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Toast's new AI agents: what they mean for independent restaurants
On October 7, 2026 Toast added AI agents to Toast IQ that build staff schedules, ask guests for reviews, suggest search fixes and create offers. Toast IQ Team was reported at $60 a month plus $9 per employee, and Toast IQ Grow from $699 a month (Nation's Restaurant News, Oct 7, 2026, checked Oct 2026).
Toast's own help page says the agents are in early access with select customers, and that they send recommendations without changing anything in Toast on their own (Toast help centre, checked Oct 2026). Someone on your team still has to act on them.
Every new Toast IQ agent, in plain words
Toast split its AI into two paid bundles. Team is about staff and labor. Grow is about marketing. Status and prices below are as reported by Nation's Restaurant News on Oct 7, 2026; Toast's own release page blocked automated reading.
| Agent | What it does for you | Bundle | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduling Agent | Builds the staff schedule from availability, expected sales and overtime risk. Toast says beta users averaged 41% fewer overtime hours per employee. | Team | Beta |
| AI sales forecasts | Predicts sales so you know how many people to schedule. | Team | Feature |
| Team Performance | Staff contests to push a menu item, with a live leaderboard in the MyToast app. | Team | Feature |
| Marketing Agent | Finds a campaign idea in your past sales and runs it once you approve. | Grow | Existing |
| SEO Agent | Watches how you show up on Google and AI search and suggests fixes. | Grow | New |
| Reviews Agent | Asks guests for reviews at set moments and gives unhappy guests a private channel to you. | Grow | New |
| Offers Agent | Builds promotions to welcome new guests or win back lapsed ones from your sales history. | Grow | New |
| Menu Agent | Rewrites weak menu descriptions and recommends prices. | Not stated | Early access |
| Answering Agent | Answers the restaurant phone. | Not stated | Early access |
| Configurable Agents | Templates you adapt, such as catching missed clock-outs or flagging unusual voids. | Not stated | Early access |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
Source: Nation's Restaurant News, Oct 7, 2026, checked Oct 2026. The 41% overtime figure is Toast's own claim, also on Toast's fall release page.
What Toast's help page adds
- Early access only. "Toast IQ agents are currently in early access with select customers." (Toast help centre, checked Oct 2026)
- They recommend, you act. Agents "send updates and recommendations, but they don't make changes in Toast on their own." You make the change in Toast Web or the Toast IQ chat.
- Two at a time. "At this time, two agents per user, per location are included."
- The built-in list includes a clock-out catcher, overtime radar, missed break check, out-of-stock alert, online ordering watchdog, weather heads-up and an end-of-day closeout.
What this means if you run one or two locations
Price it per year
Grow at the reported $699 a month is $8,388 a year. Team for a 20-person crew at $60 plus $9 a head is $240 a month. Write down what each one has to earn back before you sign.
Someone still has to act
An agent that suggests a schedule or an offer saves the thinking, and the doing stays with you. If nobody on your team owns the follow-through, the recommendations pile up unread.
The phone agent is not ready to buy
The Answering Agent is early access. If missed calls cost you orders today, compare the AI phone hosts that are live now on our phone host comparison.
It only works on Toast
These agents read Toast data. On Clover or Square they do nothing for you, and switching POS for them means new hardware, new processing terms and retraining. Our POS cost guide shows that bill.
Four steps, depending on your POS
- On Toast: ask your rep for early access.Ask which agents your plan includes, the monthly cost per location, and whether Team is billed per employee on your payroll count or your active schedule count.
- Measure before you switch anything on.Write down last month's overtime hours, review count and repeat-guest rate. Without a before number, you cannot tell if the agent paid for itself.
- Not on Toast: do not switch for this.The same jobs exist for every POS. Scheduling tools like Homebase and 7shifts plug into Clover and Square; see our AI scheduling comparison. For reviews and win-back, see marketing tools compared.
- Pick one leak first.Missed calls, overtime, thin reviews or lapsed regulars. Fix the one costing you the most, then add the next.
We do the follow-through the agents leave to you
AZ is a forward-deployed technology partner: we set up the tools that already work for your POS, build what is missing, and run it with you. If Toast IQ fits your restaurant, we will set it up and measure it. Our proof restaurant in Houston runs on Clover, and every piece of our system runs there live first.
stars across 941 Google reviews, with a reviews engine that asks at the right moment and sends unhappy guests straight to the owner.
real phone calls answered by our AI host in three weeks; 40 became paid orders. New restaurants run it alongside staff for about three months.
guests known by name, so win-back offers go to real regulars.
From our proof restaurant's own systems, Oct 15, 2026.
Where these facts come from
- Nation's Restaurant News: Toast unveils an array of new AI agents for restaurants (Oct 7, 2026) - checked Oct 2026
- Toast help centre: Toast IQ Agents Overview - checked Oct 2026
- Toast: fall release 2026 - blocked automated reading; Toast's figures quoted via the sources above, Oct 2026
Questions owners ask
How much does Toast IQ cost?
As reported by Nation's Restaurant News on Oct 7, 2026, Toast IQ Team starts at $60 a month plus $9 per employee a month, and Toast IQ Grow starts at $699 a month. Toast's help page says two agents per user, per location are included at this time. Confirm your price with Toast, since these are reported figures.
Is the Toast Answering Agent available?
Not generally. In October 2026 the Answering Agent, Menu Agent and Configurable Agents were in early access for existing Toast customers. If you need AI phone answering now, compare the live options on our phone host comparison page.
Do Toast AI agents change things on their own?
No. Toast's help centre says agents send updates and recommendations but do not make changes in Toast on their own. You or a manager make the change in Toast Web or through Toast IQ chat.
Can I use Toast IQ agents if I am on Clover or Square?
No. The agents read Toast data and run inside Toast. Clover and Square restaurants can cover the same jobs, such as scheduling, reviews and win-back offers, with tools built for their POS.
Should I switch to Toast for the AI agents?
Not for the agents alone. Most are new or in early access, and a POS switch brings hardware, processing and training costs. Price the switch first, and compare it with adding a scheduling or reviews tool to the POS you already have.
Tell us which leak hurts most. We show it fixed on your menu.
No vendor commissions, so we recommend what fits your POS, including Toast's own tools.
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