Quick service · costs verified September 2026
Best POS for quick service and fast food restaurants in 2026
Quick service runs on throughput: seconds per order at the counter, a kitchen display that keeps the line moving, and increasingly a kiosk so guests order themselves. Those last two are sold as add-ons with their own monthly fees, and they are where a $0 headline plan becomes a $150 monthly bill. The figures below are each vendor's published add-on prices, dated.
Competitor figures come from each vendor's own pricing page or a dated 2026 review naming it; Ginger's from gingerserve.com/pricing. Checked September 2026. Prices change; treat this as a dated snapshot and confirm before signing.
What the kiosk and kitchen display add-ons cost
Square publishes both: its Kiosk app is $50 per device per month on the Plus plan and $30 on Premium; its KDS app is $30 per device on Plus and $20 on Premium. Toast's kiosk hardware is sold as part of a Guest Self-Service Starter Kit at $1,454, or $0 with higher processing, and third-party pricing guides put its kiosk software at about $69 a month. Lightspeed lists its KDS at $30 per screen per month.
| Add-on | Ginger | Square | Toast | Lightspeed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kitchen display | Included; runs on a tablet you own | $30/device/mo Plus; $20 Premium | Sold with Toast KDS hardware | $30/screen/mo |
| Self-order kiosk | Included; kiosk mode on a tablet you own | $50/device/mo Plus; $30 Premium | Self-Service kit $1,454 or $0 with higher processing; ~$69/mo software (third-party figure) | Not listed on pricing page |
| Online ordering | Built in; $1/order paid by the guest | Included on all plans | Quote-based add-on | Add-on |
Ginger's kiosk and QR ordering are settings on the same system, not separate subscriptions; the kitchen display runs on any tablet. The Toast software figure is from third-party pricing guides because Toast's own pricing page does not publish it.
The base POS costs, side by side
| Cost line | Ginger | Square for Restaurants | Toast | Clover |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly software | $0 with online ordering; no contract | Free $0 / Plus $49 / Premium $149 per location | Starter Kit $0 / Point of Sale $69+ | Quick-Service Dining $89.95–$109.90 |
| In-person processing | Interchange-plus, as low as 2% + 5¢ | 2.6% + 15¢ Free; 2.5% Plus; 2.4% Premium (+15¢) | 2.49% + 15¢ with hardware bought; 3.09–3.69% + 15¢ pay-as-you-go | 2.3% + 10¢ |
| Hardware | Box, up to two printers and a card terminal included over $40k/mo card volume | Reader $59; Stand $149; Terminal $299; Register $799–899 | Countertop Starter Kit $1,203, or $0 with higher processing | Mini $849; Flex $749; Station Duo $1,899 |
| Contract | No contract | No contract | Two to three years | Software month-to-month; hardware promotions need a 3-year commitment |
Where the counter line is won
A quick-service screen is a grid of the forty things you sell most, with combos and sizes one tap deep. Every extra tap is multiplied by hundreds of orders a day. Test the vendor's demo by ringing the same ten-item order three times and counting taps.
The kitchen display has to survive the rush. A KDS that lags behind the register by thirty seconds is a line out the door. Because Ginger's POS runs on a Box inside the restaurant rather than in the cloud, the register and the kitchen screen talk over the local network, and ordering keeps working if the internet drops.
Combos and upsells belong in the menu structure, not in the cashier's memory. A combo that prices its own drink and side substitution correctly is a menu-modeling problem; ask any vendor to build your top combo on the demo and price a substitution.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a self-order kiosk add to a POS bill?
Square publishes its Kiosk app at $50 per device per month on the Plus plan and $30 on Premium, on top of the plan fee. Toast sells kiosk hardware in a $1,454 Guest Self-Service Starter Kit, or $0 with higher processing, and third-party pricing guides put the software at about $69 a month. On Ginger, kiosk mode is a setting on a tablet you already own, at no added subscription.
What does a kitchen display system cost?
Square's KDS app is $30 per device per month on Plus and $20 on Premium. Lightspeed lists its KDS at $30 per screen per month. Toast sells KDS as hardware. Ginger includes the kitchen display and runs it on any tablet, with no per-screen fee.
Is Square good for a fast food restaurant?
Its Free plan is a credible starting point: $0 a month, 2.6% + 15¢ in person, an online ordering page included, and no contract. The costs arrive with scale, since the kiosk and KDS apps are $50 and $30 per device per month on Plus, and the fixed 15¢ weighs on small tickets. Square's own page invites operators over $250,000 a year to ask for custom pricing.
Does the POS keep working if the internet goes down during a rush?
Vendors differ. Toast's devices enter offline mode 40 seconds after losing connectivity and can take cash and encrypted card payments that authorize on reconnect, per Toast's documentation. Square supports offline payments for up to 24 hours on Register and Terminal and one hour on Reader and Stand, with payments expiring if not uploaded within 72 hours. Ginger's POS runs on a Box inside the restaurant, so ordering, kitchen printing and the display keep working on the local network without internet.
What is the cheapest POS setup for a new quick-service restaurant?
At $0 a month with online ordering included, both Square Free and Ginger. The separating line is hardware and add-ons: Square's kiosk and KDS are monthly per-device fees and its hardware is bought; Ginger includes kiosk mode and the kitchen display, and covers the Box, up to two printers and a card terminal for restaurants over $40,000 a month in card volume.
See it running before anyone calls you
The live demo opens in your browser with no signup. Ring up an order, split a check, print a ticket. If it fits, we ship a Box and set it up with you.