Compare five tip management tools for restaurants by pooling rules, payouts, POS fit and pricing, plus how to choose the right one for your team.
Closing time. The last table is gone, the floor is mopped, and the manager is still sitting at the bar with a calculator. Card tips are in the POS. Hours are in the time clock. The tip-out rules are in someone’s head. And tomorrow, at least one server will ask if their number is right.
That’s the problem tip management software solves. It pulls tips and hours automatically, applies your rules the same way every shift, and gets money to staff faster. Here’s how five popular tools compare, and how to pick the right one.
Tip Management Software at a Glance
| Tool | Best for | Key strength | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ferry | Full-service restaurants and multi-location groups | Role, shift and location rules; per-shift records; Pay Card payouts | Quote-based |
| TipHaus | Staff transparency | Employee app with tip breakdowns | Quote-based; free trial |
| Kickfin | Replacing cash tip-outs | Instant transfers to existing bank accounts | Quote-based |
| 7shifts | Scheduling plus tip pooling | Pools built from schedule and punch data | Paid add-on |
| Toast Tips Manager | Toast POS restaurants | Pooling built into Toast | Paid add-on |
What Tip Management Software Actually Does
Tip management software automates how a restaurant calculates, splits, records and pays out tips. It connects to your POS and time clock, applies your tip-out rules, and produces a clear total for every employee.
Most tools handle four jobs:
- Tip pooling: Tips from a shift are combined and divided by role, hours or points.
- Tip sharing: Servers pass a set share of their tips to bussers, runners or bartenders.
- Payouts: Tips reach staff through payroll, a pay card or an instant bank transfer.
- Reporting: Every calculation is recorded for payroll and audits.
Signs Your Restaurant Needs It
Your manager does tip math at close
Pulling reports, checking hours and running a spreadsheet adds time to every shift. One late clock-in or misread report throws the numbers off.
Each location does tips differently
When stores apply the policy in their own way, staff notice and payroll gets messy. Software applies the same rules everywhere.
Staff keep asking about their tips
Many hourly workers count on tips to cover daily costs. Faster payouts and clear shift records cut down on questions and disputes.
The 5 Best Tip Management Software for Restaurants
1. Ferry
Ferry is built for restaurants with several tipped roles and rules that change by shift or location. Ferry Tip Manager connects to your POS and HR system, applies your pooling rules at the end of each shift, and creates a per-employee report showing the job code and pool rate used. The optional Ferry Pay add-on then pays tips to a Ferry Visa Pay Card, a bank account or payroll.
- Key features: Pool rules by role, job code, shift, daypart or location; percentages, points or hours; minimum distribution thresholds; manager exclusion; downloadable per-shift records
- Integrations: Toast, Square, Clover, Lightspeed, Aloha, Micros, POSitouch, SpotOn and Shift4 for POS; ADP, Gusto, Paychex and 7shifts for payroll and scheduling
- Payouts: Pay Card funded at shift end, bank transfer or payroll
- Pricing: Not published; book a demo for a quote
Best for: Full-service restaurants, fine dining and restaurant groups. Ferry reports that BJ’s Restaurants runs it at more than 200 locations.
2. TipHaus
TipHaus is a dedicated tip platform with a strong focus on transparency. It automates tip calculations and gives staff an app that shows exactly how each night’s tips were split.
- Key features: Custom pooling rules, such as giving bartenders a share of alcohol sales; automated tip reconciliation; custom payroll exports; Custom Team Adjustments for events; QR code tipping
- Integrations: Toast, ADP Workforce Now and 7shifts, among others
- Payouts: Digital payouts through Earned Tip Access, described on its Toast listing as next-day
- Pricing: Quote-based, with a free trial
Best for: Operators who want staff to see a breakdown of every tip.
3. Kickfin
Kickfin is all about speed. It sends cashless tip payouts straight to employees’ existing bank accounts the moment a shift ends, and its Tip Calculator automates pools when connected to your POS.
- Key features: Automated tip pools from POS data; digital record of every payout by location, shift and employee; Blended Payouts that mix drawer cash with digital payouts
- Integrations: POS systems including Toast and Union
- Payouts: Instant bank transfers, 24/7, or payroll if the employee prefers
- Pricing: Quote-based
Best for: Restaurants and bars ready to stop handling cash tip-outs and bank runs.
