Best POS Systems
The best point-of-sale systems, ranked for retail, restaurants, and omnichannel businesses.
We ranked 5 picks for POS Systems. Square takes the #1 spot at 4.5/5 (free to start). Paid entry pricing is $89/mo. 4 offer a free tier. 5 have a public API.
Our picks at a glance
Square
Genuine free tier — test it before committing budget.
Square
4.5/5 across 12,600 reviews.
Lightspeed offers cloud POS for retail and hospitality with strong inventory management, analytics, and ecommerce — a good fit for growing multi-location businesses.
Shopify POS extends a Shopify store to in-person selling, unifying online and retail inventory, customers, and reporting. The natural POS choice for existing Shopify merchants.
The full ranking
| # | Tool | Starts at | Rating | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Square Unified online + in-person payments | Free | 4.5/5 | Retail, food & omnichannel SMBs |
| 2 | Toast POS built for restaurants | Free | 4.4/5 | Restaurants & food service |
| 3 | Lightspeed POS for retail & restaurants | $89/mo | 4.2/5 | Retail & multi-location |
| 4 | Shopify POS In-person selling for Shopify stores | Free | 4.4/5 | Shopify merchants going omnichannel |
| 5 | Clover Flexible POS with an app marketplace | Free | 4.1/5 | Retail, restaurants & services |
Side-by-side comparison
| Comparison | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.2 | 4.4 |
| Starting price | Free | Free | $89/mo | Free |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | Paid | Freemium |
| API available | ||||
| Best for | Retail, food & omnichannel SMBs | Restaurants & food service | Retail & multi-location | Shopify merchants going omnichannel |
| In-person & online payments | ||||
| Free POS software | ||||
| Flat-rate fees | ||||
| Invoicing | ||||
| Hardware ecosystem | ||||
| Restaurant POS | ||||
| Kitchen display system | ||||
| Online ordering | ||||
| Payroll & team | ||||
| Loyalty & gift cards | ||||
| Cloud POS | ||||
| Advanced inventory | ||||
| Ecommerce | ||||
| Analytics | ||||
| Multi-location | ||||
| Unified online + in-store | ||||
| Shared inventory & customers | ||||
| Shopify Payments | ||||
| Staff roles | ||||
| Retail hardware | ||||
| Visit | Visit | Visit | Visit |
What to look for in POS systems
- Check whether pricing is per seat — it multiplies with team size.
- Headline prices usually assume annual billing; monthly costs more.
- Confirm the integrations you already depend on are supported.
- Start on a free tier or trial before committing to a year.
How we rank: we weigh user ratings, feature depth, pricing value, and fit for this specific use case — not rating alone. Rankings are updated as products and prices change, and affiliate relationships never affect the order.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best POS systems?+
Square is our #1 pick, rated 4.5/5 and free to start. Great for in-person The full ranked list with pricing and trade-offs is above.
Is there a free POS systems option?+
Yes — Square, Toast, Shopify POS, Clover offer a free tier, so you can start without paying.
What is the cheapest POS systems?+
Paid pricing here starts at $89/mo (Lightspeed).
How did you rank these tools?+
Rankings weigh user ratings, feature depth, pricing value, and fit for this specific use case — not rating alone. We update them as products and prices change.