Square Marketing and Toast marketing alternatives

Choose Square Marketing or Toast Marketing if you run that POS and only need to reach card-paying diners. Choose Purple Engage if you want the list to build itself from guest WiFi logins. Purple captures CCPA/CPRA-aligned consent at sign-in, and runs across 80,000+ venues in 90 countries.

Square, Toast or Purple: which should you choose?

The answer flips on one question: where do your contacts come from?

Square Marketing and Toast Marketing build your audience from the transaction. A diner pays, joins a loyalty program or orders online. Their details then land in the POS, ready for your next campaign. That model works well when most visitors pay individually and share an email at checkout.

Purple Engage builds your audience from the guest WiFi login instead. Every guest who connects sees a conscious-choice opt-in, whether or not they buy anything. At a table of four, one person pays the check. All four can log in to the WiFi.

That difference shapes the three numbers you report on: list size, opt-in rate and revenue per send.

The verdict is straightforward. If your POS already sees most of your visitors, its built-in marketing is the shortest path. Use it. If your POS sees only the payer, or you run more than one POS across your property portfolio, Purple closes the gap. You can also run both: the POS for receipt-led offers, Purple for list growth from every visit.

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What decides the choice between Square, Toast and Purple?

We compared the three options on seven criteria. Each one moves a number you report on: repeat visits, opt-in rate, revenue per send or lifetime value. We scored every option only from its own public material, so treat each vendor's site as the final word.

1. Where the contact list comes from. This sets the ceiling on your list size. A list built at the register grows with transactions. A list built at WiFi sign-in grows with visits.

2. Who the list can reach. Payers are a subset of visitors. Groups, couples and families often send one card to the register. Your reach depends on how many of the others you can also contact.

3. How consent is captured. Under CCPA/CPRA and the TCPA and CAN-SPAM, you need a clear, recorded opt-in before you send marketing email. The point of capture shapes both the opt-in rate and how defensible your records are.

4. Which venues each option serves. Some options are built for restaurants only. Others cover retail, hotels and mixed estates.

5. Dependency on a specific POS. This decides how flexible your marketing stays if you change register provider, acquire a site or run a mixed estate.

6. How results are measured. Square and Toast attribute sales to campaigns through the POS. Purple measures return visits through repeat WiFi logins. The two answer different questions.

7. Multi-site management. If you run more than one venue, you need one list, one consent record and site-level reporting.

{"tone":"note","title":"Scope of this comparison","text":"We compare the marketing add-ons of Square and Toast against Purple Engage, not their POS, payments or loyalty products. Features change, so confirm each detail on the vendor's own site before you shortlist."}

How do Square, Toast and Purple compare on each criterion?

The matrix below scores each option on the seven criteria. It is the quickest way to see where each option is strong.

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Read the matrix by rows, not columns. Square and Toast share one strength: the register and the campaign sit in the same system. Purple's strength sits in the first two rows. It reaches guests the register never sees, and it records their consent at the moment they connect.

Where do Square and Toast win?

Both POS-based options win when the register already sees most of your visitors. They also win when you want marketing on the same invoice as payments.

Square Marketing wins for small retail and mixed-service venues

Square Marketing sits inside the Square ecosystem. If you already take payments through Square, your contact directory starts filling from day one. You do not have to build a separate integration.

Square offers email and text campaigns, plus automated messages such as welcome, birthday, and win-back offers. Because campaigns and sales live in one system, Square can report the sales it attributes to each send. For an owner-operator with one shop or cafe, that is a clean loop: send, sell, and see the result.

Square also serves more than restaurants. A boutique, a salon, and a coffee shop can all use the same marketing add-on. That flexibility suits small mixed businesses.

Toast Marketing wins for restaurant groups already on Toast

Toast is built for restaurants, and its marketing add-on reflects that. Guest data flows in from Toast receipts, online ordering, and loyalty. Campaigns use restaurant-specific data such as order history.

If every location in your group runs Toast, one vendor covers your POS, ordering, and marketing. Campaign reporting draws on Toast sales data, so you can see the revenue linked to each send. For a restaurant group that values one supplier and one dashboard, that is a strong reason to stay put.

The shared limit

Both options can only market to guests who reach the register and share their details. The diner who lets a friend pay never enters the list. Neither does the hotel guest who visits the bar on a room tab, or the shopper who browses and leaves. That is not a flaw in either product. It is a consequence of where the data starts.

Where does Purple win?

Purple wins wherever your visitors outnumber your transactions, and wherever consent quality matters as much as list size.

The list builds itself from every visit

Purple Engage starts with the guest WiFi login. Guests connect, see a branded sign-in page, and choose whether to hear from you. Purple calls this a conscious-choice opt-in. Each contact arrives as consented, first-party data you own.

This is the difference from Mailchimp-style platforms too. Mailchimp, Klaviyo, and HubSpot send campaigns well, but none of them builds the list. Square and Toast build a list, but only from payers. Purple builds the list from visits, then sends the campaigns. Across our footprint, Purple sees 500 million users and logins a year, which gives a sense of the volume available at the sign-in step.

The diagram shows the difference in where each list starts.

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Consent is recorded where it is given

Under the TCPA and CAN-SPAM, you must show when and how each contact agreed to marketing. Purple records the opt-in at the moment of WiFi sign-in. Purple is ISO 27001 certified and CCPA/CPRA aligned. Your legal and data teams can audit one consistent capture point across every venue.

