
Restaurant management involves a diverse range of activities.
From procurement and kitchen management to serving and billing, business owners keep track of everything to make sure their operations run smoothly.
With restaurant management software, you can centralize your activities and gain visibility into every department.
It provides integration and automation to help you streamline your workflows and oversee multiple functions from one place.
What is a Restaurant Management Platform and What Tools Are Best for You?
Restaurant Management platform refers to software products that provide end-to-end support.
Via these platforms, you can set up digital systems for various tasks such as ordering, payments, and staff scheduling.
Top Features to Look for in Restaurant Management Software;
- Kitchen and supply chain administration.
- In-person and online ordering.
- Payment processing.
- Employee management.
- Customer engagement.
Most POS—point of sale—systems also now offer extensive restaurant management functions. You can use the tools to run your restaurant with ease.
Below, I have reviewed the 15 best platforms with restaurant management capabilities. I have included several POS software products to share versatile options.
1. TouchBistro
TouchBistro supports restaurant business models, from full-service diners and quick services to bars and catering.
You can use the platform to oversee inventory, manage the kitchen, process payments, and run online ordering and reservation.
The software can be connected to several third-party applications, including inventory accounting and analytics tools. Its POS system also comes with hardware for both small and large restaurants.
Core Features
- Cloud-based point of Sale.
- Kitchen display system.
- Online ordering and reservations.
- Loyalty programs.
- Staff tracking and labor cost.
- Profit management.
- Reporting and analytics.
- Hardware.
- Integrations.
Price
TouchBistro charges separately for each module. Its prices start at $69.
2. Toast
Toast is an all-in-one restaurant management platform. Via this app, you can manage both operations and your employees.
The software covers all kinds of restaurant activities, from regular table management and special catering to online orders and deliveries. For sales transactions, you’ll get a cloud-based POS system, containing flexible payment options and hardware support.
Staff scheduling, tips handling, and payroll can be managed by Toast as well. It’s mobile-friendly and offers third-party integrations.
Core Features
- Point of sale.
- Hardware and software.
- Online ordering and delivery.
- Event management.
- Reservations.
- Loyalty programs.
- Shifts, tips, and payroll administration.
- Mobile solutions.
- Reporting.
- Integrations and API.
Price
Toast charges $69 to $165 for its core system and $110 per month for the payroll bundle.
You can sign up for free.
3. Deputy
Deputy and 7Shifts are similarly structured. You can use any of them for staff management.
Core capabilities of Deputy include auto-scheduling, PTO, availability management, shift swapping, and payroll integration. You can set up benchmarks to control labor costs and use forecasts to monitor upcoming demands and human resource needs.
With its compliance tool, you can make sure your staff gets fair compensation and your policies remain in compliance with local laws.
Deputy can be integrated with payroll and PSO systems.
Core Features
- Shift scheduling.
- PTO, leave, availability, breaks.
- Task management.
- Payroll and POS integration.
- Time clocking.
- Team communication.
- Demand forecasting.
- Compliance.
- Third-party integrations.
- Mobile app.
Price
Deputy charges $4 to $5 per user. You can ask for custom packages.
The free trial is for 31 days.
4. Resturant365
Resturant365 covers core operations and accounting. You can use it to manage various back-office operations such as shift schedules, inventory, menus, and books.
You can automate your procurement and inventory management to reduce food wastage and track stock shortage. Using business data and forecasts, you can predict labor needs and create your budget.
With Resturant365’s mobile app, you can monitor multiple branches simultaneously and handle regular tasks. To manage staff activities, you can assign tasks and set up a daily reporting system.
A separate workforce management module is also available as an add-on. It contains onboarding, payroll, and HR features.
Core Features
- Daily sales.
- Labor management.
- Shift scheduling.
- Forecasting.
- Inventory and procurement.
- Invoice capture, general ledger, and payments.
- Workforce management add-on.
- Third-party integration.
- Analytics and reporting.
- Mobile app.
Price
Resturant365 subscription charges range between $435 and $635. You can get custom packages.
5. LightSpeed
LightSpeed is a POS and e-commerce platform. It delivers a wide range of tools to cover almost every side of the operations, including kitchen, table, inventory, and sales.
