11 Best Point-of-Sale (POS) Systems & Software for 2023
Brigitte is a retail specialist and staff writer with brick and mortar management experience. She is versed in retail sales analysis, merchandising, and buying with an emphasis in retail sales and marketing across platforms. She has a BA in writing from Washington University, St. Louis.
Meaghan has provided content and guidance for indie retailers as the editor for a number of retail publications and a speaker at trade shows. She is Fit Small Business’s authority on retail and ecommerce.
A point-of-sale (POS) system is a combination of software and hardware that centralizes sales, payment processing, inventory management, and customer relationship management (CRM). The best POS systems also include robust tools for omnichannel sales, vendor management, employee management, and customer loyalty. Many POS software are free, though others cost as much as $200 per month for a single terminal.
According to our evaluation of more than 25 POS software across 32 data points, the best point-of-sale systems for small businesses are:
- Square: Best overall, and best free POS for small businesses
- Shopify: Best for multichannel retailers
- Lightspeed: Best for retailers with complex inventory
- Toast: Best for restaurants
- Vend by Lightspeed: Best for tracking warehouse inventory
- TouchBistro: Best for small food and beverage businesses
- KORONA: Best for high-risk businesses
- Hike: Best for layaway payment (lay-pay) sales
- Lavu: Best restaurant POS for cash discounting
- Revel Systems: Best for customization options and scalability
- IT Retail: Best for grocers and markets
The software in this article was selected by Fit Small Business experts, Meaghan Brophy, Mary King, and Brigitte Hodge. Together, they have more than two decades of hands-on experience working in and managing retail and restaurant businesses.
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Point-of-Sale (POS) Systems Compared
Best POS System Software Quiz
Do you need help sifting through your options? Take this three-question quiz to get paired with the best POS system option for your business and its needs.
Answer a few questions about your business, and we’ll give you a personalized product match.
Question 1
What kind of business do you have?
Question 1 of 4
1 minute approx
Retail
Restaurant
Bar / Brewery
Beauty / Spa/ Salon
Grocery / Market
Mobile Vendor
Food Truck
Event/ Ticketing/ Gift Shop
Other
Question 2
What feature is most important for your POS system?
Question 2 of 4
1 minute approx
Cost
Inventory Tracking
Ecommerce / Online Ordering Integration
Mobility
Analytics
Other
Not sure
Question 3
What best describes your business?
Question 3 of 4
1 minute approx
New Business
Occasional Seller, or Solopreneur
Established Storefront or Online Business
Fast-growing or Multi-location Business
Other
Question 4
Do you already have a merchant account or payment processor?
Question 4 of 4
1 minute approx
No
Yes, and I want to keep it
Yes, but I’m open to switching
Other / not sure
Square: Best Overall & Best Free POS System for Small Businesses
Square
Overall Score:
4.48
/ 5
RATING CRITERIA
Pricing
Register & Checkout Features
Management Tools
Ease of Use
Expert Score
What We Like
- Baseline POS is free; no monthly subscription fees
- Free 30-day trial for paid plans and add-ons
- No long-term contracts; cancel anytime
- Tools for retail, professional services, and restaurants
- Free integrated ecommerce site
What’s Missing
- Locked into Square for payment processing
- Limited phone support
- Account stability issues
Square POS Deciding Factors
Supported business types: Independent craft and service businesses, brick-and-mortar retail, ecommerce businesses, food and beverage businesses (like coffee shops and breweries), restaurants, and appointment-based businesses (like salons)
Monthly software fees: $0–$60
Installation fee: $0, installation is do-it-yourself (DIY)
Contract length: Month to month
Processing fees:
- In-person: 2.6% + 10 cents
- Online: 3.5% + 15 cents
Square is the best POS system for most small businesses because of its affordable price point, mobile capabilities, and POS tools for retailers, restaurants, and service industries. All of Square’s POS systems―Retail, Restaurants, and Appointments―offer a free subscription that includes all the necessary tools for one location, plus an online store platform. There are also additional premium plans to support growth, all ranging from $29 to $60 per month.
With all this going for it, Square earned a 4.48 out of 5 in our evaluation. This user-friendly platform stood out for its competitive pricing structure and its retail, restaurant, and appointment tools–a trifecta not many other POS systems offer.
Square’s only obstacles were its limited customer support, lack of custom reports (as you find with Lightspeed), and lack of ingredient level tracking (like you get with Toast).
Square is one of our favorites in lots of categories, making the lists of best free POS software, mobile POS apps, and iPad POS systems. Meanwhile, Square for Retail is our leading retail POS, Square for Restaurants is our top-recommended food truck POS, and Square Appointments is our highest-scoring salon and spa POS.
Features
Square’s standout features include:
- Speedy payments: Once your bank account is verified, you can start accepting payments the same day you open your Square account. Processing fees are a low flat rate, and many businesses qualify for next-day deposits, although two-day deposits are more standard. As of May 2022, Square POS users can accept buy now, pay later (BNPL) payments in-store and online through Afterpay.
- Square Appointments: Manage multiple appointment calendars, set up online booking, allow customers to book and manage appointments with an online portal, send automatic short message service (SMS) and email reminders, and require credit cards upon booking for no-show and cancellation fees.
- Square for Retail: If your business needs retail-supporting tools like inventory tracking and the ability to process refunds and exchanges, you’ll prefer Square for Retail. Like basic Square, Square for Retail offers a free baseline subscription with no long-term contracts. You’ll also get barcode printing tools, detailed sales reports, and easy purchase order (PO) and stock management.
- Square for Restaurants: Food and beverage businesses, from food trucks to full-service, restaurants will find restaurant-specific tools in the Square for Restaurants POS. This system includes table and check management, check splitting, online ordering and delivery integrations, and tip tracking.
