5 Best Retail POS Systems for 2026: Features and Pricing Compared

1.Square POS: Best for small-to-medium-sized retailers

• Starting price: $0 per month
• Free plan: Yes
• Transaction fees: From 2.4% + 15¢ per transaction

Square is the best POS for small-to-medium-sized retailers, as its pay-as-you-go model ($0/month) provides crucial cash flow protection during seasonal pauses or slow trading periods.

Businesses can also launch Square using their own iPads or smartphones through inexpensive chip readers, avoiding thousands of dollars in upfront hardware commitments. And as transaction volumes and customer demand increase, merchants can easily scale their operations by upgrading to hardware solutions like Square Terminal or Square Register without having to migrate or restructure their existing backend data.

For those selling online, Square automatically builds a free web store directly from the business’s POS product catalog. Stock levels adjust at the same time across physical registers, social media shopping links, and online checkout pages – preventing overselling without needing complex API integrations.

Check out our Square POS review to learn more.

How much does Square cost?

Square offers a Free plan that allows users to get their retail selling started without any upfront costs. You will only have to pay transaction fees, which are 2.6% + 15¢ for in-person purchases and 3.3% + 30¢ for online sales.

Square POS also offers the Plus plan, which costs $49 per month per location, but you will get lower transaction fees of only 2.5% + 15¢ for in-person purchases and 2.9% + 30¢ for online transactions. This plan also adds more advanced features like cross-location stock transfers, COGS and profitability reports, and vendor tracking.

Additionally, the Premium plan costs $149 per month per location, which comes with lower transaction fees (2.4% + 15¢ in-person and 2.9% + 30¢ online), plus 24/7 priority phone support, dedicated account management, payroll integration, and more.

Square’s proprietary hardware is also affordable, and you can buy outright with no mandatory monthly hardware leasing fees. However, financing options are also available across most devices:

• Square Reader ($59): Compact mobile reader that connects via Bluetooth to smartphones/tablets with the standard magnetic stripe included.
• Square Stand ($149): Turns an existing iPad into a countertop register with an integrated customer-facing tap/chip reader.
• Square Kiosk ($149): Self-service order/checkout mount for customer-facing operations.
• Square Terminal ($299): All-in-one portable card reader with a built-in receipt printer and touchscreen interface.
• Square Handheld ($399): Pocket-sized mobile terminal built for tableside and fast-tracking checkout.
• Square Register ($799-$899): Fully integrated, dual-screen countertop terminal with a customer-facing payment display (no tablet required).

Square also offers complete hardware bundles, including its Stand Kit from $689 with the Square Stand, receipt printer, and cash drawer. Its Square Register Kit (from $1,189) includes the dual-screen Square Register, USB receipt printer, and heavy-duty cash drawer.

Check out our Square POS pricing guide to learn more.

Why you should choose Square POS

If the free plan and ease of use aren’t enough to attract you to Square POS, there are plenty of other reasons to choose the popular system. The hardware rivals Clover in quality, with barcode scanners and terminals that offer advanced features such as customer displays and compatibility with Android and iOS apps.

Square POS is also an excellent system if you’re trying to combine your in-person selling with your online store. The POS integrates with virtually every website builder under the sun, and even offers its own website building functionality to get an online store up and running.

How Square POS could improve

Like Clover, there isn’t a whole lot that’s bad about Square POS, but again, no system is perfect, and there are some pitfalls to watch out for. The big one is the processing fees, especially for the free plan. With fees going up to 3.5% + 15¢, you’re going to be paying quite a bit per sale, so it might be better to go for a paid plan if you’re a store that sees a high volume of purchases.

Another reason why larger businesses might not view Square POS as the best choice is that it’s lacking some of the more advanced features for long-term success. Square POS offers limited cost and profit management tools, so you won’t be able to analyze your success as effectively as you can with other POS systems.

2. Shopify POS: Best for omnichannel retailers

• Starting price: $0 per month (with an existing Shopify base plan)
• Free plan: Yes
• Transaction fees: From 2.4% + 10¢ per transaction

Shopify POS is the top choice for omnichannel retailers and ecommerce brands expanding into physical stores because it provides a seamless connection between online and offline sales channels through a unified commerce platform.

If you already have an online store with the Shopify website builder, its POS connects directly with its backend, giving retailers a centralized view of sales, customers, and inventory across physical stores, online shops, and social channels. By keeping all sales channels connected through one live system, businesses can reduce stock mismatches, avoid manual inventory updates, and minimize the risk of overselling.

