10 Best POS Systems To Buy In 2023 For Any Business

We love that Lightspeed Retail offers such a scalable POS system with extensive inventory management capabilities, eCommerce functionality, and a comprehensive loyalty program. Plus, if Lightspeed’s built-in feature set isn’t enough for your retail or business, there are about 70 integrations available for you to create the retail or rental POS you need for success.

Lightspeed Retail is one of the best retail POS systems due to its unique inventory organization and ordering capabilities, plus its multi-store creation features that allow you to sell in permanent and temporary locations for things like popup events or kiosks. It’s also one of the best rental POS systems because of its dedicated rental integrations, online quoting/reservation system, and built-in item hold/layaway management.

Note: Lightspeed Retail offers a 14-day free trial, no credit card is required.

All plans include multi-store support.

The above pricing is only for merchants who use Lightspeed’s in-house payment processor, Lightspeed Payments. You’ll pay an extra $50/month if you choose to integrate an outside payment processor instead of using Lightspeed Payments.

Additional registers cost $59/register/month.

Some of Lightspeed Retail’s most unique retail inventory management features include:

• Inventory matrixing with single, bundled, and composite items
• Multi-store master purchase ordering and stock transfers
• Vendor catalogs to make generating purchase orders fast and easy
• Stock reordering levels and desired stock levels
• Rental and service order inventory management (such as bike rentals and repairs)

Lightspeed Retail POS purchase ordering.

Lightspeed’s loyalty program is highly customizable with different customer groups, reward types, and the ability to set recurring/one-time rewards. It’s an excellent way to re-engage customers, get information on your most important customers, and determine what reward types are the most lucrative for your business.

Lightspeed Retail loyalty program customer group settings.

We also have to mention Lightspeed’s entire marketplace of integrations, which includes apps for store security and shrinkage management, rental shop management, warehouse management, and a quoting system for people who want to start a custom order.

Lightspeed Retail software runs on iPads. You may use your own or purchase one from Lightspeed.

Lightspeed also offers cash drawers, Bluetooth scanners, card readers, label printers, and iPad stands as individual accessories or as hardware bundles. Alternatively, you can purchase your own accessories from Lightspeed’s list of supported hardware.

Lightspeed Retail offers an in-house payment processor, Lightspeed Payments, which charges an in-person payment processing rate of 2.6% plus $0.10 and 2.9% plus $0.30 per online payment.

If you choose to use a third-party payment processor like 2ACCEPT, TSYS, or Vantiv, you’ll pay an extra $50/month. Depending on your sales volumes, it might be worth it to pay the extra monthly fee.

Lightspeed Retail offers the best pricing on annual contracts. However, Lightspeed does charge an early termination fee if you cancel early, so take advantage of your free trial and consider signing up for a monthly plan before a long-term one.

Also, you must confirm that you have received any hardware from Lightspeed within five business days of receiving it, or your equipment won’t be covered by the company’s warranty (14 days for Apple products and 30 days for other products).

You should use Lightspeed Retail for a retail or rental business that focuses strongly on in-person sales.

While it takes some effort in the beginning to import vendors and set up inventory rules. it’s worth it, especially since that initial setup will make it easy to train employees. Individuals looking to use a third-party payment processor, customer engagement tools, or tools like accounting software will find what they’re looking for with this POS system.

The company also offers a variety of subscription plans and add-ons so that single-location and multi-location businesses can get everything they need at the right price for them. As your business grows, you can easily add locations and sync your operations to control your business from one online source.

If you have a small amount of inventory and/or a smaller budget, consider an alternative retail POS system like Square For Retail.

We love that Square software offers so many features for free, along with affordable hardware options and transparent monthly fees and payment processing rates. This is why Square is one of our best free POS systems.

There are subscription options for retail, restaurant, and service-based business types with just about all the tools new businesses need to succeed. On free Square plans, you can add Square POS software on an unlimited number of smartphones, iPads, Android devices, and browsers. Since you don’t need any additional equipment except a card reader, the barrier to entry is even lower.

All Square users have access to these features for free, which is very uncommon among POS providers:

• Free retail and takeout/delivery ordering website
• Free Square checkout links to take invoice payments and make sales without a website
• Free appointment scheduling link for new service-based business owners
• Unlimited POS devices so businesses can take payments in several ways

Square For Retail users can sell products in person, on their website, on social media sites like TikTok and Instagram, and list products on Google so users can discover them. Products are synced across all sales platforms, so inventory is always updated.

Square For Restaurants (one of our best free restaurant POS systems) allows you to take orders quickly with conversational modifiers, accept tips, manage orders from multiple ordering platforms, take online orders through a personalized ordering site, and Order with Google. Using Order with Google, people searching for restaurants near them will discover your restaurant and order from your Google business profile.

Square POS Order With Google integration.

