MarginEdge vs Restaurant365 (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, MarginEdge and Restaurant365 share a 2.0 GPA, neither has a free plan and their prices can't be set side by side, so the choice depends on which features you need.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on all five counts.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
MarginEdge
Restaurant back-office software for invoices, costs and inventory
Restaurant365
Restaurant accounting, inventory, scheduling and payroll platform
Which one is for you
Pick MarginEdge if
- Fits if you run one or two restaurants and want invoices and food cost handled
- Works for operators who already use a POS it connects to
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you run one small place, since $350 a location is the flat price
- Watch out: Toast restaurants pay 10% of the subscription plus $50 a month to Toast
- Watch out: annual plans are paid upfront and non-refundable if cancelled early
- Skip it if you are outside the US and want bill pay, as it is US only
- Watch out: onboarding fees and sales tax are extra, and no trial is shown
Pick Restaurant365 if
- Fits if you want accounting, stock and payroll in one restaurant system
- Makes sense if you run several locations and want one set of books
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a price on the page, as none is published
- Watch out: accounting, inventory, workforce and payroll are sold separately
- Watch out: the pricing page does not say which phone platforms the app runs on
- Watch out: no free plan or trial is shown
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAMarginEdgeFair | 2.0GPARestaurant365Fair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$350 a location a month is at the edge of this category's dearer-quarter line of $349, and almost four times its $91 middle price. Onboarding, add-ons like the $150 scale and Toast fees come on top. | CNo price is published; the page asks for a custom quote built from the solutions you choose, so there is no figure to set against this category's $91 middle price. |
| Free plan and trial | FNo free plan or trial on the pricing page. | FNo free plan or trial; the page offers a demo. |
| Features | BInvoice processing, a daily controllable P&L, inventory, recipes, bill pay and an AI assistant. The listing shows no gap in the core back-office work, though bill pay is US only. | BRestaurant accounting, inventory and purchasing, workforce management, payroll and HR, with partner links. The listing shows no gap in the core work. |
| Ease of use | CPOS, invoice and accounting connections plus recipe set-up come before it pays off. No store rating is on record. | CMoving accounting and stock into one system takes a rollout, and no store rating is on record. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with Toast, Square, NCR Aloha, SpotOn, QuickBooks and Xero links. | BWeb with a mobile app, whose phone platforms are not stated, and a partner list the vendor puts at 500+. |
| Best for | restaurant back office priced per location | accounting, stock and payroll for restaurants |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: MarginEdge and Restaurant365. How we grade
Where they differ
- MarginEdge also covers expense tracking and bill pay.
- Restaurant365 also covers bookkeeping, payroll and shift scheduling.
At a glance
| MarginEdge | Restaurant365 | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Starts at | $350 per location / month | Not published |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | MarginEdge, Co. | Restaurant365 |
| Price read from | marginedge.com | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
MarginEdge
- The per-location price is flat at $350 a month, with onboarding fees and sales tax extra; larger groups get quoted bespoke pricing.
- Toast restaurants pay a pass-through API fee of 10% of the subscription per location, plus $50 a month to Toast for its Restaurant Management Suite.
- Annual plans are paid upfront and are non-refundable if cancelled early; the Freepour scale carries a $500 fee if not returned.
- Bill pay works for US restaurants only.
Restaurant365
- No prices are published: the pricing page asks for a custom quote built from the solutions chosen.
- Accounting, inventory, workforce management and payroll are sold as separate solutions, so cost depends on the combination.
- A mobile app is included, but the pricing page does not say which phone platforms it runs on.
Key features
MarginEdge
- Invoice processing
- Supplier invoices are read with AI and reviewed by the vendor's team of former restaurant operators; the plan has no cap on invoices.
- Daily controllable P&L
- Combines invoice costs and POS sales into a daily profit and loss view, with price tracking and budget tracking.
- Inventory and ordering
- Inventory counts, food usage and ordering tools, with commissary kitchen support and an optional smart scale for liquor.
- Recipes and menu analysis
- Recipe costing and menu analysis update as ingredient prices change on incoming invoices.
- Bill pay
- Unlimited bill payments are included for US customers; the page says this is not offered to Canadian clients.
- AI assistant and connector
- An assistant answers questions about costs, and a connector links the data to ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini.
Restaurant365
- Restaurant accounting
- A restaurant-specific general ledger and chart of accounts, daily sales and bank reconciliation, automated accounts payable and multi-location reports.
- Inventory and purchasing
- Real-time food cost tracking, recipe costing, waste and transfers in one place, vendor integrations for purchasing and price alerts.
- Workforce management
- Drag-and-drop scheduling with sales forecasting, labor rules, shift swaps and time-off requests, task management and training programs.
- Payroll and HR
- Payroll with time tracking, tax filing, tip pooling, hiring and onboarding tools and benefits management.
- Partner integrations
- Connects POS, vendor and bank systems; the vendor says it integrates with over 500 partners.
Plans
MarginEdge
MarginEdge full platform$350
per location / month, billed monthly
One flat plan: unlimited invoice processing, bill pay (US), inventory tools, recipe costing and AI tools.
Freepour Smart Scale+$150
per location / month, add-on
Optional smart scale for liquor counts, added on top of the platform subscription.
SmartPrep+$95
per location / month, add-on
Optional add-on that turns sales forecasts into daily prep lists.
Restaurant365
Pricing could not be confirmed. See restaurant365.com.
Ways to pay less
MarginEdge
- Annual discount
10% off when billed annually
Paying for the year upfront takes 10% off the subscription, which the page says saves $420 a year per location.
Restaurant365
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, MarginEdge or Restaurant365?
As of Nov 13, 2026, MarginEdge starts at $350 per location / month, and Restaurant365 has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, MarginEdge or Restaurant365?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither MarginEdge nor Restaurant365 has a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.