The Best POS Systems of 2021

The Best POS Providers

• Toast
• TouchBistro
• Lightspeed
• Epos Now
• Upserve POS
• Square
• Lavu
• Clover
• Revel Systems
• Heartland POS
• CardConnect

A point-of-sale (POS) system is more than just a fancy cash register. It rings up sales, accepts payments, manages inventory, and analyzes sales data, to name just a few of its capabilities. It's an important tool in commerce for all sizes of businesses.

POS system options abound, making it an arduous selection process for business owners. The wrong decision can cost you big time. To make the process easier, we did the research for you. We studied more than 100 vendors, poring over features and pricing to come up with our best picks for POS system.

Square: Best for Small Business

• Square offers free and paid plans, with several customization options.
• The retail POS plans come with a free online store.
• The Square Register POS hardware isn't compatible with third-party payment processors.

Square is one of the top companies in the POS industry, and for good reason. It offers POS options for restaurants, retail stores, and small businesses, as well as an appointment-scheduling POS system for customer-booking businesses.

Square has several software capabilities that integrate with its POS system, which makes it a great one-stop shop for SMBs. The Square POS software is free to use; the only stipulation is that you have to process payments through Square (which charges 2.6% + $0.10 for in-person and invoice payments, and 2.9% + $0.30 for online payments). If you want more advanced features, Square offers the Plus plan for $60 per month per location (plus $40 a month per added POS device) and the Premium plan with custom pricing.

Square has a 30-day free trial, so you can try it out before making a commitment. If you want to customize your plan, you can add on tools like team management ($35 per month), payroll ($29 plus $5 per employee each month), a customer loyalty program (starting at $45 a month per location), marketing (starting at $15 a month per location), and one-on-one implementation help ($599). Square also offers an appointment-booking POS (free for one calendar, $50 per month for 2-5 calendars, $90 per month for 6-10 calendars, and custom pricing for 11 or more calendars) with a processing fee of 2.5% or 2.6% + $0.10.

You can pair your Square POS software with an iPad, or you can purchase POS hardware from the company. Square registers cost $799, or $39 per month for 24 months; terminals are $299, or $27 per month for 12 months; stands for contactless and chip payments are $169, or $16 per month for 12 months; and readers for contactless and chip payments are $49. The Square mobile app is compatible with iOS and Android mobile devices. This variety of hardware lets you develop a unique POS setup that fits your needs and budget.

You can access a variety of features with Square, depending on the plan you choose. For example, you may be able to access inventory management features like in-store and curbside pickup. Retail plans have multi-location stock view, exchange capabilities, barcode label printing, purchase order and vendor management, and COGS (cost of goods sold) reporting. Restaurant plans offer features like table/course/item management, a Square kitchen display system, online menus, automatic gratuity capabilities, conversational modifiers, and remote device management. You can also manage your team with permissions and timecard functions.

Every plan includes some level of sales and reporting features, based on what you are using the POS for and how much you are paying. Every Square customer has access to customer support, an online support center, blogs, and a seller community.

Lavu: Best for Integrations

• Lavu has nearly 15 of its own in-house integrations and several third-party integrations.
• Lavu is cloud-based software with offline capabilities.
• Lavu is not compatible with Android.

Lavu is a mobile POS system that caters to restaurants, including bars, ice cream shops, food trucks, wineries, coffee shops, breweries and pizza joints. Businesses of any size can customize a Lavu plan that fits their needs. A single POS terminal plan costs $69, but those who need multiple terminals or enterprise plans will need to contact Lavu for a custom quote.

Lavu uses iPad-based hardware, and it has an online shop where you can choose from a variety of hardware and peripherals. For example, it offers terminals, starter kits, printers, networking devices, kitchen display systems, gift cards, cash drawers, card readers and discounted products. These hardware options come in a wide range of prices. If you choose to process payment through Lavu's in-house payment solution, LavuPay, it offers an EMV-compliant PayPal chip card reader to accept cards, Apple Pay, and Samsung Pay. Lavu can also process payments through integrated third-party credit card gateway and processing partners.

Lavu is cloud-based software, although it also has an offline mode for system security. The Lavu POS includes more than 300 features. You can access inventory management functions, like linking your inventory to your menu for seamless tracking, managing vendor relationships, offering tableside ordering and table customization, and managing your menu, such as adding prompts for modifiers. You can improve customer experiences with gift and loyalty features, and you can manage employees with schedule creation capabilities. Lavu provides real-time sales and labor reports, inventory updates, and other financial reports to keep you up to date on how your restaurant is performing.

