Square is the best starting point for many small businesses, Shopify POS is the strongest fit for ecommerce-first retail, Toast is built for restaurants, Lightspeed suits complex retail inventory, and Helcim is worth comparing when payment-cost transparency matters most. There is no universal winner: the right POS depends on your business type, sales volume, average transaction, online sales, and required integrations.
This guide focuses on U.S. pricing and availability checked around August 16, 2026. Prices and terms can change. It compares business fit and published details rather than claiming hands-on testing; for quote-based and reseller-sold systems, request the actual written offer before committing.
Quick comparison: which POS should you shortlist?
| System | Best for | Published price signal | Payment and hardware notes | Key drawback |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Square | Most startups, small shops, services, cafes, and mobile sellers | Free entry plan; Square Retail Plus is $89 per location per month | Processing varies by product and plan. Hardware listed from $59 for a reader | Advanced features may require paid plans or add-ons |
| Shopify POS | Ecommerce-first and omnichannel retail | Basic $39/month, Grow $105/month, Advanced $399/month; POS Pro adds $89/location/month | Rates depend on plan and payment setup; confirm current hardware needs | Costs add up if you do not need Shopify’s online store |
| Lightspeed Retail | Retailers with complex catalogs or multiple locations | Public comparison coverage cited roughly $89+ monthly; verify current quote | Processing and hardware terms depend on the current offer | Higher cost and more involved setup |
| Toast | Full-service restaurants, cafes, and bars | Quote-based; request current written pricing | Hardware, payments, and add-ons may be tied to the package | Contract and ecosystem terms need close review |
| Clover | Businesses wanting varied countertop and mobile hardware | Bundle pricing varies; some configurations require sales contact | Processor, equipment ownership, and terms can vary by reseller | Offers are difficult to compare without the actual contract |
| Helcim | Higher-ticket, B2B, or payment-cost-conscious merchants | Check current U.S. pricing and processing terms | Interchange-plus model; confirm hardware and account terms | Less industry-specific workflow depth than specialist systems |
| SumUp | Small businesses seeking a bundled toolset | Connect Plus $199/month; Connect Pro $289/month | Published U.S. rate checked: 2.6% + $0.10 in person; 3.5% + $0.15 online or manual entry | Monthly tiers may be costly for a microbusiness |
| PayPal Zettle | Pop-ups and PayPal-centric sellers | Verify current reader and transaction pricing | Good to compare if you already use PayPal | Less depth for inventory, staff, restaurants, and multiple locations |
| SpotOn | Restaurants combining operations, loyalty, and marketing | Sales-led or quote-based | Get payment and add-on fees in writing | Requires a detailed quote comparison |
| TouchBistro | Restaurants preferring an iPad-centered system | Verify current subscription and add-on pricing | Check hardware and integration requirements | Hardware and add-on dependence may limit flexibility |
| Revel Systems | Multi-unit restaurants and demanding workflows | Sales-led pricing | Confirm implementation, hardware, and support costs | Often excessive for a very small operation |
| KORONA POS | Specialty retail, ticketing, convenience, and regulated retail | Verify current plans and industry pricing | Check fit for age checks, scales, and specialized reporting | Setup and ecosystem may be less familiar |
| Epos Now | Retail or hospitality businesses wanting configurable bundles | Verify current hardware, software, and payment offer | Reseller and contract terms matter | Review support, cancellation, and payment terms carefully |
| WooCommerce-connected POS | Stores already built on WordPress and WooCommerce | Varies by extension and provider | Hardware, support, and payment experience depend on the chosen integration | There is no single standardized WooCommerce POS product |
Square’s published retail plans and hardware prices are on its retail pricing page and hardware page. Shopify’s current plan and POS Pro structure is listed at Shopify POS pricing. For other providers, quote-based or reseller-dependent pricing should not be treated as a single market-wide price.
What a POS system does
A point-of-sale system is the combination of software, payment acceptance, and often hardware that handles a sale and the work around it. Depending on the provider and plan, it may include checkout, receipts and refunds, a product or menu catalog, inventory, customer records, employee permissions, sales reports, tax settings, online ordering, ecommerce, loyalty, bookings, or integrations with accounting and payroll.
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- With Square Terminal, you can ring up sales, accept payments, and print receipts, all with one device. Use it at the counter or ring up customers anywhere in your store.
