The 6 Best POS Systems for US Businesses

Modern POS systems aren’t just for taking payments, they’re a digital hub where you can track inventory, orders, and staff shifts, as well as access reports. In 2024, restaurant and retail POS systems will often come with built-in marketing and loyalty tools, for instance, while bar POS systems will usually contain better tab management and dynamic pricing features.

Coupling a free software plan, sleek hardware, and features to meet the needs of a wide range of businesses, Square is the best POS system we tested out of 20 total. That said, it might not be perfect for every business, which is why we’ve included five other research-backed picks in our list.

Whether you’re getting a POS system for the first time, or looking to switch from your current provider, we’re confident your perfect system is somewhere on this page.

Best POS Systems for 2024: Comparison Table

Prices correct as of June 2024.

1. Square: Best for Scaling and Growing Your Business

Square is the best POS system for businesses looking to scale and grow, thanks to its affordable price point, advanced features, and range of POS solutions designed to suit different types of businesses.

Why we like it

Square suits a variety of businesses, thanks to its three types of POS systems, one for restaurants, one for retail stores, and one for appointment-based businesses like salons. This makes it one of the most versatile providers, matched only by Clover.

Whatever POS solution you choose, you’ll be able to start on a free software plan, which is a great value option for small businesses, or ones just starting out. Square’s free retail POS software comes with multi-site stock and employee management, and customizable gift card creation, while its free restaurant software comes with menu and table management. This types of features can help you not only manage sales and inventory, but all aspects of your business.

As your business grows, you can upgrade your Square plan, for a monthly fee of $20 to $89, depending on the solution you choose. This gives you access to more advanced features. For example, Square’s paid plan for retail businesses, which starts at $89 per month, per location, gives you access to more advanced inventory and reporting tools.

Square isn’t perfect, however. It’s missing advanced cost and profit management tools, available at competitors like Lightspeed Restaurant and Shopify, and doesn’t support ingredient tracking, unlike Clover. This means that for large chains, it might not be the best option for keeping on top of spending.

Its card processing fees, starting at 2.6% + 10¢ are also on the high side (you can get significantly lower ones with SpotOn or Clover).

Who’s Square for?

Square’s free plan is good for small, single-location businesses, such as cafes, independent boutiques, or salons.

The paid plans will suit businesses with up to three locations, such as budding chain restaurants. Businesses with more than three locations might find Square’s reporting tools a little limiting, as they aren’t designed to handle very large operations, unless you opt for a custom plan.

2. Toast: Best for Established Restaurants with Complex Operations

Toast is the best POS system for established restaurants with complex operations, whose owners are looking to optimize efficiency. It offers a large array of inventory and profit management tools, as well as some neat customer engagement features.

Why we like it

Toast specializes in creating POS systems for the food service industry, so all its features are specifically designed to meet of restaurants of various sizes.

You’ll get the most out of Toast by opting for one of its many add-on features, which, unfortunately, do come at an extra cost. The one that most impressed us was the inventory management add-on, which give you access to food and recipe cost management, as well as low stock alerts. This are essential tools for successfully managing your business’s spending, and aren’t available at rival Square.

However, Toast is missing ingredient usage tracking, so it’s not the best system for reducing waste and shrinkage. For that, we recommend Lightspeed Restaurant.

Our main issue with Toast is that a lot of its best features aren’t included in its basic software packages (you even have to pay extra for tip management), and Toast doesn’t even tell you how much each add-on costs. If clear pricing is what you need, Square is extremely transparent with its add-on costs

Who is Toast for?

Toast is best suited to well-established restaurants that either have one large capacity location or several locations. You’ll benefit the most from its advanced management tools.

It’s not, however, a good option for small or new restaurants, who’ll do better with a simple solution like Square.

3. Clover: Best for Professional Hardware

Clover is the best POS system for businesses that need top-range, professional hardware that can handle fast-paced environments.

Why we like it

Like Square, Clover offers POS systems for a variety of businesses, from retail, to restaurants, to personal services, making it a versatile choice.

Where it really shines is its extensive hardware offering. Its most popular item is the Clover Station Pro, a countertop kit with an employee and customer-facing screen, and a card machine. It’s a touchscreen device with a fingerprint login, so employees can quickly log on, and not waste customers’ time entering in a password.

