Shopify vs Toast: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Shopify reported $11.6B of revenue in FY2025 and $1.2B of net income. Toast reported $6.2B of revenue in FY2025 and $342M of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
Shopify
Shopify's numbers tell a story of pandemic boom, 2022 overreach and a disciplined reset. Revenue jumped 86% in 2020, but a costly push into logistics (including the $2.1 billion Deliverr deal) and a 2022 slowdown led to a $3.46 billion net loss that year. In 2023 Shopify sold its logistics business to Flexport and cut about 20% of staff. Since then revenue has grown 26% (2023), 26% (2024) and 30% (2025) to $11.56 billion, with 2025 free cash flow above $2 billion. GAAP net income swings with the value of equity investments such as Affirm, Global-E and Klaviyo, which is why 2024 net income ($2.02 billion) exceeded 2025 ($1.23 billion).
Toast
Toast's revenue rose from $665 million in 2019 to $1.71 billion in 2021, the year of its NYSE IPO, $3.87 billion in 2023, $4.96 billion in 2024 and $6.15 billion in 2025. It reported its first full year of GAAP net income in 2024 ($19 million) and earned $342 million in 2025, with adjusted EBITDA of $633 million. In Q2 2026, revenue grew 23% to $1.91 billion, net income was $154 million, GAAP operating margin reached 26% and the company raised its full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance. Market capitalization was roughly $16-18 billion in September 2026, with shares down about 20% over the prior year.
Revenue and profit by year
Shopify
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $11.6B | $1.2B | 10.7% | +30.1% | Source |
| FY2024 | $8.9B | $2B | 22.7% | +25.8% | Source |
| FY2023 | $7.1B | $132M | 1.9% | +26.1% | Source |
| FY2022 | $5.6B | -$3.5B | -61.8% | +21.4% | Source |
| FY2021 | $4.6B | $2.9B | 63.2% | +57.4% | Source |
| FY2020 | $2.9B | $319.5M | 10.9% | +85.6% | Source |
| FY2019 | $1.6B | -$124.8M | -7.9% | +47.0% | Source |
| FY2018 | $1.1B | -$64.6M | -6.0% | +59.4% | Source |
| FY2017 | $673.3M | -$40M | -5.9% | — | Source |
Toast
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $6.2B | $342M | 5.6% | +24.1% | Source |
| FY2024 | $5B | $19M | 0.4% | +28.3% | Source |
| FY2023 | $3.9B | -$246M | -6.4% | +41.5% | Source |
| FY2022 | $2.7B | -$275M | -10.1% | +60.2% | Source |
| FY2021 | $1.7B | -$487M | -28.6% | +107.2% | Source |
| FY2020 | $823M | -$248M | -30.1% | +23.8% | Source |
| FY2019 | $665M | -$209M | -31.4% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Shopify
- Subscription Solutions
Recurring software subscriptions, Shopify Plus, POS subscriptions, themes, and apps.
- Merchant Solutions
Payments, transaction services, shipping, capital, and other merchant services.
- Ecosystem
Developer, partner, and app ecosystem that extends merchant capabilities.
Toast
- Financial Technology Solutions~80%
Card processing fees on restaurant payment volume (about $195 billion of GPV in 2025), plus Toast Capital lending fees.
- Subscription Services~15%
Recurring fees for POS software, kitchen display, online ordering, payroll, scheduling, inventory and marketing modules.
- Hardware and Professional Services~5%
Terminals, Toast Go handhelds and installation, usually priced to win accounts rather than for profit.
Business model and strategy
Shopify
How it makes money
Shopify earns money in two ways. Subscription Solutions (about $2.75 billion in 2025) covers monthly plans from Basic to Shopify Plus, POS Pro, apps and themes. Merchant Solutions (about $8.8 billion in 2025, roughly three-quarters of revenue) is tied to merchant sales: Shopify Payments and Shop Pay processing fees, Shopify Capital, shipping labels, currency conversion, POS hardware and partner revenue shares.
Growth strategy
Shopify is growing beyond small online stores. It is winning enterprise brands on Shopify Plus and Commerce Components, building B2B wholesale (B2B GMV rose 84% in Q4 2025), expanding Shopify POS for physical retail (offline GMV up 29% in Q4 2025) and pushing internationally (international GMV up 50% in Q4 2025).
Competitive advantage
Shopify's edge is the combination of a hosted platform, an integrated checkout (Shop Pay) and a large app and developer ecosystem. Merchants that rely on dozens of integrated apps, Shopify Payments and Shopify POS face real switching costs, while Shop Pay's stored buyer credentials across the network help checkout conversion. Shop Pay GMV grew 62% to about $43 billion in Q4 2025.
Toast
How it makes money
Toast sells restaurants a bundled platform and monetizes it in three ways. Financial technology solutions, mainly card processing on the gross payment volume that runs through Toast terminals and online ordering, make up the large majority of revenue (roughly four-fifths in recent filings), though payments carry thinner margins than software.
Growth strategy
Toast's growth strategy has four parts: keep adding small and mid-sized US restaurants through local field sales; win enterprise chains; expand into adjacent food and beverage verticals and international markets (Canada, the UK and Ireland); and raise revenue per location by attaching more software modules, including AI-driven marketing and analytics under the Toast IQ brand.
Competitive advantage
Toast's advantages are its restaurant-only focus, a single platform that ties POS, kitchen display, online ordering, payroll and payments to one data set, field sales density in major US metro areas, and switching costs once staff, menus, kitchens and payroll run on Toast. Its offline mode lets terminals keep taking orders during internet outages.
Questions about Shopify vs Toast
Which company has higher revenue — Shopify Inc. or Toast, Inc.?
Shopify Inc. reported $11.6B (FY2025), while Toast, Inc. reported $6.2B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, Shopify Inc. is the larger business, with Toast, Inc. reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of Shopify Inc. vs Toast, Inc.?
Shopify Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $183.0B, while Toast, Inc.'s is $17.0B. Shopify Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Toast, Inc..
Which is more financially efficient — Shopify Inc. or Toast, Inc.?
Shopify Inc. generates $1.52M / employee in revenue per employee, while Toast, Inc. generates $947k / employee. Shopify Inc. shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Shopify Inc. and Toast, Inc. make money?
Shopify Inc. and Toast, Inc. generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Shopify Inc.: Shopify earns money in two ways. Toast, Inc.: Toast sells restaurants a bundled platform and monetizes it in three ways.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Shopify Inc. or Toast, Inc.?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Shopify Inc. trades at 15.8x P/S and Toast, Inc. at 2.8x P/S. Shopify Inc. commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Toast, Inc.. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Shopify Inc. bigger than Toast, Inc.?
By last reported revenue, Shopify Inc. ($11.6B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Toast, Inc. ($6.2B (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Shopify vs Toast overview