Buy Square for Restaurants if…
8.5/10Venues that want hard, documented limits: a per-transaction cap and a clear 72-hour expiry.
From US$0 Free; Plus US$49/location
Check Square for Restaurants pricingChoose Toast if…
8.5/10Busy full-service and quick-service rooms that want staff to keep taking cards and send big checks to a manager.
From US$0 Starter Kit; POS plan US$69/mo
Check Toast pricingInteractive calculator
Flat-rate (Square) vs interchange-plus contract: monthly cost
Interchange-plus quote (your numbers)
Transactions / month
1,579
Square effective rate
3.21%
processing only
Square all-in / month
US$1,978
Contract all-in / month
US$1,651
effective 2.46% processing
Contract saves per year
US$3,926
Formula & assumptions
Square fees use published rates: US (Square Free) in-person 2.6% + 15¢, online 3.3% + 30¢; AU in-person 1.6%, online 2.2% (sellers signed up from 30 May 2024). Source: squareup.com/us/en/payments/our-fees and squareup.com/au/en/pricing.
Transactions = volume ÷ average ticket. Interchange-plus = volume × (blended interchange % + processor markup %) + transactions × per-transaction fee.
Assumptions you control: blended interchange (default 1.9% US is a rough mixed debit/credit card-present estimate; AU interchange is far lower, try 0.5–0.8%), markup, software subscription and hardware costs. Toast and Lightspeed do not publish one fixed rate, so enter the numbers from your own quote. Hardware is straight-line amortised over the months you set. Early-termination fees, chargebacks, PCI fees and tax are not included.
Spec comparison
| Feature | Square for Restaurants | Toast | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per-transaction offline limit | US$1–US$50,000, set per mode (blocks above) | Optional limit; above it needs manager approval (excludes tip) | 90% |
| Upload deadline | Expires after 72 h; 24 h recommended | Within 3 days recommended, ideally 24 h | 85% |
| Offline session length | 24 h on Readers and Stand, then reconnect | Not stated | 50% |
| Not available offline | Manual entry, Tap to Pay, gift cards, Afterpay, Cash App Pay | New card pre-authorizations | 60% |
Both Toast and Square keep taking cards when the internet drops, but the risk is yours: any card that declines later is lost money. Square gives you a hard per-transaction cap and a strict 72-hour expiry; Toast gives you a soft limit that sends bigger checks to a manager.
How we compared them
We read Square’s US Support Center article on offline payments and Toast’s Platform Guide page on offline card payments on 4 November 2026. We have not pulled the network on live devices for this article, so there are no timing or failure-rate numbers here.
Offline rules side by side
| Rule | Square | Toast |
|---|---|---|
| Turn on | Dashboard: Settings > Device management > Modes > Offline payments | Toast Web: Finance > Settings > Payment options |
| Per-transaction limit | US$1 – US$50,000 | Optional; above it needs manager approval |
| Tip counted in limit | Not stated | No |
| Who can override | Not stated | Offline/Background Credit Card Processing permission; 6.3 Payments Setup can switch mode at the POS |
| Offline session | 24 h | Not stated |
| Upload deadline | 72 h hard expiry (24 h advised) | Within 3 days advised, ideally 24 h |
| Fees | Same as online | Not stated |
Square’s 24-hour offline session applies to Square Reader (2nd gen and 1st gen v3) and Square Stand. Square Register, Terminal and Handheld have the 72-hour upload window. Older Readers (1st gen v1 and v2) and Terminal used through Terminal API cannot take offline payments.
Square says offline payments will be turned on automatically on all devices from April 2026 unless you opted out. Check your settings now so you know what your team will see.
Things that break offline
- Square: manual card entry, Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android, Square Gift Cards, Afterpay, Cash App Pay and EBT. Online orders may not reach the POS. Loyalty points must be added by hand later, and close-of-day reports are not supported. Signing out, switching modes or locations, or a factory reset permanently loses pending payments.
- Toast: new card pre-authorizations do not work, but cards pre-authorized before the drop still work. Toast captures card payments every night after closeout; if you are still offline near that time, call Toast support to pause auto-capture so tips can be added first.
Choosing a limit
Set the limit near your largest normal check. A cafe with a US$25 average check might cap at US$100. A steakhouse might set US$400 and have a manager approve larger tables on Toast. If one large offline check declines, you lose the whole amount, not just the fee. Use the fee calculator above to see what processing costs you on a normal day.
Related reading
- Square vs Toast for pizzerias
- Toast early termination fee and hardware
- Lightspeed vs Square in Australia. Lightspeed lists offline mode on its AU plans but does not publish offline limits there.
See Square for Restaurants · See Toast
Sources
- Square Support Center (US), Process offline payments, read 4 Nov 2026.
- Toast Platform Guide, Offline card payments, read 4 Nov 2026.
FAQ
Who pays if an offline card payment is declined?+
You do, on both systems. Square says you are responsible for expired, declined or disputed offline payments and gets no decline alerts while offline. Toast says the same and notes payments can be denied once the device is back online.
What is Square's offline payment limit?+
You set a maximum per transaction between US$1 and US$50,000 in Square Dashboard modes or the POS app. Payments must upload within 72 hours or they expire and cannot be recovered.
Can a Toast server take a large card payment offline?+
Only up to the Transaction Limit you set, which excludes gratuity. Above that it needs manager approval, and the limit does not apply to staff with the Offline/Background Credit Card Processing permission.
Do offline payments cost more in fees?+
Square says your normal processing fees apply to offline payments. Toast's offline page does not mention a different rate.
Related calculators
About the author: BOHStack Editorial Team
Placeholder byline: BOHStack research is currently published under the editorial team name. Articles are compiled from vendor pricing pages, published contracts and government sources, with check dates listed. We have not run hands-on tests of the products reviewed.