Bar POS Fees Explained: What You Actually Pay Per Tab
POS pricing has three separate layers: subscription, card processing and platform fees. Here is how to read each one, with Toadee's own numbers as a worked example.
Point-of-sale pricing is hard to compare because vendors quote different parts of the bill. One leads with a low monthly price, another with "free" software, a third with a processing rate. To compare fairly you need to separate the bill into its three layers and ask about each one. This applies to a restaurant as much as a bar, and the examples below cover both.
The three layers
1. The subscription
A flat monthly or annual price for the software. Ask whether it is per location, per device or per staff login, and whether the price you were quoted needs an annual commitment.
2. Card processing
What it costs to accept a card payment. It is usually a percentage of the sale, often with a fixed amount per transaction on top. Somebody has to pay it on every card sale, whichever system you use.
3. Platform or service fees
Anything the POS company adds on top of processing: a per-order fee, an online-ordering fee, or a service charge passed to the guest. This is the layer that is easiest to miss, because it is often not on the pricing page headline.
Why a fixed per-transaction fee matters on small tickets
Bars run on small tickets. So do coffee counters, lunch spots and any restaurant where guests pay for one item at a time. A fixed fee that looks harmless on a $90 dinner check is a large share of an $8 drink or a $9 sandwich.
Here is a real example from our own pricing history. Toadee's Free plan used to carry a service charge of 2.0% plus $0.30. On an $8 drink that came to 46 cents, or 5.75% of the sale. On a $60 tab the same formula was $1.50, or 2.5%. Same fee, very different bite.
We removed the fixed 30 cents on October 1, 2026 for that reason. A flat percentage costs the same proportion whether a guest buys one drink or twenty.
When you compare systems, run the numbers on your smallest common sale, not your average. A full-service restaurant with large checks will feel the percentage more than the fixed fee. A bar or a counter-service spot will feel the fixed fee more.
Hardware is a fourth cost
Terminals, card readers, kitchen display screens and printers are often sold or leased separately. A restaurant usually needs more of it than a bar: a screen or printer for the kitchen as well as the front. Ask what you must buy before you can take a first order, and what happens to that hardware if you switch systems later.
Toadee's approach is to use devices that already exist: guests order and pay from their own phones, and staff run the order board on Android tablets, one at the bar and one in the kitchen if you serve food.
Toadee's numbers, as a worked example
Here is how the three layers look for Toadee.
| Free | Basic | Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subscription, annual term | $0 | $24.99/mo | $36.99/mo |
| Subscription, month to month | $0 | $29.99/mo | $42.99/mo |
| App service charge | 3.2% | 1.4% | 0.7% |
A few things to know about that service charge:
- The guest pays it. It shows as a line on their tab. It is not deducted from the venue's earnings.
- It applies to the subtotal only. It is never charged on tax or on the tip.
- There is no fixed per-tab fee on any plan.
- New venues get an intro rate. On the Free plan it is 1.0% for a venue's first 14 days.
On a $60 tab, the guest pays $1.92 on Free, $0.84 on Basic and $0.42 on Pro.
Card processing is separate. Each venue connects its own Stripe account, and Stripe's standard processing fees apply on that account under Stripe's own pricing.
When does a paid plan make sense?
Because the guest pays the service charge, upgrading does not put that percentage back in your pocket directly. What it does is lower the price your guests see, and unlock features: reports, events and photos on Basic, then inventory, staff tools, time clock, payroll and QuickBooks sync on Pro.
A useful rule of thumb: Basic's rate is 1.8 points lower than Free's. At about $1,400 a month in app sales, your guests save as much in service charges as an annual Basic subscription costs you. Above that level, the upgrade saves your guests more than it costs you.
One more point: accepting cash through Toadee needs a paid plan. On a paid plan, a cash sale carries no service charge at all.
Five questions to ask any POS vendor
- What is the total cost on an $8 sale, and on a $60 sale?
- Is there a fixed amount per transaction, and who pays it?
- Which fees are charged to me and which to my guests?
- Are fees calculated on tips and tax, or only on the subtotal?
- What hardware must I buy, and is there a contract term?
If a vendor cannot answer the first question with a number, keep asking.
Toadee's full plan comparison is on the pricing page. The Free plan is free forever, with no card required to register your venue.
More from the blog
- Bar Staff Scheduling: How to Build a Weekly Schedule That Holds A schedule falls apart when it is rebuilt from memory every week. Here is a repeatable way to schedule bar staff, from standard shifts to checking what really happened.
- Why Faster Bar Service Means More Revenue On a busy night your sales are limited by how fast staff can serve, not by how many guests want a drink. Here is where the time goes, and how to get it back for staff and managers.
- How to Ban a Problem Customer From Your Bar, and Make It Stick One guest who harasses staff or starts fights costs more than their tab is worth. Here is when to ban someone, how to do it fairly, and how to make sure every shift knows.