Square Appointments users can allow people to book appointments on their own website, Instagram, Google, and through a button embedded into emails and other webpages. You can also send automated appointment reminders, set up time tracking to bill by the hour, and team management capabilities, all on the free Square Appointments plan.

Square POS appointment booking channels.

To take payments, you only need the $49 Square Bluetooth card reader.

The Square Stand is a $149 iPad stand with a built-in card reader so you can take orders on an iPad and swivel it around for customers to review their order and pay. The Square Terminal is a $299 handheld POS terminal so servers and mobile-first businesses to take payments on the go.

Square offers even more hardware kits and accessories. Read our guide to Square hardware to help you decide what hardware your business may need.

Square’s payment processing rates are 2.6% plus $0.10 for in-person payments and 2.9% plus $0.30 for online payments.

You can’t use any payment processor other than Square.

Square has highly flexible month-to-month plans with no penalties for canceling early. The company also has a generous hardware warranty.

New business owners of all types, including retail, restaurants, and service-based businesses, can benefit from Square’s low-commitment POS solution. Square allows businesses with very low budgets to start selling on many platforms almost immediately. The system is easy to set up, use, and change whenever you like.

Plus, at some point, your business may outgrow Square’s flat-rate payment processing fees. With Square’s month-to-month contracts, you can easily sign up for a dedicated merchant with interchange-plus payment processing.

If you like that Square has a free plan but need a restaurant POS system with perishable inventory tracking, consider starting out with Toast’s Pay-As-You-Go plan and then upgrading to a paid plan as your business grows.

If you like Square’s free online store builder and low commitment but want your own merchant account with custom payment processing rates, consider signing up for a Helcim account.

We appreciate that Clover provides a self-contained POS solution where your software, hardware, add-ons, and payment processing all come in one package. This makes Clover one of the easiest POS systems to work with.

However, while Clover is easy to use, it’s still a flexible, scalable solution. You can choose from lots of POS hardware and industry-specific software plans, and (unlike Square) you can purchase Clover hardware from one of many Clover resellers and get your own custom payment processing rates.

This is a huge advantage for businesses looking for the best payment processing rates possible.

While Clover works for many business types, we believe Clover is an exceptional option for sellers on the go, especially those that provide personal, professional, and home/field services. This is because Clover’s handheld terminal allows you to send invoices, take payments, print receipts, manage inventory, and accept client feedback.

If your base Clover plan doesn’t have everything you need built into it, there’s an entire app market with software add-ons that are as easy to install as smartphone apps. You can find apps to engage customers, streamline operations, and add specific industry-specific features like age verification or kitchen display systems.

You can also purchase your Clover POS system from a number of Clover-authorized sellers, so prices will vary. Read our Clover pricing guide to understand more about how much you may pay for your Clover hardware, software, and payment processing fees.

Clover offers retail, restaurant, and service-based business software plans. All Clover users will appreciate the provider’s free loyalty program, online ordering page, and access to Clover’s vast app market. The app market offers everything from form builders to employee management apps to appointment schedulers.

Personal, professional, and home/field services business owners will appreciate these service-specific features:

• Invoice by email with status order updates on invoice payments
• Customer database with loyalty program setup and private feedback
• Inventory tracking, stock takes, and itemized order creation through Clover Flex
• Recurring payments with card on file

Clover POS invoice status monitoring.

Clover offers a handheld terminal, the Clover Flex, which costs $599 if you purchase it from Clover.com. This is great for mobile sellers, especially professional and field service providers like mobile hairdressers and landscapers.

The Clover Mini is a small countertop terminal ($799 on Clover.com) and includes a built-in receipt printer. The Clover Station is a full countertop solution with a cash drawer, receipt printer, and card reader. On Clover.com, the Clover Station costs $1,699.

It’s important to note that Clover hardware costs will vary depending on Clover hardware providers.

Clover payment processing rates vary depending on where you get your Clover hardware and accompanying merchant services from.

If you get your POS from Clover.com, you’ll pay 2.3% plus $0.10 for card-present transactions and 3.5% plus $0.10 for all card-not-present transactions, which includes invoice payments and online ordering website payments.

Small businesses can get flat-rate payment processing. Larger businesses can seek a merchant services provider that offers an interchange-plus payment processing model, the most cost-effective model for processing large sales volumes.

Read our post on the best Clover resellers to find a Clover-authorized merchant services provider with the best payment processing rates and contract terms for your business.

Since Clover is sold by a number of merchant services providers, there are several different types of contracts you’ll encounter. Read our post on Clover scams so you can avoid the bad companies (and find the good ones).

Businesses that want an all-in-one POS solution with the freedom to choose from a line of proprietary POS hardware and integrate their own payment processor should choose Clover for their POS system. We also recommend Clover for individuals who want a POS that’s easy to set up, train employees on, and modify whenever they want.

Services providers who are out on the field should strongly consider the Clover Flex POS system, which allows you to take payments, scan barcodes, send and monitor invoices, and print receipts all from one handheld device.

