Toast vs Owner.com
Toast and Owner.com solve different halves of the problem. Toast is a full in-store POS with its own hardware and enterprise depth; Owner.com is a commission-free online-ordering and marketing layer that sits on top of whatever POS you already run. Comparing them is really about deciding whether you need a complete point-of-sale system or a way to own more of your direct online orders.
An overview of how these two differ — not a scored ranking. See each in full: Toast · Owner.com.
Side by side
| Toast | Owner.com | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $0–$165+/mo per location | $0 + monthly plan |
| Order fees | Varies by plan + payment processing | 0% on direct orders |
| Hardware | Proprietary hardware, purchased or financed | Not a full POS/hardware suite |
| Website | Templated online-ordering pages | Templated restaurant website |
| Contract | Often multi-year | Varies |
| Best suited to | High-volume or multi-location restaurants that need enterprise depth and will use the integration marketplace. | Restaurants whose main priority is owning more direct online orders and marketing. |
What Toast emphasizes
- A complete in-store POS with payments, hardware and restaurant-specific depth
- Handles dine-in, coursing and complex kitchen workflows
- Proven at high volume and across multi-location chains
What Owner.com emphasizes
- Built around commission-free direct online ordering and marketing
- No heavy hardware footprint or long enterprise contract
- Focused on converting third-party-app customers into direct orders
Which to consider: If you need a full point-of-sale system to run the floor, that’s Toast — Owner.com isn’t trying to be one. If you already have a POS and just want to grow commission-free online orders, Owner.com is the more targeted (and lighter) choice. Plenty of restaurants run something like Owner.com alongside a POS rather than choosing between them.