- Accept all major credit and debit cards and pay one low rate with no hidden fees and no long-term contracts.
- Process chip cards in just two seconds.
- Get your money as soon as the next business day.
- Use it cordlessly with the built-in battery, designed to last all day.
Those features are not automatically included in every base plan. A provider may charge separately for advanced inventory, marketing, employee scheduling, kitchen displays, multi-location tools, or online ordering.
The 14 best POS systems, by business fit
1. Square: best overall and best free starting point
Square is a sensible first shortlist for a new or small U.S. business that wants to take payments without committing to a large software bill. It spans retail, restaurants, services, invoices, appointments, online selling, and mobile checkout. Its Free plan has no monthly software subscription, but payment processing and hardware still cost money. Square’s pricing page describes its plans and processing framework.
For retail, Square lists Free at $0 and Plus at $89 per location per month before processing. The Plus plan is aimed at businesses needing more advanced retail tools; verify the current feature list before choosing it. Listed hardware at the August 16, 2026 price check included a $59 contactless and chip reader, $149 Stand, $299 Terminal, $399 Handheld, and $899 Register. Prices and financing terms can change.
Not ideal for: stores with unusually complex inventory, restaurants with demanding table and kitchen workflows, or high-volume merchants who should compare negotiated or interchange-plus payment economics. Add-ons for loyalty, payroll, marketing, or advanced operations can also change the total.
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2. Shopify POS: best for ecommerce-first retail
Shopify POS makes the most sense when the same business already relies on Shopify for its online store, catalog, fulfillment, and marketing. Its paid plans combine online selling and in-person POS. At the U.S. price check, Basic was $39/month, Grow $105/month, and Advanced $399/month; POS Pro added $89/month per location. Shopify describes POS Pro as adding retail functions such as inventory, staff permissions, customer tools, reporting, and omnichannel capabilities on its pricing page.
Shopify’s centralized approach can help multi-location merchants keep online and store operations connected, but calculate the per-location Pro fee alongside the ecommerce subscription. Hardware and payment availability varies by region; Shopify says its hardware and Shopify Payments are available only in selected regions.
Not ideal for: a shop that only needs basic in-person checkout and has no need for Shopify’s ecommerce stack, or a full-service restaurant requiring deep native restaurant operations.
3. Lightspeed Retail: best for advanced retail inventory
Lightspeed Retail is a stronger candidate for specialty stores with large catalogs, product variants, purchase orders, vendor workflows, or multiple locations. Apparel, bike, and other inventory-heavy retailers may value those controls more than a low entry price. Setup can be more involved than a basic tablet register, so plan for catalog cleanup and staff training.
Public comparison coverage cited plans around $89 and up per month, but that is not a reliable current quote; confirm price, included registers, locations, payment rates, and implementation costs directly. The vendor’s current pricing page is Lightspeed Retail pricing.
Not ideal for: a one-person service business or a shop with a short, simple product list that will not use advanced inventory features.
4. Toast: best for full-service restaurants
Toast is designed around restaurant work: menus and modifiers, tables and orders, kitchen operations, handheld checkout, online ordering, and restaurant reporting. That focus makes it a better fit for a full-service restaurant than a general retail register. Pricing is quote-based; the actual offer may combine hardware, processing, software, and paid add-ons. Start with Toast’s official site and ask for a written breakdown.
Before signing, distinguish the software subscription from payment-processing terms, equipment financing or ownership, contract length, cancellation costs, and the price of each add-on. Ask how online orders and third-party delivery are routed and whether additional fees apply.
Not ideal for: a boutique or simple service business, or a restaurant unwilling to review payment and equipment commitments carefully.
5. Clover: best for hardware flexibility
Clover offers a range of register and mobile hardware configurations, which can suit retail, quick service, or businesses that want a particular terminal style. Its official retail pricing page shows bundle options, but some configurations require contacting sales.
Clover is sold through different providers, so the product name alone does not establish the processor, monthly charges, equipment ownership, cancellation terms, or financing. Compare the exact reseller agreement rather than assuming every Clover offer is equivalent.
Not ideal for: a buyer who cannot obtain a complete written quote or who wants to compare one uniform public price across all sellers.
