Best POS for Breweries: Why GoTab Beats Toast at Taprooms & Breweries

Breweries and taprooms operate far differently from traditional restaurants. Instead of fixed table service, your guests are roaming—moving between the bar, patio, merch counter or events, placing multiple orders in one visit. Add beer flights, growler fills, ticketed tastings, rotating events and retail merchandise into the mix, and you need a POS solution that flexes with your business demands. Here’s why GoTab outpaces Toast as the brewery‑focused POS.

Tab‑First Ordering Built for Breweries

GoTab: born for roaming tabs. With the GoTab brewery point-of-sale platform, guests tap or dip to open a tab that stays active across zones—bar, patio, merch stand—while scanning QR codes or using a browser app to order and pay seamlessly. That roaming tab also supports group/tab sharing and easy bill-splitting. Insufficient‑funds protection and real‑time open‑tab authorizations reduce declines. 

Toast: efficient when staff holds the ordering flow. While Toast supports handheld/tab-based ordering via proprietary hardware, switching between table and guest-initiated mobile service isn't as smooth. If most of your customer flow is server-driven, Toast works well. But for modern taprooms, it falls short. 

Verdict: If your brewery relies on guest-initiated ordering, frequent split tabs, and roaming service zones, GoTab clearly wins.

Flexible Hardware & Hybrid Service from Taproom to Patio

GoTab works on virtually any web‑enabled device—you can BYOD, support outdoor patios, pop‑ups, seasonal setups, or outdoor tents—with minimal hardware investment. You can bring your own tablet, phone or kiosk.

Toast requires Toast‑branded tablets and terminals. Durable and reliable—they perform well—but require upfront investment and are less flexible for mobile or multi-zone service models.

Verdict: GoTab’s hardware‑agnostic model gives breweries the flexibility to adapt to events and changing layouts, while Toast locks you into its ecosystem.

Pricing & Fees: Transparency vs. Tiers

GoTab offers modular pricing tailored to breweries—easy to scale. Plans start around $15/month, scaling up to ~$199/month depending on features like handheld devices, kitchen display systems (KDS), or kiosks. Transaction fees are simple and flat, and open‑tab grouping means guests pay only once per visit.

Toast uses tiered pricing—starter, POS, build‑your‑own—with standard processing rates but often limiting features unless you upgrade plans. Hidden costs for add‑on features like event/ticketing or advanced analytics can drive up total spend.

Verdict: GoTab is more transparent and brewery‑friendly when costs scale with growth, while Toast’s model may require higher‑tier plans to match beer‑hall complexity.

Brewery‑Specific Features

GoTab offers:

• Inventory tracking by ounce (ideal for growler fills, flights, and keg depletion)
• Hybrid service models combining self‑serve and staff‑assisted ordering
• Integrations with brewery tools (e.g. inventory, membership, or events platforms)
  
  

Toast includes robust reporting, labor management, and inventory features common to restaurants—but lacks brewery‑specific constructs like ounce‑level tracking or growler‑fill flows. It's better for single-location, full‑service restaurant setups.

Support & Onboarding That Understands Brewery Life

GoTab offers 24×7 live support via phone, SMS, and in‑app chat staffed by hospitality veterans. You also get a dedicated account manager post‑onboarding—no extra charge.

Toast provides phone support, documentation, and onboarding teams—but support scores tend to lag GoTab’s in user reviews (Support rating 3.7 vs GoTab 4.6 out of 5) (SoftwareAdvice)

Verdict: When paddling through a busy event or unexpected tech issue—24/7 real-time support staffed by someone who "gets breweries" can make all the difference.

Brewery Taproom Use Cases: How GoTab Shines

1. Running a Taproom With Multi‑Zone Service

Use QR zones on the patio and bar so customers reorder from their phone—no line at the register. Staff use tablets to walk orders to tables. Tabs roam, and settle easily at the end of the night.

2. Hosting Events, Festivals & Seasonal Pop‑Ups

Deploy pop-up kiosks or BYOD tablets and phones. Program special event menus, merch add-ons or ticket-based pours by ounce. Vendors share out revenue easily. All with minimal hardware cost and fast setup. Note, GoTab is the only POS integrated with Tripleseat for seamless event management.

3. Merch & Brewery Store Integration

Sell cans, glassware, gift cards or merch from the same tab or device. Easily split between pour and retail. Track inventory seamlessly. Host tastings or subscriptions on the same platform.

Why GoTab Is Designed for Breweries (Not Just Used by Them)

GoTab was built with brewery and taproom operators in mind—from its guest-friendly QR ordering and roaming tabs to ounce-level inventory tracking and configurable vendor setups. Toast is a strong restaurant POS, but its architecture is built around traditional seating and staff-driven experiences, which can limit flexibility and increase costs for breweries. ( Reddit, SourceForge)

Quick Tips for Breweries Switching to GoTab

1. Train staff on QR ordering, group split features, and tablet workflows (servers can pivot from order-taker to guest-experience assistants).
2. Segment service zones—patio, bar, merch stand (ecommerc)—with signage and QR zoning to route orders correctly.
3. Leverage real-time reports to understand beer flight performance, pour volumes, busiest days or staffing gaps.
4. Integrate brewery tools like keg tracking or DTC systems to wrap operations into one dashboard.
   
   

Final Verdict

If your brewery taps into hybrid service, frequent roaming tab ordering, pop‑up events, or merchandise sales—all layered over beer inventory by ounce—you’ll thrive on GoTab’s purpose-built tools and pricing. Toast shines in full-service, dining-focused environments—but for breweries, GoTab is architected with your workflow in mind.

Ready to upgrade your brewery POS experience? Consider requesting a demo of GoTab tailored to breweries—you’ll see how features like roaming tabs, ounce inventory, and modular device deployment solve real taproom challenges.

With technology evolving fast, you can elevate your taproom with streamlined operations, faster guest turnover, better data, and happier staff. For breweries looking to scale, GoTab is the clear brewer’s‑choice POS solution.

Sources: Based on GoTab vs Toast comparison analytics and user reviews from Capterra, Software Advice, and GoTab & Toast documentation.

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