If you’re looking for cheaper proprietary POS hardware or a more straightforward payment processing setup than what Clover offers, consider purchasing software and hardware from Square.

If you like Clover’s customization levels and the ability to choose your own payment processor, but you’re also looking for a more self-contained POS solution without relying on third-party apps, consider using Revel.

We love that Revel is an extremely customizable POS solution with built-in features for niche business types.

Unlike many other POS systems, you don’t have to choose between retail, restaurant, and service business software plans. This is great for hybrid businesses that serve food and retail items, retail products and appointments, and more. Revel also offers several proprietary add-ons, business reports, and third-party integrations for business owners to streamline operations and thoughtfully expand their offerings.

This POS is also a great option for businesses with multiple stores and wanting to franchise. Revel has excellent multi-establishment hierarchy settings that help you manage brands, individual establishment permissions, royalty payments, product settings, and more. There are also lots of product transfer settings that help you monitor the location of any product at any given time.

We also appreciate that Revel is consistently updating its product offering based on feedback from customers, so you can rest assured knowing that your POS will continually remain one of the most well-designed systems.

Revel’s advertised pricing requires a two-terminal minimum, three-year contract, and you must agree to use Revel Advantage, Revel’s in-house payment processing solution.

However, most businesses will want to add on Revel products such as its delivery software, online ordering platform, highly customizable loyalty program, and multi-location management functions. A Revel representative will give you a custom quote for all these software add-ons.

Revel offers one of the most comprehensive feature sets of any POS software on this list, mainly because you have access to both retail and restaurant management features.

No matter what type of business you run, you’ll appreciate these unique Revel features:

• Loyalty Program: Includes custom rewards point setup, gift options, and automated loyalty points marketing for customers who haven’t stopped by in a while
• Online Ordering: Online ordering for local delivery with real-time driver monitoring and shipping with auto-generated third-party shipping rate calculations; third-party delivery platform integrations
• Purchase Ordering: Purchase order generation with set par levels, vendor management, and partial/full order receiving
• Employee Management: Includes scheduling, time clocks, employee roles, and payroll, all within Revel dashboard
• Multi-Establishment Management: Create different parent and child establishments, unique brands, charge royalty fees, and push changes across single, multiple, or all establishments
• Inventory: Revel offers inventory matrixing, custom attributes, stock unit conversions, waste management, loss reports, and automated perishable food/liquid inventory tracking

Revel POS inventory item setup.

All restaurants types can make good use of Revel’s kitchen display systems, which help kitchen staff decrease order prep time by routing the correct order items and modifiers to digital screens rather than relying on paper tickets. Revel kitchen display systems will also take order types from third-party ordering platforms, takeout orders, in-house delivery orders, catering orders, and any custom order type your specify.

Full-service restaurants will appreciate Revel’s table monitoring system, which allows servers to transfer customer orders to different sections (such as moving from the bar to a table), change a customer’s seat at the table, monitor table turnaround, order sharing and splitting, and charge items to house accounts.

You can also set up catering, charge service fees based on party size, and set up waitlists/reservations.

Revel POS full-service table monitoring.

Quick-service restaurants will enjoy self-serve kiosks, customer display screens so customers can confirm their orders, digital menu integrations, omnichannel order management, and even drive-through capabilities.

In fact, Revel is one of the best drive-through POS systems on the market.

Revel POS kitchen display screen.

Any business that provides services such as catering, rentals, or repairs will appreciate Revel’s built-in appointment booking system and predefined service charges. Revel also has an open-ended item feature that allows you to charge a custom fee depending on how long you spent on a service, how long a person rented an item or venue, or any other cost parameter.

Revel offers POS hardware and accessories for Revel users, which you’ll get a custom quote for.

Alternatively, with Revel’s written permission, you may purchase Revel-compatible hardware on your own. The company asks for written permission to ensure that you are definitely spending your money on hardware that will work and can avoid having to return any equipment to third-party providers.

Revel offers its own in-house payment processing solution, Revel Advantage, which you will get a custom quote on. The company advertises flat-rate payment processing.

You will most likely be required to pay an additional monthly fee to integrate with compatible outside payment processors such as First Data, Heartland, TSYS, Chase Paymentech, Worldpay, and Elavon.

Revel’s standard contract is three years, with a substantial early termination fee depending on how far you’re into your contract before canceling.

While you’ll get the best prices with a longer contract, we recommend making extensive use of your demo, asking lots of questions to your Revel account representative, and even signing up for a month-to-month plan until you’re sure that Revel is the right fit for your growing business.

Revel typically offers a discount for users who bundle their software, hardware, and payment processing into one bill. We recommend that you get an estimate on hardware and payment processing rates from outside companies and bring that estimate to Revel to see if they’ll match it.

