The 5 Best iPad POS Apps for Businesses in Summer 2024

Clover is the best iPad POS app we’ve tested, thanks to its point of sale app, Clover Go, that makes it easy for users to take payments on the go. Clover also offers just about every POS feature in the book, including advanced stock controls and profit tracking, making it a solid option for established stores and restaurants.

If you manage a smaller location or sell on-the-go, Square is a great budget-friendly alternative, with a generous free package, slick hardware options to compliment your iPad, and a feature offering that gives Clover a run for its money.

iPad POS systems are a great way for small businesses to get started with POS software without needing to invest in costly hardware. They’re completely portable, and they offer just about any feature found in terminal POS systems, including inventory management and analytics. Read on to learn more about the best iPad POS systems and find a solution that’s right for your business.

In this guide:

• 5  Best POS Apps of 2024
• How to Choose an iPad POS App
• Verdict: Best iPad POS System
• Best iPad POS System FAQs

As inflation rates escalate and customers reel back spending, 2024 is proving to be a tough time for retailers. iPad POS apps can be a great way to bypass the costs of pricey software, without compromising on useful features. If that’s what your business needs, scroll down to discover our top picks, or compare the best apps on the market now with our dedicated iPad POS comparison tool.

The Best iPad POS Apps – Reviews

Most iPad POS apps claim to offer similar services. However, not all of them can live up to their own hype. We’ve done the research on the leading providers, and found the ones that are actually worth considering:

1. Clover POS – Best overall iPad POS
2. Square POS – Best free iPad POS
3. Lightspeed POS – Best iPad POS for large retail stores
4. Epos Now POS – Best iPad POS for a quick setup
5. Shopify POS – Best for stores with an online presence

1. Clover POS

• Best overall iPad POS
• Price from: $49

Clover offers the best all-around POS app for iPad – Clover Go. It isn’t quite the full Clover experience – you’ll have to choose a full Clover plan for that. However, the Clover Go app integrates brilliantly with the Clover Go card reader, which costs $69 and lets you accept contactless, chip, mobile, and swipe payments.

The iPad-optimized app also seamlessly syncs up to the rest of the Clover dashboard, and gives you a full overview of past and present sales data. Put simply, it offers more than enough capabilities for single-location and pop-up sellers, and it also boasts one of the best user experiences on record – making it a safe bet for those using a POS for the first time.

The Clover Go app is optimized for Apple iPad screens, making it a competitive option for iOS users. Source: Clover

What you need to know about Clover’s iPad POS app

Clover’s iPad POS app is one of the most well-regarded on the App Store, scoring a near-perfect 4.9/5 from more than 48,000 reviews – climbing from a 4.8/5 since our last update.

The Clover Go app will let you accept payments on the go, as long as you have wireless or cellular coverage. The app also offers clear and intuitive reporting on sales activity, along with – surprisingly – insights about other local businesses within your industry.

The app has been optimized for Apple iPad screens too, which means that device owners can expect improved functionality, reality, and ease of use. With Clover’s software being notoriously intuitive and easy to navigate, its commitment to optimizing its iPad app ensures that this privilege isn’t just reserved for terminal users.

Resolving queries promptly is a top concern for smaller service businesses using iPads like food trucks and market stalls. Fortunately, Clover also offers 24/7 customer support with the Clover Go app.

Clover Go lets you log orders and take payments easily from an iPad. Source: Clover

Clover POS features

Clover offers the best CRM loyalty features of any other POS we’ve reviewed, boasting unique capabilities like customizable rewards and a customer-focused app. The system’s incentives encourage customers to repeat buy from businesses, refer customers, and use gift cards, and the program can be customized to meet a seller’s specific needs.

Clover’s iPad software also has basic inventory features which are perfect for smaller retailers and food businesses with basic inventory needs. If you require more advanced stock controls like item variants creation, and weighing scale support, you’ll need to upgrade to Clover’s Register plan.

Clover also has an extensive third-party app market that’s home to hundreds of integrations, allowing you to connect services such as Mailchimp and bLoyal to provide email marketing and customer loyalty programs, respectively.

I was really impressed with how many integrations Clover offered when I browsed it App Market. Source: Tech.co user testing

However, there is one important thing to note about Clover. In order to get started making online sales with Clover, you will need an existing website to connect to. That’s why we recommend Clover for businesses with an existing online presence, and Shopify for other businesses that need an online and offline POS system.