4. 7shifts
7shifts is a restaurant scheduling platform with a paid Tip Pooling add-on. Since it already holds your schedules and punch-ins, it can split tips by hours worked without extra data entry.
- Key features: Pool rules based on POS sales categories, such as food but not beer; hours-based distribution; results exportable to payroll
- Integrations: POS systems including Toast, Square and GoTab
- Payouts: 7shifts has retired its own Tip Payouts feature; employees now get on-demand access to earned tips and wages through a partnership with Clair
- Pricing: Paid add-on on top of a 7shifts plan
Best for: Teams already using 7shifts for scheduling.
5. Toast Tips Manager
Toast Tips Manager is Toast’s built-in tip pooling add-on for U.S. restaurants. It pulls tips and sales from the POS, applies your rules and sends results to payroll.
- Key features: Point-based or percentage-based pools; pooling by full workday, service period or order; a Preview tool to test a policy first; multi-day pooling in beta
- Integrations: Toast POS; works best with Toast Payroll but can be used without it
- Payouts: Pooled tips sync to payroll
- Pricing: Paid add-on for Toast customers
Best for: Toast restaurants with fairly standard rules. It doesn’t support conditional rules, such as different splits by day of week.
How to Choose the Right Tip Management Software
Write down your tip policy first
Software follows rules. It doesn’t create them. Decide who contributes, who receives and how the split works before you compare tools.
Match it to your POS and payroll
Check that your exact POS and payroll provider are supported. Ask how the tool handles refunds, voids and auto-gratuities.
Decide how staff get paid
Payroll, pay cards and instant transfers all have different timing and fees. Look at the full cost, not just the monthly price.
Check the compliance basics
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, employers, managers and supervisors can’t keep any part of employees’ tips, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. States add their own rules. California, for example, requires card tips to be paid by the next regular payday. Confirm your policy with an employment attorney.
Test it with a real shift
Give each vendor one real shift with your actual roles and rules. Ask what staff will see and request a sample payroll export.
Which One Should You Pick?
- Small restaurants and cafes: If you’re on Toast or 7shifts, try their built-in tip pooling first. If cash is the main headache, look at Kickfin.
- Full-service restaurants: Multi-role pools are where Ferry and TipHaus shine.
- Fine dining: Point-based pools and private events need precise rules and clean records. Ferry and TipHaus both handle this well.
- Restaurant groups: You need per-location rules, roll-up reporting and records on demand. Ferry is our pick.
FAQs
What is tip management software?
It’s software that automates how restaurants calculate, pool, record and pay out tips, using POS and time-clock data and your own tip-out rules.
What is the best tip management software for restaurants?
For most full-service restaurants and multi-location groups, Ferry is the best overall pick. TipHaus suits teams focused on transparency, Kickfin suits cash-heavy restaurants, and Toast Tips Manager or 7shifts suit teams already on those platforms.
What is the difference between tip pooling and tip sharing?
Tip pooling combines tips and divides them by role, hours or points. Tip sharing means tipped staff pass a set share of their tips to support roles. State rules affect what’s allowed.
Can tip management software connect to my POS?
Yes. All five tools here connect to at least one major POS, such as Toast or Square. Coverage varies, so confirm your exact system.
Does it replace payroll?
No. It calculates and records tips, and some tools pay them out early, but payroll still handles wages and taxes.
Is it worth it for a small restaurant?
Often, yes, if tip math takes real time at close or staff dispute their numbers. A single location with one or two tipped roles may be fine with a POS add-on.
How much does tip management software cost?
None of these five tools publishes standard pricing. Ferry, TipHaus and Kickfin are quote-based, while 7shifts and Toast sell tip pooling as paid add-ons.
The Bottom Line
The best tool is the one that fixes your biggest tip headache. For most full-service restaurants and growing groups, Ferry is the strongest all-round choice, with flexible rules, per-shift records, wide POS and payroll coverage and same-night payouts. TipHaus is great for transparency, Kickfin for getting cash out of the building, and 7shifts or Toast for teams already using those systems.
Start small. Pick two or three tools that fit your setup, test them with a real shift, and roll out at one location first.