One list across any POS and any venue type

Purple does not depend on your register. It layers on top of the WiFi hardware you already own, including Cisco Meraki, HPE Aruba, Ruckus, Juniper Mist, Ubiquiti UniFi, Cambium, Extreme and Fortinet. A hotel with a restaurant, a spa and a shop can run one list across all of them. So can a group that runs Square at some sites and Toast at others.

Proof at scale

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Harrods is a single flagship store with very high visitor numbers, and the same mechanism scales across estates. Purple runs in 80,000+ venues in 90 countries. For the full mechanics of turning logins into a consented list, read our guide to WiFi email capture for venues.

How is each option priced to run?

None of the three options charges a single flat fee for everything. Each prices on a different unit, and that unit tells you how your bill grows. We describe the structure, not the amounts. Check each vendor's current pricing page for figures.

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What the structure means for you

Square ties cost to audience size. As your list grows, your plan tier rises. That is fair, but it rewards a smaller list more than a richer one.

Toast ties cost to locations. A group adding sites pays per site, whatever the list size at each one.

Purple ties cost to your plan and your property portfolio. The Connect, Capture, and Engage plans set what you get, from guest WiFi access to full marketing. Because Purple runs on hardware you already own, you pay no hardware replacement cost to start.

The hidden cost is lock-in. With a POS-based tool, your marketing list lives inside your POS vendor. If you change POS provider, your marketing has to move too. With Purple, your list survives a POS change untouched.

What does moving from Square or Toast involve?

Moving is less about software and more about consent records and timing. You do not need to rip and replace anything to add Purple, and you can keep your POS marketing running throughout.

Step 1: audit what you already hold

Export your existing contacts from Square or Toast. Check which fields come across, and whether each contact carries a record of marketing consent. Contacts without a clear opt-in record should not move into a marketing list.

{"tone":"warning","title":"Consent does not always travel with the export","text":"If an exported contact has no record of when and how they opted in, you cannot show valid consent under the CCPA/CPRA and the TCPA and CAN-SPAM. Keep those contacts out of your marketing list until they opt in again."}

Step 2: switch on WiFi capture at one venue

Purple layers on top of your current WiFi hardware. Start with one venue, set up the sign-in page and the opt-in wording, and let the list build. Your POS marketing keeps running in parallel, so nothing goes dark.

Step 3: import consented contacts and segment

Bring in the contacts that passed your audit. Segment by venue, visit frequency or recency. New WiFi contacts and imported contacts then sit in one list with consistent consent records.

Step 4: run both, then decide

Run POS campaigns and Purple campaigns side by side for a full trading cycle. Compare list growth, opt-in rate and return visits. Then decide whether to keep both, or to consolidate.

Step 5: roll out across the estate

Once one venue proves the model, extend it site by site. Purple runs the same way on every brand in the canonical hardware list, so a mixed estate does not need different playbooks.

How should you decide?

Use one decision rule. If your POS already captures most of the guests you want to reach, use its built-in marketing. If it captures mainly the payer, add Purple.

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Your next step depends on which side of the rule you sit. If you lean towards Purple, see how it compares on our Purple Engage comparison page. For the wider picture of what guest WiFi can do for marketing, read the WiFi marketing guide.

Frequently asked questions

Is Purple Engage cheaper than Square Marketing or Toast Marketing?

It depends on your estate, because each option prices on a different unit. Square scales with audience size, Toast charges per location, and Purple prices by plan across your venues. Compare the total cost at your expected list size and site count, not the headline rate. Include the cost of switching POS later, since Square and Toast lists live inside the POS.

Does Purple Engage work with my existing WiFi hardware?

Yes. Purple is hardware-agnostic and layers on top of the equipment you already run. It works with Cisco Meraki, HPE Aruba, Ruckus, Juniper Mist, Ubiquiti UniFi, Cambium, Extreme and Fortinet. You do not need to replace access points or controllers to start building a list from guest WiFi logins.

Can I keep using Square or Toast for payments if I add Purple?

Yes. Purple does not replace your POS or your payments. It adds a second capture point at WiFi sign-in, independent of the register. You can keep Square or Toast for payments and receipt-led offers. Purple then grows the list with guests your POS never sees.

Is a WiFi-captured email list CCPA/CPRA compliant?

Yes, when consent is captured properly. Purple uses conscious-choice opt-ins at WiFi sign-in, so guests actively agree to marketing. Purple is ISO 27001 certified and aligned with the TCPA and CAN-SPAM. You still control the opt-in wording and your privacy notice, so review both with your data protection lead before launch.

Can I move my existing Square or Toast contacts into Purple?

Yes, if each contact carries a valid consent record. Export your contacts from your POS, then check which fields and consent details come across. Import only contacts with a clear record of opting in to marketing. Contacts without that record should stay out of your marketing list until they opt in again.

How does Purple Engage compare with Mailchimp?

Purple builds the list, while Mailchimp sends to a list you already have. Mailchimp, Klaviyo and HubSpot are campaign platforms. None of them captures new contacts at your venue. Purple captures consented, first-party contacts at guest WiFi sign-in, then runs campaigns from that list in Purple Engage.

Is Toast Marketing a good fit for a hotel?

Usually not on its own, because Toast is built for restaurants and food service. A hotel restaurant on Toast can use it for diners. Guests in rooms, the spa or the lobby will not reach that list. Purple covers every guest who connects to the WiFi across the whole property.

How much effort does it take to add Purple to my venues?

The effort is mainly configuration, not hardware. Purple runs as a cloud overlay on your existing WiFi, so there is no rip and replace. You set up the sign-in page and opt-in wording, then start with one venue. Once it proves the model, you extend the same setup across the rest of your estate.