Revel is best for midsize to large single-location and multi-location businesses, especially hybrid ones with restaurant and retail/service offerings. We recommend Revel for all businesses that require niche features and highly customizable POS systems.

Business owners interested in integrating their POS software with an outside hardware provider or payment processor should also consider Revel software since Revel integrates with more third-party providers than most POS systems on this list.

If you like Revel’s full-service restaurant features but don’t have a huge budget, consider using TouchBistro. If you like Revel’s retail inventory capabilities but not the steep costs, consider Lightspeed Retail. If you have a franchise and not a lot of money, consider KORONA POS.

We love that Shopify has expanded its eCommerce offering to provide a POS system that syncs perfectly with business owners’ online sales channels. You can sell anywhere using Shopify, whether that’s in person at a store or mobile event, or online through your own website or marketplace like Etsy.

Shopify also has excellent online ordering for in-store pickup, local delivery, regional shipping, and international shipping. You can also create custom offers, sales, and gift/layaway orders.

You can set up a completely customizable sales solution with a Shopify website and the Shopify app market, which has over 8,000 apps available. Start a loyalty program, create a large item catalog, start a subscription service, create quote-based orders, sell collections, and more using easy-to-install Shopify apps.

Note: Shopify offers a three-day free trial, no credit card required.

All plans come with the free POS Lite app. There is a POS Pro app you may add onto one of the above plans for an extra $89/month/location. This app comes with more employee permissions, better inventory reporting, and in-person workflow automations.

Shopify’s free in-person sales features include everything you need to make sales at a retail store or mobile business, while the paid Shopify Pro POS app adds functions like exchanges, purchase ordering, and stock transfers between locations.

On all Shopify plans, shoppers can buy items online for in-store pickup. They can also purchase items in person for local delivery. This is great for instances when you don’t have enough items in-store to fulfill a customer’s order, but you do have them at a warehouse or another location.

Shopify POS order for in-store pickup.

Shopify’s eCommerce features are what sets this software apart. These features include:

• Custom online store builder with item sales for in-store pickup, delivery, and layaway
• Sales on social media channels like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter
• Product listings and sales on marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and Walmart Marketplace
• Suite of shipping tools to streamline item shipping and give accurate tracking updates to customers
• Abandoned cart recovery emails to recapture the interest of potential customers

Shopify online store with in-store pickup.

Shopify also has the largest app store out of all the providers on this list, with over 8,000 apps available for users to add any functionality to their POS and online store that they want. With this much customization available, Shopify can be tailored to suit the needs of any retail, small restaurant, and service-based business.

For example, Shopify’s appointment scheduler app, designed for service businesses like spas and nail salons, makes Shopify one of the best salon POS software options. Its catalog builder apps with customer logins also allow Shopify users to create a B2B online storefront in addition to a B2C store.

To start selling, you need at least the $49 Shopify card reader as well as a smartphone or iPad. You can also purchase a retail kit for $219 as well as accessories like barcode scanners ($229), cash drawers ($139), and label printers (starting at $299) from Shopify.

In October 2022, Shopify released a new handheld mobile POS system, the Shopify POS Go, for $429. It has an integrated card reader that is supposed to rival the Clover Flex, Square’s mobile restaurant POS, and the Toast Go 2 (which we’ll discuss later).

Shopify offers its own in-house payment processor, Shopify Payments, that charges a payments processing fee between 2.4% and 2.7% for in-person orders, while online orders have a processing fee between 2.4% and 2.9%, plus a $0.30 flat fee.

The higher your monthly Shopify subscription, the lower your payment processing fees will be. We recommend that as companies increase revenue, they should move to a higher plan to save money on fees.

You may also integrate Shopify with a variety of third-party payment processors, although you will pay a transaction fee between 0.5% and 2% if you do so. Companies that want interchange-plus payment processing or those that do not qualify for Shopify Payments will end up paying this fee.

Shopify has month-to-month and annual contracts. Annual contracts have better pricing, but Shopify does not issue refunds. Consider this as you’re purchasing your subscription plan, and make extensive use of your free trial before committing.

Most Shopify POS users get a one-year warranty on POS hardware. Those who sign up for a POS Pro plan get an extended two-year warranty.

Businesses that want to sell on multiple platforms, or focus more on eCommerce than in-person sales, should strongly consider using Shopify. This POS software is best for retail item sales but is customizable enough for most business types to use, so you can sell anything from groceries to luxury subscription boxes to tickets for a cooking class at your bakery.

Shopify is also recommended for businesses that want to sell on a national or international level since Shopify has excellent shipping features and Shopify websites can be automatically translated into different languages and currencies.

If you like Shopify’s huge app market but want to choose your own payment processor (without paying transaction fees) to minimize processing fees, consider an alternative like Clover. If you own a busy restaurant, Shopify is probably not the best fit for you, and you should consider a company like Toast or Lightspeed Restaurant.

We love that Toast provides every restaurant feature a restaurant owner could need, packaged into separate products, so you purchase only what you need.