Clover POS pricing

Clover offers two pricing plans for iPads: Starter and Standard.

• Clover Payments – The Starter plan costs $49 up-front and includes the provider’s mobile card reader, Clover Go, and access to Clover’s Payments software plan. This tier gives businesses access to a range of basic POS capabilities including multiple payment options, invoicing tools, and online selling features.
• Clover Essentials – iPad and tablet users in need of more advanced POS features can also use Clover’s Standard plan, which costs $49 up-front plus an additional $14.95 per month. Clover Standard also includes the provider’s mobile card reader, Clover Go, but gives businesses access to the Essential software plan, instead. This POS software plan is more feature rich than Clover’s Payment plan and offers a variety of top-notch tools including tracking and reporting, stock management and employee management capabilities, and access to the provider’s excellent loyalty program.

On top of their base price, both Clover’s Starter and Standard plans charge 2.6% + 10¢ for card-present transactions and 3.5% + 10¢ for card-not-present transactions.

2. Square POS

• Best free iPad POS
• Price from: Free

Square POS is defined by a slick, streamlined interface that’s super easy to learn. The platform has an extremely low learning curve and a great range of hardware features – including an iPad stand and card reader.

Square may not offer every POS feature in the book like Square, it boasts more than enough capabilities for single-location sellers. And the best thing? Businesses can get started with Square for absolutely free, only paying a fraction of each sale. This offers a lifeline to smaller sellers with tighter budgets, and makes it the best value POS on this list.

Square’s iPad stand accepts payments and connects to a broad range of supported hardware and accessories. Source: SquareUp

Square’s upgraded iPad Stand – Square Stand 2nd generation – is super easy to set up too, helping users transform their iPad into a POS system in a matter of minutes.

Square’s POS app let me manage my floor plan, but it lacked the advanced customization tools offered by Clover. Source: Tech.co user testing

What you need to know about Square’s iPad POS app

If you’re after a user-friendly iPad app with a feature package that gives POS terminals a run for their money, Square is that. Square’s iPad app is exceptional, boasting an impressive score of 4.8/5 on the App Store, with more than 450,000 individual reviews.

Of course, you’d expect this from Square – its entire POS system is designed to function best on iPads. You can use the app to access the full Square dashboard, which lets you examine live sales data, access your analytics, and track your inventory.

You can record cash, gift cards, and other forms of payment, as well as send out receipts to customers via email or text message. Similarly, you can apply discounts and issue refunds.

You’ll also be able to use Square’s app to customize your POS with photos, names, and product variations. What’s more, you can connect receipt printers, kitchen ticket printers, barcode scanners, and cash drawers, making Square’s POS app a fit for any type of business.

Square’s iPad app lets you accept payments, manage payment and track performance all from one centralized platform. Source: SquareUp

Square POS features

Outside of all the iPad features we mentioned above, Square will also let you create and send your own custom invoices. Its CRM system also helps you take care of your customer relations, allowing you to gain feedback from customers and manage any queries they may have.

Finally, Square even offers its own in-house payment processing, which means that you won’t need to set your business up with two separate companies for managing sales and sending your money to the bank.

However, despite Square’s impressive feature set, the POS lacks a dedicated training mode, which could be a roadblock for businesses that onboard new staff regularly. Square also lacks some advanced inventory controls like cost-profit management and ingredient level tracking, making it less equipped than Clover at meeting the needs of larger businesses.

Square POS pricing

Simply put, Square’s value is unmatched. Square has no monthly fees. Instead, it charges 2.6% + 10c for card-present transactions and 3.5% + 15¢ for keyed-in transactions.

This means that your business won’t have to start paying for the service until you start making money, which can be a huge factor in getting small businesses off the ground – particularly with the current market uncertainties.

Square will also give you a free card reader to fit your iPad when you sign up. Plus, you can get a contactless reader for $59, and an iPad stand or mount for $149.

Due to this impressive return on investment, we believe Square is the best value POS system on the market today. See our full guide to Square POS pricing to learn more.

3. Lightspeed POS

• Best iPad app for large retail stores
• Price from: $69 per month

Lightspeed is a huge POS company that best serves high-volume retail businesses. Despite lackluster customer reviews, our research found that Lightspeed’s app offers powerful business management and inventory control features which is why we decided to rank it in third place.

Discover our other top options for stores in our guide to the best POS systems for retail businesses.

