Best Food Truck POS Systems in Canada

Based on our research, Square is the best POS system for food trucks. It offers the best value, with a free POS software plan that still comes with advanced features like online ordering, as well as reasonably priced compact hardware options. However, it’s not perfect – transaction fees are a little high, and you can get cheaper ones with Clover.

Most food trucks require a POS system that’s reasonably priced, with suitably compact hardware that can fit in small spaces, and strong marketing tools so customers can be motivated to visit. These are the features we prioritized when evaluating POS systems for food trucks.

Of course, different businesses have different needs and priorities, but we’re confident one of the five food truck POS systems discussed in this article will fit the bill:

Best Food Truck POS Systems: Overview

For a quick overview of the best POS systems for food trucks, check out the table below:

1. Square: Best Value for Money

Square is the best value POS system for food trucks. It has free POS software, a free online store, and has one of the cheapest card readers among the ones we surveyed.

Why we recommend Square for food trucks

Square is an affordable POS system that doesn’t skimp on functionality. It offers a free version of its POS software, from which you track cash payments and even accept payments while your system is offline. All offline payments will be tracked as long as you reconnect to the internet within 24 hours.

Square’s plethora of free tools include ecommerce integration, and a free online ordering page. This is a treat for food trucks that want in on the internet deal, but don’t want to invest in a full website.

If you upgrade to Square’s paid POS software for $60 per month, you’ll get access to more advanced reporting tools, and crucially, you’ll be able to send order-ready texts to customers. So, if your food truck is generally very busy, and customers wander off while they wait for an order, upgrading to the paid plan could make your life easier.

When it comes to hardware, Square has a range of compact solutions perfect for small spaces. Square has a POS app, that you can download onto a phone or iPad for free, so you don’t need to bother with large physical terminals. Its $69 card reader is also an incredibly compact 2.6″ x 2.6″ device that takes tap and chip card payments. Square also sells an iPad case with a hand strap that you can insert its card reader into, so you can keep your equipment in the same place.

For more iPad POS system recommendations, check out our guide.

Our experience with Square

We found Square’s POS system relatively easy to use when testing it. Everything is clearly labeled in the sidebar menu, making features easy to find.

However, we did find setting up the back end a little easier than dealing with the front end. For example, we struggled to apply order variants, since the system applied a default variant, and we had to add both variants before deleting the one we didn’t need.

One big downside is that Square doesn’t have a training mode, so teaching your staff how to use the system might take more time than it would with another provider. To compensate, there’s a help center that contains a large range of guides, on topics from how to set up the system, to how to create items and modify orders.

Are there any downsides to Square?

One downside to Square is that it doesn’t have advanced cost vs profit management tools, or ingredient usage tracking, which isn’t ideal for businesses that want to keep a close eye on their finances.

A good alternative is Clover, which has some great profit management tools. However, for ingredient tracking, you’ll need a fully fledged restaurant POS system like Lightspeed. Lightspeed didn’t make the cut for this list since it is a pricey option and doesn’t have a great range of compact hardware suitable for food trucks.

Lastly, Square’s transaction fees are on the high end, at 2.5% with free POS software. These could eat into your profits if you have a high sales volume, in which case providers that offer slightly lower fees, such as Clover (fees as low as 1.0% + 10¢), are a better option.

2. Clover: Best for Professional Hardware

Clover has the best POS hardware on the market, with a wide range that includes compact devices perfect for food trucks. It’s a great choice for businesses looking for a full kit that doesn’t take up much space.

Why we recommend Clover for food trucks

Clover’s range of hardware is a level above the rest and includes compact designs that are perfect for food trucks.

The Clover Mini is a small countertop terminal with a built-in receipt printer and card reader, complete with an 8-inch wide touchscreen and card reader, so you won’t need to spend money on any other hardware. For an exact price, you’ll need to contact Clover, since it operates on quote-based pricing in Canada.

