Choosing a POS · verified September 2026
What a self-ordering kiosk actually costs
A self-ordering kiosk absorbs the peak and raises the average check. It is also billed the way kitchen displays are, per device per month with the hardware charged on top, which makes a two-kiosk installation one of the most expensive things a restaurant can add. This page covers what kiosks genuinely change, the rooms where they are a mistake, what each system charges per device, and what to test before signing.
Square's per-device kiosk fee and Toast's Guest Self-Service kit price are from those vendors; the monthly kiosk software figure for Toast is from named third-party sources and labelled reported. Ginger's kiosk behaviour is from its own source, including the pay-then-fire sequence and what happens on a decline. Read September 2026.
What a kiosk changes, and what it does not
A self-ordering kiosk is a screen a guest orders and pays on themselves. The case for one is usually made as labour savings, which is the weakest version of the argument. What a kiosk reliably does is absorb the peak: at the twenty minutes when a line forms, two kiosks take orders in parallel with the counter, and the constraint moves from the register to the kitchen, which is where you would rather it be.
The second effect is average ticket. A screen asks about the upsell every single time, without judging whether the guest looks like they want it, and it never forgets to offer the large. Operators consistently report a higher average check on kiosk orders than counter orders, which is unsurprising: the kiosk is simply more disciplined than a person at the end of a long shift.
What a kiosk does not do is replace the person at the counter. Someone still hands over the food, answers the question the screen could not, and resets the machine when a guest walks away mid-order. A kiosk changes what that person spends their time on; it does not remove the role.
The honest case against a kiosk
Kiosks are the most expensive thing on this list to get wrong, because the cost is per screen and the screens are the most visible object in your dining room. A kiosk that nobody uses is worse than no kiosk: it occupies the best square metre of floor space and signals that the restaurant tried something and stopped.
Guest mix matters more than anything in the brochure. Kiosks land well with guests who already order on their phones and land badly with older guests, with anyone in a hurry who just wants to say three words to a human, and in rooms where the menu genuinely needs explaining. Accessibility is a real obligation too, not a footnote: a screen-only counter is a problem for guests who cannot use it, which is why the counter has to stay open.
And a kiosk is a payment terminal a stranger touches unsupervised all day. It needs a card reader attached to it, it needs to fail safely when a payment declines, and it needs to not leave half-finished orders in your system when someone wanders off. Those are the details that separate a kiosk that works from a kiosk that quietly generates work.
What a self-ordering kiosk costs
Kiosks are billed the way kitchen displays are, per device per month, and the hardware is charged on top. That combination is why a two-kiosk installation is one of the most expensive add-ons a restaurant can agree to.
| System | Monthly per kiosk | Kiosk hardware | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ginger | $0 | bring your own tablet | included in the POS; no per-device fee |
| Square | $50 on Plus, $30 on Premium | your own iPad, or Square hardware | requires a paid Square for Restaurants plan |
| Toast | about $69 (reported) | Guest Self-Service kit $1,454 | kit price is Toast's; software fee is third-party reported |
| Chowbus | not published | 50% off kiosk for new restaurants | smart ordering incl. kiosk is in the Starter tier |
| Otter | not published | not published | QR and online ordering arrive at the $178 Advanced tier |
| TouchBistro | quote only | quote only | self-ordering is one of a dozen unpriced add-ons |
Square's kiosk fee is from its own pricing; Toast's Guest Self-Service kit price is Toast's, while the monthly kiosk software figure comes from named third-party sources and is labelled reported. Read September 2026.
Two kiosks, three years
One kiosk rarely makes sense operationally, because a single machine becomes its own queue at exactly the moment you wanted the queue to shorten. Two is the realistic minimum, so price two.
On Square Plus that is $100 a month, or $3,600 over three years, in software alone, on top of the plan the kiosk requires you to be on. On Toast the reported $69 a month for two is $4,968 across the term, plus $2,908 for two Guest Self-Service kits, which is close to $7,900 before a single order is placed. On Ginger it is $0 and two tablets.