It also offers services such as buy-online-pick-up-in-store (BOPIS), local delivery management, cross-channel loyalty programs, and digital or printed receipt options across all sales channels.

Check out our Shopify POS review to learn more.

How much does Shopify POS cost?

Shopify POS starts at $0 for its POS Lite plan, but only if you have an existing Shopify plan, which starts at $39/month for its Basic plan.

Shopify POS Lite comes with in-person card checkout, mobile registers, product sync, and basic customer profiles. A step up from this is Shopify Pro, which costs $89/month/location and includes advanced multi-location stock movements, unlimited staff roles/permissions, exchanges, end-of-day register summaries, and granular inventory reporting.

In-person transaction fees vary depending on which base plan you have: 2.6% + 10¢ for Basic, 2.5% + 10¢ for Grow, and 2.4% + 10¢ for Advanced.

Meanwhile, its hardware options are as follows:

• Tap & Chip Card Reader ($49): Compact mobile reader for iOS/Android.
• Bouncepad Eddy Tablet Stand ($149): A countertop die-cast aluminium mount made for 7- to-10-inch iPads featuring an adjustable tilt and a customer-facing checkout.
• Shopify POS Terminal ($399): All-in-one handheld scanner and card reader.
• Shopify POS Terminal Kit ($349-$459): Complete countertop terminal setup.

Check out our Shopify POS guide to learn more.

Why you should choose Shopify

Not only was Shopify one of the easier POS systems to use across our research, but it also offered some of the best help and support options. You can reach representatives via phone, email, or live chat, and the provider’s knowledge center made it easy to solve problems on your own with a huge library of information.

Additionally, if you’re a smaller business, we loved that Shopify offered a paid pricing option for only $5 per month, making it the most affordable starting price on the list. Granted, you only get one user with this plan, and other features are pretty limited, like no omnichannel selling or retail reporting tools, but still, at that price, you could do a lot worse.

How Shopify POS could improve

With Shopify, basic administrative tasks (such as customizing digital receipts or adjusting register-level permissions) can take longer to find because the settings are buried across multiple menus.

Similarly, managing things across the online store and physical locations isn’t always seamless either, as simple tasks like creating store-specific discounts or staff accounts can involve jumping through disconnected menus.

Finally, the platform’s overall back-office experience is heavily designed around ecommerce operations, which can make it feel crowded, complicated, and less suited to businesses that mainly operate physical stores.

3. Clover POS: Best for high-foot-traffic retail storefronts

• Starting price: $16 per month (for 36 months)
• Free plan: No
• Transaction fees: From 2.3% + 10¢ per transaction

Clover is best suited to retail businesses with high foot traffic thanks to its streamlined checkout experience, intuitive interface, and hardware features designed to help staff process transactions quickly.

Clover’s interface offers a simple button layout, giving cashiers an easy item selection process without needing to navigate through multiple screens – helping to serve customers faster during busy periods. Systems like the Clover Duo also feature a customer-facing screen, so shoppers can review their items, select receipt preferences, and pay at the same time.

On top of that, cashiers can instantly switch user profiles or log into register stations through an integrated biometric fingerprint scanner on the side of the display without having to manually type security PINs between transactions.

Check out our Clover review to learn more.

How much does Clover cost?

For retail businesses, Clover offers three combined hardware and software packages under a 36-month contract:

• Basic ($16/month): Includes compact terminal system with 3.6″ screen, real-time sales tracking, payment processing, customer database, and individual logins/permissions.
• Standard ($180/month): Includes the Station Duo, a cash drawer, itemized order creation, item/order-level discounts, itemized returns/exchanges, scale integration for orders by weight, item and category management, and online sales.
• Advanced ($240/month): Includes everything from Standard, plus the Flex handheld POS with an 8-hour battery life and built-in receipt printer.

Tap, swipe, and insert processing fees vary depending on which package you choose: 2.6% + 10¢ under Basic and 2.3% + 10¢ for Standard and Advanced. Fees for manually keyed-in sales are 3.5% + 10¢ across all plans.

