The specs
Toast CapitalClover Capital
Product typeMCAMCA
Amount range$5K – $300K$500 – $1M (varies by Clover volume)
Cost (factor / APR)Factor 1.13 – 1.36 (single fixed fee, no compounding)Single fixed fee (factor 1.12 – 1.30 typical); no APR / no compounding
Speed to fund1 – 3 business days after approval1 – 2 business days after acceptance
Min time in business6 months6 months
Min monthly revenueToast POS volume drives offers — typically $10,000+/mo processed~$5,000+ in Clover card sales typical floor
Min credit scoreNo FICO floor — underwrites against Toast POS historyNo FICO pull — underwrites against Clover POS history
Products
- Embedded restaurant working capital (Toast POS only)
- Embedded working capital (Clover merchants only)
Verdicts by use case
- Full-service dine-in restaurant on Toast POS — Winner: Toast Capital. Toast Capital is originated directly by Toast under one underwriting workflow with a published factor band (1.13 – 1.36), no FICO pull, no application, and pre-qualified offers in the Toast dashboard. Toast for Restaurants is the dominant FSR POS as of 2026-06-28. For Toast-native dine-in restaurants the single-vendor experience (POS + capital + payroll + Toast Tables reservations) is structurally simpler than any partner-network alternative.
- Restaurant on Clover POS / Fiserv merchant processing — Winner: Clover Capital. Clover Capital surfaces in the Clover dashboard for Fiserv-processing restaurants. Clover hardware is widely deployed across QSR, casual dining, and counter-service restaurants tied to Fiserv merchant services. If you're locked into Clover hardware ($1K – $5K of POS equipment plus integration with kitchen, scheduling, payroll systems), switching to Toast just to access Toast Capital is rarely worth the operational disruption for one capital event.
- Most transparent up-front cost disclosure — Winner: Toast Capital. Toast publishes a clear factor band (1.13 – 1.36) and originates directly — one underwriting standard, one repayment structure, one customer-success workflow. Clover Capital routes through a partner-lender network — actual terms depend on which capital partner Clover assigns you (factor 1.12 – 1.30 typical, but routing isn't publicly disclosed and the partner can vary by deal size and merchant profile). Toast's single-originator structure is materially more transparent for merchants comparing offers in writing before signing.
- Cheapest published floor factor for A-paper restaurants — Winner: Clover Capital. Clover Capital's published partner-network band starts at 1.12 (slightly tighter than Toast's 1.13 floor). For A-paper Clover restaurants the cheapest partner offers can come in under Toast's 1.13 floor — though the partner-network variance means worst-case Clover pricing (1.30) is higher than worst-case Toast pricing on a clean A-paper file. On floor-published headline factor Clover wins by a narrow margin; on predictability across the spread Toast wins decisively.
- Lowest switching cost if a future processor migration is forced — Winner: Clover Capital. Clover hardware can be reused across multiple Fiserv-affiliated processors and ISOs (Heartland, First Data legacy, Payment Processing Inc, others) — which preserves some processor flexibility within the Fiserv ecosystem. Toast hardware is locked to Toast and any active Toast Capital advance triggers immediate payoff if you change processors. For restaurants who might migrate processors (not full POS) in the next 12 – 24 months, Clover's intra-ecosystem flexibility is the lower-lock-in path. Toast for full POS migration is harder regardless.
The honest takeaway
Toast Capital and Clover Capital solve overlapping but distinct problems. The right choice depends on three things you already know about your business: how fast you need the money, how long you've been operating, and whether the capital need is one-time or recurring.
Frequently asked questions
- Should a restaurant switch from Clover to Toast just to access Toast Capital?
- Almost never — the math rarely justifies it for one capital event. POS migration costs typically run $2K – $10K in new hardware (KDS displays, tablets, printers, cash drawers, payment terminals) plus $1K – $5K in setup (menu programming, employee training, integration with payroll / scheduling / accounting systems) plus 2 – 4 weeks of operational disruption (parallel running, staff retraining, customer-facing learning curve). Total switching cost: $5K – $20K plus opportunity cost. The capital cost differential between Toast Capital and Clover Capital on the same $50K advance is typically $500 – $2,000 (1 – 4 points of factor) — far below the switching cost. Switch POS only if there are independent operational reasons (Clover hardware end-of-life, switching to a kitchen-display-system-first workflow, multi-location consolidation onto one POS) — and access the capital from whichever POS you end up on. If POS migration isn't justified, Clover-native restaurants who want Toast-Capital-like terms should compare Clover Capital partner offers in writing against Credibly / Greenbox / Forward Financing MCA and pick on all-in cost.
- Which is cheaper on a $25K, 9-month payback for an A-paper restaurant?
- Toast Capital at 1.20 factor on $25K = $5,000 total cost = roughly $278/wk on a 9-month payback structured as fixed % of Toast deposits. Clover Capital partner-routed pricing varies — typical band 1.18 – 1.30 on the same deal — so Clover can land anywhere from $4,500 to $7,500 total cost on the same $25K advance. For A-paper files Clover's best partner can underbid Toast slightly (1.18 vs 1.20 = $500 less cost); worst-case Clover partner routing lands $2,500 more expensive than Toast. The 2026-06-28 buying playbook: always request the Clover offer in writing with effective APR, total cost, and partner-lender identity disclosed before signing. If Clover routes you to a partner offering >1.25 on a clean A-paper file, walk and use Greenbox or Credibly MCA at processor-agnostic pricing instead — both come in at 1.18 – 1.30 with transparent published terms.
- Do either build business credit or help with future bank financing?
- Neither reports to commercial credit bureaus as a standard practice as of 2026-06-28 — both are structured as receivables purchases tied to POS processing, not as commercial loans. If building business credit matters for future bank financing (SBA 7(a) via Live Oak Bank, business line of credit, conventional term loans), the structural complement is to layer in: (1) Bluevine business LOC if qualified (12+ months TIB, $10K+/mo, 625+ FICO) — reports to commercial bureaus and builds business credit over 6 – 12 months. (2) OnDeck term loan or business credit card on top once business credit is established. (3) After 18 – 24 months of business-credit history apply for SBA 7(a) for cheapest restaurant capital available. Embedded POS capital (Toast or Clover) is the right tool for immediate cash-flow-aligned working capital, not for building the credit profile that unlocks bank financing.