January 1, 2025
Written by: The POS Exchange Team
Choosing the right POS system is no easy feat, especially when it feels like every platform promises the same features. But beneath the surface, each system operates differently and caters to unique business needs. For example, TouchBistro and Toast are two popular restaurant POS systems with distinct features and tools that can impact your daily operations.
Comparing TouchBistro vs. Toast can help you identify the best solution for your business. This guide will uncover their similarities and differences to help you select the best POS system to streamline operations, enhance customer experience, and drive business efficiency effortlessly.
The POS Exchange offers a valuable resource for solving the challenges of selecting a restaurant POS system. Their comprehensive database simplifies your search by helping you narrow your options based on your establishment's unique needs.
Comparing TouchBistro to Toast POS is like comparing a warm, delicious piece of pie to a hearty seven-course meal: one is simple, sweet, and satisfying, while the other is complicated, overwhelming, and will make you feel full for days. TouchBistro is an intuitive POS system offering all the essential features most small to mid-sized restaurants need to start. In contrast, Toast provides a robust restaurant management system with features and complexities that can overwhelm new users.
TouchBistro is a highly regarded POS system built exclusively for the restaurant industry. It’s an iPad-based solution that delivers an intuitive, user-friendly experience for restaurant staff. TouchBistro supports various restaurants, including full-service restaurants, quick-service bars, and cafes.
Toast POS is an Android-based system catering specifically to the restaurant industry. It offers comprehensive features to help restaurants manage operations, including online ordering, delivery, and contactless payment solutions. Toast POS is known for its robust hardware and software integration capabilities.
TouchBistro outshines Toast in affordability and accessibility. TouchBistro is a fantastic introductory POS system for most small to mid-sized restaurants. There is only a $69 fee per month to start processing payments using the TouchBistro POS system. You can source your POS hardware, and the most general restaurant features are included with no extra fees or integrations needed.
TouchBistro’s user interface and website bring one word to mind: simplicity. It isn’t much more manageable for first-time POS users than a touchy bistro’s system: no frills, extraneous menus, or extended training process for new employees. TouchBistro gets the job done while saving you (and your employees) time, money, and energy.
One of the downfalls of the simplicity of TouchBistro is the lack of features you see from other top-tier restaurant POS systems. It doesn’t compare to Toast in features, scalability, and customer service. It will cost you more for features you might expect to be standard (reservations, customer loyalty, and online ordering, to name a few), which can run up your monthly bill. Fewer integrations are available, a blessing for easily overwhelmed new business owners but a curse for quickly growing restaurants.
Speaking of growing restaurants, TouchBistro also falls short regarding scalability. While small restaurants will do just fine with TouchBistro, the cracks will begin to show as the needs of the business increase. Larger restaurants that need more terminals, more features, and more complicated modifiers or extras will be constrained by the limits of TouchBistro’s offerings. The support TouchBistro offers is not always the highest quality. The knowledge base also leaves something to be desired by some users.
As mentioned, Toast beats TouchBistro when it comes to standard features. Toast is the clear winner with features, integrations, and hardware. Toast is the restaurant POS system that provides an entire ecosystem of products and features. Inventory tracking? xtraCHEF. Delivery drivers? Toast Delivery Services. Mobile ordering? Toast Mobile Order & Pay. If there’s something you don’t want to use Toast for (like delivery or inventory management), there is an integration for you.
It might be more expensive in the long run, but you aren’t stuck with Toast products if you don’t want to be. Have you ever walked into a restaurant and noticed the large, maybe a little chunky, mobile POS system the servers are using? They’re most likely proprietary Android-based Toast devices. Toast’s hardware options include hand-held units, customer-facing displays, self-serve kiosks, kitchen display systems, and other basics like receipt printers or cash drawers.
But where does Toast need some work compared to TouchBistro? Here’s where Toast loses: affordability and contract terms. It’s hard to find a restaurant POS system that is more expensive for restaurants with complex needs than Toast. There are some basic features included with any of the standard POS plans offered by Toast, but there are some features you would expect to find included that you’ll end up paying more for each month.
Inventory management is a significant issue; many users complain about the cost. Toast also made the mistake of adding a $0.99 fee to every online order without telling business owners. After an understandable outcry, Toast removed the customer fee but with the caveat that other fees may be coming soon to cover the cost of updates.
The majority of Toast customers’ complaints relate to payment processing contracts. They are at least two years long, there isn’t much room for negotiation, and some users report misleading salespeople who leave them with contracts they eventually regret. We highly recommend reading every bit of fine print before signing any contract, but that advice might be even more critical for Toast customers.
