced processor, and add paid modules only when you actually need them.
Create my free tillOfficial sources
Rates and terms change, and vendors update pricing pages often. Here is where to check what you just read.
- Square, official processing fees : the current published per-transaction rates by plan.
- Clover, official retail pricing : Clover's own current software plans and pricing.