- Free Square Online store: Every Square POS account comes with a free, integrated online store.
Are you looking for a POS option with more inventory controls? Try Lightspeed—it’s our pick for the best inventory management POS. If you want to have the option to choose your own processor, consider KORONA, Vend, Lightspeed, Revel, TouchBistro, IT Retail, or Lavu.
Learn more about what Square has to offer with our Square POS review.
Shopify: Best POS for Multichannel Retailers
Shopify
Overall Score:
4.47
/ 5
RATING CRITERIA
Pricing
Register & Checkout Features
Management Tools
Ease of Use
Expert Score
What We Like
- 14-day free trial
- Smart omnichannel and inventory tools, including social media selling
- Easy to use; intuitive interface
- Best-in-class ecommerce platform
What’s Missing
- Offline mode can be glitchy
- Free POS has limited features
- POS subscription requires ecommerce subscription; prices can add up
Shopify Deciding Factors
Supported business types:
Ecommerce and online businesses and multichannel retail businesses
Monthly software fees:
- Ecommerce (required): $29–$299
- POS: $0–$89 per location
Installation fee: $0, installation is DIY
Contract length: Options for month-to-month, annual, or multiyear
Processing fees:
- In-person: 2.4%–2.7%
- Online: 2.4%–2.9% + 30 cents
Shopify POS is a great option for retailers that either already use a Shopify ecommerce store or those looking to sell online and in person. With Shopify, you first sign up for an ecommerce account. From there, you can opt for the included free POS or premium POS features at an additional cost.
As this structure suggests, Shopify is known primarily for its online selling tools, with a robust ecommerce platform and integrations for selling on your social channels.
Shopify earned a 4.47 out of 5 on our ranking of the best POS systems, just behind Square and tied with Lightspeed Retail. This POS outscored the others on this list for its register features, including a customizable checkout interface, flexible payment options, and offline selling.
The biggest area where Shopify POS lost points was its pricing. To access Shopify POS, an ecommerce subscription is required at $29 to $299. Then, to access many of the best POS features (smart inventory management, advanced reporting, staff permissions), you have to upgrade to POS Pro for an additional $89 per month, so costs can add up.
Features
Shopify’s standout features include:
- Omnichannel sales: Shopify POS can seamlessly facilitate and manage sales and inventory from all channels—in-store, online, and curbside.
- Online integrations: Shopify’s online store chat functions let your customers start a conversation with you from any page on your website. Shopify also integrates with Apple Business Chat, so iPhone users can send messages to you directly from their smartphones. A Facebook integration lets customers shop directly from Facebook and Instagram posts. You can also easily place “Buy” buttons on blog posts and other web content.
- Inventory management: POS Pro includes Stocky, a smart inventory app for performing inventory counts, receiving products with a barcode scanner, generating low-stock alerts and detailed inventory reports, forecasting demand, performing inventory analysis, and viewing sale item suggestions.
- Customer management: All Shopify plans include tools to generate customer profiles with contact information and shopping habits, add customer tags (such as VIP designations), track special requests, generate targeted promotions, create marketing content, and optimize social media campaigns.
Are you looking for something different? Shopify has much to offer brick-and-mortar businesses needing a robust online presence. But if you’re not looking to sell online, a different retail POS that does not require an ecommerce subscription, like Square or Vend, might be a better option.
Do you want a deeper look at the Shopify platform? See what makes Shopify our top-ranked ecommerce platform for small businesses. Also, get a better grasp on the available tools by seeing how Shopify works and exploring our full Shopify POS review.
Lightspeed: Best POS for Retailers With Complex Inventory
Lightspeed
Overall Score:
4.47
/ 5
RATING CRITERIA
Pricing
Register & Checkout Features
Management Tools
Ease of Use
Expert Score
What We Like
- 14-day free trial
- 40+ preset reports with data visualizations and customization options
- Robust, integrated ecommerce platform
- 24/7 customer support and onboarding
- Granular matrix inventory management
What’s Missing
- User interface can take time to learn
- Pricey
- Shipping integrations are limited
Lightspeed Deciding Factors
Supported business types: Brick-and-mortar retailers, multichannel retailers, food and beverage businesses (like bars and coffees shops), full-service and quick-service restaurants and golf courses
Monthly software fees: $69–$289 for retail, $39–$289 for restaurants (varies by POS type, payment processor, and payment plan)
- Installation fee: $0
- Contract length: 1 year
Processing fees:
- In-person: Lightspeed Payments – 2.6% + 10 cents; other processors vary
- Online: Lightspeed Payments – 2.6% + 30 cents; other processors vary
Lightspeed offers three types of POS systems—retail, restaurant, and golf. It operates on iPads for mobile use and stands out for its excellent inventory management tools.
Straight from your POS dashboard, Lightspeed not only lets you add and monitor your merchandise in real time, but it also includes vendor management, integrated product catalogs, PO management, and matrix product assortments and variants. These tools and more set Lightspeed apart, making it the best POS for retailers with large or complex inventory assortments.
In the news
In 2021, Lightspeed purchased competing restaurant POS, Upserve, which has the most automated restaurant inventory tools on the market. You can find those tools in the new Lightspeed U-Series POS.
Lightspeed earned an overall score of 4.47 out of 5 on our ranking criteria, tying with Shopify POS. This cloud-based system earned high marks for its offline functionality and excellent retail management tools, though its higher price point cost it some points. Like Square, Lightspeed has purpose-built POS options for retailers and restaurants. Both systems are strong, with excellent inventory management tools.
Features
Lightspeed’s standout features include:
- Inventory management: Retailers can bulk upload up to 10,000 stock-keeping units (SKUs) at once, manage variants, create bundles, and track unit costs, layaways, and special orders. Built-in product catalogs streamline orders, and low-stock alerts let you know when to place them. Lightspeed has the most sophisticated integrated product ordering on this list, largely because of the built-in supplier network.
