Buy Toast if…
8.8/10Pizzerias that sell lots of half-and-half pies and want portion-aware topping prices and sequence pricing built in.
From US$0 Starter Kit; POS plan US$69/mo
Check Toast pricingChoose Square for Restaurants if…
8.1/10Smaller pizzerias with simple menus that want nested modifiers and conversational Add/No/Extra buttons without a contract.
From US$0 Free; Plus US$49/location
Check Square for Restaurants 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 Toast and Lightspeed do not publish one fixed rate, so enter the numbers from your own quote.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 | Toast | Square for Restaurants | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Half-and-half | Native portions (1st Half / 2nd Half) | Workaround: duplicate topping set as Side A / Side B | 95% |
| Half-topping price | Full price by default; Price Multiplier per portion | Set separate prices in the duplicated set | 85% |
| Sequence pricing (1st topping $1, 2nd $2...) | Yes | Not documented in modifier article | 60% |
For a pizzeria, Toast’s built-in portions are the better fit: half-and-half is native and you can control what a half topping costs. Square can do half-and-half by duplicating modifier sets, which works for a small menu but doubles the menu upkeep.
How we compared them
We read Toast’s Platform Guide pages on portions and pricing and Square’s US Support Center article on modifiers on 4 November 2026, plus Square Community threads for the half-and-half workaround. We have not built these menus on live terminals for this article, so we do not report tap counts or speed.
Half-and-half, side by side
| Need | Toast | Square for Restaurants |
|---|---|---|
| Split pie | Portions such as 1st Half and 2nd Half, enabled on the item and topping group | Two modifier sets (Side A, Side B) on a half-and-half item |
| US$1 topping on one half | US$1 (default) | Whatever you price in that side’s set |
| Same topping on both halves | US$2 (default) | Sum of both sides’ prices |
| Discount half toppings | Price Multiplier per portion | Lower prices in the side sets |
| Size-based topping price | Yes; a half on a large costs the large price by default | Square recommends variations for sizes |
Toast’s sequence pricing trap
Toast can price toppings by the order they are added: first US$1, second US$2, third US$3, then US$4 each. Toast’s documentation says sequence counts across the whole pie, not per half. Whole-pie topping, then two on the 1st half, then two on the 2nd half bills as 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 4 = US$14. If your menu board says “first topping free on each half”, the default will not match it. Test with a real ticket before launch.
Square details worth knowing
- Nested sets go up to 3 levels with up to 5 child sets per modifier, which is enough for crust, then stuffed-crust filling.
- Conversational modifiers add Add / No / Extra buttons in the Square Restaurant POS app. They cannot be used with “Allow multiple quantities of a single modifier”, so “double pepperoni” by quantity and Extra buttons are either-or.
- With Square Restaurant Plus, you can set a separate modifier order for kitchen tickets and the KDS.
- A Square Community thread and a Reddit post report that custom section titles such as “Half 1” may not print on kitchen tickets. Check that your kitchen ticket shows which half each topping is on before go-live.
Which to pick
- Toast if half-and-half is a large share of orders, or you want portion and size pricing handled for you. Read the contract first: see the Toast early termination fee guide.
- Square if your menu is small and you prefer no long contract.
- Whichever you choose, check how each handles cards when the internet drops and cost your dough with the pizza recipe yield calculator.
See Toast for pizzerias · See Square for Restaurants
Sources
- Toast Platform Guide, Default pricing of modifiers applied to portions, Configuring portions, and Altering the price of a modifier applied to a portion, read 4 Nov 2026.
- Square Support Center (US), Create and edit modifiers, read 4 Nov 2026.
- Square Community, Square Restaurants for Pizza location, read 4 Nov 2026.
FAQ
How does Toast price a topping on half a pizza?+
By default, a topping on one portion costs the same as on the whole pizza. A US$1 topping on the 1st half is US$1, and adding it to both halves charges US$2. Toast's Price Multiplier setting lets you change what a modifier costs on a portion.
Can Square do half-and-half pizzas?+
Square's modifier article does not describe a portions feature. The common approach on the Square Community is to duplicate the toppings modifier set into Side A and Side B and attach both to a half-and-half item, each with its own prices and rules.
How many levels of nested modifiers does Square allow?+
Square documents a maximum nesting depth of 3 levels and up to 5 child modifier sets per modifier, with no circular nesting.
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.