Best EPOS Systems in 2024 | UK POS Provider Guide

According to our research, the best POS system (also known as EPOS software) for managing orders, stock and staff – as well as your financials and customer relationships – is Square POS.

From the 15 POS systems we tested and scored using six core assessment categories, none could compete with Square’s comprehensive free plan and reasonably-priced hardware – it means you can get started with whatever you can afford and simply scale up once the customers start rolling in.

Whether you require advanced functionality for your restaurant POS business, or simply some cheap retail EPOS software to get your small business started, there are further EPOS systems down below to consider. Read on for what stands out to us about the likes of Clover and Shopify, plus what UK businesses Lightspeed, TouchBistro, and EPOS Now suit best according to our research.

Many POS providers like Clover, TouchBistro, Lightspeed, and EPOS Now have custom price points for transaction fees. In other words, you won’t know what you’ll be paying until you contact each provider.

If you’d like to cut the chase, you can get exact, no-obligation pricing quotes directly from the best EPOS suppliers in the UK through our free quote-finding tool. For now, here’s everything we know about each supplier in our top six EPOS systems.

1. Square: Best for Scaling and Growing Your Business

Square is the best EPOS system for businesses looking to scale and grow, thanks to its affordable entry point price, and range of EPOS solutions designed to suit businesses of different sizes and industries, from hospitality to services.

What makes Square one of the best EPOS systems?

Small businesses, or those just starting, can benefit from Square’s free EPOS software plan, which comes with multi-site stock and employee management, and menu and table management for hospitality businesses. These features aren’t always included in free EPOS software and are missing from SumUp’s free EPOS software, one reason the provider didn’t make this list. A functional free EPOS plan like Square’s can give your businesses a leg up when it’s just starting out, by minimizing monthly overheads.

As your business grows, you can upgrade your Square plan (for a monthly fee of £29 to £69) to get access to more advanced features, catered to the type of business you run. For example, Square’s paid plan for retail businesses, which starts at £49 per month, per location, gives you access to more advanced reporting tools, like tracking discounts use.

The paid plans have a wide range of additional features, tailored to each business type, and offer good value for money on that front. Processing fees are still slightly, however, staying at 1.75%.

Square’s range of EPOS hardware also makes it easy to scale. Businesses can start out with simple card readers or tablets – such as using Square’s 2nd gen Stand for simple, integrated contactless and chip payment options via its iPad EPOS app – and move on to tills complete with cash drawers and receipt printers when needed, without having to switch to a new provider.

Square’s unique feature

Square’s EPOS system comes with a free online store builder. It’s a good option for businesses that are primarily focused on in-person sales, but want to branch out into ecommerce.

The EPOS system and online store seamlessly integrate with each other, helping you track orders and sales across platforms.

What type of business is Square good for?

Square’s free plan is good for small, single-location businesses, such as cafes, independent boutiques, or salons. The paid plans are suitable for 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 a lot of different locations, unless you opt for a custom plan.

Square’s pricing

Square’s POS software is available for no monthly fees – cheaper than all other providers on this page – and includes the Point-of-Sale Dashboard (in other words, the web portal) and its POS app. That grants you access to features including a virtual terminal, online checkout/payment links, digital gift cards, and online store functionality too.

Should you want more specialised features, they do come at an extra cost. For instance, you can get the Restaurant Plus plan for £69/month, the Retail Plus plan for £49/month, or Appointments Plus for £29/month (amongst other options). They all offer tools for specific industries, such as live sales reporting, advanced inventory, and more.

Elsewhere, transaction fees are unusually transparent for an EPOS provider, with a flat 1.75% for card-present (chip & pin or contactless) payments or 2.5% for online, invoice, or keyed-in payments.

That’s not the cheapest on the market, with Shopify undercutting them at 1.5% and others such as Clover offering as little as 1% + 10p fees. But with Clover, TouchBistro, Lightspeed, and EPOS Now all using custom transaction fees, Square is at least clear with what they can offer you. For the rest, you’ll need a custom quote, which could vary widely depending on your business finances.

