Cenvi vs Toast Catering & Events, for caterers, restaurants and banquet halls
Pricing and fees re-checked against each provider’s public pricing page.
Price catering the way you actually sell it, on your own processor, month to month.
Cenvi runs the event sheet, catering pricing with guest-count tiers and combos, contracts, deposits and scheduled balances. From $249 on your own Stripe account, month to month, and it answers your phone too.
Toast catering vs Cenvi.
Same events, same paperwork. Below: what each one costs, and what each one does.
- Catering and private events are real revenue, not a favor
- You are paying monthly for software that has never brought you a booking
- Calls go to voicemail during service
The bill side by side
Monthly cost before you sell anything.
Entry price, side by side
Both do event sheets, estimates, signatures and deposits. Toast adds a register you cannot drop and their card processing. Cenvi adds a line that answers your phone.
Toast Point of Sale + Catering & Events
$69 register plus $100 catering, on Toast Payments
Concierge
Front Desk, catering pricing, contracts, deposits and payments. Month to month, on your own Stripe account.
Price, compared
Toast's catering piece requires an active register, and every plan runs on Toast Payments. Both Cenvi plans include the 24/7 phone and text line. Cenvi rows highlighted.
| Tier | Monthly | What it runs |
|---|---|---|
| Toast Starter Kit | $0/mo + 3.09%-3.69% + $0.15 | Single terminal POS with the processing rate marked up to cover the missing software fee. Catering module not included. |
| Toast Point of Sale | $69/mo per terminal | POS, online ordering, basic reporting, branded website. Per terminal. Catering still costs extra. |
| Toast Catering & Events | +$100/mo | Event sheets, event calendar, lead forms, estimates with e-signature, invoices, deposits. Cannot be purchased without an active Toast POS account, so the real floor is $169/mo. |
| Cenvi ConciergeMonth to Month | $249/mo | Booking calendar, packages, catering pricing with guest-count tiers and combos, contracts, deposits, dine-in reservations, inventory, and the 24/7 Front Desk phone and text line that quotes and books |
| Cenvi FlagshipFull System | $499/mo | Everything in Concierge, plus a website and branded iOS and Android app that Cenvi builds, manages and optimizes for search, every location on one plan with no per-store fee, and Cenvi POS. One-year contract, no setup fee. |
Toast figures reflect Toast's published plan pricing and the widely reported $100/mo list price for the Catering & Events module, checked September 2026. The module requires an active Toast POS account, so the floor for a caterer is $169/mo before processing. Toast plans run on Toast Payments only, on terms commonly quoted at one to three years that auto-renew, with an early termination fee equal to the remaining software fees. Cenvi Concierge is month to month on your own Stripe account; Flagship is a one-year contract with no setup fee. Statements about what the Catering & Events module does not include, specifically availability management, in-app guest messaging and email templates, reflect published third-party product analysis and Toast's own support documentation as of September 2026. Toast product capabilities change; check their current documentation before you decide.
Feature by feature
Both print the sheet your kitchen works from. Everything below is where they part ways.