Where Lavu shines is its integrations. It has nearly 15 of its own in-house integrations that you can add on to the POS offering, which makes it easy to customize your POS setup. Few competitors offer this many in-house integrations to support their POS systems. You can also choose to integrate with nearly 30 other third-party apps, with nearly 60 additional third-party integrations coming soon. Lavu also has the Lavu Pilot app, which lets you track your payments, labor, menu items, trends and reports with your iOS device. Every Lavu plan includes free software updates and free 24/7 customer support by phone, email, and chat. Lavu also has an online resource database.

Clover: Best POS Hardware

• Pricing starts at just $9.95 a month.
• Hardware is widely available.
• You must use First Data as your merchant acquirer with Clover.

Clover is an affordable POS system for restaurants, retail shops, service businesses and e-commerce. Clover is sold through third parties, including Costco, and has prices starting at $9.95 a month with a 30-day free trial and anytime cancellation. You can use its software with your own hardware, allowing you to find the best rates, or you can purchase or lease Clover hardware.

Clover's hardware is where it shines. It has multiple POS hardware solutions at varying price points. For example, you can get the Clover Station (POS terminal, cash drawer and receipt printer) for $1,399, or $466 per month for three months; the Clover Station Pro (POS terminal, cash drawer, high-speed receipt printer and customer-facing screen) for $1,649, or $549 per month for three months; the Clover Mini (a compact POS system) for $749, or $250 per month for three months; the Clover Flex (handheld device) for $499, or $166 per month for three months; or the Clover Go (card reader for iOS and Android devices) for $69.

Clover also has designated hardware for full-service restaurants, like the Clover Station for full-service restaurants for $1,349 (or $450 per month for three months) and the Clover Mini. These restaurant-specific POS systems come preloaded with Clover Dining. Table-service restaurants can access these options for $69.95 per month, plus 2.3% + $0.10 for in-person transactions and 3.5% + $0.10 for keyed-in transactions. You can accept all payment types with Clover.

Clover offers POS accessories like weight scales, barcode scanners, kitchen printers, printer paper, label printers, cash drawers, swivel stands, holsters, PIN shields, extenders, silicone sleeves, accessibility pads, travel kits and cable kits. Clover's software clearly displays which accessories are compatible, along with add-ons for each device type (the Clover Station, Mini, Flex, and Go). This simplifies the purchasing process. Some businesses can receive a $450 statement credit when they purchase a Clover Station, Mini or Flex.

When you purchase Clover software, you get access to several POS functions, like automatically syncing your inventory (e.g., products, stock levels, orders), taking orders for pickup and delivery, gathering customer contact info and marketing preferences, enabling donations, and building customer email lists and customer profiles. If you use a Clover device, you have access to more tools and functions, such as customer rewards and promos. You can manage employees, track sales patterns and trends, and integrate with platforms like BigCommerce, Ecwid, QuickBooks, and Gusto. Clover is secure with end-to-end encryption, integrated EMV chip sensors and fingerprint logins. The company offers a variety of customer support options and online resources.

Read the full review

Revel Systems: Best for Customer Loyalty Programs

• You can tailor custom loyalty programs for your business with Revel.
• Revel is compatible with some third-party hardware and payment processors.
• Revel requires a minimum purchase of two terminals.

Revel Systems provides cloud-based POS systems to quick-service businesses, restaurants, retail shops, pizza joints, and coffee shops. It is easy to use and has a lot of custom options.

Revel software pricing starts at $99 per month per terminal, billed annually with a three-year Revel Advantage contract. You must purchase at least two terminals to use Revel. Implementation onboarding starts at $674.

Revel offers sleek POS hardware like iPads, iPad stands, self-service kiosks, payment devices, printers, barcode scanners, networking devices, cash drawers and tills. It is possible to connect Revel software with some third-party hardware; however, it recommends sourcing your hardware directly from Revel for the best experience. All hardware packages come preconfigured and ready to go. Additional services and products are also available, like account management, delivery management, kiosks and mobile order-takers, online ordering, multi-location management, and integrated partners. Revel is compatible with some third-party payment processors, or you can use Revel Advantage, its in-house payment processor. Payment processing is a flat fee, and it is EMV and Apple Pay ready, all card types included.

