SkyTab vs Toast: which one costs less to run in an Arkansas restaurant
Both are cloud systems running on their own hardware. What separates them is how much each company will tell you before you sign, what the extras cost, and how long you stay tied in.
Toast publishes its software plans, $0 for the Starter Kit or $69 a month, and publishes no card rate at all. Shift4 publishes neither one for Dine, the system most owners still call SkyTab. So this comparison is one company you can price from your kitchen table against one you cannot price without a rep in the room. Toast suits multi location groups who want payroll, inventory and analytics under one roof.
| SkyTab (Shift4 Dine) | Toast | |
|---|---|---|
| Software, per terminal | Not published by Shift4 | $0 Starter Kit or $69 per month, first terminal only |
| Hardware | $0 upfront, lifetime warranty, inside the monthly fee | From $0 on the first device, or a 180 day Easy Pay lease |
| Processing | Not published | Not published |
| Contract | Not published | Renews for one year terms, 30 days notice to stop |
| Hardware lock | Shift4 supplied hardware | Approved Toast hardware only |
| Included at no extra fee | Online ordering, loyalty, reservations, website builder | 24/7 support on every software subscription |
What am I paying every month?
Shift4 will tell you what Dine includes: software and updates, the hardware, a lifetime warranty on it, and 24 hour support. What Shift4 will not tell you on its own website is what any of that costs per month. The pricing page says you can get started for zero dollars and stops there.
Toast publishes a $0 Starter Kit for one location with up to two terminals, and a $69 plan. Read Toast's own footnote. The $69 covers your first terminal, and every device after that costs more.
Why is there no card rate in that table?
Neither company will print one. Toast lists flat rate processing and attaches no percentage to it. Shift4 talks about competitive rates and an Advantage program, again with no number anywhere.
So a rep quoting you a firm SkyTab or Toast rate off a web page is making it up. Make both put the qualified rate, the per item fee and every monthly line item on paper before you sign anything.
Over three years, which one bleeds more?
Software is the small number. A restaurant hands the card networks several times what it hands the POS company, so a tenth of a point on your effective rate outweighs the entire software line.
Take your annual card volume, run it through both written rate sheets, then add software last. Our fee calculator does the arithmetic if you have last year's statements in the office.
A real person calls you back within two hours, Monday to Saturday, 8am to 7pm Central.
What if I want out?
Toast prints its renewal rule. The POS contract rolls into another one year term on its own, and stopping that takes at least 30 days written notice before the current term ends.
Shift4 prints no term length and no early termination terms for Dine. There is a risk free trial, and the company says equipment can be sent back. Get the term in writing anyway. Every time.
Which one belongs in an Arkansas dining room?
A one location diner, bar or pizzeria wants a low fixed monthly bill and a terminal replaced free when it dies at 7pm on a Friday. SkyTab reads well against that list.
A group adding locations, running payroll and scheduling, costing inventory and wanting all of it on one bill usually ends up on Toast. Judd Alsup, our Arkansas lead, will say so when it's true. The deeper national comparison, with every rate sourced and the rooms where each system wins named plainly, lives at restaurantpointofsale.com.
Who should buy which
Choose this one when
- You want the lowest published fixed monthly cost, with $0 due the day the boxes land on your counter.
- You want a dead terminal swapped free for life and a human on the phone at 2am, both inside the base fee.
- You want online ordering, loyalty and reservations switched on with no per feature charge.
Choose the other when
- You need payroll, scheduling and inventory costing on one contract. Toast sells all three as suites. Shift4 does not come close, and pretending otherwise would cost you money.
- You run more than one location and want them managed, compared and reported from one screen.
- You want the renewal rule published before you sign. Toast states its one year rollover and 30 day notice openly. Shift4 publishes no term at all, which is worse.
- A sister location already runs Toast. Retraining your staff costs more than the software gap, so buy Toast.
SkyTab: the weak spots we raise first
We sell SkyTab, so the cons list is the part worth reading. The pros are marketing you can get anywhere.
What works
- The hardware, the warranty and 24/7 support are carried inside the monthly fee instead of billed as separate line items.
- Lifetime hardware warranty and 24/7 support at no extra charge.
- Online ordering, reservations, loyalty and a website builder, all included.
What does not
- Shift4 will not publish a card rate for Dine, so the biggest line on your bill is quote only.
- Shift4 publishes no contract term and no early termination terms. None.
- You process with Shift4, so the rate can never be shopped to anyone else later.
- Third party Marketplace integrations bill separately, on top of a monthly fee Shift4 will not print.
- For a multi location group, payroll, inventory and reporting depth trail Toast. Not by a little.
Questions restaurant owners ask
Is SkyTab the same thing as Shift4 Dine?
Yes. Type skytab.com and you land on dine.shift4.com, and the product carries the Shift4 Dine name now. The hardware and the included online ordering, loyalty and reservations all carried over. Plenty of reviews still say SkyTab, so you will see both names in search for a while yet.
What does Toast charge per terminal?
Toast publishes $69 per month for Point of Sale and $0 for the Starter Kit. The footnote does the real work: the price includes the first hardware terminal subscription, additional charges apply for later devices, and the advertised pricing applies to new customers and single locations only.
Can I keep my current card processor?
No, on either system. Toast states its services may only be used on approved Toast hardware and that it acts as a payment facilitator. Shift4 Dine includes payment acceptance. Hardware and processing arrive together on both, so the rate is part of the decision whether you like it or not.
How do I compare the two without guessing?
Ask each one for a written rate sheet and a written term length. Put twelve months of your card volume against both effective rates, then add the software. Judd Alsup runs that comparison on your statements, not on a published example.
Vendor pricing and tax rates change without notice. Confirm current figures with the vendor, the city or your accountant before you rely on them. Not tax, legal or accounting advice.
Every number on this page traces to a primary source
- Shift4 Dine pricing page advertises getting started at $0 and publishes no monthly software price and no card processing rate (verified in browser 2026-07-29, page is client rendered)dine.shift4.com / pricing
- Shift4 Dine monthly fee includes POS software and future updates, POS hardware with a lifetime warranty, 24/7 support, cloud back office reporting and a mobile app; third party Marketplace integrations carry additional fees; a risk free trial allows the equipment to be sent backdine.shift4.com / pricing
- SkyTab is now branded Shift4 Dine and skytab.com resolves to dine.shift4.com. Marketing and loyalty, reservations and waitlist, QR code ordering and a website builder are listed as included at no extra cost, hardware carries a lifetime warranty and support is 24/7dine.shift4.com
- Toast Starter Kit $0 per month for one location with up to two terminals; Point of Sale plan $69 per month; Build Your Own custom pricing. Footnotes state pricing includes the first hardware terminal subscription, additional charges apply for subsequent devices, and pricing applies to new customers and single locations only. Toast services may only be used on approved Toast hardware. Page last updated July 8, 2026pos.toasttab.com / pricing
- Toast hardware starting at $0, which applies to first device hardware only, with software and processing fees additional. Page last updated July 16, 2026pos.toasttab.com / hardware
- Toast Easy Pay is a 180 day hardware lease with no interest or fees, collecting 0.75% of card sales daily from live Toast customers and 1.75% from customers not yet live, with an option to purchase the hardware at the end of the term. Page last updated July 16, 2026pos.toasttab.com / pricing payment options
- A Toast POS contract renews automatically for successive one year periods, and choosing not to renew requires at least 30 days written notice before the end of the current termsupport.toasttab.com