We liked how responsive and bright the Clover Station Pro’s screen was, and the fact that it wasn’t mounted too high, which made typing on it easy. Other terminals we tested, such as Epos Now’s (not featured in this article), were mounted very high up, which made typing a bit of a pain.

The Clover POS system’s software capabilities are pretty great too. You’ll be able to track inventory, profits, and employee performance across multiple locations, and access advanced tools such as advanced features such as stock alerts and profit tracking. On top of that, the Clover system was one of the most intuitive ones we tested, an advantage if you need to train multiple employees.

Where Clover fumbles is mainly in the price. You’ll pay a premium for great hardware, with Clover’s handheld POS device costing $599, $200 to $300 to more than what you’d pay for the equivalent at SpotOn, Square, or Shopify.

Plus, for fussy restaurant owners, you might not like that Clover’s food service POS doesn’t have automated tip sharing, unlike Toast or Square.

Who is Clover for?

We recommend Clover’s POS system to establishments with multiple locations and several staff members. Its advanced features and easy-to-use platform make it especially well-suited to fast-paced restaurants.

It’s also good solution for retail stores, although we’d say it’s slightly more catered to food and beverage businesses, thanks to extra features such as QR code ordering.

4. SpotOn: Best for Simplifying Staff Scheduling and Communication

SpotOn is the best POS system for businesses looking to simplify their staff scheduling, thanks to its proprietary shift and payroll management software.

Why we like it

The provider offers two types of POS, one for retail, and one for restaurants. However, we rate SpotOn’s restaurant POS system much higher than we do its retail one, so that’s what we’ll be focusing on here.

The system comes with the basic features necessary for restaurants, including menu and table plan management, payment processing, and reporting tools. It actually allows for full table plan customization, which is unusual for a provider that markets itself as affordable. You can even change table colors, a feature not permitted with Clover.

However, SpotOn’s crowning jewel is its proprietary “Teamwork” app, which handles shift management and payroll, and can even create cost projections based on employee salaries. Plus, it includes automatic tip sharing, a feature a lot of top POS providers like Lightspeed and Clover are missing. This type of feature can improve motivation in back of house or frontdesk employees, by giving a salary boost.

Unfortunately, these features aren’t all available on SpotOn’s amazing free plan, which includes both free POS software and hardware (on Square’s free plan you still have to pay for hardware). They are included at no extra cost in SpotOn’s paid software plans, and are available as a paid add-on on the free plan.

If we’re being picky, we also don’t love the fact that SpotOn doesn’t have wide a range of POS hardware and accessories, especially when compared to competitors like Square or Clover. There’s also no app version of the software, for use on iPad or Android tablets, making SpotOn a slightly less accessible choice.

Who is SpotOn for?

SpotOn’s free POS software and hardware plan is a great option for new restaurants, allowing you to set up from scratch and pay for your system overtime with 2.89% + 25¢ card processing fees.

The $99 per month and $135 per month paid plans are perfect for slightly larger restaurants, that have a variety of staff roles, from hosts, to servers and runners.

5. Lightspeed: Best for Driving Repeat Business and Loyalty

Lightspeed is one of the best POS systems for driving customer loyalty, thanks to its array of marketing and loyalty tools.

Why we like it

Lightspeed offers two types of POS systems, one for retail and one for restaurants, with the latter also earning a spot in our list of best restaurant POS.

Its restaurant POS system comes with gift card creation, loyalty and points programs, and customer tabs, so you have a history of all previous orders. The retail system has email and SMS marketing tools, loyalty programs, and automated marketing features.

Lightspeed’s customer loyalty features also include access to an app store (on both Restaurant and Retail plans) that includes tools such as customer birthday mailers. Features like these let you stay connected to your customers and give them incentives to return again and again.

However, we should warn you that Lightspeed’s POS software is completely tablet-based. You can get access to tablet stands and card machines through the provider, but not a physical countertop terminal. If that’s something you’d prefer, we’d recommend looking into Clover, or Toast. Lightspeed also isn’t the cheapest solution on the market, with its cheapest plans costing as much as Square’s most expensive ones.

Who is Lightspeed for?

Both of Lightspeed POS solutions, restaurant and retail, are best for medium-sized establishments, or ones with multiple locations.