The Revel software has several POS capabilities, including inventory management. You can manage, track, and count products across all stores and sales channels, which is especially great if you have multiple store locations. You can also streamline administrative processes by managing labor operations from a single console.

Where Revel shines is its customer loyalty program capabilities. You can capture customer info from your POS, create custom loyalty programs, and designate how customers earn loyalty points (e.g., with each transaction, based on purchase amount, and/or for specific products). You can view your loyalty program data to gain customer insights as well. Revel Systems has developed an in-house loyalty reward card program for you to customize and build your own gift card program (with setup videos online), or you can integrate with Punchh, Como Sense, LoyaltyPlant, Spendgo, Pepper, LevelUp, or Repeat Returns. This gives you a variety of loyalty program options.

You can access real-time reports and online payment statements from anywhere. In addition to its loyalty program integrations, Revel integrates with multiple companies for analytics, payment processing, online and mobile ordering, accounting, delivery management, e-commerce, restaurant management, gift cards, employee management and payroll, CRM, and security services. Revel has an in-house support team and an onboarding package to help you get started.

Heartland POS: Best for Customer Support

• Heartland is compatible with third-party hardware and payment processors.
• Heartland responds to customers almost instantly.
• Heartland does not list its pricing online.

Heartland Payment Systems offers payment solutions, payroll, capital lending, customer engagement, and POS systems with industry-specific solutions. It caters to retailers, restaurants, bars, grocery stores, quick-service and convenience stores, entertainment businesses, home services, hospitality, internet services, laundromats, liquor stores, municipalities, nonprofits, parking businesses, pharmacies, and service professionals.

Heartland's POS system is cloud-based software, but it can work offline too. Its payment processing system is unlocked, so you can switch to another processor at any time, for any reason. You can accept payments by mobile phone, tablet, laptop, terminal, or POS, which gives you a variety of possible business setups (e.g., countertop, table, kiosk, food truck, website, or at a customer's home). You can accept all payment types and even store cards on file. Heartland is an Apple-based product, but if you want to use your own compatible processing system or hardware, you can easily work with a Heartland rep to implement it on a different platform. Heartland offers a seven-day free trial, so you can try out the product with no commitment.

With Heartland, you can take online orders, monitor inventory levels in real time, receive automatic alerts, review insights on your top-selling items and margins, offer two-tap ordering, and access multi-location capabilities. With the guest engagement app, you can access rewards, skip-the-line ordering, easy-to-use gift and loyalty features, coupons, and discounts. You can keep track of customer details (e.g., payments, orders, and invoices) and manage employees with timeclock features. Reporting capabilities are available, and Heartland integrates with third-party applications. Its integrations include 48 delivery services (such as Uber Eats, Grubhub, DoorDash and Postmates), or you can run your own deliveries with the built-in features.

Although Heartland is a full-service payment solution, its customer support is where it shines. Heartland support is available by ticket, live chat or phone. It prides itself on responding to customers almost instantly, and it lists a variety of phone numbers for you to choose from based on what you are calling about. Heartland also offers fraud protection, so you'll know you're in good hands.

CardConnect: Best for Merchant Services

• CardConnect is a highly secure credit card payment integration.
• CardConnect offers several solutions, including CardPointe, Clover, Gateway and Plugins, Bolt, CoPilot, and Contactless Payments.
• CardConnect does not share its pricing online.

CardConnect is different from our other best picks, as it is not necessarily a POS system. Instead, it is a merchant services provider that offers various solutions for businesses of any size. Its primary solutions include CardPointe (for businesses), Clover (for small shops), Gateway and Plugins (for e-commerce), Bolt (for software), CoPilot (for partners), and Contactless Payments (for software). It is a leading credit card payment processor for ISV partners, merchant accounts, agents, ISOs and VARs. Since CardConnect offers a variety of solutions, it can support you as your business grows. Its mission is to grow commerce with simple, secure, and integrated payments, so it's a secure payment processing solution with PCI-validated defenses.

If you are looking for a POS system with CardConnect, you may want to consider CardPointe or Clover. Each system offers something unique. CardPointe is a browser-based POS system for desktops, laptops and mobile devices. It offers transaction management, countertop and virtual terminals, free mobile apps and compatible devices, hosted payment pages (customizable, secure solutions for online stores), and integrations and add-ons (such as online shopping carts and accounting software). It can easily integrate with Bolt devices to process virtual transactions protected by EMV or chip card technology.