You can get a custom rate with Square via its Premium plans if your business processes over £200,000 in card sales per year, with this applying to transaction fees and hardware.

Square alternatives you might also like

• Epos Now: If your restaurant or cafe frequently updates its floor plan, it’ll be easier to do this with Epos Now than with Square. We found Epos Now’s drag-and-drop editor easier to use than Square’s floor plan function
• Lightspeed: If you need cost management tools or an EPOS system with a training mode for your staff, Lightspeed has these options, while Square doesn’t
• Clover: If you want an EPOS system that comes with cheap card processing fees, or own a restaurant and need to track ingredients, Clover is a better option than Square. Its processing fees are negotiable and can be as low as 0.2% if you process a lot of cards
• Shopify: If you’re an online-first business, Shopify can build you a better online store than Square – it has far more design and customisation options – and has a POS system that includes cost management tools

2. Clover: Best for Professional Hardware

Clover is the best EPOS system for businesses seeking professional hardware that can handle a fast-paced environment. Its got three different countertop terminals, two of which include a customer display, a handheld EPOS device that doubles as a card machine, and a range of accessories.

What makes Clover one of the best EPOS systems?

Clover’s hardware was the best we tested. It was sleek and responsive, and its handheld EPOS device and card machine, the Clover Flex felt lightweight, despite its size.

Among Clover’s hardware offering is the Clover Station Pro, which is a countertop kit that comes with an employee and customer-facing screen, and a card machine. We found the customer display screen particularly intuitive, which restaurants will find useful when taking orders. It’s got a sleek design and responsive touch-screen, so your staff won’t have trouble with it, and you can customise the display and use it to show off promotional items.

During testing, we found the Clover EPOS system quite easy to use, despite having advanced features such as stock alerts and profit tracking. Adding a discount to an order with Clover was much easier than with Square since the option was presented to us at checkout, instead of us having to look for it on the screen. This is an advantage when training multiple employees since they won’t need to waste time figuring out how the system works. On your end, you’ll be able to track inventory, profits, and employee performance across multiple locations.

Clover also has an extensive app store, where you can find solutions such as employee time clocks, customer loyalty programs, and cash tracking.

Clover’s unique feature

Clover comes with fingerprint recognition, which means your staff can log in to the POS system with just a touch. This saves a lot of time on busy days when employees are alternating between taking payments and serving customers on the shop or restaurant floor.

What type of business is Clover good for?

Clover is a good option for establishments with multiple locations and several staff members. Its advanced features and easy-to-use platform makes it especially well suited to fast-paced environments.

It’s a 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.

Clover’s pricing

Clover offers custom pricing, which varies depending on the type of POS software and hardware (such as card machines, tablets, and tills) your business needs. You’ll pay one monthly subscription fee, which covers the cost of using Clover’s software and renting the equipment.

Transaction fees are not included in the subscription, but they’re negotiable with Clover – the more payments you process per month, the cheaper your fees will typically be. For medium-sized businesses, we believe you can expect transaction fees to be around 1% + 10p, which is very cheap compared to competitors.

Clover alternatives you might also like

• Square: If you’re a small cafe or pop up that needs a low risk, portable POS system, Square is more suited to your needs than Clover
• Lightspeed: If you’re a restaurant owner who wants to know what you’ll be paying from the get-go, Lightspeed is a good alternative to Clover, since they disclose pricing on their website, which Clover does not
• Shopify: If you’re a retailer that values a good help and support network, you might want to go with Shopify, since it has a community forum (something Clover lacks)

3. Shopify: Best for Omnichannel Retail Businesses

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

What makes Shopify one of the best EPOS systems?

