The true cost of restaurant websites and digital menus in 2026. Why monthly software rent is eating independent restaurant margins, and how to stop paying it.
Each of these platforms rents you a website and a menu by the month, and the rent does not stop. Stop paying and the site stops with it, the QR codes stop resolving, and the guest data inside the platform is not yours to take. The table below uses each vendor's own 2026 prices, or the last price it published where it publishes none any more.
| Feature / Cost | Toast POS + Web | BentoBox | Owner.com | ShopLaunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly Software Fee | $69 – $578/moCore $219 · Growth $578 | Quote onlyLast list: $149 – $249/mo | $249/mo + 5% · $499 flatGuests pay 5% on both | $0 / month |
| Setup / Onboarding Fee | $1,153 countertop kitor $0 with 3.09–3.69% + 15¢ cards | $1,000 – $1,5002023 list, per concept | None published | $0 (Included) |
| Per-Order Commission | No order feeCards 2.49% + 15¢ in person, 3.50% + 15¢ online | $0.99 an order reportedon the ordering module | 5% on FlexibleGuests pay 5% on both plans | 0% commission |
| Hardware Lock-In | Approved Toast terminalsstated in Toast's own terms | Clover POS required"only available to Clover POS customers" | None published | No hardware (runs on any phone) |
| Table QR Code Menus | In the Growth pack / add-on | A paid module | Included | Included (Print-ready PDF) |
| Turnaround Time | Install scheduled with Toastno published timeline | Under a week once started | Guided migrationno published timeline | 24 Hours (1 Business Day) |
| Contract Length | 2-year software agreement | Ask for the Clover term in writing | Month to monthno early-exit fee | No Contract |
| Year 1 Estimated Cost | $3,781 | $2,788 | $5,988 | $49 – $199 |
| 3-Year Estimated Cost | $9,037 | $6,364 | $17,964 | $49 – $199 |
| Guest and order data | Held in Toast's platform | Held in their platform | Held in their platform | You keep the page and filesWe collect no guest data at all |
Printable cheat sheet formatted for independent restaurant owners and bar managers.
Toast: Traditional prices on its Starter Kit checkout, single location, first terminal (read 7 November 2026). BentoBox: no price published since the Clover fold-in, so the last list it printed (2023) is used (read 4 October 2026). Owner.com: published pricing, at $5,000/mo of online orders where Flexible and Flat Rate meet (read 12 October 2026). Every figure is before tax and before card processing, which all four platforms charge separately.
Toast's checkout now sells three software packs — $69, $219 and $578 a month — plus a $1,153 countertop kit, on a 2-year agreement. Online ordering arrives at $219; the .com website arrives at $578. Toast's terms also restrict its services to "approved Toast hardware", so the website and the register are one purchase. If the website is the only part you use, it is the expensive way to own a page.
BentoBox's pricing page now reads "BentoBox is now Clover" and states that its products are only available to Clover POS customers. No price is published. Anyone quoting you a BentoBox monthly fee is quoting the last list it printed before the bundle, not today's deal — so the honest number to ask for is a line-item Clover quote.
Owner.com publishes its plans: $249 a month plus 5% of orders, or $499 a month flat, month to month with no exit fee, and a 5% order-support fee your guests pay on either plan. If direct online ordering is your business, that is what a commission-free ordering platform costs in 2026. Three years on either plan is $17,964 before card processing.
$179 to $499 a month depending on tier, online ordering as an add-on it does not price on its page, and $1.00 on every online order, absorbed by you or paid by the guest. The subscription renews for a year at a time unless you give 30 days' notice.
ShopLaunch is one page and one menu, built for you and delivered the next business day for $49 to $199 once — no subscription, no commission, no hardware. We do not sell a POS, card processing, reservations or online ordering with payment, and we collect no guest data. For the shops that need those, the platform above is the right purchase; for the shop that needs the menu to be right at the door, a static page is.
Each of the four has its own page, with its own price ladder, contract terms and three-year arithmetic.
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