6. Helcim: best for transparent payment economics
Helcim is worth investigating for B2B, wholesale, higher-ticket, or higher-volume merchants who want an interchange-plus model rather than relying only on a simple flat rate. Interchange-plus separates underlying card-network costs from the processor’s markup, which can make pricing easier to inspect but harder to predict without transaction data. Check the current U.S. rates and terms at Helcim pricing.
The trade-off is a lighter native feature set for specialized retail and restaurant workflows than systems built around those industries. Compare the cost of integrations and any workflow gaps against potential processing savings.
Not ideal for: a restaurant needing a full table, kitchen, and delivery suite out of the box, or a retailer needing extensive catalog and location controls.
7. SumUp: best bundled alternative for small businesses
SumUp positions its POS plans as bundled software rather than a bare payment terminal. At the August 16, 2026 check, it listed Connect Plus at $199/month and Connect Pro at $289/month, with published U.S. processing of 2.6% + $0.10 for in-person payments and 3.5% + $0.15 for online or manually entered payments. Confirm which features, devices, and terms apply to the plan you are offered at SumUp POS pricing.
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Not ideal for: a very small or seasonal business that would pay a substantial subscription while using only basic checkout.
8. PayPal Zettle: best for PayPal-centric sellers
Zettle is a practical candidate for pop-ups and occasional sellers already using PayPal. Its appeal is a familiar payment relationship and a mobile-friendly setup, not deep restaurant management or sophisticated multi-location inventory. Verify current reader availability, transaction pricing, and feature limits at PayPal’s POS page.
Not ideal for: businesses that need complex stock transfers, advanced employee controls, or a restaurant workflow with kitchen routing and table service.
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SpotOn is a restaurant-oriented option for owners looking to connect payments with loyalty, online ordering, and marketing. Because pricing and contract details are sales-led, request itemized software, processing, hardware, onboarding, and cancellation terms from SpotOn.
Not ideal for: a buyer who wants to sign based on a headline monthly price without seeing how add-ons and payment costs affect the full bill.
10. TouchBistro: best iPad-first restaurant option
TouchBistro is an iPad-centered restaurant POS for cafes, bars, and table-service businesses. It may appeal to operators who want restaurant-specific tools without adopting a general retail system. Review the current subscription, add-ons, hardware, and integrations at TouchBistro pricing.
Not ideal for: a business that wants broad hardware choice or depends on integrations that have not been verified for its exact configuration.
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11. Revel Systems: best for sophisticated restaurant operations
Revel is aimed at restaurants with demanding workflows or multiple units rather than a small shop seeking a simple register. Request a quote that separates implementation, software, hardware, support, and payment terms at Revel pricing.
Not ideal for: a one-register startup that does not need the added operational complexity.
12. KORONA POS: best for specialized retail and ticketing
KORONA is a specialist alternative to consider for convenience stores, liquor, museums, amusement, ticketing, and other retail contexts with particular reporting or access needs. Verify current plans and whether the system supports your regulated products, scales, barcode formats, and tax rules at KORONA pricing.
Not ideal for: a simple appointment business that would not use its retail-specific capabilities.
13. Epos Now: best for configurable retail or hospitality bundles
Epos Now may suit small retailers and hospitality businesses wanting a configurable combination of software and hardware. The actual economics depend on the specific bundle and agreement; examine payment terms, financing, support, cancellation, and ownership rather than comparing only the equipment offer. See Epos Now pricing.
Not ideal for: a buyer who has not confirmed the full term and support obligations in writing.
14. WooCommerce-connected POS: best for WooCommerce-first stores
For a business already dependent on WordPress and WooCommerce, a connected POS extension can keep the existing store at the center of the operation. There is no single standardized WooCommerce POS product: extension quality, supported hardware, payments, customer support, and synchronization behavior vary by provider. Start at WooCommerce and verify the specific extension’s documentation and compatibility.
Not ideal for: a retailer that needs turnkey support across its register, payment processing, inventory, and ecommerce but does not have time to evaluate plugin compatibility.
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Choose by business type, not by a universal ranking
Retail stores
Prioritize variant inventory (such as size and color), barcode scanning, purchase orders, vendor records, stock transfers, cycle counts, low-stock alerts, returns, gift cards, loyalty, online synchronization, and multi-location reporting. Square is a reasonable starting point for simpler operations; Shopify is a natural fit when ecommerce is central; Lightspeed is more compelling as inventory complexity grows. For weighed goods, confirm scale integration, unit pricing, barcode support, and inventory depletion.