First and foremost an online store builder, Shopify has branched out into the EPOS landscape. It has a unified dashboard that integrates both ecommerce and EPOS functions, and will let you manage inventory across both channels to prevent any discrepancies in sale 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 being said, unlike Square or Clover, Shopify doesn’t have a built-in loyal programme builder, you need to integrate the system with a third-party app to build one.

Shopify also comes with a great help and support network for new users. In the Shopify Help Centre, we found answers to an enormous range of questions, as well as tutorials for using the platform, and a forum where you can troubleshoot with other businesses that use Shopify.

Shopify’s unique feature

As we’ve outlined above, Shopify’s unique feature is that it allows you to manage your online and in-person sales from the same platform.

While other EPOS systems can integrate with online stores, it’ll never be as seamless as when your ecommerce system and EPOS system come from the same provider.

What type of business is Shopify good for?

Shopify’s EPOS system is tailored to retail stores that also sell online. Its ideal candidates are established online retail businesses that have one to five physical stores and need robust inventory management. We wouldn’t recommend it to smaller businesses since its ecommerce plans (which you have to pay to get access to EPOS features) are expensive.

Smaller businesses that are just starting to sell online and in person are also good candidates since the Shopify EPOS app can be accessed via smartphones and tablets, meaning you can use it without paying for expensive hardware. The £5 Starter plan also allows businesses to accept in-person payments via smartphone with tap-to-pay, no card machine required.

Shopify isn’t recommended for food and drink businesses, as it doesn’t have the features to handle menus and table plans.

Shopify’s pricing

Like Square, Shopify is upfront about pricing and what it can offer you compared to the opaque quote-based pricing by the likes of Clover. It offers many packages for different purposes – separated by in-person selling and selling everywhere – that all cost varying amounts and include set transaction fee rates by default.

Its cheapest option, the Starter POS plan for in-person selling, costs £5/month with card rates at 5% + 25p (online), 5% (in person) and 5% for (3rd-party payment providers). You’ll get one POS login and a limited online store.

For £19/month (paid yearly) or £25/month (paid monthly), you can get its most popular Basic sell everywhere package, with card rates starting at 2% + 25p (online), 1.7% (in person) and 2% (3rd-party payment providers). You’ll get unlimited POS logins and a full-featured online store.

Transaction fees get as low as 1.5% with Shopify’s Advanced plan, however, you’ll be paying a substantial £259/month when billed yearly or £344/month when billed monthly.

Shopify alternatives you might also like

• Epos Now or Clover: Shopify doesn’t sell physical terminals or tablets, even though its EPOS app can only be accessed via smartphone or tablet. If you don’t already have these available, and want a supplier that can provide you with some, Epos Now or Clover are a good alternative
• Zettle: Shopify’s processing fees (starting from 1.5%) are on the expensive side, especially when paired with the monthly fee. If you want cheap processing fees and a low-cost plan, you could try Zettle by PayPal, which doesn’t charge monthly fees, and can integrate with a variety of ecommerce platforms – though it hasn’t made our top selection because its hardware and EPOS software isn’t on par with competitors
• Lightspeed: Although Shopify has tutorials and a vast help centre, its EPOS system doesn’t have a training mode for staff. If that’s a priority for you, Lightspeed is a good alternative

4. Lightspeed: Best for Fostering Repeat Business and Customer Loyalty

Lightspeed is one the best EPOS systems for driving customer loyalty, thanks to its proprietary marketing tools and loyalty programmes.

What makes Lightspeed one of the best EPOS systems?

Lightspeed has two EPOS systems, one for restaurants and one for retail, and both come with a plethora of marketing and loyalty tools. To name a few, they include email and SMS marketing tools, loyalty programmes, automated marketing campaigns, gift card creation, and customer tabs, so you have a history of all previous orders.

These features do cost extra, but they’re built into the system, so you don’t need to rely on third-party integrations.  And, using features like these to stay connected with your customers and give them incentives to return can help drive business growth. 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.

