Toast online ordering: fees, setup and phone orders

Toast Online Ordering lets guests order from a restaurant-branded page that connects to Toast POS. Before sharing the link, confirm your subscription, menu visibility, approval mode and kitchen routing. An order reaching the POS does not by itself prove that a printer or kitchen screen received it.

For an existing Toast restaurant, it is one option to price alongside other ordering services. Do not assume it is already enabled or included in your current bill. Separate software, card processing, delivery-provider charges and guest fees in the quote.

What does Toast Online Ordering do?

Toast's product page lists POS and kitchen integration, order tracking and pickup, delivery, curbside and drive-thru fulfillment options. It markets ordering as commission-free. Confirm the options and charges that apply to your restaurant rather than reading that as a promise of a free service.

Toast Online Ordering Pro adds features such as a custom domain, design templates and marketing-pixel connections. Its setup guide distinguishes Digital Storefront Pro from a standalone Online Ordering Pro package: some menu-display and ordering-hours settings are available only with Digital Storefront Pro. Ask which package your quote names and which settings your location will receive.

What does Toast Online Ordering cost?

Toast's pricing page lists online ordering in its Digital Storefront products. Ask for a location-specific quote with the following charges separated. A public offer or help-page example does not establish your contracted rate.

Cost line	What the reviewed sources establish	What to confirm
Software	The setup guide requires an enabled Online Ordering module; Pro package scope differs	Subscription, setup, hardware, term and any required add-ons
Commission	Toast markets direct online ordering as commission-free	Which order sources the offer covers, alongside the separate costs below
Card processing	Toast's FAQ says online Apple Pay uses the card-not-present rate	Your agreement's rate by card and transaction type, plus any applicable fees
Delivery provider	The delivery setup guide lists a lowest Uber Direct rate of $6.99 per delivery under 6 miles, with regulatory fees in California, New York City and Seattle	Your provider, distance band, location charges and actual billed rate
Guest delivery charge	The setup guide describes a default $3.99 guest charge where no existing fee is set, plus extended-radius settings and fee-waiver options	What the guest actually pays on each order; it need not equal the provider's charge

The starter-kit page prints an American Express card-not-present rate of 3.89% + 15¢ in its offer footnotes and limits the offer's pricing to new customers and single locations. Do not apply that figure to every card or existing Toast account. The online-ordering FAQ distinguishes online Apple Pay from an in-store terminal tap; use the processing terms for your own account.

The delivery setup guide describes Uber Direct and DoorDash Drive, a default 10-mile radius, and a lowest Uber Direct rate limited to trips under 6 miles. A default radius does not make every trip eligible for the lowest rate. Check each provider and distance band before estimating a month.

How do you estimate the delivery-fee gap?

For a made-up scenario, assume 150 deliveries each cover less than six miles and qualify for a $6.99 provider charge. The restaurant collects a $3.99 guest fee on every delivery, with no fee waived. The gap is ($6.99 - $3.99) × 150 = $450. This excludes regulatory fees, taxes, card processing, software and any other charges. It is a partial arithmetic example, not a quote or a forecast of total delivery cost.

Replace both inputs with your actual charges. Separate longer-distance trips and waived guest fees; add any location-specific charges only once. Keep driver tips separate from restaurant revenue. The delivery guide says Toast withholds the delivery fee and driver tip for each Toast Delivery Services order. Our Toast vs Square comparison covers the broader POS choice.

What must be ready before you turn ordering on?

Toast's setup guide requires account permissions, an enabled Online Ordering module, a suitable powered-on POS device and a takeout dining option. Its ten-step walkthrough covers menu visibility, approval and auto-firing, dining options, staff/reporting assignment, payment, delivery, hours, page design and a final order check. Use the current instructions for your location.

• Order approval: choose manual approval, automatic kitchen routing or rules. Automatic routing depends on the configured auto-firing device; the setup guide specifies one per location.
• Menu and hours: confirm the visible menus, groups, items and modifiers, then the online schedule for each dining option. A dining-room schedule or one holiday override does not prove every ordering channel has the same hours.
• Payment and delivery: confirm the supported method before enabling it. Toast's setup guide says restaurants cannot combine their own delivery-driver setup with Toast Delivery Services at the same restaurant.
• People and records: name the staff member watching pending orders, the revenue-center mapping and the person who will pause ordering if the agreed checks fail.

What should the pre-launch check prove?

The following is our proposed checklist, not a record of product testing. Agree on a vendor-approved demonstration or non-production method first. Confirm that it cannot charge a guest, dispatch a driver or create food for sale. Do not disable a live receiving device to test a failure, and do not assume a discount code or later void removes every downstream effect.

Case	Expected record to agree beforehand	What the reviewer compares
Required choice and paid extra	Item, allowed selections, each modifier price and expected total	Guest view, POS detail and kitchen ticket agree; no assumed free or paid extra
Approval and kitchen route	Manual or automatic approval, intended station and responsible staff member	Order received, approved and routed are separate observations
Receiving-device interruption	A safe demonstration of pending-order handling and staff recovery	Who notices the interruption and how staff prevent an overlooked or duplicate order
Hours and dining option	Pickup, delivery and holiday availability	Each channel follows its agreed schedule and message
Payment or delivery exception	Approved simulated failure and staff response	No completed payment or driver assignment is inferred from an order screen alone

Toast's FAQ directs operators with uncharged extras to check modifier-group settings and prices. Use that as a configuration check, not a rule that every multi-select group makes extras free. The same FAQ says automatic firing stops when the assigned device is logged out and orders then need manual approval. Confirm recovery with the provider before launch.

Keep expected and observed results separate, name unresolved exceptions, and check each third-party ordering connection through its own approved method. See our holiday-hours checklist for the other places opening hours appear.

What happens to phone orders?

Toast's phone-order guide describes staff entering a Toast Delivery Services order with its dedicated dining option, guest details and a serviceable address. It says this workflow accepts credit cards only and requires the driver's tip in the original payment authorization. Those instructions describe Toast's staff workflow; they do not prove that a separate phone agent can perform every step.

Maple Voice covers answering, FAQs and call transfer. Maple Pro adds supported POS ordering, including direct Toast integration. Use the Maple Toast setup and trial guide to confirm the account, menu, payment and kitchen route for your restaurant. Confirm reservations separately through the supported reservation account; do not infer them from the Toast connection.

Should you use Toast's ordering page or another one?

For a restaurant already using Toast, include its ordering product in the comparison. Request the same pickup, delivery, menu, reporting and support scope from each vendor, then compare the quoted costs and the agreed checks. Our Owner.com alternatives guide covers other ordering and website options.

Published by Maple. This AI-assisted guide combines Toast's own product, pricing and help-center pages with an original check worksheet and a delivery-fee example using made-up volume. It does not include a Toast quote or report hands-on product testing, and it does not promise a result.