We believe that Toast has some of the best kitchen display systems, self-serve kiosks, and tableside ordering capabilities from any restaurant POS provider. Plus, the company has developed an excellent loyalty program, multilocation management features, and an in-house delivery system builder.

We also appreciate Toast’s Android-based hardware line.

Toast’s countertop and handheld POS hardware are extremely durable, and able to withstand drops and spills without needing to be replaced.

Toast offers the Starter plan, a pay-as-you-go plan that costs $0 upfront for hardware, and you’ll pay no monthly fees. However, you are limited to 1-2 POS terminals, and you get charged higher processing fees to “make up for” the lack of monthly fees. Restaurants planning to start small and scale fast may consider starting with this plan and upgrading as soon as possible.

Toast’s Standard plan comes with core POS functions plus QR code tableside ordering.

The New Restaurants plan includes core POS functions plus employee management software like scheduling and payroll. This plan costs $110/month plus $4/employee.

The Essentials plan includes online ordering and delivery.

Most of Toast’s best features, such as its loyalty program, kitchen displays, multilocation, and third-party delivery integrations, come as paid add-ons. You’ll get a custom quote for these add-ons and usually a bulk discount if you sign up for several at once.

One of Toast’s most unique features is its extensive loyalty program, which automatically:

• Prompts customers to sign up on customer-facing displays, receipts, self-serve kiosks, and online orders before or after they finish ordering
• Automatically connects a loyalty account to a credit card so customers can automatically earn points just by using their card
• Allows customers to sign up with a phone number or email and send a welcome gift or loyalty points
• Generates a loyalty account portal that customers can log into to see their points and add new payment methods/contact information
• Notifies servers and customers when they have loyalty points available to use (also applies for self-serve and online orders)

Toast restaurant POS loyalty program signup prompt.

Toast also offers many ways for customers to order, which is excellent for midsize restaurants that are short on servers. With Toast’s newest product, Toast Mobile Order & Pay, customers may order and pay using a QR code. Most QR code ordering systems still require customers to pay upfront, but Toast removes that extra step for a more seamless customer ordering experience.

Customers can also order online or call the store for in-store or curbside pickup through all major third-party delivery platforms, and you can develop your in-house delivery system.

With Toast Delivery, you can assign drivers to orders, add custom delivery fees, send customers order updates in real-time, and set tipping rules for delivery orders.

Toast’s highly customizable pickup and delivery options are what make Toast one of the best pizza shop POS systems.

Toast POS in-house delivery system.

Servers taking orders can prioritize certain orders, hold and fire items, and send items to specific kitchen stations, all from a state-of-the-art handheld POS. You can also force certain items to be sent to specific stations when setting up your menu.

Toast’s special multilocation management includes varying menus (and pricing) by location, custom tax settings for each location, and customers can collect/redeem loyalty points at any location. In addition, franchisees and location managers that are allowed to change menus may easily do so without disrupting the setup of any other location.

Toast also has a complete employee payroll, 401(k) management, and employee scheduling product, whereas most other restaurant POS systems require third-party integrations to get all these features.

Toast offers highly durable POS equipment, including the Toast Go 2 handheld POS with integrated payments and receipt printing, the Toast countertop POS terminal, self-serve kiosks, and kitchen display systems. All are proprietary Toast products, and you cannot use any outside hardware with Toast software.

On the Starter plan, you can choose a starter kit that includes 1-2 POS terminals and pay $0 upfront, but you will pay higher payment processing fees that will quickly add up to the cost of a POS system.

On the Standard plan, you may also choose a starter kit but must pay for your equipment upfront ($609 for the Toast Go 2, $799 for the countertop POS). Alternatively, you can sign up for the Standard plan and get a custom quote if you want to use several POS systems.

Midsize single-location and multilocation businesses will need to get a custom quote on a specialized POS hardware package.

Toast offers flat-rate payment processing for individuals on the Starter plan, and those on the Standard plan who opt into the starter kit. Payment processing ranges from 2.49% plus $0.15 to 3.49% plus $0.15 per order.

Any plan with a custom hardware quote will also have a custom payment processing fee.

Toast’s standard contracts are two years, require Toast payment processing, and come with a large early termination fee. Consider signing up for a short-term plan before committing for the long run.

You should choose Toast if you have a restaurant with more than a few employees, more than one location, and/or want to offer several ways for customers to order. Also, quick-serve restaurants that want to generate repeat business through a strong loyalty program should definitely use Toast.

Toast is also a great option for restaurants that require menu rotations, offer special items, and create custom menus. If you have multiple sections in your restaurant, such as a main area and a bar, you can use Toast to create custom menus for each section. Managers at different locations can also set their own custom menu settings.

If you do not want to use an iPad as POS hardware or want more durable handheld and countertop POS equipment, then Toast is the best option for you.