- Supplier network: Retailers can discover products, submit POs, and track stock shipments from within Lightspeed POS. The only other system on this list that comes close to matching this tool is KORONA.
- Reporting and analytics: Lightspeed includes over 40 built-in reports and allows retailers to build custom reports that show data in easy-to-scan charts and graphs. Restaurant users can access basic reporting with the Essentials POS package and gain advanced reporting capabilities at the higher-level subscription tiers. While this may cramp some operations, it also ensures that small operations don’t pay for features they don’t use.
- Ecommerce: Lightspeed ecommerce syncs with POS data, offers more than 50 professional themes, and includes full shipping and order management tools and marketing, customer relationship management (CRM), and search engine optimization (SEO) features. Restaurant ecommerce functions are equally robust, including options for online ordering and reservation functions.
- Marketing: Lightspeed has a built-in loyalty program in higher-level subscription tiers. You can create a tiered rewards system for both in-store and online purchases, send one-time deals for birthdays or to VIP customers, and design emails with templates or a drag-and-drop builder. If you need marketing tools in your baseline POS, consider Revel.
Are you looking for something different? The Lightspeed Restaurant POS also supports detailed ingredient-level inventory, but you’ll need the priciest subscription to get the full vendor management supported by the retail POS. If you need these restaurant tools built into the POS, try Revel instead.
Learn more with our reviews of Lightspeed Retail and Lightspeed Restaurants.
Find out how to make the most of Lightspeed Retail’s excellent inventory tools in our guide to Lightspeed inventory management.
Toast: Best POS for Restaurants
Toast
Overall Score:
4.46
/ 5
RATING CRITERIA
Pricing
Register & Checkout Features
Management Tools
Ease of Use
Expert Score
What We Like
- Free starter POS
- Pay-as-you-go plans let small restaurants buy two POS terminals for no upfront costs
- Robust workforce management with automated tip pool management
- Flexible online ordering and delivery tools
What’s Missing
- Locked into Toast for payment processing
- Two-year contract
- Operates on proprietary hardware
Toast Deciding Factors
Supported business types: Quick-service restaurants, full-service restaurants, and food and beverage businesses (such as bars and coffee shops)
Monthly software fee: $0–$165 or custom quote
- Installation fee: Optional; starting at $250
- Contract length: Two years
Processing fees:
- In-person:
- Pay-as-you-go: 2.99% + 15 cents
- Standard: 2.49% + 15 cents
- Online: Not disclosed
Toast is a powerhouse cloud-based POS built specifically for the restaurant industry. With a free starter POS and pay-as-you-go options for hardware, small restaurants can start with Toast for no upfront cost and increase their POS footprint as their businesses grow.
At the same time, enterprise-level restaurants will also feel supported by Toast’s integrated online ordering, delivery management, marketing, and employee management tools. This is why we love Toast for growing restaurants.
It’s no surprise that this massively functional POS is the top-ranking restaurant-only POS on this list; it also consistently ranks at the top of our guide to the best restaurant POS systems.
In our evaluation, Toast earned a 4.46 out of 5—pretty good for a system that only supports restaurants. Toast scored points for its price and the sheer scope of available POS tools, from employee scheduling to tip pool management. It primarily took hits because many of its tools are only available with higher-priced subscriptions or higher processing fees. The required proprietary hardware and standard two-year contract also lost Toast some points.
Features
Toast has every tool a restaurant owner could dream of. You get essential restaurant functions like QR code ordering and payments, online ordering and delivery management, ingredient-level inventory, and employee scheduling. However, Toast also supports niche tools like pocket-sized, handheld order and payment terminals, tip pool management, and in-POS messaging to alert managers when there is an issue or alert customers when their orders are ready.
Toast’s additional standout features include:
- Front-of-house features: Toast includes table, course, and seat management; easy check splitting; and credit card pre-authorizations for bar tabs. You’ll also get table management, order management, and even direct messaging from the POS screen, so your team can hail a manager directly from the POS when needed.
- Reporting and back office: Toast includes comprehensive, customizable reports for everything from staff management to menu assessments. You can track inventory in real time at the ingredient level, receive low stock alerts, and generate POs from the back office.
- Workforce management: Like Square, Toast includes optional workforce management tools to draft and communicate employee schedules and streamline timekeeping and payroll. Toast goes a big step further, including tip-pool management and access to restaurant-tailored human resources (HR) documents like handbook templates and alerts for new, local regulations.
- Online ordering and delivery: With Toast, you can create an integrated online ordering site to receive online orders or integrate with third-party platforms like Uber Eats and DoorDash. Toast also includes full, maps-based driver dispatch if you want to support a team of in-house delivery drivers. You can also use Toast Delivery Services to hail on-demand third-party drivers to deliver orders for a flat, per-order fee with no commissions.
Are you looking for something different? The biggest downside to Toast is the required contract length. If you need something more short-term, consider Square, TouchBistro, or Lavu instead. If you’re looking for less expensive hardware or simply prefer an iPad system, consider Lightspeed’s restaurant system.
Find out more about Toast’s pricing, features, and more by reading our full Toast review.