For Clover’s proprietary hardware, you can expect to pay:

• Clover Go ($199): Mobile Bluetooth reader
• Clover Flex ($749): Handheld terminal with built-in printer
• Clover Mini ($849-$949): Compact 7″ touchscreen terminal
• Clover Station Solo ($1,799): 14″ single countertop display
• Clover Station Duo ($1,899-$2,099): 14″ merchant screen and integrated customer display

Check out our Clover POS pricing guide to learn more

Why you should choose Clover

Beyond the top-tier growth features available, Clover shines in a lot of other areas too. The hardware was a serious bright spot for Clover, with a range of high-quality devices — from handheld card readers to full-on desktop terminals — that feature advanced tools like contactless payment and tactile feedback. They’re a bit expensive, but there are financing options, so small businesses can use them too.

Another boon for retail shops that choose Clover is the low processing fees. In fact, Clover had some of the lowest in our research at only 2.3% + 10¢ at their lowest.

How Clover could improve

Honestly, Clover doesn’t have a lot of downsides in our research, which is why it did so well in our testing. However, there are some small dings against Clover that are notable. For one, the customer support is very much lacking. There is no training mode available for its hardware options, and its chat response time is one of the worst across our research.

This could be part of the reason why it’s so poorly reviewed by customers as well. We found it had one of the lower customer scores in our research, largely because it didn’t have a single aggregate score over 4 stars. On paper, Clover should be your best option, but some users simply do not agree.

4. Epos Now: Best for established speciality retailers

• Starting price: $39 per month
• Free plan: No
• Transaction fees: 2.6% + 10¢ per transaction

Epos Now is the best choice for speciality retail businesses due to its flexible hardware support, advanced inventory management tools, and highly customizable back-office features.

The system’s advanced back-office customization allows managers to build custom reporting dashboards, set up multi-tier stock alerts, and track profit margins across individual product variants and suppliers. Meanwhile, its extensive App Store directly connects to a wide range of third-party tools, including accounting, CRM, loyalty, and inventory management systems.

Epos Now also works across multiple operating systems, giving merchants the flexibility to use the software on dedicated software terminals, iPads, Android tablets, or standard PC and Mac setups – making it easier for businesses to integrate the system into their existing store environments without needing to replace their existing hardware.

Check out our Epos Now review to learn more.

How much does Epos Now cost?

Epos Now costs $39 per month for its software and requires a 12-month commitment. With this, you can run the Epos Now POS app on existing iPads, Android tablets, or Windows/Mac PCs.

Transaction fees are 2.6% + 10¢ for both in-person and online/payment link transactions. It’s also important to note that if you connect to an external card processor or payment gateway instead of Epos Now Payments, you will be charged a fee of around $110-$115 per month, per terminal.

Epos Now hardware can be purchased outright or through discounted onboarding packages. For example, the Complete POS System Bundle is discounted to $349 (originally $1,099). This includes the full POS software, countertop POS terminal (with 15.6-inch full touchscreen and built-in printer), air card machine with Epos Now Payments, secure cash drawer, and one-to-one onboarding and product training.

Why you should choose Epos Now

From advanced inventory management tools like low stock alerts and bulk uploads to multi-location stock syncing abilities, Epos Now should be able to easily meet the needs of retail businesses that handle large or complex inventories. The POS even offers a cost-profit calculator to help stores price items competitively – a benefit that leading systems like Square currently lack.

Epos Now Loyalty lets you create a point-based loyalty scheme that aligns with your business model, and analyze shopper behavior through a Loyalty dashboard. Businesses using the system can also request their own customizable loyalty card that can be scanned via Epos’s swipe and card reader. It is a paid add-on, though, so keep that in mind.

How Epos Now could improve

Generally, Epos Now is an easy enough POS system to use: Our testers found it fairly intuitive and pretty easy to navigate.

However, the interface is noticeably outdated compared to alternatives like Square and Shopify. One of our testers complained about some features being hidden away, suggesting that Epos Now might take a little bit of time to get to grips with.

Plus, Epos Loyalty lacks specialty features, loyalty programs cost extra, and there is no built-in functionality for gift cards or email marketing, so you’ll have to integrate with a third party app to get what you want.

5. SumUp: Best for pop-up stores and mobile merchants

• Starting price: $0 per month
• Free plan: Yes
• Transaction fees: 2.6% + 10¢ per transaction

SumUp is the top choice for pop-up stores and mobile merchants, offering affordable payment processing, portable hardware and a simple checkout experience designed for businesses that need to take payments wherever they operate.