If you have a smaller restaurant with less complex needs, then a more cost-effective alternative is Square. If your busy restaurant offers more than food (e.g. retail item sales or services), then Revel’s hybrid software for retail, restaurant, and service businesses may be a better fit for your business.

We love that Helcim offers completely free POS software and transparent interchange-plus payment processing fees to all business owners. With this POS model, many business owners (especially ones with higher average transaction sizes) will save money and understand exactly what they’re paying for.

While the company’s in-person POS system is adequate for many small retail and countertop restaurant businesses, its invoicing, card storage vault, and custom online checkout designer are Helcim’s most outstanding features. These features are most beneficial for B2B businesses, businesses that provide services such as veterinarian offices and carpet cleaners, and businesses selling subscriptions.

Helcim’s POS software is completely free to use. You only pay Helcim’s payment processing fees.

Helcim’s free POS system offers all standard POS functions, and it’s easy for employees to add products, discounts, tips, and customer accounts during transactions. You can also sell individual items and sell to businesses using customer portals and large catalogs.

Helcim’s invoicing and recurring payments features are what really sets Helcim apart from the other providers in this list. Helcim’s invoicing features include:

• Custom drag-and-drop invoice creation and payment settings
• Set full and partial invoice due dates
• Send reminders to customers about upcoming and overdue invoice payments
• Set recurring invoice payments with card or account on file
• Create automated and manual tax settings for invoices

Helcim POS invoice theme designer.

Helcim’s subscription management includes prorated billing, so you only charge customers for the days they use their subscription, metered billing. With this billing method, you charge based on monthly usage data and the ability to add one-time fees and add-ons. Customers will get an automated reminder when their card is about to expire.

You can also create free trials for customers, and if a customer cancels their subscription, you can get feedback that will help you understand why they canceled to optimize your subscription business.

Helcim’s POS and web pages (including checkout carts, subscription signup, approvals, and client portals) can be built with a drag-and-drop builder, so your pages will have only the information you want, and they will all be custom-branded. This is useful for businesses that only need certain information fields, like those selling services, as you can remove fields like the shipping address.

Helcim’s card reader costs $109. It is compatible with just about all smartphone, tablet, and desktop devices.

There are also a few compatible receipt printers available.

Helcim offers interchange-plus payment processing for all businesses, small or large. There are no minimum sales volumes or transaction numbers. This is highly uncommon among POS providers.

The company offers a sample “find your custom rate” tool on its website. As an example, if a professional services business makes less than $25,000 per month and has an average transaction size is $250, the business can expect to pay a processing fee of 1.95% plus $0.08 for in-person payments and 2.40% plus $0.25 for online transactions.

Helcim offers very flexible month-to-month contracts with no early termination fees, much like Square does.

Businesses with larger transaction sizes, as well as businesses that invoice customers frequently, want to sell subscriptions, charge for services, want to use their own device as a POS system, want transparent payment processing, or want great customer service, should consider using Helcim.

If you want to accept international payments, Helcim is also a great option.

Those interested in using specific third-party software (besides QuickBooks, Xero, or WooCommerce) or honing in on a loyalty program should avoid Helcim for now and choose an alternative like Shopify or Clover. The company has been rapidly developing its POS offering, though, so at some point, Helcim probably will offer these features.

We love that TouchBistro has created a POS system that focuses on server and customer experience. Servers get detailed information on dishes and item pairing suggestions in real-time so that they can provide diners with an excellent sit-down experience. They can set hold and fire times to ensure every dish comes out at the right time and temperature. TouchBistro software can also capture customer information while customers order in person or online and add them to a custom loyalty program.

The system offers excellent features for full-service restaurants and catering businesses. For example, TouchBistro offers a built-in waitlist/reservation system, an online ordering page that can be customized for taking catering orders, and house account management for VIP customers and customers who frequently make catering orders with you.

In general, we chose TouchBistro because it is a well-thought experience-focused restaurant POS system with a strong customer management platform.

TouchBistro asks you to get a quote first, which usually means you’ll end up paying more than the advertised starting rate.

There are also add-ons available at the following prices:

• Online Ordering: $50/month
• Loyalty Program: $99/month
• Marketing: $99/month
• Gift Cards: $25/month
• Reservations: $229/month

While the reservation and loyalty apps seem expensive, you won’t be charged any per-transaction fees for either. This makes TouchBistro a great alternative to third-party apps, especially ones that charge a subscription fee and commissions.

TouchBistro’s most unique features for full-service restaurants are its upselling features, reservation system, and catering functions.

As servers take orders, they get upselling suggestions in real-time, plus comprehensive item information to describe dishes. Patrons who order online also get automated upselling suggestions that update in real-time as they add and remove items from their order.

