Best Point of Sale Software in 2026: 9 Systems Compared

Square remains the default for most small businesses, and for good reason. The free plan covers sales, basic inventory, customer profiles, digital receipts and invoicing, with in-person processing at 2.6 percent plus 15 cents. Paid plans at $49 and $149 per month add deeper inventory, modifiers and lower processing rates.

The catch is specialization. A large full-service restaurant will miss Toast-style kitchen and table tools, and a specialty retailer with complex variants may prefer Lightspeed. For a shop, cafe, market stall or service business that needs to start selling this week, Square is hard to beat.

Toast owns the restaurant space because it is built for service, not adapted to it. Kitchen display systems, handheld ordering, table management, menu engineering and online ordering sit in one system, and paid plans often process at around 2.49 percent plus 15 cents. The starter kit is free, which lowers the barrier for a new restaurant.

The trade is commitment. Paid plans commonly involve one to three year terms, and hardware per terminal can run from several hundred dollars upward. For a restaurant that will use the kitchen and table tools daily, that cost is usually justified. For a small cafe, Square may be enough.

Shopify POS makes sense only if you already sell on Shopify, but then it makes a lot of sense. Stock, customers and orders stay in sync across your website and your shop, so you do not end up with two stock lists. POS Lite is included with Shopify plans, and POS Pro at $89 per month per location adds staff permissions, smart inventory and deeper reporting.

The limits are clear. It is not a restaurant system, and the monthly Shopify plan is part of the cost, not an extra you can drop. For an omnichannel retailer, though, that single stock list is worth more than a slightly cheaper standalone till.

Lightspeed Retail is for shops where inventory is the hard part: bike shops with size and color variants, pet stores with vendor catalogs, or multi-location retailers with complex purchasing. Purchase orders, matrix inventory and vendor management are core features, not add-ons, and reporting is strong across locations.

That depth costs money and time. Plans start at $89 per month, billed annually in many listings, and staff need training to use the system well. A small boutique with simple stock will not need it. A specialty retailer that lives or dies by stock accuracy probably will.

Clover wins on hardware. From the pocket-sized Go to the countertop Station, plus Flex handhelds and Mini terminals, there is a device for almost every counter and table. Software plans cover retail, restaurant and service businesses, and in-person processing is typically around 2.3 to 2.6 percent plus 10 cents.

The warning is about how you buy it. Clover sold direct has clearer pricing, while reseller and bank deals can add monthly fees and long contracts. Get the software fee, processing rate, hardware cost and contract length in one written quote before you sign, and compare it with Square on total cost.

TouchBistro is an iPad-based restaurant system with strong table management, menu tools and offline resilience, which matters when Wi-Fi drops during service. Unlike Toast, it does not process payments itself, so you can bring your own processor and negotiate rates separately. That freedom suits restaurants with enough volume to beat bundled rates.

The cost structure needs care. Reservations, online ordering, loyalty and gift cards are separate subscriptions, so the total can rise above the $69 per month starting rate. For a single-site full-service restaurant that values table depth and processor choice, it is a strong alternative to Toast.

Epos Now is a budget-friendly option for retail and hospitality businesses that want a full till without a premium monthly fee. Point of sale software starts at $39 per month in the US, with hardware bundles available, and it runs on several device types, which gives more choice than iPad-only systems.

The catch is the contract. Terms and cancellation conditions vary, and public reviews are mixed on support. Read the contract length, the hardware bundle terms and the processing rate together, and compare the first-year total with Square and Lightspeed before committing.

Revel is aimed at larger restaurant, bar and multi-location operators rather than single small shops. It covers ordering, kitchen management, inventory, loyalty and workforce tools in one iPad-based system, with controls that help a group run consistently across sites.

The commitment is the trade. The $99 per month per terminal rate is commonly tied to annual billing and a three-year Revel Advantage contract, with a minimum purchase of two terminals and an onboarding fee. For a growing group, that structure can make sense. For a single cafe, it is far more commitment than needed.

SpotOn bundles point of sale with marketing, loyalty and reporting tools, which appeals to restaurants and retailers that want customer outreach in the same system. Plans start around $55 per month, with processing rates commonly quoted in the 1.99 to 2.89 percent range plus a per-transaction fee, depending on plan and volume.

The downside is transparency. Final pricing often comes by quote, so the headline rate is only a starting point. For a business that will actually use the marketing and loyalty tools, SpotOn can replace separate subscriptions. For a business that only needs a till, a simpler system is cheaper.