Price is a major reason why, Lightspeed is just too expensive for most small or new businesses. But you do get your money’s worth. The Lightspeed POS system is equipped to handle complex inventories and help established businesses maintain their reputation by driving repeat sales.

6. Shopify: Best for Managing In-store and Online Sales

Shopify is the best POS system for managing both in-store and online sales, thanks to its dual offering of ecommerce and POS software.

Why we like it

Shopify might be better known as an online store builder, but over the years it has become a destination for omnichannel selling.

Its POS system is specifically designed for retail, and has a unified dashboard that integrates both ecommerce and POS functions. From there, you’ll be able to manage inventory across channels to prevent any discrepancies in sales reports.

Useful features include the ability to accept in-store returns for online purchases, and low-stock reports that take both online and in-person sales into account. You can also create customer profiles that sync in-person and online purchase history, making it easier to reward customer loyalty. That said, unlike Square or Lightspeed, Shopify doesn’t have any native loyalty tools, but it does integrate with a host of third-party apps that provide them.

It’s not without its downsides however, Using Shopify POS requires you to have a Shopify online store, adding $39 to $399 to your monthly overheads, on top of the $89 per month you’ll be paying for the POS (more if you plan on using it at more than one location). And, if you’re not using Shopify Payments to process card transactions, Shopify adds on an extra 0.6%-2% on top of third-party processing fees.

For a more affordable alternative, we suggest Square, which charges a maximum of $89 per month for its retail POS software, and $79 per month for its online store, with free options for both. Square is better suited to smaller businesses though, so if you’re an international retail business, Shopify is worth the price.

Who is it for?

Shopify’s POS system is tailored to retail stores that already sell online, and want to open a brick-and-mortar location store. We wouldn’t recommend it to smaller businesses, or ones that don’t have high online sales, since its ecommerce plans are expensive, and you have to pay for one to access POS features.

Buying Guide: How to Choose a POS System

If you’ve read all the reviews, and still don’t quite know what POS system is best for your business, don’t sweat it.

Here are some of the things you should consider before making a decision:

Cost and Pricing Structure

You know your budget better than we do, and it goes without saying that you shouldn’t choose a POS system that you can’t afford. We recommend that you look closely at the pricing structure, and assess what’s included for free, and what comes at an added cost, to get the best deal.

For example, Square charges zero fees for using its POS software, but you’ll have to pay upfront for each card machine, till, or other piece of equipment you need. This can really add up if you have multiple stores.

A provider like SpotOn, on the other hand, doesn’t charge for software or hardware but compensates for this with high transaction fees. If business is booming, this could be more expensive in the long run.

POS Functions and Available Hardware

Assess your business needs, and choose a provider that meets them closely. Some POS systems are designed with certain types of businesses in mind (eg. pubs and restaurants vs retail stores), which makes locating the right fit easier.

It’s also important to look at the features included in the POS software. Are you a pub or fast-food establishment that requires QR code ordering? Providers such as Clover and Lightspeed have this, while SpotOn doesn’t.

You should also look at the physical equipment that’s available to buy or rent from each POS system provider. If your staff needs to take orders at tables, for example, a tablet-based POS system will be beneficial. If you accept cash as well as card, look for an POS provider that has a till setup.

Some POS systems are compatible with third-party hardware, but it’s always best to check if your existing equipment or the equipment you plan on buying can easily integrate with your chosen POS system.

Ease of Use

As a rule of thumb, the easier a POS system is to use, the better. This will speed up training and service times, and reduce room for error.

This doesn’t mean you need to go with the absolute easiest system to use. If you and your employees are experienced with POS systems, you could compromise on ease of use in favor of advanced features.

POS systems like Clover and Square are particularly easy to operate, while Lightspeed has a training mode for new employees.

Customer Support

Good customer support shouldn’t be overlooked when it comes to POS systems. In an ideal world, you’d never have to contact customer support but, let’s face it, no system is ever perfect.

We’d recommend choosing a POS system that has a customer support phone line, since calling is usually the fastest way to get an issue resolved. Live chat channels, help centers, and community forums, if the POS system has them, can also be great for quick troubleshooting.

Don’t forget to look at opening times. Most POS customer support teams operate during the week, but a few are also available at weekends and holidays, which could be really valuable if those are your busiest times.

Our Methodology: How We Test POS Systems