Vend by Lightspeed: Best for Tracking Warehouse Inventory
Vend by Lightspeed
Overall Score:
4.43
/ 5
RATING CRITERIA
Pricing
Register & Checkout
Management Tools
Ease of Use
Expert Score
What We Like
- 14-day free trial
- Choose from built-in or third-party payment processing
- Flexible checkout features; built-in loyalty, store credit, layaway
- Age-verification tools and flexible processing support some higher-risk businesses
What’s Missing
- Pricey
- Reporting is basic
- Does not have integrated email marketing
Vend Deciding Factors
Supported business types: Brick-and-mortar retailers, multichannel retailers (via third-party integrations), and some high-risk businesses
Monthly software fee: $69–$229; varies by processor type and whether you pay annually or monthly
- Installation fee: $0
- Contract length: One year
Processing fees:
- In-person: Varies by processor; Lightspeed Payments is 2.4%–2.7%
- Online: Varies by processor; Lightspeed Payments is 2.6%–2.9% plus 30 cents
Vend by Lightspeed is a POS designed strictly for brick-and-mortar retailers and is ideal for those that need to manage inventory not only between stores but also at warehouse locations. It lets you designate your inventory’s location—whether a store or a warehouse/storage location— and then tracks and syncs that inventory as it sells or moves to new spots. This makes Vend perfect for retailers who have warehouse locations and want to manage that inventory from their POS.
Lightspeed purchased Vend in 2021. Vend is now referred to as Vend by Lightspeed, or Lightspeed Retail X-Series. If you choose Lightspeed Payments as your processor, you will save $30 on your monthly software fee.
It earned a 4.43 out of 5 in our evaluation, earning points for its 24/7 customer support, great ease of use, and payment flexibility. Additionally, we loved that the system comes with built-in store credit, layaway tools, offline processing, and the choice to integrate with different payment processors so businesses can shop around for the lowest rates. Where Vend lost points was its relatively high price point, lack of an ecommerce platform and email marketing tools, and basic reporting and staff management options.
Features
Vend’s retail management tools are designed to be scalable, with options for small operations like gift shops up to multilocation boutiques. It is a user-friendly cloud system with offline processing, staff logins, and flexible configurations, including layaway and on-account sales, store credit, gift cards, and partial payment. You can scan new shipments to add them to your inventory and print custom barcode labels to get the new products onto the sales floor quickly.
Its standout features include:
- Detailed inventory tools: Vend allows retailers to track variants and bundles easily and create, import, and print barcodes from the POS dashboard. You can also build a centralized product catalog, set custom low-stock alerts, and manage multiple tax rates.
- Mobile barcode scanning app: Vend has a free iOS app for scanning barcodes to perform quick inventory counts, receive shipments, or look up product details from the sales floor. Any changes made in the app can sync to Vend’s reporting data, so you can update your inventory without spending hours in the back office.
- Add-ons and growth tools: As your business grows, Vend has the tools to expand your operation. The platform comes with a native loyalty program and integrates with third-party tools for ecommerce, accounting, employee scheduling, and multichannel inventory management.
- High-risk tools: Vend has built-in age verification tools that prompt your cashiers to scan and verify customer age. This is a great fit for shops that sell tobacco or alcohol products.
Are you looking for something different? Vend’s biggest drawback is that it lacks a native ecommerce platform. Consider Shopify or Square for POS systems with in-house ecommerce platforms.
Learn more about this system by reading our full Vend by Lightspeed review. See Vend’s inventory tools in action in our video guide to Vend inventory management.
TouchBistro: Best for Small Food & Beverage Businesses
TouchBistro
Overall Score:
4.16
/ 5
RATING CRITERIA
Pricing
Register & Checkout
Management Tools
Ease of Use
Expert Score
What We Like
- Self-installable iPad POS system
- Expandable hardware including KDS and tableside ordering tablets
- Simple delivery tools
- Supports multiple payment processors
What’s Missing
- Requires one-year contract
- Loyalty and online ordering cost extra
- Inventory requires regular manual entry to stay updated
TouchBistro Deciding Factors
Supported business types: Food and beverage businesses (like coffee shops, bakeries, breweries, and food trucks) and restaurants
Monthly software fee: $69 per terminal
- Installation fee: $0
- Contract length: One year
Processing fees:
- In-person processing: Varies by processor; TouchBistro integrates with TB Payments, Square, Worldpay, TSYS, and more
- Online processing: Varies by processor; TouchBistro integrates with TB Payments, Square, Worldpay, TSYS, and more
TouchBistro is an incredibly easy-to-use iPad-based POS that, like the competing system Toast, is designed specifically for food and beverage businesses. However, unlike Toast and Square, TouchBistro is compatible with multiple payment processors, so businesses can shop around for the lowest processing fees or keep their current processor when switching to TouchBistro.
This distinction, along with its mobile reporting―something else Toast lacks―makes TouchBistro a solid choice for small food and beverage businesses like food trucks, coffee shops, and restaurants.
In our evaluation, TouchBistro scored a 4.16 out of 5. This POS earned points for its ease of use, affordability, and responsive customer service. It operates on iPads and is easy to self-install. Its user interface more closely resembles the standard iOS than any other option on this list. So if you (or your staff) have ever used an iPhone, you’ll pick up TouchBistro immediately. Touchbistro took hits in the scoring for its lengthy contract requirements and manual inventory controls.
Features
The biggest ace up TouchBistro’s sleeve is how easy the system is to install and use. Like Square and Lightspeed, users can quickly self-install it following its detailed instructions. Though, like Toast, TouchBistro also offers one-on-one installation assistance for a fee if users want it.
TouchBistro’s standout features include:
- Flexible hardware: Like several systems on this list, TouchBistro operates on iPads. With TouchBistro, these iPads can be configured as POS terminals, kitchen display system (KDS) screens, or tableside order and payment devices. There are some additional fees for KDS screens; you’ll need to contact TouchBistro for a custom quote.
- Support and training: TouchBistro maintains a detailed knowledge base with training videos. You can also request one-on-one or in-person training with a TouchBistro representative for custom-quoted fees.
- Straightforward pricing: Where other systems have multiple subscription tiers, TouchBistro has a single per-terminal price. You pay additional monthly software fees to add features like integrated online ordering ($50 per/month), gift cards ($25 per month), loyalty ($99 per month), or reservations ($229 per month). While this can make your costs add up, small cafes, coffee shops, and breweries won’t pay for tools they don’t use.
