A kitchen display system that's included, not an add-on
Servio's KDS turns any tablet into a live kitchen screen. Orders from the till and QR ordering arrive as they're placed and route to the right station, so you can stop printing tickets. It's included on every plan, from £89/month for the whole platform. For the full restaurant till, QR and kitchen workflow, see the restaurant POS systems page. To compare kitchen POS options across providers, use the 2026 restaurant POS comparison.
What the kitchen display does
Live order flow
Orders appear the second they're placed, whether from the counter, the floor or a guest's phone, in one queue the whole kitchen trusts.
Station routing
Grill, fryer, cold section, pass: items route to the station that makes them, so nobody reads a full ticket to find their one job.
Status back to the floor
Mark items as they're done and front of house sees it live. No more shouting 'is table six up?' across the pass.
Printing when you want it
Receipt and kitchen printing are supported alongside the screens. Some venues run both during the transition, then quietly stop refilling the printer.
Any tablet is a screen
No proprietary kitchen hardware. Mount any spare tablet, open the browser and log in. If one breaks, a replacement costs whatever the shop charges for a tablet.
£0 extra
Elsewhere a KDS is a paid add-on per screen. On Servio it's part of every plan: one price covers the till, QR ordering, KDS and analytics.
Why kitchens switch from paper tickets
Paper tickets fail in ways that cost money. They smudge or go missing, they queue in the order they printed rather than the order the kitchen should cook them, and a modifier missed on a scribbled ticket means a remade dish and often a comped table. On a connected KDS the station sees the order exactly as the guest placed it. We’ve written up how one connected system cuts order errors to almost zero, and the practical craft of designing a station routing map that works for your menu. Because Servio’s KDS is the same platform as the till and QR ordering, there’s no integration to break and no second vendor to call. And it’s live the same afternoon you set up, as part of every plan.
Starter is one screen. Growth is the line.
Every Servio plan includes a kitchen display. Starter is a single station: the whole ticket on one tablet, which is enough for a café prep counter or a one-board takeaway. Growth adds multi-station routing, so grill, fryer, cold and pass each see their items. Extra screens stay £0. You mount another tablet you already own. That is the opposite of a per-screen KDS add-on at £20 to £99 a month.
Paper, then both, then screens
You can print kitchen tickets alongside the screens while the team learns the board. Then you stop refilling the printer. If tickets hit the till but not the kitchen mid-service, reload the kitchen tab, check the item is routed to that station, and open the same kitchen view on any signed-in device. The mid-service page is Orders are not reaching the kitchen. The craft of mapping stations is in designing a routing map.
What it does not do
It does not replace a chef. It does not guess coursing for you. It shows the order as the guest or cashier entered it, routes by the map you set, and sends status back to the floor when a station marks an item done. Short internet drops do not wipe the board; a long outage still needs a hotspot. We have not published a numeric offline SLA.
Cost and how you start
The KDS is not a line item. It is inside £89, £219 or from £449. Founding Growth pilot: 30 days free, no application. Starter: 14-day trial. Hardware is any tablet. Go-live steps are in Set up your venue in an afternoon. If you are buying a whole restaurant stack, not just a board, use the restaurant POS page.
Bump, allergens, and a tablet that dies at 8pm
A kitchen board is judged on the awkward tickets. A nut allergy on a modifier has to travel with the dish, not live in a folder behind the pass. A table that holds starters and fires mains later needs a hold, not a reprint. When a tablet dies at 8pm, the replacement is another tablet on the same login, not an engineer with a proprietary screen. That is the difference between a browser KDS and a box you bought from the POS vendor.
Expo versus station, and how many screens you actually mount
Some kitchens want one expo board that sees everything and two station boards that see only their items. Growth routing is how you get that map. Starter is one board with the whole ticket, which is the right default until you have two people who should not be reading each other's work. We will not invent a recommended screen count. Mount what the line already does. Extra screens stay £0 on Servio because they are tablets you own. Elsewhere that is often a per-screen add-on.