You can use LightSpeed to centralize operations, track inventory, monitor sales, and scale your business. With its mobile-friendly interface and easy payment options, you can simplify the ordering process and improve your customer experience.
Online ordering and delivery can also be implemented through LightSpeed. The app supports multi-location administration.
Core Features
- Online and in-person dining system.
- Flexible payment methods.
- Ordering and delivery management.
- Kitchen, floor, and table administration.
- Loyalty programs.
- Multi-location.
- Third-party integrations.
- Mobile friendly.
Price
LightSpeed starter plan costs $69. For its premium plan, it charges $399.
6. 7Shifts
7Shifts is specifically designed for restaurants. It’s a scheduling app that helps you manage staff shifts, tips, and payroll.
With its intuitive interface and third-party integrations, you can set up a weekly or monthly shift schedule and oversee attendance and ad-hoc shift swaps. You will be able to monitor all essential functions from one dashboard, such as punching, PTO, availability, and breaks.
You’ll also receive a manager logbook to keep track of day-to-day activities and get team communication tools to connect with employees.
Core Features
- Hiring and task management.
- Labor cost calculation.
- Shift scheduling.
- PTO and time clocking.
- Tips payouts.
- Payroll and POS integration.
- Compliance.
- Team communication.
- Employee engagement.
- Reporting.
- Integrations.
- Mobile app.
Price
You can get started on 7Shifts for free. Its premium packages range between $35 and $150.
Payroll is an add-on.
7. Square
Square provides a hassle-free payment system to small and mid-size businesses. With its intuitive POS product, restaurant owners can offer in-person and online ordering options to customers.
Key features of Square’s restaurant POS app are kitchen management, ordering website, payment processing, and loyalty programs. You will receive a kitchen display dashboard to synchronize front and back-end operations and a floor plan for seating arrangement.
System hardware, multi-device support, and operation management tools are all included in the package. You can even buy add-ons for employee shifts and payroll administration.
Core Features
- Kitchen, table, and floor management.
- Ordering site.
- Online, in-person, and self-service payment options.
- Loyalty program.
- Shift scheduling.
- Cash management.
- Customization.
- Reporting.
- Mobile app.
- Hardware.
- Add-ons.
Prices
Square Restaurant POS costs $60 per month. You can get started for free and ask for custom pricing.
8. GoBeyond
GoBeyond delivers a suite of business tools for restaurant management.
Its product range includes several essential modules, including an operation management software called PeachWorks.
Using PeachWorks, you can perform a number of activities, like creating menus, managing shifts, communicating with your team, and generating labor forecasts.
You will have the flexibility to oversee multiple locations and customize your workflows.
Several lending options are also offered by the parent company, GoBeyond. Reach out to the customer service for details.
Core Features
- In-person, online, and mobile payments.
- B2B payments.
- POS system.
- Hiring and payroll.
- Loyalty programs.
- Customer engagement.
- Inventory management.
- Lending services.
Price
GoBeyond shares prices on request. Connect with customer care for details.
9. CrunchTime
CrunchTime offers back-end support. Via this platform, you can schedule staff shifts, assign tasks, manage your inventory, and monitor ingredients’ shelf life.
There are plenty of other side tasks you can perform with CrunchTime as well. For instance, you can set up an inquiry system for operational issues and automate some of your workflows, like temperature monitoring, to reduce human errors. With its sales forecasts, you can maintain your cashflows and cut down wastage.
One more thing. CrunchTime provides a library of courses for staff training. You can utilize its templates for standard procedures and add your own content for specific scenarios.
Core Features
- Tasks assignment and monitoring.
- Inventory management.
- Ingredient cataloging and labeling.
- Employee scheduling.
- Operation and cost tracking.
- Automation and alerts.
- Sales forecasts.
- Restaurant courses for the staff.
- Integrations.
Price
CrunchTime shares prices on request. Book a demo to know more.
10. Posist
Posist provides a multilingual restaurant management system. The software is built to support global restaurants and offers versatile tools to administer both back and front-house operations.
The front-house product contains a scalable POS system with server management features to reduce order processing time. With its back-end functions, you can optimize your supply chain workflows and manage your kitchen and staff.