- Flexible payment processing: TouchBistro offers the best of both worlds when it comes to payment processing. Like competitors Lightspeed, Revel Systems, and Lavu, TouchBistro offers users the choice between a built-in processor or a third-party payment processor. Unlike those other systems, however, TouchBistro users do not pay higher software fees for using a compatible third-party processor.
Are you looking for something different? TouchBistro’s main drawback is that loyalty and online ordering require extra fees. For a restaurant POS with free integrated online ordering, your best bets are Square and Toast. Additionally, Toast and Revel will update your inventory levels as orders come in, something TouchBistro requires you to do manually.
Learn more about this system by reading our full TouchBistro review.
KORONA: Best for High-risk Businesses
KORONA
Overall Score:
4.13
/ 5
RATING CRITERIA
Pricing
Register & Checkout
Management Tools
Ease of Use
Expert Score
What We Like
- Choose from any major payment processor
- Low cost and no long-term contract
- Supports high-risk businesses and event sales
- Loss prevention features
What’s Missing
- Ecommerce site requires WooCommerce integration
- Reporting module has a learning curve
- Limited integrations
- Dated interface
KORONA Deciding Factors
Supported business types: Brick-and-mortar retailers, high-risk retailers, multichannel retailers (via WooCommerce integration), event venues, and ticketed businesses
Monthly software fee: $49–$79
- Installation fee: $0; guided installation and training are included with your KORONA account
- Contract length: Month-to-month
Payment processing fees: Varies by processor; KORONA is processor agnostic, so you can use whatever processor you prefer
KORONA is a cloud-based POS with tools that can support high-risk businesses like liquor stores, convenience stores, cannabis dispensaries, and vape shops. Korona is equipped with ID scanning, is compatible with high-risk payment processors, and includes loss prevention tools.
Additionally, this affordable and flexible POS comes with excellent customer support and operates on a variety of desktop and mobile devices, so you likely can use some hardware you already own.
Uniquely, KORONA has an unlimited free trial option. While you can’t integrate a payment processor and there are low daily transaction limits during the trial, you can take your time with customizations and save all of your data for later.
KORONA earned a 4.13 out of 5 on our POS scoring criteria. It earned high marks for the sheer number of business types it supports, from small retail shops to high-risk businesses and ticketed venues. Its ability to integrate with virtually any payment processor also earned it points. Korona, however, does not include a built-in ecommerce solution or marketing tools as you find with Square and Shopify.
Features
Features
The KORONA POS is a Swiss army knife for small businesses of all types. This system specializes in providing detailed tools for niche businesses, from event venues that need ticketing functions to liquor stores and vape shops that require additional product controls and high-risk processors.
KORONA’s standout features include:
- Payments agnostic: KORONA integrates with any major payment processor, making KORONA the most flexible POS on this list. You can bring virtually any processor you like, including high-risk processors or processors that include cash discounting tools. This one simple setting can save small businesses money in the long run, as you can shop around for the lowest available rates, and switch processors at any time.
- Flexible integrations: KORONA focuses on building integrations with niche applications that support specific business types. So while it lacks popular integrations with well-known tools like QuickBooks, it contains specific integrations for liquor stores (ecommerce tools Bottlecapps and City Hive), dispensaries (traceability apps Metrc, BioTrack, and Leak Data; ecommerce tools Dutchie, Leafly, Olla) wineries (bLoyal for wine club management), and more.
- Installation and training: Many systems on this list have $0 installation fees because you can self-install them. KORONA includes guided installation and training with every POS account. This is great if you don’t have the time or bandwidth to wade through tutorial videos and installation manuals.
- Inventory tools: KORONA’s inventory management tools allow you to break cases and set different prices for items—like beers sold by the bottle, six-pack, or case—that have the same Universal Product Codes (UPCs). You can scan new items with a barcode scanner to update inventory levels and print price labels from stock receipts, so your prices are always in line with your actual costs. You’ll also get low-stock alerts and shipment alerts, so you know exactly when to expect new items. KORONA is one of two systems on this list with shipment tracking; Lightspeed Retail is the other.
- Ticketing: KORONA also has built-in ticketing functionality, including time-sensitive, membership, group rates, and even turnstile integration. This also makes KORONA a great option for museums, amusement parks, stadiums, and events as it can handle ticketing, retail, and basic concession sales all in one POS.
Are you looking for something different? If you prefer built-in marketing and ecommerce, you’ll prefer Square, Lightspeed, and Vend by Lightspeed. For a more modern UX and app interface, Square and Shopify will be better matches.
Explore more features, pricing, and user insights in our full KORONA review.
Hike: Best for Layaway Payment (Lay-pay) Sales
Hike
Overall Score:
4.01
/ 5
RATING CRITERIA
Pricing
Register & Checkout
Management Tools
Ease of Use
Expert Sscore
What We Like
- Manage lay-pay sales with customer deposits
- Cloud-based; can run on any internet-enabled device
- Sends email receipts that include social channel links after every purchase
What’s Missing
- Limited payment processor integrations
- No ecommerce integration in base plan
- No application programming interface (API) access in base plan
Hike Deciding Factors
Supported business types: Retailers and multichannel retailers
Monthly software fee: $69–$119 per month
- Installation fee: $0 (DIY)
- Contract length: Month to month
Processing fees: Varies with payment processor
Hike is a cloud-based POS system that you can use to run your retail store, especially those such as furniture and appliance sellers or other big-ticket retailers that need to utilize layaway payment features. With Hike, you can let customers pay via layaway, starting with a deposit and then tracking subsequent payments on the layaway item until that purchase is complete. Hike will also automatically post outstanding sales data to your Xero or QuickBooks Online accounting system.
If you want to stick with your existing card terminal, Hike can track card payments made using an external card terminal.