| What changes | Toast Catering & Events | Cenvi |
|---|---|---|
| Running catering | ||
| Event sheets, estimates, signatures, depositsThe core event paperwork. | Yes | Yes, on every plan |
| Catering pricing (guest counts, combos)Per-person and per-platter rates, guest-count tiers, nested options, combos. | Restaurant menu items, sizes, and modifiers | Yes, on every plan |
| Availability managementStops you selling the same room or date twice. | Not built for it, double bookings possible | Yes, with Google Calendar sync |
| Contracts with conditional clausesClauses appear only when the booking calls for them. | One template per event type | Yes, with change orders and versioning |
| Client messagingReplying to a question on the booking itself. | Not included | Yes |
| Payment remindersChasing an unpaid balance. | Not included | Yes, on milestone invoices |
| Table reservations and floor planDining room bookings with pacing and combinable tables. | Separate Toast product, priced separately | Yes, on every plan |
| Mobile appWhat you can do from your phone mid-service. | View events only, cannot add a lead | Full workflow on mobile |
| Crew shifts, time clock and labor costingScheduling staff for the event and knowing what the labor cost. | Toast Payroll, sold separately | Yes, on every plan |
| Inventory and food costKnowing what a plate costs and what to order before the event. | xtraCHEF by Toast, with inventory and recipe costing on its Pro tier | Included: counts, recipes, plate cost and purchase orders |
| Answering the phone | ||
| Answers your phone and texts, 24/7Picks up, quotes your real prices, and books dates that are open. | Nothing like it, at any tier | Yes, on every plan |
| Guest-facing lead captureWhat happens when someone reaches out. | A web form | A booking form on your own storefront, plus phone and text answered 24/7. |
| Embeddable booking widgetTaking bookings from your own website. | Not included | Yes, on every plan |
| Money | ||
| Cost to get startedToast is cheaper to start. Cenvi includes the phone line that books. | $169/mo | $249/mo on Concierge |
| Contract termWhat leaving early costs. | One to three years, renews, early exit fee | Concierge month to month. Flagship one year, no setup fee. |
| Choice of payment processorWhether you can shop your rate. | Toast Payments only | Your own Stripe account |
| Card-not-present processingThe rate that applies to deposits and invoices paid online, which is most catering money. | 3.5% + $0.15, 3.89% + $0.15 on Amex | Stripe's published rate, not marked up by Cenvi |
| Milestone booking paymentsDeposit, midway, and final payments scheduled across the event lifecycle. | Deposit then balance. Fully-paid invoices cannot be edited. | Milestone payments scheduled across the booking |
| Commission on your catering ordersNeither platform takes a cut of the clients you bring yourself. | None | 0% on orders from your own store, site, app and phone. Commission only on marketplace leads. |
| Accounting syncSales, refunds, fees and payouts in the books without retyping them. | QuickBooks Online sync for sales and payroll |  QuickBooks Online sync on every plan |
| Everything else | ||
| Restaurant POS, kitchen display, payrollRunning the dining room itself. | Yes | Cenvi POS on Flagship, or keep the register you have |
| Works beyond restaurantsOne system for banquet halls, photographers, decorators, and the vendor partners you work with. | Restaurants and food service only | Every event category and vendor partners |
| Email marketing to your client listReaching past clients from inside the system. | Separate module | Yes, unlimited on every plan |
| Multi-location and fleet dashboardSeveral kitchens or halls under one login. | Custom plans | On Flagship, one plan price for every location |
| Concierge setup and migrationSomeone moves your existing events, menus, and templates over for you. | Paid onboarding, quoted per install | Yes, 48-hour build guarantee, in writing |
| Support promise, in writingA committed response time and a named human, not just a queue that is open. | 24/7 US-based support queue | 1-hour business-hours response, named human, in writing |
What you get
Side by side.
Lead forms, estimates with a signature, invoices and deposits, bolted to a register you already run. $169/mo once you count that register, on their processing, on a renewing term.
Concierge $249/mo: event sheets, catering pricing with guest-count tiers and combos, contracts, deposits and scheduled balances, the dining room with a floor plan and reservations, and a line that answers day and night, quotes your prices and books open dates. Month to month, on your own Stripe. Flagship $499/mo: everything in Concierge, plus Cenvi POS and a website and branded app that Cenvi builds, manages and optimizes for search. One-year contract, no setup fee.
Set up in an afternoon.
Calendar, packages, contracts, deposits and a phone line that answers, live within 48 hours. Keep your register, or move to Cenvi POS on Flagship.
Or see how Cenvi works for caterers →
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Cenvi vs Toast Catering & Events
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Corporate buyers like pharma reps, office managers and association organizers book through whichever channel pays them back. Every booking on Cenvi earns your client credit toward their next one. It costs you nothing, and it gives them a reason to come back to you instead of starting over somewhere else.
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