Pricing Transparency
How Our Restaurant POS Stays Free — and Processing Stays Around 2%
Last updated: July 2026
Ginger's POS is free because the business model doesn't need your monthly fee: the online ordering that comes with it carries a flat $1 platform fee paid by the customer, and restaurants that want AI phone ordering pay $250/month for that add-on. Those two lines fund everything else — so the POS itself, the floor plan, split checks, reporting, and the branded ordering site cost $0/month with online ordering enabled.
This page is the whole business model, in public. No "contact sales," no gotcha rates, no 24-month contract with a termination fee. If you are comparing free restaurant point-of-sale systems — or hunting for the cheapest all-in option — here is exactly where our money comes from, and why our costs stay low enough to give the software away.
The Short Version
- 1.The POS is $0/month with online ordering enabled ($59/month without). No contracts.
- 2.We make money exactly two ways: a flat $1/order platform fee on online orders — paid by the customer, not you — and the optional Voice AI phone-ordering add-on at $250/month.
- 3.Card processing runs as low as ~2% + 5c through our payment partners (subject to volume) — we keep rates low instead of padding them.
- 4.We run lean and took no venture capital — so no investor math ever forces prices up.
- 5.We reuse the hardware you already own — and if you are switching or opening new, we provide the full equipment package free (eligible restaurants).
Where the Money Actually Comes From
Every "free" POS has a business model. Most hide it in padded processing, hardware leases, or feature paywalls. Ours has two lines, and here they are:
1. Online Ordering — Funded by Customers
Every Ginger restaurant gets a branded ordering website whose orders flow straight into the POS and print to the kitchen. Each online order carries a flat $1 platform fee, added at checkout and paid by the customer — not carved out of the restaurant's revenue. A restaurant doing 500 online orders a month generates $500 of platform revenue without paying us anything. More orders make the model healthier — our growth points the same direction as the restaurant's.
2. The Voice AI Add-On ($250/month, Optional)
AI answers the restaurant's phone 24/7, takes orders in natural English conversation — complex modifiers and all — and sends them straight to the POS and kitchen printers. It is our only subscription product, priced to cover real telephony, real AI compute, and a margin. Skip it if you don't want it — the POS is unaffected.
That's the Whole List
No hardware markups or leases, no "premium support" tier, no percentage of your sales. And card processing: we pass through partner rates as low as ~2% + 5c (subject to volume) rather than treating card fees as a profit center. Plenty of POS providers pad processing because their "free" software has to be paid for somewhere. Ours already is — so processing doesn't have to carry the business.
Why Our Costs Are Low Enough to Give the POS Away
No Venture Capital
We are bootstrapped — no VC money. That is not a virtue signal; it is a price structure. A funded software company must eventually return its investors' money, and that pressure becomes your monthly fee, the upsell calls, next quarter's price increase. We don't have that math hanging over us. We answer to restaurants, because restaurants (and their customers) are the only ones paying.
An Extremely Lean Operation
Software, built carefully, is cheap to run. We carry no commissioned sales army, no downtown office, no growth-at-all-costs spending. The cost structure is engineering plus support — and on your bill, that shows up as $0/month.
One System Instead of Three
The POS, online ordering, and voice AI share one menu database and one stack. That is far cheaper to build and run than three vendors glued together with integrations — and what it saves is what you don't pay. DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub orders flow into the same POS too.
Reusing the Hardware You Already Own
Proprietary terminals are a markup machine: a $500 device leased at $50/month for 36 months costs $1,800. Ginger runs in the browser — the iPads, Android tablets, and laptops you already own are ready-made ordering screens, and many existing thermal printers keep working too. Not forcing new hardware is the most direct way we keep our costs (and yours) down.
Switching — or Opening New? The Equipment Is Free
The first choice is always to reuse what you own. For the rest — if you are switching from another POS or opening a new restaurant — we provide the full equipment package free (subject to eligibility):
- The Ginger Box — the small in-restaurant server the POS runs on (keeps working through internet outages)
- Up to two thermal printers
- A credit card terminal
- A touchscreen terminal or tablet
Between reuse and the included package, most restaurants start with $0 in hardware spend.
So Is This the Cheapest Restaurant POS?
"Cheapest" is an all-in question, not a sticker question. Add up four things: monthly software, processing rate, hardware, and online-ordering commissions.
- —Software: $0/month (versus a typical $69–$300/month)
- —Processing: as low as ~2% + 5c. On $40,000/month in card volume, 2.0% versus a common 2.6% saves about $240/month — roughly $2,880/year.
- —Hardware: $0 for eligible restaurants — reuse first, and we provide what's missing.
- —Online ordering: your own site at a flat $1/order paid by the customer, instead of 15–30% marketplace commissions.
For a typical independent restaurant, we don't know of a cheaper all-in setup. If you find one, run the numbers with our POS costs guide and commission calculator — we'll still be here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Ginger POS really free? What is the catch?
The POS is $0/month with online ordering enabled ($59/month without), no contracts. The "catch" is published right here: online orders carry a flat $1 platform fee paid by the customer, and restaurants that want AI phone ordering pay $250/month for that optional add-on. Those two lines are the business model — there are no hidden fees, hardware leases, or forced upgrades.
How does a free restaurant POS make money?
Two ways. First, every Ginger restaurant gets a branded online-ordering website, and each online order carries a flat $1 platform fee paid by the customer at checkout — a restaurant doing 500 online orders a month generates $500 of platform revenue without paying Ginger anything. Second, the optional Voice AI add-on ($250/month) has AI answer the restaurant phone and take orders 24/7. That is the entire revenue model.
Why are your card processing rates so low?
Ginger passes through partner processing rates as low as approximately 2% + 5 cents per transaction (subject to volume) instead of treating card fees as a profit center. Many POS providers pad processing because their "free" software has to be paid for somewhere; Ginger's software is funded by customer-paid online-ordering fees and the optional voice AI add-on, so processing does not have to carry the business.
Do I have to buy hardware for Ginger POS?
Usually not. Ginger runs in the browser, so iPads, Android tablets, and laptops you already own work as ordering screens. For restaurants switching from another POS or opening a new restaurant, Ginger provides the full equipment package free (subject to eligibility): the Ginger Box server, up to two thermal printers, a credit card terminal, and a touchscreen terminal or tablet. Between reuse and the included package, most restaurants start with zero hardware spend.
Is a free POS sustainable, or will prices jump later?
Ginger runs lean and took no venture capital, so there are no investors whose returns must eventually come out of restaurant pockets. The model funds itself per order: customers pay $1 on online orders, and voice AI subscribers pay $250/month. Everything is month-to-month with no contracts — so the only way Ginger keeps a restaurant is by staying worth keeping.
What does "cheapest restaurant POS" actually mean?
Compare all-in cost, not the sticker: monthly software + processing rate + hardware + online-ordering commissions. Ginger is $0/month software, processing as low as ~2% + 5c, $0 hardware for eligible restaurants, and direct online ordering at a flat $1/order paid by the customer instead of 15-30% marketplace commissions. On $40,000/month of card volume, a 2.0% rate versus a typical 2.6% saves about $240/month — roughly $2,880/year — before the software savings.
See It for Yourself
Open the live demo and try the real POS — no signup. Or talk to us about your restaurant.
© 2026 Ginger. Free restaurant POS with built-in AI phone ordering.