In our evaluation, Hike earned a 4.01 out of 5, with excellent customization features, a wide variety of payment options, and mobile capabilities for sales on the go. While it did well in these areas, Hike lost points because it has limited payment processing options and integrations are only available in paid plans, unlike with Revel Systems or Square.
Features
Hike has a lot to offer in the features department, with tools perfect for brick-and-mortar and omnichannel retailers (note, however, that ecommerce integrations are only available in Hike’s Plus plan, which comes in at $119 per month).
- Mobility: Hike can run on any internet-enabled device, including your phone or tablet. This, plus its offline selling capabilities, makes it perfect for mobile sales.
- Inventory management: Perform full and partial counts, get real-time updates, manage stock down to variant, track stock levels, transfer inventory between stores and sales channels, and manage POs all from your Hike POS dashboard.
- Store management: Take control of your store with tools for managing your cash float, staff access and PINs, a built-in cash drawer calculator, and daily transaction reports.
- Reporting: Hike has tons of reporting tools, including customer reports and data, shift reports, sales and transaction reports, and category reports where you can look at specific products or categories to see how they are performing.
Are you looking for something different? While Hike has tons to offer retailers, its primary focus is brick and mortar with ecommerce integrations only available in the Plus plan. For a POS system that includes an in-house and fully integrated ecommerce platform, try Shopify or Square.
Learn more with our full Hike POS review.
Lavu: Best Restaurant POS for Cash Discounting
Lavu
Overall Score:
3.91
/ 5
RATING CRITERIA
Pricing
Register & Checkout
Management Tools
Ease of Use
Expert Score
What We Like
- Cash discount settings defray processing costs
- Operates on iPads
- Transparent pricing
What’s Missing
- Lower than average customer reviews
- Vendor management requires additional fees
- No free trial or free subscription tier
Lavu Deciding Factors
Supported business types: Food and beverage businesses, restaurants
Monthly software fee: $59–$279
Prices are for a single terminal; additional terminals are $50 each
- Installation fee: $0
- Contract length: One year, though Lavu offers a 50% discount on hardware for users who sign a three-year agreement
Payment processing fees:
- In-person: Varies by processor; Lavu Pay pricing is not publicly disclosed
- Online: Varies by processor; Lavu Pay pricing is not publicly disclosed
Lavu is a cloud-based iPad POS designed for food and beverage businesses. It is the only system in this guide that offers a cash discount setting, which allows you to offer a discount for cash payments that will offset your credit card processing fees. This feature helps small restaurants that are switching from a cash-only operation to accept digital payments without incurring additional costs.
This software earned a 3.91 out of 5 in our evaluation. It scored well for its register features and ease of use, with an easy self-installation process, like Square. It lost points for not having a free trial or free baseline subscription option, and its customer reviews are the lowest of any system on this list. However, its native cash-discounting feature is notable, as the practice of passing along processing fees to customers is increasing in popularity among small businesses.
Features
Lavu is a highly customizable iPad POS, with several cost-saving features. Like Lightspeed, TouchBistro, and Revel, Lavu supports both built-in payment processing and integrated third-party processors, so users can shop for the lowest processing rates. Though with Lavu, you will need to pay an additional $25 per month per terminal to use a third-party processor.
Its standout features include:
- Cash discount: Cash discounting allows you to charge one price for card payments and a different, lower price for cash payments. So, you build the price of processing into the price you charge for your products, then apply a discount—such as 4%—to checks that are paid in cash. This way, Lavu’s cash discounting tool helps small food businesses avoid the cost of credit card processing fees. This is especially attractive if the cost of processing has kept you from growing your business beyond cash-only sales.
- Transparent pricing: Like most of the systems on this list, Lavu has several software subscription tiers. Like TouchBistro, Lavu lists the monthly fees for additional features from loyalty ($50 per month) to KDS software ($30 per month) clearly. Small restaurants can choose which tools are important to them and only pay for what they need.
- API access: Lavu supports an open API that allows you to build custom software integrations with your POS. This feature costs an additional $30 per month, but if you want to connect your accounting program, delivery software, or other tools, it will be well worth it for the administrative time you can save.
- Accounts payable (A/P) automation: Lavu also owns A/P automation software Sourcery. It allows you to generate a central database of your vendors to create, place, receive, and pay for orders through the app. These are similar to the tools supported by Lightspeed Retail’s top-rated inventory functions. Sourcery costs an additional $99 per month, putting it more in the budget range of high-volume or multi-location restaurants. But, Lavu frequently offers deals with up to three months free if you want to try it.
Are you looking for something different? For a POS with a free baseline subscription, consider Toast or Square.
Learn more about Lavu’s features and pricing in our full Lavu POS review.
Revel Systems: Best for Customization Options & Scalability
Revel Systems
Overall Score:
3.74
/ 5
RATING CRITERIA
Pricing
Register & Checkout
Management Tools
Ease of Use
Expert Score
What We Like
- Includes options for commerce, inventory, reporting, and driver management smartphone apps
- iPad-based POS terminals are affordable for small grocers
- Built-in delivery management supports an in-house delivery fleet
- Integrates with multiple processors, including built-in Revel Advantage
What’s Missing
- Three-year service agreement
- Hardware pricing is custom-quoted
- Accepting EBT payments requires a non-integrated card reader
Revel Systems Deciding Factors
Supported business types: Brick-and-mortar retailers, groceries, food, and beverage businesses (like coffee shops and bars), and restaurants
Monthly software fee: $99 per terminal
- Installation fee: Starting at $674
- Contract length: Three years
Processing fees: Varies by processor; Revel Advantage pricing is not publicly listed
Revel Systems is a multichannel iPad POS system that can support a wide variety of businesses due to its extreme customizability. With tons of integrations and an open API, Revel lets you design your POS system from the ground up, so it can include the tools you need and remove the fluff. As your business grows, you can add new tools and features to support you―you are not locked into your initial selections.
