Frequently Asked Questions

Ginger POS replaces the system you run your restaurant on: floor plan, checks, staff, kitchen routing, reporting, plus online ordering. Ginger Direct does not replace anything — you keep the POS you already have, and Ginger handles only your online ordering. The Ginger Box prints those orders to the printers you already own, in the kitchen and at the front counter, sharing them with your current POS rather than integrating with it — which is why its age does not matter and your POS vendor has nothing to approve. Both are $0/month with the $1 per order paid by the customer. The trade-off with Direct is that your online sales report in Ginger while your in-store sales stay in your old POS, so the two do not add themselves together. The Box running Direct is the same Box that runs the full POS, so if you ever want to consolidate, you switch it on — nothing to install, nothing to migrate.

Ginger POS is free when online ordering is enabled. Customers pay a $1 platform fee per online order — your restaurant pays nothing. For restaurants with fewer than 100 online orders per month or without online ordering, a $59/month platform fee applies.

For eligible restaurants, nothing to buy — we provide the hardware: the Ginger Box (the small in-restaurant server that runs the POS), up to two thermal printers, and a credit card terminal. Any device with a browser — iPad, Android tablet, laptop — works as an extra ordering screen. No proprietary terminals to buy or lease. Hardware is covered for restaurants processing over $40,000/month in card volume; below that, ask us.

You keep serving. The POS runs on the Ginger Box inside your restaurant, so taking orders, printing kitchen tickets, and cash payments all keep working through an internet outage. Card payments and online orders need a connection and pick right back up when it returns. One thing worth knowing: your in-restaurant network has to stay up, since the screens still reach the Box over it. If your internet router is also your Wi-Fi — as most ISP-supplied gateways are — one failure takes both, which is why we recommend a separate access point behind it.

Ginger covers the hardware for eligible restaurants — no proprietary terminals to buy or lease, no app to install, and devices you already own work as extra screens. It's free, not $69-$100/month. Online and phone orders go directly to your POS and kitchen with zero manual steps. And we're fully bilingual Chinese-English, which no mainstream POS offers.

Most restaurants are live in a day. Upload your menu and our AI builds your digital menu in about 30 minutes. We handle the rest — printer setup, floor plan, staff accounts, your branded website.

Yes — Ginger is fully bilingual Chinese and English. Staff run the POS in Chinese, customers see English online, kitchen tickets print in Chinese. Built-in, not a translation add-on.

When a customer calls, AI answers in natural English, takes their order — including modifiers and substitutions — confirms by text, and sends it straight to your POS and kitchen printers. If the caller needs a person, AI transfers the call. $250/month add-on.

The $1 platform fee is charged to the customer on online orders — not to your restaurant. It's how we keep the POS free. Compare that to DoorDash or UberEats taking 15-30% of every order.

No. Month-to-month. No setup fees, no cancellation fees. Cancel anytime.

We offer rates as low as ~2% + 5¢ per transaction through our payment partners, subject to your restaurant's sales volume. You can also use your existing processor.

Direct access to our team — no call centers, no ticket queues. Phone, email, or text.

Yes — a $99/month add-on alongside the free POS. DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub orders flow directly into the POS and print to the kitchen like any other order — no platform tablets, no manual re-entry. Marketplace sales appear in your daily reports alongside walk-in and online orders.

Yes. Click "Try Demo" to explore a live Ginger POS. No signup required.