We believe that TouchBistro is best for full-service restaurants because it has developed these excellent features:

• Reservation System: Customers can make reservations from your web app, your Google Business Profile, or phone call. Send reminder emails/phone messages about upcoming reservations to reduce no-shows. Create floor plans specifically for managing reservations.
• Waitlist: Allow customers to add themselves to the waitlist online when your restaurant is currently full. Send customers SMS notifications about their waitlist status and enforce waitlist cutoff times.
• Liquid Inventory Management: Track liquid sales and wastage at your bar or events featuring alcohol with TouchBistro’s Bevchek or Freepour integrations.
• Customer Accounts: Allow billing to customers’ house accounts with saved payment types. Take partial or full balance payoffs. Allow customers to preload credits to an account.
• Customer Dining Preferences: You can ask for dining preferences/allergies when taking reservations. VIP diners are noted in customer reports, and their preferences can be saved for future orders to create a personalized dining experience.

TouchBistro Restaurant POS waitlist/reservation settings.

Catering companies will appreciate these features:

• Taking Catering Orders: Caterers can create a quote and take notes for a future order, require a deposit for future orders, and choose how far in advance someone can order. You can also set concrete event start and end times.
• Delivery Customization: Caterers can set different delivery zones and increase fees depending on delivery zone. Set minimum order amounts per delivery zone. If a customer inputs an address outside your delivery zone, an automated message will ask the customer to contact you to discuss a custom order.
• On-Location Sales: TouchBistro is a unique hybrid system that allows for fully online and offline sales. You can bring items that are on your catering menu with you and sell them on location.

TouchBistro POS system catering delivery parameters.

TouchBistro is an iPad-based POS system, so you can use iPads as registers and kitchen display systems. You can purchase a TouchBistro POS kit, but you have to contact the company for a quote.

TouchBistro has its own in-house payment processing solution powered by Chase that you can use, or you can integrate TouchBistro with a number of payment processors, including Moneris, Square, TSYS, and Worldpay.

TouchBistro offers month-to-month and long-term contracts. Like most POS providers, you’ll get better pricing with longer contracts. However, TouchBistro will charge an early termination fee for canceled accounts, so consider getting a short-term contract before committing to anything in the long run.

Full-service restaurants, especially ones that provide catering services, should strongly consider choosing TouchBistro as their POS system. The system offers a great offline mode, is server-friendly, has catering and customer house account management features, and works hard to help you create a VIP customer experience.

Whether your restaurant is a family-style sit-down restaurant or a fine-dining establishment, you’ll find what you need with TouchBistro.

If you have a lot of inventory that you want to bulk edit, or you want to offer self-serve kiosks at your restaurant, go with an alternative such as Lightspeed Restaurant or Toast.

We love that Lightspeed Restaurant has created such a user-friendly system for servers, kitchen staff, and managers. The system has excellent inventorying and reordering features for restaurants and comes at a slightly more transparent price compared to other feature-rich restaurant POS systems on this list.

Lightspeed Restaurant also has lots of third-party integrations available, including several liquid inventory management integrations and hotel management integrations. This POS system offers speed, flexibility, and is easy to use.

We recommend the Essentials plan for single-location restaurant owners looking to use Lightspeed’s customizable POS interface, menu manager, and offer takeout/delivery services.

Plus is best for single and multi-location restaurants that are interested in tableside ordering (great for when you’re short-staffed), floor planning, selling alcohol, and starting a loyalty program.

Pro is for those looking to offer QR code ordering and a branded online ordering and delivery web-based app.

Lightspeed’s best quick-serve and fast-casual restaurant features include:

• Separate quick-serve and full-service modes
• Order holds, which allows servers to take the next people in line if someone forgets their wallet or needs to wait to pay
• Custom self-ordering menus so that customers can’t order items like alcohol or miss modifiers
• Set items as a composite of individual ingredients, which is great for fast-casual restaurants serving mainly buildable items like grain bowls or burritos
• Automated inventory tracking with auto-86ing on POS screens so that servers can’t accidentally sell what they don’t have

Lightspeed offers several integrations for liquid inventory and waste management, plus ID verifications, making Lightspeed one of the best POS systems for bars. Hotels and inns can also find unique hotel management integrations with Lightspeed that charge items to a customer’s room, manage reservations for hotels and hotel restaurants, and manage several restaurant locations within one hotel ecosystem.

Lightspeed Restaurant software is iPad-based, so you can run countertop, mobile, self-serve, and kitchen display screens on iPads.

Lightspeed Restaurant has iPad bundles and a wide variety of hardware for purchase through its website. The website doesn’t list prices, so you’ll need to call the company for a quote.

You may purchase your own Lightspeed-compatible hardware. Lightspeed has a list of compatible hardware on its support page.

Lightspeed has its own processing program, Lightspeed Payments. Its fees are 2.6% + $0.10 for card-present transactions or 2.6% + $0.30 for card-not-present transactions for business owners on the Essentials and Plus plans.

Users on the Pro plan will get a custom lower payment processing rate.