For an even smaller device, you’ve got the Clover Flex. It’s essentially a card touchscreen machine that doubles up as a handheld POS device, meaning you can access Clover’s POS software from it.

Although Clover doesn’t advertise specific software plans in Canada, it offers solutions for virtually every type of business, including quick-service eateries such as food trucks. You’ll be able to access features such as order number generation, stock categorization and tracking, and be able to accept online orders through integration with third-party delivery apps.

Our experience with Clover

We found Clover much easier to use than the other POS systems we tested, because the layout of the front and back end is very straightforward. Everything is nicely spaced out, avoiding clutter, and Clover makes use of different colors to visually separate items from each other.

There were just a few issues with unclear signposting (the language Clover uses in the menu can be vague), and a lack of confirmation messages when orders were sent to the KDS.

Clover also doesn’t have a training mode, and its support center doesn’t have as large a library of guides as its competitors, such as Square.

Are there any downsides to Clover?

We don’t recommend Clover to food truck businesses looking to minimize upfront costs and monthly overheads. It doesn’t publicly advertise its pricing in Canada, but based on its US market pricing, both its hardware and software cost more than competitors such as Square. That said since Clover offers negotiable transaction fees, you could recuperate some of these costs with transaction fees as low as 1.% + 10¢, much lower than Square’s 2.5%.

However, these low fees are usually reserved only for businesses that process a high number of card payments. If that’s not you, and you’re looking to keep immediate costs low, Square, or SpotOn are better options. Both offer free POS software plans, and SpotOn even bundles in free hardware in exchange for higher transaction fees.

3. SpotOn: Best for New Businesses

SpotOn is a great option for new food truck businesses since it allows you to get started at no upfront costs. This is all thanks to its free Quick Start plan, where businesses can pay for hardware and software through slightly higher transaction fees.

Why we recommend SpotOn for food trucks

With SpotOn’s $0 per month Quick Start plan, food truck businesses can get started and pay nothing upfront for POS software and hardware, in exchange for slightly higher transaction fees. This isn’t something we’ve seen other POS providers offer. Square, for example, has free POS software, but still charges an upfront fee for hardware.

It can be tricky to know what your transaction fees will be, because SpotOn only advertises its pricing in USD, with transaction fees on the Quick Start plan set at 2.89% + 25 US cents. It’s possible fees will be slightly different in Canada, but you can expect higher than average ones all the same.

This is a good solution for new food truck businesses that don’t yet have a lot of money to invest in equipment and want a quick solution for accepting payments. The only downside is that the Quick Start plan comes with slightly bulky hardware: the 15-inch SpotOn Station with a guest-facing display.

The next best option for food truck businesses is the $99 USD per month Counter-service plan. It comes with the much slimmer 10-inch SpotOn Counter terminal with a guest-facing display, a more compact option that will more easily fit into tight spaces. Transaction fees are also lowered to 1.99% + 25 US cents on this plan, and businesses get access to online ordering and delivery, a feature not available on the Quick Start plan, and that’s great for boosting food truck sales.

Our experience with SpotOn

SpotOn falls somewhere in the middle when it comes to ease-of-use. Most tasks weren’t challenging, but it wasn’t as much of a breeze to use as Clover.

We like that SpotOn’s POS system can generate reports in charts and graphs form, which allows for clear visualization. Not all POS systems do this, with this feature missing from Epos Now for example.

However, the front end wasn’t as easy to use as the backend, mainly because SpotOn’s front end required a few extra clicks to add items to order compared to how quickly we could do this using other POS systems like Lightspeed (not featured here since it’s a pricey option).

There’s also no search function for quickly finding items to add to an order, although this might be more of an issue for restaurants with extensive menus. Most food trucks won’t be too affected by this missing function.

Are there any downsides to SpotOn?

Although SpotOn offers compact hardware with its Counter-service plan, its software isn’t available on iOS or Android, so it’s not a good option for food trucks looking for a tablet-based POS system. For a cheap, tablet-based alternative, we recommend Square. Epos Now also offers tablet-based solutions, although unlike SpotOn and Square, it doesn’t offer free POS software plans.