Lightspeed’s iPad stand has a modern feel, and uses Lightspeeds USB-C cable. Source: Lightspeed

What you need to know about Lightspeed’s iPad POS app

Lightspeed offers two main iPad apps – one for restaurant businesses, ‘Lightspeed Restaurant L-Series’, which has a user review rating of 3.2/5 on the App Store, and another for retail businesses, ‘Lightspeed R-Series’, which has a slightly poorer user review rating of 2.2/5.

While its app’s scores leave a lot to be designed, we still think the iPad app should be included in this list, as the provider is continually committed to resolving bugs and errors, we were impressed with how simple it was to use in our user testing.

Aside from being a great fit for larger retailers, Lightspeed’s omnichannel sales features – which let users sell across loads of different platforms using Lightspeed, including Amazon and Google Shopping – make the iPad app a good option for businesses with an online presence.

Lightspeed POS also has an extensive customer support program, with webinars, live chat, email, and 24/7 telephone support available. This makes it a reliable option for businesses that rely on help channels to resolve queries.

What’s more, while Lightspeed doesn’t offer as many add-ons as Square or Shopify, its iPad app can be extended with a wide range of third-party integrations. In fact, you can bring the expertise of 250 different companies into your one POS.

I found it easy to set up and fill out customer profiles to encourage repeat buying. Source: Tech.co user testing

Lightspeed POS features

Lightspeed’s Restaurant POS app will let you create a menu and floor plan, with discounts you can apply to customer groups for promotional events, or even for specific items. Changing and adapting tables is as easy as tapping and dragging.

You can easily send orders to separate kitchen or bar displays, bills can be split or combined, and guests can even manually add tips themselves using your iPad. It comes with an offline mode, which automatically backs up your data. Reporting and data analytics can show end-of-day reports, as well as keep track of staff performance.

Lightspeed’s Retail POS app, on the other hand, gives you all the tools you’ll need to run your store effectively, including on-the-spot returns, gift cards, and discounts. You can send email receipts, process special orders, and even provide patrons with a full customer-facing display, so they can see exactly what they’re being charged for.

You can move around your store to help reduce wait times, and sell bundled, serialized, or unique items. You can import up to 1,000 new products to your inventory with a single click. Performance data can be tracked, with reports on profits and fluctuation over time.

Lightspeed POS pricing

Lightspeed has five pricing plans: Basic, Starter, Standard, Advanced, and Pro. All of these plans will charge you 2.6% plus 10 cents for card-present transactions, and 2.6% plus 30 cents for card-not-present transactions.

• Basic– The Basic plan costs $89 per month. You get a free terminal, a range of standard POS features like payment options and stock management, and basic ecommerce integrations.
• Core – The Core plan costs $149 per month, and offers everything in the Basic plan with additional in-store loyalty, advanced sales, and mobile scanner capabilities.
• Plus – The Plus plan costs $239 per month. The Plus plan offers everything in Core with additional custom reporting, API access, custom user roles and more.

4. Epos Now

• Best iPad POS for a quick setup
• Price from: $39 per month

While its value may not top Square’s, Epos Now is a cheap and relatively simple POS system with a quick and easy setup process. The company claims that you can be up and running in just 15 minutes. The iPad app itself scores 2.4/5 in the App Store, but does only have 14 reviews at time of writing – and they’re fairly mixed.

Epos Now’s iPad app comes with a hardware kit to help users take payments straight away. Source: Epos Now

What you need to know about Epos Now’s iPad POS app

Epos Now’s POS Till app lets you turn any iPhone or iPad into a register and business management device for a retail store or restaurant.

If you, like 97% of businesses are looking to cut costs ahead of the potential recession, you can download the app for free, and sign up for a trial account to give the app a go before fully committing. After testing the app ourselves, we also found that it was easy to use. Its dedicated register mode is intuitive and will let you easily add or delete items from carts.

What’s more, if you’re running a restaurant, you’ll also find tools to manage bookings, tables, orders, and bar tabs, with an intuitive bird’s-eye view of your location.

Read our guide to the best restaurant POS systems to learn more about our top picks for hospitality businesses.

EposNow lets you list items easily, and edit the labels directly through the iPad app. Source: EposNow

Epos Now features

As with most other POS systems, Epos Now will help manage your inventory and track online and offline sales. It also has built-in functionality to print invoices and read barcodes.

Epos Now has a dedicated hospitality version, offering bill splitting, table management, and loyalty programs.