Lightspeed has month-to-month contracts, but they are much more expensive than annual ones.

However, Lightspeed charges an early termination fee if you decide to cancel your subscription early, and hardware return windows are short, so consider starting out on a monthly plan until you’re sure Lightspeed is the POS for your restaurant.

Lightspeed Restaurant is best for quick-serve and fast-casual restaurants that need extensive inventory management features, a server interface that’s easy to use but still customizable, and want to offer a strong loyalty program.

It’s also an excellent choice for restaurants that require niche features such as hotel management and extensive liquid inventory management, as Lightspeed offers several third-party integrations.

If you want a more cost-effective restaurant POS than Lightspeed Restaurant, consider an alternative like Square. If you want a built-in restaurant reservation and waitlist system, consider TouchBistro.

We like that KORONA offers flexible monthly plans and allows you to choose your own payment processing service provider, which is great for high-risk businesses that don’t qualify for providers like Square or Shopify. You can also integrate KORONA software with POS hardware from several different providers, giving business owners even more flexibility.

KORONA also offers great loss prevention features like forced till counts, and blind stock takes, plus highly custom employee and manager restrictions so only certain people can change prices, void items, make returns, and change anything in your back office setup.

We also appreciate how affordable KORONA plans are in general. Business owners using KORONA get eCommerce capabilities on all plans, very affordable multilocation capabilities, and employee time tracking on lower-level plans. You also get open API access on all plans, which means you can create custom connections between KORONA and third-party software.

Note: KORONA offers an unlimited free trial, no credit card required. You sign up for a paid plan once you’re ready to accept customer payments.

KORONA POS pricing is as follows:

• Core: $59/month/terminal; best for small stores looking for core checkout functions, employee and manager restrictions, and eCommerce capabilities
• Advanced: $69/month/terminal; best for small/medium stores that need inventory management and employee time tracking
• Plus: $89/month/terminal; best for multilocation businesses, franchises, and stores looking for better inventory features
• Custom: Quote-based; best for businesses looking for ticket/event management, pre-built KORONA integrations, and a dedicated account manager

Sine KORONA pricing is per terminal, we recommend that you consider how many terminals you really need in your stores before you sign on with KORONA. You can always add more terminals later.

KORONA’s most unique POS features are its loss prevention features, affordable inventory management, and franchise capabilities.

You’ll get these loss prevention features with KORONA:

• Forced drawer closing, blind till counts, and restricting cash drawer access to open only when they make a sale
• Require manager approval for item voids, price changes, item returns, and inventory changes
• Run cash drawer reports at any time, at the end of shifts, and set maximum allowed balance differences
• Cashier balance and time tracking reports
• Restrict which cashiers can grant permissions to other cashiers (used for managers who need to be able to use registers but will also need to create new cashiers and associated cashier permissions)

KORONA POS system cashier permissions.

KORONA offers great inventory management capabilities for its price point, and even general businesses can appreciate these features:

• Set reordering levels with preferred vendor/warehouse reordering sources
• Pack to single item conversion (great for selling items like cigarettes and liquor bottles)
• Product performance reports, including slow sellers, product movement, and reorder optimization level recommendations
• Stock difference lists and product discrepancy reports
• Inventory app so you can send purchase orders, receive items, and scan barcodes from your phone (Plus plan and higher only)

KORONA POS system set reordering levels.

Franchise owners will appreciate the ability to create portals for franchisees with restricted user permissions. You’ll also get franchise revenue reports and a royalty collection setup.

KORONA does not list pricing online but is compatible with hardware from Epson, PartnerTech, PAX, Genius, Dejavoo, Econduit, Aures, Honeywell, and more.

KORONA does not offer in-house payment processing but instead integrates with several payment processors, including Merchant Warehouse and Merchant Payment Systems.

You can also integrate KORONA with several merchant service providers through PAX and Dejavoo payment devices.

KORONA offers month-to-month contracts with no early termination fees. You can pay for an annual contract and get one month free.

The provider also offers an unlimited free trial so you can try out the software for as long as you need to before committing to it.

You do have to be careful about your merchant agreement and make sure the terms are fair for your business. High-risk business owners should expect to pay a little more for payment processing than other lower-risk business owners.

Business owners that want the freedom to choose their own payment processor, hardware, and software integrations should consider KORONA. High-risk business owners sometimes have a difficult time getting approved by payment services providers and more popular merchant services providers, so we especially recommend KORONA for these business types.

KORONA is also extremely affordable in general, especially for multi-location businesses and franchises. Plus, KORONA’s high-risk industry third-party integrations make KORONA a great option for businesses such as convenience stores and liquor stores. In fact, KORONA easily made it onto our list of the best liquor store POS systems.

If you want the same security and reporting features that KORONA offers but a more advanced feature set in general, Revel is a good alternative. If you want to choose your own payment processor and want the option to add third-party integrations, consider Clover as an alternative POS system.