If you have a smaller business or want to use Clover's exceptional POS hardware, you can sign up with Clover through CardConnect. Clover software is only $9.95 per month, making it a perfect choice for small businesses. It offers a variety of in-house hardware for restaurants, retail stores, service businesses and e-commerce. It also has POS features for inventory management, customer and employee management, and reporting and analytics.

Regardless of which CardConnect solution you use, you can rest assured that your payments will be processed securely. CardConnect also offers 24/7 team support and a plethora of online resources. CardConnect is accredited with the Better Business Bureau and has a B+ rating with the agency.

Thanks to advances in technology and a decline in POS prices over the years, there is a POS system for every size of business. The hardware no longer costs several thousand dollars, and the service contracts aren't hundreds of dollars a month. Today, there are price points to fit a one-shop merchant as well as a retailer with several locations.

POS system costs still vary widely, though, depending on the hardware and software features you need. There are three components to consider when determining the price of a system – hardware, software, and payment processing. Plan on comparison shopping for each one.

POS Hardware Costs

Depending on the business, a POS terminal can include a cash drawer, a credit card swipe bar, barcode scanners, a receipt printer, a card reader and signature-capture devices. The best POS providers are compatible with third-party hardware so you can shop around for deals (and may be able to continue using it if you switch software providers later). They're also scalable, so you can start with just the basics, then add peripherals as your business grows and your budget allows.

For very small businesses that only accept credit cards and can email receipts to customers, a phone or tablet and a card reader will suffice. If you already have mobile devices and only need to buy a credit card reader (EMV compliant and NFC enabled), this setup usually costs between $20 and $100.

Most small businesses will want a few more peripherals, such as a tablet stand, credit card reader, cash drawer and receipt printer. For this type of setup (using your own tablet), you'll typically pay $600 to $1,000. Additional peripherals like barcode scanners, kitchen printers and display screens cost extra.

POS Software Costs

POS software costs depend on the services you need. You could pay anywhere from $25 to $250 a month. The most common payment model in the POS software market is monthly subscriptions.

Most of the cloud-based POS vendors offer pricing tiers with different features. Some tiers cap the number of users or the monthly sales volume you process. There are also POS vendors that offer free POS software, but there's a catch: You must process your payments through the POS provider.

If you want a basic, free POS system, the best options are from mobile credit card processors like Square, PayPal and SumUp. They include POS features as part of their mobile processing apps. You must use these companies for your payment processing in order to use their POS apps, but you aren't locked into a long-term contract. Processing fees are charged on a pay-as-you-go basis, which is ideal for very small businesses.

If you need more out of your POS system, such as inventory management or e-commerce tools, expect to pay anywhere from $40 to $100 a month for one register. The more bells and whistles you want, the higher the monthly cost. Be mindful of the features in each tier when shopping for a POS system: One company might include all the features you need in the basic package, whereas you have to pay for a higher tier to access some of those features with another vendor. For example, inventory management with tracking capabilities may be standard in all packages with one vendor and an add-on with another.

Payment Processing

The final piece of the POS pricing puzzle is payment processing. This is the cost to accept and process customers' payments through your point-of-sale device. The best POS systems give you a choice of payment processors so you can shop around for low rates and fees, and if you decide to use a different processor, you won't have to switch out the entire POS system.

POS providers are increasingly offering in-house processing, which can be convenient but more costly. Some give you a choice to use their in-house processing service or not, while others charge an extra fee (either monthly or per transaction) for using a third-party processor. Others require you to use their in-house credit card processing service exclusively.

ach POS system offers a different mix of features based on the service plan you choose. Many systems are customizable, allowing you to add hardware and software programs for an extra cost. As you evaluate systems, decide which features you need so you can calculate the total cost, including add-ons.

The POS market is a crowded one, with vendors trying to differentiate their features and services. Some POS vendors sell software only, while others sell both software and hardware. Then there's payment processing: With some POS vendors, that service is part of a bundled package, while others don't offer it at all. Because of all this, making an apples-to-apples comparison when shopping for a POS can be challenging. Make sure to include the costs for all three components (software, hardware and payment processing) in your calculations when you're evaluating your options.

Additionally, each POS system offers a different mix of features based on the service plan you choose. Many systems are customizable, allowing you to add hardware and software programs for an extra cost. As you evaluate systems, decide which features you need so you can calculate the total cost, including add-ons.