Both of Lightspeed’s EPOS systems also have a robust set of tools for managing sales and inventory, including cost vs profit breakdowns, and reports offer detailed insights into the performance of each channel or store. Cost vs profits reporting is essential for businesses with multiple locations and is a key feature that’s missing from rival Square.

On the practical side, since Lightspeed’s EPOS software is completely tablet-based, it allows your staff to stay mobile while serving customers. The software is also a cloud-based, unified platform, making it easy for you to oversee multiple locations at once.

Lightspeed’s unique feature

Lightspeed offers a 14-day free trial, so you can get to grips with the software and decide whether it’s right for you before committing to it. That’s a rarity in the EPOS sector.

What type of business is Lightspeed good for?

Lightspeed is a good EPOS solution for both restaurants and retail stores since it has dedicated systems for both these business types, with tailored functionalities.

Lightspeed Restaurant, for example, allows customers to order online, at the table, or from a QR code, while Lightspeed Retail comes with an online store builder.

Both of these solutions are best suited for medium-sized establishments, or ones with multiple locations, who need an EPOS system that can handle complex inventories, and help them grow and maintain their reputation by driving repeat sales.

Lightspeed’s pricing

Transaction fee amounts and hardware costs (card machines, tills, tablets, and terminals) are only available upon request at Lightspeed.

However, as the below image shows, Lightspeed does offer a rough guide to transaction fees you can expect in monetary terms.

If we consider these figures, we can estimate transaction fee costs. For instance, the first range of £3.850 to £15,379 produces a transaction fee of £75. This suggests the rate for this income point is between 0.49% and 1.95%.

Meanwhile, for volumes on the other end of the scale (between £192,310 and £230,769), Lightspeed customers can expect between 0.457% and 0.548% transaction fee rates.

Compared to Square and Shopify, these potential transaction rates do look more appealing, especially for businesses with higher turnover.

However, you’ll be paying far more for base software-hardware costs than Shopify’s most popular £25/month package rate, or any other provider for that matter, given Lightspeed starts around £75 per month. The other quote-based providers are inherently more difficult to compare given the lack of transparency.

Lightspeed alternatives you might also like

• Clover: Clover has a superior range of terminals and accessories than Lightspeed, so if you need the best EPOS hardware on the market, Clover’s your best bet
• Epos Now: We found it easier to change and save floor plans on Epos Now’s system than on Lightspeed’s, making it a better option for restaurants that switch up their seating arrangements frequently
• Shopify or Square: If you’re a smaller business, or are just starting out, and need a cheap or free starting plan, Shopify (with its £5 per month retail Starter Plan), or Square, with doesn’t charge for its EPOS software, are more affordable options than Lightspeed

5. TouchBistro: Easiest Hospitality EPOS System to Use

Designed specifically for food and beverage businesses, TouchBistro is the easiest-to-use EPOS system. During our testing, we found it to be the most intuitive platform to use, largely thanks to its straightforward front-end interface, which made it easy for us to process orders quickly.

What makes TouchBistro one of the best EPOS systems?

You can customise your package to get the features you need, which means you don’t pay for features you don’t use. Unneeded features also won’t appear in your back-end or front-end, making the process of finding the features you do need while working much simpler.

One of TouchBistro’s standout tools is table planning. Everything can be customised, from table shape, size, colour, and labels. Rivals Clover and Epos Now don’t allow for colour customisation, while doesn’t let you change table labels. Additionally, we could edit the floorplan and change it at any time from both the front and back end, and we found it easy to input guest table transfers into the system too, without losing the customers’ orders.

Since the system is tablet-based, it’s also highly mobile, so your staff have easy access to it while taking orders at tables.

Other features available as add-ons are reservation management, and marketing and loyalty tools, such as customer app creation and point collection systems. These features can help entice customers to return, and managing them from your EPOS system instead of a separate system can ensure accuracy and avoid errors.

TouchBistro’s unique feature

TouchBistro has a customised approach to features, which means you pay for the ones you need, and not for the ones you don’t. This isn’t the case with most other EPOS systems.

