Backbar vs Toast Tables
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Backbar
This application streamlines bar and restaurant management by simplifying inventory counting, vendor purchasing, and menu costing. It helps reduce costs and improve efficiency for beverage programs. Features include real-time syncing across devices, barcode scanning, and integration with over 1,300 beverage suppliers.
- Real-time inventory syncing
- Barcode scanning for products
- Streamlined vendor purchasing
- Menu costing and pricing optimization
- Digital invoice management
- Staff education on beverages
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Backbar helps restaurants and bars increase profitability, decrease COGS, and run a more efficient beverage program. Backbar, the only free bar inventory app, saves hours on counting inventory and simplifies bar management. Backbar not only solves inventory management, but also streamlines vendor purchasing and tracking, menu costing, and financial tracking. Here are some of the many features of Backbar: - Quickly count inventory across many locations, devices and users, syncing in real-time - Count inventory in multiple locations and on multiple devices simultaneously - Scan barcodes to instantly find and count products - Streamline purchasing by sending orders to all your distributors with a single tap - Track past orders and invoices for all your distributors - Connect to your point-of-sale (POS) system for real-time inventory depletions - Save digital invoices easily by taking a photo - Connect to over 1,300 beverage suppliers for automated product updates and cost changes - Educate staff with tasting notes and drink information - Cost out cocktail recipes and optimize menu pricing - Quickly add a new item from our global database of over 300,000 wines, beers, spirits and other beverages Download the app today and make beverage management easier with Backbar
Toast Tables
This app enhances restaurant hospitality by providing hosts with a POS-integrated waitlist and reservation system. It simplifies table management, allows for quick table turns with real-time updates, and helps anticipate guest needs. Communicate with guests via SMS for a better dining experience.
- POS-integrated waitlist and reservations
- Real-time table status updates
- Automated guest notifications
- 2-way SMS communication
- Guest notes and preferences
- Server rotation management
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Give your hosts the power of Toast with a POS-integrated waitlist & reservation solution built for restaurants. Enhance hospitality, simplify table management, and keep guests coming back. Note: This app is for Toast restaurants with a Toast Tables account. Optimized for iPads running iOS 12 (or later), but is not recommended for iPhone as full experience may be limited. Some features may also be available on Toast Web. Toast Tables gives restaurant hosts and operators the ability to: 1. Seamlessly manage waitlist and reservations 2. Estimate availability and turn tables quickly with real-time, automated table status updates straight from the POS 3. Keep staff happy by seating based on built-in cover counts and “next up” server rotations 4. Anticipate guest needs with notes, preferences, and VIP tags 5. Automate notifications and communicate with guests using 2-way SMS
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Backbar at 60% against Toast Tables's 20%. Backbar also leads on rating (3.6 vs 3.4). Toast Tables's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Backbar holds the better App Store score, 3.6 against 3.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 33 and 56 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 60% of Backbar's written reviews are positive against 20% of Toast Tables's.
Backbar ships an update every 3 weeks, Toast Tables fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on July 26, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Backbar | Toast Tables |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.6 (33 ratings) — better | 3.4 (56 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 60.0% of reviews — better | 20.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 33 | 56 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 32 MB | 51 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Backbar | Toast, Inc. |
Customer experience
Backbar
Toast Tables
In-app purchases
Backbar
No in-app purchases
Toast Tables
No in-app purchases