Alongside the basic tools of the Revel POS terminal, businesses can integrate scales, barcode scanners, handheld inventory, online ordering and delivery, and custom tools.
In our evaluation, Revel scored a 3.74 out of 5. It earned a perfect 5 for register features (as did Shopify) and outscored the competition in the management tools category. However, Revel’s three-year service agreement, expensive base plan, minimum terminal purchase requirements, and mandatory installation fees prevented it from earning a higher score.
Features
When you look beyond the price, you’ll see that Revel includes a wealth of insightful POS features that many cloud-based systems lack. The reports are endlessly customizable, as are menu and order screens, and you can track every bit of sales and performance data imaginable.
It also includes a slew of free smartphone apps for reporting, inventory counting, and delivery drivers—extending the POS system’s functions. You can also commission a custom commerce app from Revel that allows customers to shop your store directly from their iOS and Android devices.
Revel Systems’ standout features include:
- Grocery features: Revel’s POS screens are highly customizable, and the system integrates with scales and barcode scanners to support all types of markets. You can prompt for age verification to sell alcohol or tobacco products and also process bottle deposits. You’ll also find integrated CRM, loyalty, gift card, and discount tools to encourage customer retention.
- Restaurant features: Detailed table mapping and management, menu-building tools, integrated kitchen display communication, and integrated online ordering form the foundation of Revel’s restaurant tools. Tip tracking, preauthorized bar tabs, and employee scheduling are also included.
- Inventory and vendor management: Revel’s inventory module is strong enough to compete with the best retail inventory tools and offers the strongest built-in restaurant inventory tools on this list. In addition to real-time inventory updates with low-stock alerts, users get vendor and PO management. You can also perform physical counts using Revel’s free inventory app for smartphones.
- Delivery management: If your restaurant or market wants to offer local delivery, Revel has you covered there, too. You can manage a team of in-house drivers with maps-based driver dispatch. Your dispatch dashboard tracks driver locations in real time and includes a free driver app, so you can send drivers turn-by-turn directions and delivery information. If you prefer to use third-party drivers, you can hail them on-demand using Revel’s integration with DoorDash Drive.
- Flexible hardware: Revel’s iPad-based POS terminals tend to be less expensive than the custom-built hardware required by IT Retail. The setup is also more straightforward than KORONA, where the sheer number of hardware options might be daunting. Revel includes the barcode scanners and integrated scales that grocers need, alongside customer display systems, self-order kiosks, and mobile ordering for speedy and contactless service.
Are you looking for something different? When it comes to price, Revel simply cannot compete with systems like Square and Toast, which offer a free baseline POS. Additionally, Revel does not accept integrated EBT payments. If you need integrated EBT tools, try IT Retail or KORONA.
Discover more features by reading our full Revel POS review. Also, see why it ranks so well as an iPad POS, pizzeria POS, delivery POS, and bar and nightclub POS.
IT Retail: Best for Grocers, Markets & Specialty Food Stores
IT Retail
Overall Score:
3.61
/ 5
RATING CRITERIA
Pricing
Register & Checkout
Management Tools
Ease of Use
Expert Score
What We Like
- Smart grocery- and market-specific tools like electronic benefits transfer (EBT) and electronic Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (eWIC) payments
- Scale integration and industry-grade hardware
- Works with multiple payment processors
- Strong loyalty features
What’s Missing
- Pricey hardware; requires custom quote
- No fuel pump or deli/cafe features
- No free trial
IT Retail Deciding Factors
Supported business types: Groceries and independent markets
Monthly software fee:
• Markets: $99
• Supermarkets: Custom quote
- Installation fee: Optional; custom quoted
- Contract length: One year
- In-person payment processing: Varies by processor; choose from information technology (IT) Retail Payments or Fiserv
- Online payment processing: Varies by processor; choose from IT Retail Payments or Fiserv
IT Retail is a robust POS system designed by grocers specifically to support independent food markets. The system comes packed with the rugged hardware necessary in a grocery environment, such as scale integration for selling goods by weight, bottle deposit management, automated rewards, and self-checkout options.
Additionally, IT Retail includes ecommerce integrations like Mercato and Instacart for online ordering and delivery services. The software also supports the widest variety of self-checkout hardware on this list, including a contactless mobile self-checkout system through FutureProof.
In our evaluation, IT Retail scored 3.95 out of 5. It earned points for supporting multiple payment processors and for its robust inventory tools but lost some ground when it came to price, with starting rates at $99 plus proprietary hardware fees. This provider also lost points for missing features like marketing tools, a loyalty program in its base account, and mobile functionality.
Features
IT Retail has all the tools an independent grocery or specialty market needs—from checkout lanes enabled with scanners and scales to smart inventory management and ecommerce tools. This incredibly flexible system can support markets with only a few checkout lanes, but it excels with markets that have several lanes, including self-checkout stands.
Its standout features include:
- Flexible checkout: Integrated scales make it easy to sell produce and bulk goods and goods by weight. You can accept all major credit and debit cards, EBT food and cash payments, gift cards, eWIC, and contactless payments, such as Apple Pay. IT Retail also offers a slew of self-checkout options, including digitized, mobile in-person checkout via FutureProof, allowing customers to checkout via their smartphones.
- Inventory management: You can generate POs from your IT Retail back office and track products by case, six-pack, or bottle. When supplies arrive, you can receive and count stock using a mobile app and generate new shelf tags as needed. These seemingly small functions can save you labor hours when it comes to receiving and restocking. As with other systems on this list, your IT Retail POS will alert you to low stock, so you never forget to reorder.
