Payzium versus Toast
Payzium versus Toast: restaurant POS plus a blended card rate.
Toast wins for restaurants that want an all-in-one POS with kitchen tickets, online ordering, and staff scheduling built in. Payzium wins as a card processor when the restaurant has (or wants) its own POS software and needs a published, honest merchant rate.
Toast: what the fees page publishes.
| Line | Rate | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Card-present (Toast Payments) | 2.49% + $0.15 | [1] |
| Card-not-present (online ordering) | 3.5% + $0.15 | [2] |
| Keyed | 3.5% + $0.15 | [3] |
- Software: Starter Kit: $0 per month, bundled pay-as-you-go processing [4]
- Software: Point of Sale plan: $69 per month per location [5]
- Software: New Restaurant Basics bundle: Starting at $110 per month per location [6]
Toast hardware. Toast Starter Kit ($0) includes one countertop terminal on a 24-month software commitment; larger kitchen and handheld orders are purchased outright. [7]
Toast contract candor.
- Toast's Starter Kit hardware program carries a 24-month software commitment. Ending the plan early triggers hardware and software recovery.
- Toast payments and Toast software are bundled by contract; a merchant leaving Toast software also leaves the Toast payments rate.
- Toast's card-not-present rate on online orders is 3.5 percent plus $0.15, which is where restaurants doing meaningful takeout volume end up feeling the blended rate the most.
Where Toast wins.
- Purpose-built restaurant workflow: kitchen tickets, coursing, floor plan, online ordering, gift cards, loyalty.
- Handhelds and pay-at-the-table are strong and battle-tested.
- Native integrations with the restaurant ecosystem (delivery, scheduling, accounting).
Where Payzium wins.
- A restaurant on its own POS or on a specialty POS (Square for Restaurants, Lightspeed) can take Payzium's published-margin rate and keep its software choice.
- Payzium does not bundle the merchant's card rate to a software subscription. Program A and Program B are transparent regardless of the POS the restaurant uses.
- Payzium's dual pricing program is a strong fit for takeout-heavy restaurants where the online-order rate on the alternative is 3.5 percent.
Worked example.
At $40,000 per month, 100 percent card-present, restaurant mix. Toast card-present: 2.49% plus $0.15 per transaction plus a software plan. Payzium: interchange plus assessments (pass-through) plus a 0.30 percent margin on credit volume plus $0.05 per transaction plus the $5 monthly account fee.
Payzium all-in effective rate on this fixture
1.70%
This is the same rate shown across the site. See the full monthly breakdown on the calculator.
FAQ.
Do I have to leave Toast to use Payzium?
Payzium is the card processor. If a restaurant is on Toast software with Toast payments, it can move payments off Toast if its contract allows; the software side is between the restaurant and Toast.
Can Payzium price a takeout-heavy restaurant fairly?
Yes. Payzium prices interchange-plus on Program A regardless of channel, so a restaurant with heavy takeout volume pays a fair CNP rate that reflects actual interchange rather than a 3.5 percent blend.
Sources.
- [1] Card-present 2.49% plus $0.15. Verified 2026-07-07. https://pos.toasttab.com/pricing
- [2] CNP online ordering 3.5% plus $0.15. Verified 2026-07-07. https://pos.toasttab.com/pricing
- [3] Keyed 3.5% plus $0.15. Verified 2026-07-07. https://pos.toasttab.com/pricing
- [4] Starter Kit software. Verified 2026-07-07. https://pos.toasttab.com/pricing
- [5] Point of Sale plan $69 per month. Verified 2026-07-07. https://pos.toasttab.com/pricing
- [6] New Restaurant Basics bundle starting at $110 per month. Verified 2026-07-07. https://pos.toasttab.com/pricing
- [7] Toast Starter Kit hardware. Verified 2026-07-07. https://pos.toasttab.com/pricing
Ready to see the numbers on your business?
Run your monthly volume through the calculator and see the exact all-in figure your Payzium account would carry.