Alternatives
Why owners look beyond Toast, the options worth comparing and how to switch without losing a day of sales.
✓ Installed by our team and supported by phone. Rates and equipment are quoted to your business.
Merchant Fund Express offers Clover POS and credit card processing through our partnership, with on-site installation, training and phone support.
Key facts
Related: Clover vs Toast: Which POS Fits Your Business? · POS alternatives · Comparisons and pricing models · Get a Clover quote · Clover devices
Toast alternatives are usually searched by restaurant owners at a decision point: opening a second concept, adding retail or catering, or approaching the end of a hardware lease or plan term. Others run a cafe or bakery that sells as much product as food and want one system for both sides of the business.
The alternatives below are grouped by who they fit. If you want a full POS that is quoted to your business, installed on site and supported by one team, Clover through Merchant Fund Express is the option we offer.
Toast describes itself as a POS "built for restaurants", with restaurant management tools, online ordering, a kitchen display system and more than 200 integrations, including third-party delivery. Its site now also lists retail concepts, but the product and the hardware are designed around restaurant service.
It tends to suit operators who want an offline mode that keeps orders and card payments running during an internet drop.
Today: Toast sells its own commercial-grade hardware, including the Flex 3 countertop terminal, the Toast Go 3 handheld and a kitchen display, and offers a hardware lease option in the US. Payment processing is built into the Toast POS; its plans list integrated processing as a core feature. Toast hardware stays with Toast, so a switch means new devices; menus and modifiers are rebuilt on Clover during installation.
Plan the data first. Export items, modifiers, taxes and customer records before you cancel anything, and write down open gift card balances so they can be honored after the switch.
| Option | Who it fits | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| Clover through Merchant Fund Express | Your business mixes food with retail or services, and you want one system that handles both. | Clover vs Toast |
| SpotOn | Restaurants and bars that want restaurant software, labor tools and online ordering from one vendor. | Clover vs SpotOn |
| TouchBistro | Restaurants that want reservations, loyalty and online ordering in one restaurant system. | Clover vs TouchBistro |
| Shift4 / Harbortouch | Restaurants and hospitality businesses that want SkyTab and Shift4 processing. | Clover vs Shift4 / Harbortouch |
If you are weighing Clover as the replacement, these are the businesses it usually suits:
Schedule the switch away from holidays, events and paydays, when a learning curve costs the most.
Send or read us a recent statement. We explain what you pay now and what a Clover setup would look like for your business.
Your item list, price levels and receipt details are loaded and checked before the devices ship.
We configure the account before anything ships, then come to you to install, load your items and walk staff through opening, closing, refunds and tips. After launch, you call the same team.
With us, Clover is quoted, installed and supported by the same team. Send or read us a recent processing statement and we will explain every line before we suggest anything. If Clover is not a better fit, we will say so.
Facts about Toast summarize its own public pages and named announcements as of October 2026. Products and terms change; confirm details with Toast before you decide. Merchant Fund Express is not affiliated with Toast.
Toast is built first for restaurants and its site now lists retail concepts as well. Clover covers restaurants, retail and services on the same platform, which suits businesses that mix them.
At Merchant Fund Express, yes. The Clover Flex is a handheld that takes orders and payment at the table, and we set it up with your floor plan, seat numbers and tip prompts.
No. Equipment and processing are quoted to your business after a free review of your current statement. Call (305) 384-8391.
Our team installs on site, builds your items, connects your printers and drawers and trains your staff, then stays available by phone.
Call Merchant Fund Express. We install it, train your staff and stay on the line after launch. Ask for a free rate review while you are at it.