Like Square, SumUp also offers a pay-as-you-go model with no monthly subscription costs, so you’ll only incur operational costs when processing active sales. Its ultra-portable hardware – such as the SumUp Solo – also operates on a built-in 4G SIM card with free unlimited data (along with WiFi connectivity), which is useful for acceptin payments without being tied to a fixed location or WiFi connection.

Its frontend also has a clean interface that requires virtually zero staff training. This includes its “Park Order” feature, which allows cashiers to hold unfinished transactions and quickly return to them later, helping reduce delays during busy periods.

Check out our SumUp review to learn more.

How much does SumUp cost?

SumUp’s standard pay-as-you-go plan costs $0 per month, which includes full access to the native POS app, Park Order functionality, manual discount processing, basic customer/staff profiles, payment links, and basic online storefront creation.

You can also upgrade to the POS with Connect Plus plan for $199 per month, which comes with customer rewards and automated marketing, monthly SMS and email promotions, and dedicated installation and training. If you want unlimited marketing promotions, the POS with Connect Pro plan costs $289 per month.

In-person transaction fees with SumUp are 2.6% + 10¢, while online and manually entered payments are 3.5% + 15¢.

You can also buy SumUp hardware with zero recurring leasing fees:

• SumUp Plus ($43): Connects to smartphone and tablet devices to accept swipe, chip, and tap payments.
• SumUp Solo ($79): Standalone touchscreen reader with built-in SIM.
• Terminal ($199): A handheld card reader with a large HD touchscreen and built-in receipt printer.
• SumUp Solo and Printer Bundle ($135): Standalone reader and thermal receipt printer dock.
• POS Lite and Solo Bundle ($399): Countertop stand and Solo Reader.

Why you should choose SumUp

SumUp is a rock-solid choice with sleek, professional hardware options, built-in digital gift card functionality, and surprisingly advanced tools like inventory management and stock alert creation.

In true, though, you should choose SumUp because of the price. In addition to the free plan, SumUp offers some competitively priced paid plans that provide a lot of built-in functionality that is typically reserved for paid add-ons with other providers.

How SumUp could improve

There are a few small dings against SumUp that may be a dealbreaker for some businesses. For starters, the platform offers virtually no interface customization options, so you can’t turn on dark mode or change the size of the text for users.

SumUp also offers no customer display options for users, so if you’re looking for a terminal that can put some of the power in your hands of your customers, you’ll have to look elsewhere.

How to choose the right retail POS system for your store

If you’re just getting started with your search for a good POS system, you might not know what to consider when it comes to choosing the right provider. Here are some factors to consider when choosing the right retail POS system for your business.

Price

If your budget is tight, starting with a free plan that only charges transaction fees might be your best bet. On the other hand, paid plans can get you more affordable transaction fees, as well as more features for reporting retail sales and managing sales and discounts.

Business size

You’ll need to consider the size of your business carefully when choosing a new POS system. Some are more natural fits with startups and SMBs, while others are designed to be scalable and better suit larger organizations. For instance, our top pick Square is perfect for smaller sellers starting, but Shopify’s strong ecommerce integration may make it more suitable for bigger businesses.

Software features

The best POS systems for small businesses will log the number and value of the sales you’ve made, track your inventory, and let you know when to restock. It’ll also help you analyze sales and refunds so you can maximize profits.

• Quick keys: A till shortcut that lets you log popular products quickly without having to search through the full catalog.
• Low stock notifications: These send you pop-up notifications to let you know when an item is running out, prompting you to order more.
• Barcode inventories: These let you track products using scannable codes, offering real-time visibility into the location of each item.
• Multi-store stock transfers: For stores with more than one branch, this feature helps you relocate stock between locations easily.
• Ecommerce integrations: If stores also have a virtual shopfront, ecommerce integrations let you manage sales across multiple channels from one platform.

Learn more about important store-front capabilities in our POS features guide.

Hardware components

Unless you plan to rely on a simple iPad setup, your business will also need to invest in physical hardware:

• Barcode scanners: A handheld device that lets you ring up purchases quickly, without having to enter items into your system manually.
• Weighing scales: If your store calculates the price for certain items based on weight, you may need to integrate weighing scales into your POS.
• Receipt printers: Print receipts for customers and vendors, providing a record of the transaction and facilitating the return process.
• Mobile card readers: Accept payments via tap and chip and PIN – best suited to small retail stores, market stalls, or pop-up vendors.
• Countertop card terminals: Capable of accepting just about every method of digital payment – including swipe – and are best suited to permanent brick-and-mortar locations.