TouchBistro ranks higher than Toast in this category due to its more favorable contract terms—1-year contracts versus Toast’s 2-year agreements. As an iPad-based POS, users are also more likely to be able to reuse existing restaurant POS components they already own. But if you look past Toast’s contract terms, the system may be less expensive.
Toast offers a free baseline POS subscription, while TouchBistro doesn’t offer a free trial. TouchBistro’s add-on pricing is easy to understand with flat-rate monthly prices, so it is easy to budget for. Toast users have the option to pay for add-ons for each available subscription. The number of pricing options can make budgeting a little confusing. TouchBistro also does not support self-ordering kiosks. So, if kiosks are a must-have, Toast is a better bet.
TouchBistro and Toast operate on very different hardware. Toast operates on industry-grade, Toast-designed touch-screen tablets and peripherals. TouchBistro, on the other hand, relies on iPads for POS terminals, KDS screens, customer-facing displays, and tableside order and payment devices. Toast offers a broader range of hardware options, though. If you want self-service kiosks and digital ordering displays, Toast is the only option.
Toast provides easy payment plans and pay-as-you-go options for up to two terminals. TouchBistro requires custom quotes for its hardware, with no pay-as-you-go options.
TouchBistro and Toast are tied on payments. Both systems lock new users into their built-in payment processing systems, TB Payments, and Toast Payments. Toast lists its processing fees publicly, while TouchBistro requires a custom quote. Toast Payments rates start at 2.49% + 15 cents per transaction for customers who pay upfront for hardware.
High-volume restaurants can also request a custom rate quote, which will likely be lower. However, with Toast, you can pay for additional software and hardware purchases by agreeing to higher processing fees, which can help small restaurants get advanced tools with no money down.
Toast scored higher than TouchBistro in this category (4.13 vs. 3.44) because the former includes more customizable reports and expansive workforce management tools. TouchBistro’s reports are mostly templatized; some are only available on the POS, back-office dashboard, or PDFs. TouchBistro also acts as a time clock to record your employees’ hours. Still, it falls well short of Toast’s full-spectrum employee management, including automated tip pool calculations, scheduling, and onboarding paperwork. Both POS systems integrate with delivery systems through third-party apps. Toast has 11 integrations. Some are direct, like Grubhub or DoorDash, and some are aggregators, like ItsaCheckmate. TouchBistro, meanwhile, only uses the aggregator Deliverect, which comes with extra monthly fees.
If you need advanced features, Toast is the clear winner. The system has many, many more advanced features than TouchBistro. Most of them are optional add-ons and come with additional monthly fees. If you need automated tip pool management, a system that alerts you of local labor law conflicts when creating employee schedules, Toast is your best option.
If the advanced tool you need is built-in reservations without requiring a third-party integration, both systems offer full-functioning reservations modules. You can add TouchBistro Reservations or Toast Tables for additional monthly software fees.
Regarding online ordering, TouchBistro and Toast are closely aligned—in fact, both make it to our list of the top delivery POS systems. Both have an online ordering system that handles pickup or delivery and lets people order from your website or social media pages. With either system, you can add wait times to throttle orders so your kitchen staff doesn’t get overwhelmed. The information integrates with your marketing and loyalty programs (if you have them). However, map-based driver dispatch makes Toast’s driver management tools more robust.
If you want an easy-to-use POS software for your restaurant, you can’t go wrong with either solution. Both have excellent user interfaces for your waitstaff and administrators. Real-world users give these systems a tie when looking at ease of use. Both earned a 4.2 out of 5 just on customer support. This is an excellent overall score for SaaS and above average for restaurant POS systems. We thank Toast and TouchBistro for having 24/7 year-round live help via phone, email, or online chat. Their help sections are thorough and include illustrations and videos. Both services go beyond how to use the software with white papers on many aspects of restaurant management.
TouchBistro is ideal for small to medium-sized restaurants, cafes, bars, and food trucks that prioritize ease of use, mobility, and a familiar interface. Its iPad-based system is beautiful to establishments looking for a sleek and modern POS solution. Toast POS is well-suited for various restaurant types, from small cafes to large multi-location chains. Its comprehensive feature set and robust hardware make it a good fit for high-volume establishments that require a reliable and scalable solution.
The POS Exchange isn't your average restaurant POS system company. With over 20 years of restaurant experience, we know how to help your business succeed. The POS Exchange has served 200,000 merchants and processes billions annually. Our tailored POS system solutions allow companies to speed up checkouts by 30%, manage customer reviews while reducing overhead, and implement dynamic pricing.
If you're managing a busy restaurant, a local café, or operate a multi-location business, The POS Exchange delivers customized restaurant POS solutions that tell your unique business story.
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