A bonus of this feature is that your restaurant’s EPOS back end won’t be cluttered up with tabs for features you hardly touch.

What type of business is TouchBistro good for?

TouchBistro is best suited to growing food and beverage chains, whether that be restaurants, cafes, or bars and pubs. This is mainly due to its excellent table management features, and tablet-based design, allowing for mobility.

Since a lot of TouchBistro’s most useful features (advanced reservation management, and customer loyalty programs) come at an extra cost, it’s not well-suited to businesses that are starting out, or serve at one small location, since they might end up spending over budget.

TouchBistro’s pricing

TouchBitro doesn’t disclose the cost of its EPOS hardware solutions or its processing fees. Businesses can purchase a variety of equipment from TouchBistro, including iPad tablets, card machines, tills, and receipt printers, with prices available upon request.

But from what we can tell, TouchBistro is a touch more affordable than the likes of Clover and Lightspeed in terms of base software and hardware costs.

Where it balloons in price to levels comparable with those providers are its extras, such as reservation management or loyalty software, so whether it is financially viable will depend on your business needs.

Still, you can get free software and low-cost hardware via Square that would cost your business much less investment by comparison, even if you wanted to start with some simple POS solutions.

TouchBistro alternatives you might also like

• Clover: Clover has the best EPOS hardware on the market, so it’s a better fit than TouchBistro if you need top-of-the-range terminals and accessories
• Toast: TouchBistro doesn’t offer mobile and QR code ordering for customers, so if that’s a feature you’re looking for, Toast has you covered
• Square: Square comes with extensive tip management tools that TouchBistro lacks, so if your staff relies on tips, Square might be a better option

6. Epos Now: Best for Managing Complex Inventories

Epos Now makes managing complex inventories easy, thanks to features like advanced categorisation, which enables users to create multiple variants of the same item, and bulk inventory uploads.

What makes Epos Now one of the best EPOS systems?

Epos Now is our top pick for managing large, complex inventories. The cloud-based software comes with crucial features, such as low stock alerts, bulk inventory upload, and cost vs. profit analysis. All this can help businesses juggling a large inventory identify the most profitable items for future ordering.

The system’s reporting tools are also capable or handling large or multi-location businesses, with reporting by location available, as well as reports based on items, employees, refunds, and discounts.

When it comes to physical terminals, Epos Now offers up a terminal with a 15.6 inch HD touchscreen, and a large customer display, so everything is clearly visible. There’s also a host of accessories available, such as barcode scanners, card machines, and receipt printers. Our one gripe is that the terminal is quite large, and is probably not suitable for small shops or pop-ups.

Epos Now’s key drawback is the fact that it isn’t as easy to use as others on this list. We found it tricky to navigate certain tasks, such as order splitting, during our usability testing.

Epos Now’s unique feature

Epos Now gives you the option of paying for its EPOS software and the associated hardware in one upfront payment, which could result in zero monthly fees. This reduces overheads, and can potentially lead to greater profit in the long run, making it a good option for small businesses with one location, if you’re able to save up enough to pay the £899 upfront fee.

However, for ongoing support, you’ll need to pay at least £54 per month. But, this does reduce your upfront payment to £325, which is still a bargain compared to other EPOS hardware packages.

What type of business is Epos Now good for?

Epos Now is suitable for a range of businesses, from smaller stores with just one or two locations to large restaurants with multiple locations. That’s because it combines powerful EPOS software functions with a flexible pricing structure.

Large or multi-location businesses will benefit from excellent inventory and profit management tools, while smaller businesses looking to decrease their monthly spending can purchase their EPOS solution upfront, with the option of an iPad-based app available at a reduced rate.

Epos Now’s pricing

Epos Now accepts both upfront payments and monthly payments. Its EPOS software package includes equipment such as a physical terminal and receipt printer, but businesses have the option of purchasing or renting additional hardware. You can purchase its software outright for £538.80 but since a hardware-software package deal is cheaper, we don’t recommend going for this.