The reason to do this arithmetic before the demo rather than after is that kiosks are usually sold on the upside, and the upside is real. A higher average ticket on kiosk orders can genuinely cover a per-device fee. But it covers it out of margin you would otherwise have kept, and the size of the fee decides how much of the gain you keep.
What Ginger's kiosk does
The kiosk is a fullscreen, customer-facing flow on a tablet the restaurant owns. It is set up once with a device token minted by a manager rather than a staff login, so it lives outside the staff app entirely and a guest cannot tap their way into the POS.
The money and kitchen behaviour is the part worth checking on any kiosk, and here it is deliberate. Browsing and the cart are local to the device, so nothing exists in your system until the guest pays. Paying creates the order and starts the terminal payment. The kitchen ticket fires only once the payment actually settles, so the line never cooks an order that was never paid for. A decline offers a retry, and walking away after a failure cancels the created order rather than leaving it sitting in your To-Go list.
Because it runs in a browser on your own network, the kiosk is a tablet you bought from anyone, in a stand you chose, and replacing a broken one is a trip to a shop rather than a support ticket and a lead time.
Should you put in kiosks?
| If this is you | Probably |
|---|---|
| Counter-service with a visible line at peak | Yes, two of them. This is the case kiosks are built for. |
| Boba, quick service, high modifier counts | Yes. Guests build their own drink faster than they can describe it. |
| Full-service with table ordering | No. A kiosk solves a queue you do not have. |
| Older guest base, menu that needs explaining | Careful. Keep the counter fully staffed and treat kiosks as optional. |
| Quoted per device per month | Price two kiosks over three years before agreeing. |
Whatever you decide, the counter stays open. A kiosk that is the only way to order is an accessibility problem and a lost sale every time it is busy or broken.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a self-ordering kiosk cost for a restaurant?
Most systems charge per kiosk per month plus hardware. Square charges $50 per device a month on its Plus plan and $30 on Premium, and requires a paid Square for Restaurants plan. Toast's Guest Self-Service kit is $1,454 and third-party sources report kiosk software around $69 a month. TouchBistro prices self-ordering by quote. Ginger includes the kiosk in its POS with no per-device fee and the restaurant supplies its own tablet. Two kiosks over three years is about $3,600 in Square software alone.
Can I use an iPad as a self-ordering kiosk?
Yes with Ginger, and with Square, though Square still charges its per-device monthly fee whichever tablet you use. On Ginger the kiosk is a fullscreen browser page on a tablet you own, set up once with a device token minted by a manager, so it never touches a staff login. Replacing a broken tablet is a trip to a shop rather than a support ticket.
Do self-ordering kiosks increase average order value?
Operators consistently report a higher average check on kiosk orders than counter orders. The mechanism is unglamorous: the screen offers the upsell on every single order without judging whether the guest looks interested, and it never forgets to offer the larger size. The other reliable gain is throughput at peak, because kiosks take orders in parallel with the counter and move the bottleneck to the kitchen.
What happens on a kiosk if a guest's payment is declined?
On a well-built kiosk, nothing reaches the kitchen. In Ginger the cart is local to the device until the guest pays, paying creates the order and starts the terminal payment, and the kitchen ticket fires only once the payment settles. A decline offers a retry, and abandoning the screen after a failure cancels the created order so it does not sit in the To-Go list. Worth testing this exact sequence on any kiosk you evaluate.
Does a kiosk replace counter staff?
No, and a restaurant that plans for it to will be disappointed. Someone still hands over the food, answers what the screen could not, and resets a machine a guest walked away from. A kiosk changes what the counter person spends time on and absorbs the peak; it does not remove the role. The counter also has to stay open for guests who cannot or will not use a screen.
See the kiosk flow in the live demo
The demo opens in any browser with no signup. Ginger is $0 a month with online ordering, the kiosk is included with no per-device fee, and the tablet is one you buy from anyone.