You can integrate Posist with 400+ third-party applications to extend the functions. You can also implement contactless ordering and loyalty programs to boost your customer experience.
Core Features
- POS system.
- Online and contactless ordering.
- Server, kitchen, and staff management.
- Inventory and supply chain.
- Anti-theft feature.
- Marketing and automation.
- CRM.
- Loyalty programs.
- Analytics.
- Third-party integrations.
Price
Posist shares prices on request. You can contact sales for the demo.
11. Apicbase
Apicbase allows you to digitalize the back-house operations of your restaurant. With this software, you can centralize your processes and optimize your kitchen costs.
Core modules of Apicbase are procurement, menu creation, inventory management, and analytics. You will get multiple recipe-building tools to automate time-consuming tasks like raw material portions, allergen components, and per-serving costs.
Apicbase also has several add-ons to synchronize other parts of restaurant management, like accounting and compliance.
Core Features
- Recipe development.
- Inventory management.
- Procurement.
- Central hub for menu creation.
- Analytics and sales insights.
- Accounting, internal ordering, production planning add-ons.
- AI and automation.
- Integrations and API.
- Multi-location support.
- Mobile app.
Price
Apicbase sells four subscription packages. Reach out to customer service for the quotes.
12. Clover
Clover is a POS software with restaurant management features.
You’ll get a table service plan and kitchen display system in the POS, along with staff management and payroll integration.
Additionally, you will be able to set up a loyalty and feedback program for your customers and run multichannel promotions.
With Clover’s range of hardware products, you can implement a full-fledged ordering and payment system in your restaurant.
Core Features
- Card readers and payment processing.
- Online ordering.
- Inventory management.
- Staff scheduling.
- Customer engagement.
- Loyalty programs.
- Lending and cash flow management.
- Hardware.
- Integrations.
Price
Clover prices start at $1700.
13. TripleSeat
TripleSeat is ideal for restaurants that regularly arrange events or provide catering services.
It’s a restaurant event management software that delivers a central dashboard to organize activities and catering for special occasions.
Using its booking calendars and automation, you can share details with your admin and kitchen staff and keep track of everything. With guest portals and payment features, you can process reservations and stay connected to your clients.
Via user-friendly reports, you can monitor and measure your event management services.
Core Features
- Central dashboard.
- Online ordering.
- Proposal and invoices.
- Team invitation.
- Guest portal.
- Payment processing.
- Reservations.
- Custom branding.
- CRM.
- Analytics and tracking.
Price
TripleSeat delivers quotes on request. Book a demo to explore the software.
14.SpotOn
SpotOn provides you with all the essential tools to run your restaurant successfully.
Here, you will get a kitchen display system to manage orders, a POS system to process sales, a labor scheduling module to monitor your staff, and loyalty programs to engage customers.
With its cloud-based operation module, you can digitalize the ordering process and simplify payment processing.
For marketing and entertainment, SponOn offers websites, multichannel campaigns, and booking software.
Core Features
- Point of sale system.
- Kitchen display system and service management.
- Online ordering and delivery.
- Reservation.
- Automation.
- Staff scheduling, tips, and payroll.
- Marketing tools.
- Loyalty program.
- Hardware.
- Integration.
Price
SpotOn shares prices on request.
15.GoFrugal
GoFrugal sells cloud-based and on-premise software products.
Both products contain a dozen modules to oversee multiple back and front house activities, such as procurement, inventory, recipes, and ordering.
You can get iOS and Android mobile apps for easy access and connect third-party integrations. What’s more, you can run GoFrugal in more than one location and centralize your operations.
Its on-premise product also comes with additional features to help you set up standard procedures and security measures.
Core Features
- Procurement and sales.
- CRM and loyalty program.
- Inventory.
- Recipe and pricing management.
- Online ordering.
- Analytics and reporting.
- Admin and finance.
- Mobile apps.
- On-premise and cloud software.
- Third-party integrations.
Price
GoFrugal offers several monthly plans. Contact sales for the quotes.
Conclusion
Restaurant management is incredibly time-consuming. But with the right app, you can automate most of your functions and reduce your workload.
All of the above 15 platforms are excellent options for restaurant management. Explore their features and compare prices to find the best software for your business. Good luck!