Unlike other EPOS system providers, your purchase includes a lot of hardware with your software making it more difficult to compare. However, it should make for an appealing proposition since you’ll have all the kit you need for a one-time fee of £325, rather than ongoing costs the other providers besides Square tend to offer.

Thereafter £19/month EPOS software rates are pretty affordable too, with only Square and Shopify offering cheaper plans.

Transaction fees are a little unclear with Epos Now, though we believe they are around 1.7% for in-person transactions. That’s a little less than Square’s 1.75% rates though Square do have other perks such as next-day transfer rates, offline mode and gift card functionality that Epos Now forgos.

It should be noted that Epos Now regularly changes its prices, fluctuating between various sales points, however the above are the correct costs at the time of writing.

Epos Now alternatives you might also like

• Square: Epos Now doesn’t have many built-in marketing features or extensive and automated tip management tools, so if those are your must-haves, Square is a better option
• TouchBistro or Shopify: Epos Now is not the most intuitive system to use. If you or your staff are uninitiated when it comes to EPOS systems, you’ll have an easier time with TouchBistro (if you’re in the food and beverage sector) or Shopify (if you’re in retail)
• Lightspeed or Clover: Epos Now’s pricing is subject to change after 12 months. If you’d prefer more stable pricing Lightspeed offers a flat subscription rate for software and hardware.

How to Choose an EPOS System

We get it: with so many providers on the market, picking one can feel daunting. To help you out, we’ve listed some of the things you should consider when choosing your EPOS system.

Cost and pricing structure

You know your budget better than we do, and it goes without saying that you shouldn’t choose an EPOS 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 EPOS 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 such as Clover, on the other hand, charges a monthly fee for using its software and any equipment you rent. This could work out cheaper if your business has multiple locations.

Don’t forget about card processing fees either. Companies that have cheap or free software tend to charge more expensive transaction fees, so that’s something to be wary of.

EPOS functions and available hardware

Assess your business needs, and choose a provider that meets them closely. Some EPOS 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 EPOS software. Are you a pub or fast-food establishment that requires QR code ordering? Providers such as Clover and Lightspeed have this, while TouchBistro doesn’t.

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

Some EPOS 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 EPOS system.

Ease of use

As a rule of thumb, the easier an EPOS 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 EPOS systems, you could compromise on ease of use in favour of advanced features.

EPOS systems like Clover and TouchBistro 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 EPOS 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 an EPOS system that has a customer support phone line since calling is usually the fastest way to get an issue resolved. Live chat channels, help centres, and community forums, if the EPOS system has them, can also be great for quick troubleshooting.

Don’t forget to look at opening times. Most EPOS 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

The Expert Market team tested and assessed 20 different EPOS systems to bring you this list. We spend around 160 hours researching EPOS platforms, and over 20 hours testing them. During that time, we used our learnings to evaluate how each EPOS system fared in six categories that are important to businesses, broken down into between four and 12 subcategories, in order to get an impartial ranking.

Here’s what we looked at:

• EPOS software: the breadth of features included in the EPOS software, and how valuable they are to the average business, including inventory management, menu/product creation, customer engagement tools and table management.
• Hardware/equipment: the variety of equipment available to purchase or rent, with special importance given to key items, such as physical terminals, customer displays, and accessories.
• Ease-of-use: how easy each system is to use, based on feedback from several average users who were assigned basic tasks to complete on each system, such as menu/item creation, accessing reports, or applying a discount.
• Help and support: how effective and reachable the customer support teams are, with bonus points given to EPOS systems with help centres and training modes.
• Costs: the price of the system, how it compares to competitors, and whether it’s good value for money.
• User experience: whether everyday users know and like the system, whether they’d recommend it, and what they say about it in online reviews.

We gave each EPOS system a score in each of the above testing and research categories, and combined them to produce an overall score, which was used to rank them.