POS systems are rich in features, able to do everything from ringing up sales to automatically reordering inventory. But the small business owners we spoke with point to mobility, ease of use and customer experience as the attributes that matter most.

Take Scaffidi Restaurant Group in Steubenville, Ohio, for example. It recently switched to the Square POS platform from the Windows-based EmaginePOS. One reason it made the switch was Square's ability to take orders and process payments in a mobile fashion, such as tableside and carside.

"In this day and age, when either restaurants are forced to do only carryout/delivery or, when not forced, customers are gravitating towards that service, it is important to have a system that makes the process more streamlined, with less steps, and able to handle the volume that we need it to," said Frankie DiCarlantonio, director of the Scaffidi Restaurant Group.

With the company relying on delivery services like DoorDash, DiCarlantonio said it needed a POS that could automate the process of taking orders from these delivery services. "It cuts down on the processing time of taking the order they provide to us and entering it into our order processing systems manually," he said, noting it also reduces errors.

For Ravi Parikh, CEO of campground management software company RoverPass, a detailed customer-facing display is an important feature in a POS system because it ensures speedy checkout.

"So many POS systems just give an itemized list with the names on SKUs and little more," he said. "It's hard to read, scrolls by too fast, and leads to more confusion than anything else. Customers either ignore everything but the total, or they hold up the cashier to ask questions."

Parikh said a good POS system should at least list the item's full name, displayed in a clear font and at a readable speed. "If it's on sale, the display should show that to save time," he added.

Stephen Light, co-owner of Nolah Mattress, puts ease of use and security at the top of the list for anybody shopping for a POS system. According to Light, business owners should look for POS systems with easy-to-use interfaces that don't have a slew of bells and whistles.

"When businesses use a complex POS system with many unnecessary characteristics, it makes transactions longer and more prone to errors," he said.

Light also said to be mindful of the protections the vendor has in place to secure data. You want to choose a POS system that can tell the difference between authorized personnel and hackers.

"When a POS system has a reliable security certificate, it can limit sensitive data access to a selected few, giving business owners peace of mind," Light said.

The POS market has made great strides in features and technology over the years. That's not going to change in 2021 as e-commerce capabilities take center stage. If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught business owners anything, it is the need for adaptability. When shutdowns forced retailers to close their doors, another channel quickly rose to the forefront: e-commerce. Recognizing this, POS vendors stepped up to offer more e-commerce features in their services. More of that is expected in 2021 as e-commerce remains vital during the pandemic and beyond.

Lightspeed's recent acquisition of New York-based ShopKeep is indicative of that trend. When announcing the deal, Montreal-based Lightspeed said the acquisition was driven by demand from independent businesses to replace legacy POS systems with modern ones that can support e-commerce. Meanwhile, global POS provider Epos Now recently inked a deal with BigCommerce, an e-commerce platform provider. When announcing the partnership, Epos Now said thousands of brick-and-mortar stores will be able to operate online through the alliance.

"Consumer habits are shifting on an unprecedented scale," said Epos Now's chief growth officer, Barbara Staruk, in a press release announcing the deal. "Our customers must move to capitalize on the growing demand for online retail."

In addition to the increasing demand for e-commerce services, selling on social media is a growing trend that POS providers are supporting in 2021. Many POS systems have built-in capabilities for merchants to easily upload products on social and SEO tools to boost sales online. More tools and features for e-commerce and social media selling are expected to appear this year.

Self-service, mobile POS software takes center stage in 2021

Before the pandemic, unattended POS systems were still in the taking-off stage. Self-serve kiosks were available already, of course, but now they are a mainstay. With social distancing being the norm now, businesses are increasingly rolling out self-serve stations, enabling customers to place orders and make payments without interacting with a human being. Many POS software vendors are wise to this trend, developing features that will turn tablets and mobile devices into self-serve ordering kiosks. Meanwhile, restaurants are using QR codes at the table to provide menus to customers and allow them to pay for meals without contact. With self-service kiosks comes the ability for merchants to accept a variety of payment methods. That ability is expected to become more common in 2021, as these methods provide safe and quick ways to make purchases.

Mobile POS systems are also expected to continue to grow in popularity in 2021. These systems enable merchants and restaurants to bring digital menus and cash registers to where the customers are. That means shorter lines and quicker table turnover. Merchants and restaurant owners can expect more services around loyalty programs and customer retention this year as well. With competition fierce and businesses suffering because of the pandemic, anything that can boost customer loyalty will be welcome in 2021.