Toast Online Ordering

Name: Toast Online Ordering
Brand: Toast
Rating: 3.6 (1925 reviews)

Toast Online Ordering is a first‑party digital ordering solution that routes pickup and delivery orders into the Toast POS ecosystem, provides Toast-hosted ordering pages with unified menu/hours/quote-time controls, and integrates with third‑party delivery dispatch and channel partners.

Est 2011|Raised $1.8B

LinkedIn 333K|Website|FTEs 7,874|HQ Boston, Massachusetts, US

MarketseCommerce Software

01Competitive Landscape

Narrative analysis (where alternatives excel)

Square frequently wins on cost simplicity (low/no monthly for basic online ordering) and broad SMB commerce tooling; it may be preferable for smaller cafés and simple-menu operations where Toast’s operational depth is unnecessary.
ChowNow is often selected by restaurants that want a direct ordering solution without committing to Toast POS or that require stronger white-label presentation and predictable subscription pricing.
DoorDash Storefront is sometimes chosen when a restaurant wants a website ordering surface backed by DoorDash logistics/marketplace infrastructure, accepting trade-offs in customer ownership and fee structures.

- Square frequently wins on cost simplicity (low/no monthly for basic online ordering) and broad SMB commerce tooling; it may be preferable for smaller cafés and simple-menu operations where Toast’s operational depth is unnecessary. - ChowNow is often selected by restaurants that want a direct ordering solution without committing to Toast POS or that require stronger white-label presentation and predictable subscription pricing. - DoorDash Storefront is sometimes chosen when a restaurant wants a website ordering surface backed by DoorDash logistics/marketplace infrastructure, accepting trade-offs in customer ownership and fee structures.

Market adoption signals

Toast is widely used in US restaurants; however, usage of Toast Online Ordering specifically varies by restaurant segment and by reliance on third-party marketplaces or alternative direct ordering tools.

	Toast Online Ordering	Square Online Ordering	ChowNow Online Ordering
Starting Price	Vendor-published per-location add-on pricing (vendor quotes vary)	Low/no monthly entry for basic ordering profiles; standard payment processing fees apply	Published subscription-tier pricing with setup fees available from the vendor
Suitable for	Restaurants already on Toast POS seeking tight POS/KDS integration	Budget-conscious SMBs and Square POS users needing simple direct ordering	Restaurants seeking POS-agnostic direct ordering and a branded experience
Key Strength	Operational integration with the Toast ecosystem (menus, throttling, reporting)	Simple setup, low entry cost, broad SMB tools	Subscription structure with predictable recurring costs and white-label emphasis
Key Weakness	Reported bugs/support challenges; limited front-end branding options	Fewer restaurant-specific advanced workflows without add-ons	Higher published monthly pricing compared with some basic offerings