What an AI drive-thru costs, and what to put in the quote

No AI drive-thru vendor we checked prints a price, and that includes Maple, whose drive-thru unit is priced per unit with no public price. The AI fee comes from a quote. Most of the rest can be priced now: headsets, speaker posts, timers, order screens and installation labor all have printed ranges, and they can add thousands of dollars to a lane.

This guide lists what each vendor shows about price, the printed costs of the lane parts an AI order-taker may need, a worked example, and a sheet for comparing quotes line by line.

What do AI drive-thru vendors publish about price?

Vendor	Price on its site	What the site asks you to do
Presto	None	Contact its team
Hi Auto	None	Book a consult
SoundHound	None	Book a demo or talk to an expert
ConverseNow	None	Book a consultation
Omilia	None	Book a demo
Incept AI	None	Book a demo
Maple	None; priced per unit	Talk to sales to join the early-access waitlist

Toast's April 2026 Toast Drive-Thru release, which bundles its POS, kitchen screens, menu boards and AI voice partners, gives no price either. Toast offers it first to brands with 15 or more locations. For each vendor's hardware and partners, see the AI drive-thru vendor comparison.

What else in the lane has a printed price?

The Howard Company, a drive-thru fixture maker and installer, prints the ranges below on its drive-thru cost page and its installation pricing page. Other suppliers will quote differently.

Item	Howard's printed figure	When an AI project may need it
Technology survey (headset, timer, order screen and loop connections)	$340 to $500, labor	Before any lane change, to find what your site needs
Speaker and microphone post, stand-alone	$400 to $700 per post	Your post is worn or the AI vendor needs a new one
Headset package (headsets and charging stations)	$3,000 to $7,000 for the package	The AI connects through the headset system and yours will not support it
Headset system installation	About $1,100 for one lane; $1,400 to $1,800 for two	Any new headset system
Order confirmation screen	Under $100 for a small plug-and-play screen; $1,500+ with full POS integration, which may carry recurring content charges	The AI does not bring its own screen and you want guests to see the order
Timer system installation	$900 to $1,100, labor	You want to measure the trial with a timer
Timing loop, and cutting it into the lane	Loop up to $500; saw cut $900 to $985, labor	Your lane has no working car sensor
After-hours work	Adds $350 to $500 or more per technician	You cannot close the lane during the day

Howard's installation figures cover labor only. It says equipment, foundation work and the final electrical hookup are quoted separately, that you hire the licensed electrician, that permit fees pass through at cost, and that a return trip costs extra if the site is not ready.

Which rows you need depends on how the AI reaches the guest. Hi Auto says it adds an audio box to your existing headsets and POS. HME says its NEXEO Pro platform is built to support the voice AI provider you choose. Maple's unit stands beside the speaker post with its own microphone, speaker and screen. Our guide to how an AI drive-thru order reaches the POS covers both the audio and the order paths.

What can change on the POS bill?

Ask your POS company whether it charges for the AI connection. Some lane changes also add screens. Square, for example, prints the Square KDS app at $30/mo. per device on Square Plus ($49/mo. per location) and $20/mo. per device on Square Premium ($149/mo. per location). A new kitchen screen for lane tickets adds that monthly line.

What might one lane cost before the AI fee?

This example is hypothetical. It uses Howard's printed figures and leaves out the AI vendor's own fee, timer hardware, electrical work, permits and tax.

1. Technology survey: $340 to $500
2. Headset package: $3,000 to $7,000
3. Headset installation for one lane: about $1,100
4. Order screen with POS integration, at Howard's starting figure: $1,500
5. Timer installation: $900 to $1,100
6. Timing loop, at Howard's top figure: $500
7. Loop saw cut: $900 to $985

If the lane needs all seven, the total runs from $8,240 to $12,685 before the AI fee.

At the other end, a store whose AI vendor brings its own audio and screen, and whose headsets and timer stay in place, might need only the survey: $340 to $500. Ask each vendor which rows its setup needs at your store.

For the monthly fee, turn the quote into crew hours. Divide the monthly fee by your hourly cost of a crew member, wages plus payroll taxes. A made-up fee of $1,000 a month at a made-up $18 an hour equals about 55.6 hours a month, or 12.8 hours a week. Then ask whether the speaker takes that much of a person's time at your peak.

How do you compare quotes line by line?

Copy this sheet and fill one column per vendor.

Line	Vendor A	Vendor B
Pricing unit: per lane, per store, per order or per minute
Monthly fee for one lane
Hardware: bought, leased or included, and who owns it at the end
Installation fee, and who installs
Lane parts you must add, from the table above
Menu setup and POS connection fees
Charges for remote agents, if the vendor uses them
Trial length, and what it costs to stop
Contract term, renewal and exit fee
Three-year total: one-time costs plus 36 months of fees

What should you ask before you sign?

1. How long does installation take, and does the lane close? Presto says its system installs in a few hours. Hi Auto says about three hours. Ask for the time at a store like yours.
2. Does my headset system stay as it is? If not, which parts must I replace, and at whose cost?
3. Does the price change with order volume, extra lanes, languages or added stores?
4. Who pays for menu changes, new items and limited-time offers after launch?
5. What happens to the price if the trial misses the numbers we agreed?
6. If I leave, who removes the equipment, and what happens to recordings and order data?

Agree how you will judge the trial before you sign. The one-lane pilot checklist sets the baseline to record. The headset guide, speaker post guide and timer guide cover each lane part in more depth.

Maple's drive-thru unit is in early access with a small number of restaurants. Its page says nothing is rewired and headsets keep working, and it writes orders into the POS. It is priced per unit, with no public price. If phone orders are the bigger cost, Maple's phone plans are printed on the pricing page.

Published by Maple, which sells phone ordering and an early-access drive-thru unit. This AI-assisted guide combines vendors' own pages, The Howard Company's printed price ranges and Square's pricing page with an original worksheet. The worked example is hypothetical. It does not estimate any vendor's AI fee or report a Maple customer's costs.