What a restaurant kiosk costs: hardware, software and fees

A restaurant kiosk costs a one-time amount for the device and a monthly software fee for each kiosk, plus the POS plan, card fees and installation. Square prints each piece on its own pages: $149 for Square Kiosk hardware (iPad not included) and $50 per month per device for the kiosk app on Square Plus.

Of the other vendors below, only SpotOn prints a kiosk price. To compare quotes fairly, put every quote on the same lines and the same number of months. The table and worked example below show how.

What are the cost lines of a restaurant kiosk?

Cost line	What it covers	Ask the vendor
Kiosk hardware	The screen and enclosure, bought outright or leased	Is it a purchase, a lease or a rental, and who owns it at the end?
Tablet or computer	Some kiosks hold a tablet you supply	Which models work, and is one included?
Stand or mount	Floor stand, wall bracket or countertop mount	Which mounts come in the box?
Card reader	The payment device built into or attached to the kiosk	Which card types does it take, and is it included?
Printer	Receipts at the kiosk or tickets in the kitchen	Does the kiosk print, or does another device print its tickets?
Kiosk software	The guest ordering app and its settings	Is the fee per kiosk, per location or per order?
POS plan	Some kiosks need a higher POS tier	Which plan must you be on, and what does it cost per location?
Card processing	A fee on each card payment	Is the kiosk rate the same as the counter rate?
Installation	Mounting, power and a network connection	Who does it, and is it priced?
Support and repair	Help desk, warranty and replacement units	How long is the warranty, and how fast is a swap?
Internet backup	A cellular connection for outages	Is it included, or a separate subscription?

What do Square, Toast, Clover and others publish?

Every price below is copied from the vendor's own page. Where a vendor prints no price, the table says so.

Vendor	Hardware	Software and plan
Square	Square Kiosk hardware: $149, or $14 per month over 12 months through a Block credit plan (15% APR, subject to approval); compatible iPad required and not included; Bosstab Floor Stand: $299.00	Square Kiosk app: $50/mo. per device with Square Plus or $30/mo. per device with Square Premium, on top of the Square Plus plan at $49/mo. per location or Square Premium at $149/mo. per location
SpotOn	Hardware costs are extra; no kiosk hardware price on the kiosk page	Kiosk add-on to SpotOn POS: $60 per month, "Plus: hardware costs"
Toast	Not published; Toast's setup guide lists a kiosk terminal, a card reader and an optional printer	Not published on the kiosk page; Toast's pricing page says hardware and implementation costs vary with your package and installation needs
Clover	Clover's kiosk offer page says to contact Clover for custom pricing	Not published
GRUBBRR	Not published	Not published; its pricing link opens a demo request form
Bite	Not published	Not published
Maple (voice kiosk, early access)	Maple supplies the kiosk	Priced per unit; no public price

Sources: Square Kiosk hardware, Bosstab Floor Stand on Square Shop, Square for Restaurants pricing, SpotOn restaurant kiosks, Toast kiosk setup guide, Toast pricing, Clover Kiosk offer page, GRUBBRR, Bite and Maple kiosk.

Square's pages disagree on one point. Its pricing page lists the kiosk app at $30/mo. per device on Square Premium, while a footnote on its hardware page says the Square for Restaurants Premium plan includes device access. Ask Square which applies to your account before you budget.

What does a two-kiosk setup cost over three years?

This example uses hypothetical inputs with Square's published prices. It is an illustration, not a quote.

Hypothetical inputs: one counter-service location, two kiosks, each on a floor stand, Square Plus, one new iPad per kiosk at Apple's lowest listed price for a compatible model, and a 36-month horizon. Sales tax, shipping, electrician or network work, signs and staff setup time are left out.

• Kiosk hardware: 2 × $149 = $298 (Square Kiosk page)
• iPads: 2 × $449 = $898 (Apple lists the iPad with the A16 chip, a model Square names as compatible, from $449)
• Floor stands: 2 × $299 = $598 (Bosstab Floor Stand on Square Shop)
• Upfront total: $1,794
• Kiosk app on Square Plus: 2 × $50 × 36 months = $3,600
• Three-year total for the kiosks: $5,394, or about $150 a month
• Square Plus plan, only if you are not already on it: $49 × 36 months = $1,764, which brings the total to $7,158, or about $199 a month

Sources for the example: Square Kiosk hardware and app prices, Apple's iPad price and Square's floor stand listing.

Card fees are left out because you pay them on counter sales too. They only change the total if the kiosk rate differs from your counter rate or the kiosk brings in sales you would not otherwise make. On Square Plus, the in-person rate is 2.5% + 15¢ whether the guest taps at the kiosk or the register.

Plan choice changes the answer once you run more kiosks. If the $30 Premium kiosk fee applies to you, Premium costs $100 more per location each month but saves $20 per kiosk each month, so the kiosk fees alone even out at five kiosks per location. Premium's lower in-person card rate, 2.4% + 15¢, also counts: on a hypothetical $40,000 of monthly card sales, 0.1 percentage points is $40 a month.

How do you compare vendors who quote after a demo?

1. Ask each vendor to fill in the cost-line table above for your number of kiosks.
2. Spread one-time costs over the months you expect to keep the kiosks, and use the same months for every vendor.
3. Add the monthly software fee for every kiosk, including a spare if it bills while switched off.
4. Add any POS plan upgrade the kiosk requires, counting only the difference from what you pay today.
5. Note lease or rental terms separately: a lower monthly price can come with a longer term.

Maple's voice kiosk is in early access, priced per unit, with no public price, and Maple supplies the hardware. Ask for its per-unit price on the same lines, and see the Maple kiosk page for how it works. For Maple's phone plans, which are priced separately, see Maple pricing.

What should you ask before signing a kiosk contract?

1. Is the software fee charged per kiosk, per location or per order, and does an unused kiosk still bill?
2. How long is the term, does it renew on its own, and what does it cost to cancel early?
3. If the hardware is leased or rented, who owns it at the end, and what is the buyout?
4. Is the card reader included, which card types does it take, and do you have to use the vendor's payment processor?
5. Is the card rate at the kiosk the same as at the counter?
6. Which POS plan or add-on does the kiosk need, and does that raise your per-location fee?
7. Who mounts the kiosk and runs power and network, and is that priced in the quote?
8. How long is the warranty, how fast is a replacement, and is there a loaner?
9. What are support hours on a Friday night?
10. Does the kiosk take orders and payments during an internet outage, and does backup cost extra?
11. Are menu changes and software updates included, or billed as services?
12. Can the price change during the term, and with how much notice?

Published by Maple. This AI-assisted guide combines prices and terms copied from vendors' own pages with an original cost-line table, a worked example built on hypothetical inputs, and a contract checklist. It does not report a Maple test of any kiosk, forecast sales, or give any vendor's price that the vendor does not publish.