Additionally, although SpotOn offers free software and hardware on its Quick Start plan, it does charge installation fees, one of the few POS system providers that does. How much you’ll pay will depend on your hardware set up, but it could be over $1,000.

For more alternatives, see our guide to the best POS systems for Canadian small businesses.

4. Epos Now: Best for Established Food Trucks

Epos Now has a dedicated POS system for quick service businesses such as food trucks that’s highly advanced and is best suited to established food trucks that are part of a larger business.

Why we recommend Epos Now for food trucks

Epos Now charges a one-off fee of $799 for its POS hardware and software bundles, which, given that this includes basic POS software, a countertop terminal, a card machine and a receipt printer, is a good value deal.

You also have the option of skipping the hardware bundle and downloading Epos Now’s cloud-based software onto an existing iOS or Android tablet, for a truly mobile POS system. You can pair it with Epos Now’s Air card machine, a pocket-sized mobile solution. Just bear in mind that the software alone will generally incur monthly subscription costs of around $107 per month.

This is more expensive than Square’s paid POS software, which starts at $60 per month, but Epos Now’s POS software comes with more advanced stock management tools, with stock levels updating as you sell, and issuing low stock alerts when needed. You’ll also be able to track cash payments on top of card payments, and even set up discounts for customers who pay by cash.

Epos Now’s POS system can also be used to manage multiple food trucks. You can set variable pricing for menu items, and generate separate reports for each truck. You’ll also get access to Epos Now’s marketing and loyalty tools and set up online ordering by embedding links in social media posts, and QR code ordering.

Our experience with Epos Now

We found Epos Now to be a little more difficult to use than other POS systems we tested. The backend in particular was a little overwhelming, mainly because there were so many options for categorizing items and building reports.

Plus, since Epos Now doesn’t have a training mode, we only had the help center to rely on, which doesn’t have guides for everything. It’s missing how-tos for taking tips for example.

That said, we had no issues with basic tasks such as creating floor plans adding in item variants, and assigning ingredients to menu items facilitated stock tracking.

Are there any downsides to Epos Now?

We don’t recommend Epos Now to novice POS system users of very new businesses. You can do a lot with an Epos Now POS system, but this also makes it a little difficult to use, and very small or new businesses will do better with a simpler system, like Square or Zettle.

Since Epos Now charges one large upfront fee for its POS, it’s also not a good choice for businesses that don’t have a lot saved up.

Buying Guide: What to Look for in a Food Truck POS System

Since working in a food truck means you’re operating in a small space, and potentially out of reach of a reliable signal, you’ll have slightly different POS system requirements than regular restaurants or cafes.

Here’s what you should consider:

• Portability of the hardware: most food trucks don’t have space for large countertop terminals, so look for a provider that offers small, portable hardware. App-based POS systems are particularly well-suited to food trucks.
• Offline functionality: if your food truck operates in areas with unreliable Wifi or cell service, it’s vital that you choose a POS system that has offline functionality. This way, all your day’s sales will be saved, regardless of your connection.
• Mobile and QR ordering: accepting orders online or via QR codes can really boost sales, as a lot of customers would rather come to pick up an order when it’s ready rather than wait in line. We recommend you choose a system that has these features built-in or integrates with third-party apps that facilitate them.
• Order tickets or order-ready texts: along those same lines, on busy days, customers might want to wander off and return when their order is ready, rather than wait. Choosing a system that can print numbered tickets, or send texts or emails when an order is ready will make it easier for you and your customers to keep track of orders.
• Marketing tools: if you’re a mobile food truck, and pop-up at different events, choosing a POS system with built-in marketing and loyalty tools is very valuable. It’ll help you notify customers of where you are, and give them incentives to come visit you.

How We Test POS Systems for Food Trucks