Restaurants
Check table maps, coursing, menu modifiers, split checks, tips and gratuity, kitchen display systems or printer routing, online ordering, delivery connections, QR ordering, handhelds, scheduling, and ingredient-level inventory. Toast, SpotOn, TouchBistro, and Revel are restaurant-focused options; the right choice depends on the workflow and contract. Clarify whether delivery and online ordering are native, included, paid extras, or connected to third-party marketplaces with separate charges.
Salons and appointment businesses
Look for online booking, deposits, cancellation policies, staff calendars, commissions, memberships, packages, customer histories, retail-product inventory, and automated reminders. A general POS can take payment but still leave scheduling or commission tracking to another app, so include integration costs and duplicate data entry in the decision.
Mobile sellers and pop-ups
Prioritize phone-based checkout or Tap to Pay, battery life, offline behavior, a portable receipt option, fast setup, simple tax and product entry, and low hardware cost. Square, Zettle, and SumUp are candidates; compare their payment terms and the inventory controls you actually need.
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Choose Shopify POS if the store already runs on Shopify and needs shared catalog, fulfillment, and customer workflows. Square is useful when online selling complements rather than leads the operation. WooCommerce-connected POS is relevant if WordPress is already the business’s commerce backbone. Restaurant operators should favor systems that join in-person orders to their online ordering and kitchen flow.
Multi-location businesses
Ask whether fees are charged per location, per register, or both; whether catalog and inventory are centralized; and whether the system supports location permissions, transfers, consolidated reports, and location-specific tax or pricing. Shopify documents centralized multi-location support and charges POS Pro by location, so include the number of sites in the calculation.
B2B, wholesale, and higher-ticket businesses
Compare interchange-plus pricing, invoicing, customer-specific pricing, purchase orders, deposits, partial payments, accounting integrations, transaction limits, and ACH or bank-payment support. A cheap monthly plan is not necessarily the lowest-cost option if percentage fees apply to large tickets.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What a POS really costs
Use this formula for both first-year and ongoing costs:
Annual POS cost = software subscriptions + payment processing + hardware + add-ons + implementation or support fees + contract or financing costs.
- Software: Include per-location and per-register charges, and separate a free entry tier from paid industry plans.
- Processing: Calculate card-present, online, and keyed transactions separately using the actual channel mix.
- Hardware: Count terminals, readers, drawers, scanners, printers, scales, kitchen displays, and replacement needs. A reader is not a complete register.
- Add-ons: Include loyalty, marketing, payroll, scheduling, advanced inventory, online ordering, delivery, reservations, and reporting if required.
- Implementation and exit: Ask about onboarding, training, support, contract commitments, equipment financing, cancellation, and data export.
Software fee alone is a poor comparison. A paid plan can cost less overall if it reduces processing charges or replaces multiple add-ons; a free plan can win at low volume when subscription costs would exceed any rate savings.
Compare payment models with your own ticket size
Flat-rate processing is simple to forecast but may be expensive as volume rises. Interchange-plus exposes the underlying network cost and processor markup, which can help higher-volume or higher-ticket businesses compare economics, though the bill is less intuitive. Subscription or membership pricing can exchange a recurring fee for lower payment costs. Custom pricing may be available to larger merchants. Some providers tie payment processing or hardware more closely to their own ecosystem.
For illustration only, on a $20 in-person sale, a hypothetical rate of 2.6% + $0.15 costs $0.67; 2.6% + $0.10 costs $0.62; and 2.29% + $0.09 costs $0.548. These are arithmetic examples, not universal vendor rates. Real costs depend on channel, card type, plan, location, and negotiated terms. The fixed transaction fee matters more when there are many small sales; the percentage matters more as ticket size rises.
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Model at least three monthly sales-volume scenarios using your actual average transaction value, share of card-present versus online sales, and card mix. For each provider, ask for the rate by channel and card type and whether the quoted rate is promotional, plan-dependent, or negotiated.