Training week without a second vendor
Keep printing kitchen tickets for a few services while the board is on. Then stop refilling the printer. If a ticket is on the till and not the board, the fix is in Orders are not reaching the kitchen: reload, check routing, open the same view on any signed-in device. There is no second KDS login and no second vendor to call, because the board is the same platform as the till and QR ordering.
What still needs a person
Coursing still needs a person who knows the table. The board can hold and fire items; it does not guess a wedding party's timings. Marketplace tickets are not a live first-party ingest. Direct Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat are on the way. Growth delivery management already lets those orders sit in the same queue when you enter them. We have not published a numeric offline SLA. Short drops do not wipe the board. A long outage still needs a hotspot.
Till tickets and QR tickets are the same object
The kitchen does not get a till ticket and a phone ticket. A guest scan and a cashier tap both land in the same queue, with the same modifiers and the same table number. That is why the board is included on every plan rather than sold as a second product. SumUp publishes kitchen screens at £19 per terminal on top of POS Plus. Servio extra screens stay £0 because they are tablets you already own. Unlimited staff accounts can open the same kitchen view, so a runner with a phone can bump a ticket if the mounted tablet is busy.
How a venue actually mounts it
Import the menu, set the station map, mount one spare tablet, and send a test order from the till and from a QR code. If both tickets look the same, print the rest of the codes. The afternoon sequence is in Set up your venue in an afternoon. Starter is 14 days free. Founding Growth is 30 days free, no application, then £109 for six paid months, then £219. If you are buying the whole restaurant stack, not just a board, use the restaurant POS page.
What the board will not invent
It will not guess a wedding party's coursing. It will not ingest Deliveroo, Uber Eats or Just Eat as a live first-party feed yet. Those are on the way. Growth delivery management already lets those tickets sit in the same queue when you enter them. It will not publish a numeric offline SLA. Short drops do not wipe the board. A long outage still needs a hotspot.
Common questions
What is a kitchen display system (KDS)?
A KDS replaces paper tickets and kitchen printers with a live screen: orders arrive from the till and QR ordering the moment they're placed, items route to the right station, and staff mark dishes as they're prepared, so front of house sees status without walking to the pass. It cuts lost tickets and misread modifiers, and the kitchen gets quieter.
How much does a kitchen display system cost in the UK?
Standalone KDS products and POS add-ons typically cost £20-£99+/month per screen in the UK, on top of your POS subscription. With Servio the KDS is included on every plan (from £89/month for the whole platform) and runs on any tablet you already own, so there's no per-screen fee and no proprietary kitchen hardware.
Does a KDS need special hardware?
Not with Servio. Any tablet with a browser becomes a kitchen screen once you mount it and log in. Kitchen printing is still supported where you want a physical ticket, and both are verified with you during guided setup.
Can orders route to different kitchen stations?
Yes. Items route to station views so the grill sees grill items and the pass sees everything. Our guide to designing a kitchen routing map covers how to set this up well for your menu and line.
Is the kitchen display included on Starter?
Yes. Every plan includes a kitchen display. Starter is a single station on any tablet. Growth adds multi-station routing. Extra screens stay £0. There is no per-screen KDS fee.
What if tickets hit the till but not the kitchen?
Reload the kitchen tab, check the item is routed to that station, and open the same kitchen view on any signed-in device. The mid-service article is Orders are not reaching the kitchen. You can still print kitchen tickets while the team learns the board.
Do till tickets and QR tickets look the same on the board?
Yes. A guest scan and a cashier tap land in the same queue, with the same modifiers and the same table number. The kitchen display does not distinguish between them, so nobody re-keys a phone order.
How many kitchen screens can I run?
As many tablets as you want to mount. Extra screens stay £0. Starter is one station with the whole ticket. Growth adds multi-station routing so grill, fryer, cold and pass can each see their items. Unlimited staff accounts can open the same kitchen view on a phone if a mounted tablet dies mid-service.