- CRM tools: You can create a custom loyalty program and issue scannable loyalty cards—giving your small market the same feel as a larger brand. Your IT Retail POS automatically tracks available rewards at checkout and prompts your cashiers to ask customers if they would like to redeem accrued rewards.
- Ecommerce integration: Market owners can enable online ordering and delivery, including specialty and fresh items, with several ecommerce integrations, such as Local Express, Mercato, Freshop, My Cloud Grocer, and Instacart. So, you can find the best solution for your market.
- Age verification: Like Vend by Lightspeed, IT Retail includes built-in tools for scanning IDs for age-restricted purchases. This is a great fit for markets that sell alcohol and tobacco products.
Are you looking for something different? IT Retail estimates that hardware for a single lane can run from $2,000 to $5,000, depending on your selections. If your independent grocery needs more accessibly priced iPad-based hardware, consider Square instead.
Explore more of the platform’s grocery-supporting features by reading our full IT Retail review.
Methodology: How We Evaluated POS Systems
Take a look at the criteria we used to evaluate POS systems and the experts doing the evaluating.
We looked for systems that are affordable for independent business owners and included basic POS functions like check and order management, the ability to process multiple forms of payment, and inventory tracking. To find the best, we also looked for systems that support multiple business types or that dominate in the industry they serve.
Based on the above criteria and our staff experts’ evaluations of dozens of POS systems, Square emerged as the best all-purpose POS system for most individuals and small businesses.
Click through the tabs below to see the full evaluation criteria.
30%
Pricing
15%
Register Features
15%
Management tools
20%
Ease of Use
20%
Expert Score
30% of Overall Score
We prioritized POS systems that include a free plan or free trial, affordable subscriptions, and additional plans so that you won’t grow out of the system. We also awarded points to systems with affordable integrated payment processing, flexible hardware options, and no restrictions on the number of users, inventory, and transactions. Finally, we penalized systems that require long-term contracts and hefty installation fees.
15% of Overall Score
Businesses need speedy and customizable checkout tools, easy customer management, mobility to sell anywhere, a process to track orders, and a way to process online orders. Because the way businesses operate has changed so much in recent years, we also considered contactless payments, integrated online ordering, and online store features.
20% of Overall Score
We prioritized POS systems with 24/7 phone support. We also considered help tickets and email or chat support, installation processes, and whether the system has an offline mode or hybrid installation so that you can continue operations when you lose internet access. Finally, we considered if the system has an online knowledge base, training videos, or a training mode to help bring new employees up to speed.
20% of Overall Score
We considered the overall quality of each system’s features, along with system stability, and security. We evaluated whether it offers a good value for its price point and standout features. Finally, we accounted for our experts’ personal experience using each system and interacting with customer service representatives (CSRs), its reviews, and the personal experience of other small business owners.
*Percentages of overall score
The evaluation and selection of the POS systems that ended up on this list were performed by three of Fit Small Business’s top retail and restaurant experts. Get to know them below.
Mary King With more than 14 years of hospitality experience, Mary has used POS systems in coffee shops, food trucks, full-service restaurants, quick-service restaurants, bars, hotels, coworking spaces, event spaces, and retail stores. She has several years of experience advising bar and restaurant owners, and three-plus years evaluating POS systems.
Brigitte Hodge is a retail specialist with several years of retail management experience. Before joining Fit Small Business, Brigitte worked on a variety of POS systems to run a store in downtown Denver. Brigitte has since been writing as a retail expert, evaluating POS systems and working with them firsthand to learn their ins and outs.
Meaghan Brophy has 10-plus years of retail experience, during which she has operated a variety of cash registers and POS systems in different settings and applications.
Since working in retail, Meaghan has seven-plus years of experience writing for retailers and four-plus years of experience evaluating POS systems.
POS System Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Click through the questions below to get answers to some of your most asked questions.
What POS system is the best?
The best POS system for you depends on your business type and what functions you need the machine to perform. However, the best POS systems for small businesses offer decent functionality at a low price and can grow with your business.
According to our evaluations, the best POS systems are:
- Square: Best overall
- Shopify: Best for ecommerce and multichannel retail
- Lightspeed: Best for complex inventories
- Toast: Best for restaurants
What is the cheapest POS system?
The cheapest POS systems tend to be those that offer their POS software for only the cost of payment processing. Popular systems that follow this model include Square and Toast—though you can also find systems that offer free POS software without any integrated payment processing, like Loyverse (see our full Loyverse review).
However, software and processing fees won’t be your only POS costs. You’ll also need to consider hardware like touch screens and card readers. If you’re on a budget, iPad-based POS systems like Lightspeed and TouchBistro are good options.
Related: Best Free POS Systems for Small Businesses
What is the difference between a POS and terminal?
Many people use the terms “POS” and “terminal” interchangeably. A POS (or “point-of-sale”) system is a combination of hardware and software that allow businesses to track inventory, enter sales, process payments, and log business performance data. A terminal is one part of a POS system; it is the hardware component where you enter sales and process payments.
A terminal can be stationary or mobile, as large as a desktop computer or small enough to fit in your hand. You can see more POS components by reading our guide to POS hardware or how to use a POS.
What POS system do retailers use?
Retailers use a variety of POS systems depending on their business type. Multi-location national chain stores often design their own POS systems so they can quickly respond to POS technology trends. Independent retailers tend to rely on commercially available cloud-based systems like Square (which has more than 2 million active sellers), Shopify, Vend, and NCR.
Related: Best Retail POS Systems
Bottom Line
Square offers the most tools for the lowest price of any small business POS. Whether your business is mobile or brick and mortar—or retail, restaurant, or service-based—it has POS options for you. Beyond the affordable POS tools, the platform includes a wealth of small business tools to help you manage your staff and grow your business online and offline. With easy setup and quick account approval, small business owners can get started with Square in a single day—all you need to do is contact Square.
Visit Square
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