Hardware: buy only what the workflow needs
Minimal mobile setup
- Smartphone or tablet
- Card reader or supported Tap to Pay device
- Optional portable receipt printer
Countertop retail setup
- Tablet or dedicated terminal
- Customer-facing display where useful
- Cash drawer, barcode scanner, and receipt printer
- Label printer or scale if the product workflow requires it
Restaurant setup
- Counter terminal and cash drawer
- Handhelds for tableside ordering where useful
- Kitchen display or kitchen printers
- Customer display and equipment for online orders as needed
Confirm hardware compatibility, ownership, warranty, financing length, return conditions, and whether equipment is locked to a provider. Square’s listed U.S. hardware prices at the stated check date are described in its hardware catalog; they are not a full system quote.
Offline operation, security, and resilience
Ask exactly what “offline” means
Square says on its hardware page that payments can be processed securely offline, but an offline payment can still carry risk if it is declined after the connection returns. Before purchase, ask every provider how long offline mode lasts, whether transaction limits apply, what happens after a later decline, whether staff can see products and prices, how orders sync, and which functions stop during an outage. Also plan for cellular backup, local printing, and a recovery process if internet service is unreliable.
Keep security responsibilities clear
Ask about role-based permissions, manager approval for refunds or discounts, audit logs, two-factor authentication, device management, encryption and tokenization, backups, and removing staff access when someone leaves. A POS provider does not automatically make every business setup PCI DSS compliant. Responsibilities depend on configuration and payment method; confirm applicable obligations with the provider and, where appropriate, a qualified compliance adviser.
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Contracts, cancellation, and migration
Treat these as separate agreements rather than assuming a software plan’s flexibility applies to everything:
- Month-to-month or annual software subscription
- Payment-processing agreement and any termination charge
- Hardware financing, ownership, return, or lease obligations
- Automatic renewal and notice windows
- Data-export rights and the period available after cancellation
Before switching, use this migration sequence:
- Export products, customers, vendors, tax rules, and historical reports from the old system.
- Clean duplicate SKUs and customer records.
- Map categories, modifiers, variants, and tax rates to the new catalog.
- Confirm hardware compatibility and payment setup.
- Reconnect accounting, ecommerce, payroll, loyalty, and delivery tools.
- Test refunds, discounts, gift cards, tax, tips, and returns before launch.
- Run a short parallel period if the business cannot tolerate downtime.
- Confirm who owns the customer and transaction data after the old contract ends.
How to shortlist and buy
- Write down the non-negotiable workflow. Identify whether the business is retail, restaurant, appointment-based, mobile, ecommerce-led, or B2B. List the specific operations that cannot fail.
- Pick two or three plausible systems. Start with category fit, then eliminate products that cannot support essential hardware, integrations, regulated products, or locations.
- Build a first-year cost model. Use your card volume, average ticket, online share, number of locations and registers, and paid add-ons rather than headline software prices.
- Request the complete written offer. For sales-led systems, ask for software, processing, hardware, implementation, support, term, and cancellation on one quote.
- Test the awkward transactions. Confirm split checks, refunds, returns, tax, discounts, tips, gift cards, offline recovery, and data export—not just a standard sale.
- Check integrations and portability. Verify the exact accounting, payroll, ecommerce, delivery, or booking integration and how data can be exported if you leave.
Buying checklist: questions to get answered in writing
- What are card-present, keyed, online, and any ACH rates, and what card types or plans change them?
- Which monthly charges apply per location, register, user, or device?
- Who owns the hardware, and what are the financing term, warranty, return, and early payoff conditions?
- What is the contract length, cancellation fee, renewal rule, and notice deadline?
- What can the POS do offline, what are the limits, and who bears the cost of a later declined transaction?
- Can the business export catalog, customer, and transaction data, and for how long after cancellation?
- What support channels and response commitments are included?
- Are integrations, onboarding, tax tools, online ordering, and reporting extra?
- Which permissions and audit controls are available, and what PCI DSS responsibilities remain with the business?
- For regulated or weighed goods, are age checks, tax rules, payment eligibility, scales, and unit pricing supported for the business’s location?
Verdict: choose the system that fits the work
For a typical new small business, start with Square. Choose Shopify POS when online retail and shared inventory are central, Toast when restaurant operations drive the decision, Lightspeed when complex retail inventory is the hard problem, and Helcim when payment-cost transparency is a priority and the native workflow fits. Treat Clover, Epos Now, and other reseller- or quote-dependent offers as contract comparisons, not just product comparisons. The best shortlist is the one whose complete first-year cost, day-to-day workflow, and exit terms remain acceptable after every fee is counted.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