If you’re looking to get earning right away, Epos Now’s main draw is its speedy setup. As we mentioned above, the company claims that you can get started using its system in just 15 minutes. This rapid setup is certainly aided by Epos Now’s intuitive iPad app.

Epos Now pricing

Epos Now is quite opaque about its pricing structure. Its restaurant and retail packages cost $299 up-front, with the option to split this cost up up into monthly payments. Its retail version costs. This fee gives you access to POS software as well as a range of hardware options including terminals, built-in receipt printer and card machines.

After something simple yet effective? Check out our guide to the best cash registers for small businesses.

5. Shopify POS

• Best for stores with an online presence 
• Price from: $29 per month

Shopify is a great choice for businesses with both ecommerce and brick-and-mortar retail operations. It’s one of the best ecommerce solutions on the market, and provides a very impressive POS system for just $29 per month.

With an impressive score of 4.5/5 on the App Store, it’s clear its customers agree too. However, despite the app’s rating improving over time, it still isn’t quite as popular as our frontrunners Square and Clover.

EposNow lets you list items easily, and edit the labels directly through the iPad app. Source: EposNow

What you need to know about Shopify’s iPad POS app

Shopify’s iPad app allows you to easily sell products to customers in-store. It’s completely mobile, meaning you can move around the store while still being able to take payments from customers using credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Shop Pay, and cash.

The app can automatically apply sales taxes based on your store’s location. You can collect customer contacts with SMS and email receipts, and even customize printed receipts with your website, store hours, promotions, or store policies.

As the prices of supplies increase and consumer demand slumps, Shopify’s sales features offer up lucrative opportunities for businesses conscious of their bottom line too. With Shopify, customers can save carts and retrieve them later, to help you speed up sales to other patrons. You can also create discounts and promo codes, as well as scan barcode labels with integrated hardware, while you can also track which staff have helped with sales to keep track of performance.

Shopify offers a quality app store smartphone devices and tablets, but relying on integrations will bump up the price of the iPad app. Source: Shopify

Shopify POS features

Shopify offers the full POS experience, from taking and processing payments to tracking inventory and managing your business. You get in-depth sales and inventory management, as well as employee management and performance tracking.

Shopify has strong sales analytics and even offers 24/7 email, live chat, and phone support. It also offers a speedy onboarding process, as well as a 14-day free trial. Of course, the star of the Shopify show is its ecommerce integration. If that sounds like something your business needs, you can take a look at our comparison tool to make sure you’re getting the right price.

Shopify POS pricing

Shopify offers two POS pricing plans: the free Shopify POS Lite plan, and the Shopify Pro plan.

However, to access Shopify POS, you’ll need to sign up for a Shopify ecommerce plan first. Shopify’s ecommerce plans start from $29 per month, and will let you build a fully functioning ecommerce website.

• Shopify POS Lite – Shopify’s Lite plan is included with all ecommerce plans. You’ll get access to Shopify Payments, Shopify’s in-house payment processing service, and you’ll get charged 2.9% + 30c for online purchases  2% + the credit card fees from your payment gateway provider. With the Lite plan, you’ll also get access to customizable checkouts, custom discounts, and a global search across your store and storage to check product availability.
• Shopify POS Pro – The Pro plan costs $89 per month, per location, as well as the cost of your Shopify ecommerce plan. You could, in theory, get a fully functioning bricks-and-mortar POS and an ecommerce platform for $118 per month. The Pro plan adds higher-end features than you’d find on the Lite plan. For example, you get automatic discounts, and you can let customers buy online and pick up in store. Customers will also be able to buy products in your store and get them shipped to their homes.

How to Choose an iPad POS App

Choosing the right iPad POS app is far more complicated than simply opening the App Store and picking the one with the best reviews.

You should consider:

1. Does it track your inventory and record sales?
2. Does the POS app work properly in your industry?
3. Does it support the payment processor you use?
4. Is the app easy to use?
5. Does the provider offer the hardware options I need?

All of the POS apps on this page will easily cover the first point. However, some are better suited to certain business models or setups than others. Square is a great choice for any business getting set up from scratch, while Lightspeed is ideal for growing retail businesses with barcoded products – although it won’t work as well for other kinds of stores or restaurants.

The easiest way to find your perfect POS app is to let us do it for you with our POS system comparison tool. You’ll receive bespoke, no-obligation quotes for your business’s POS system, all without the headache of endless hours of research (we’ve already done it!).

Does my business need an iPad POS app?

It’s worth considering whether an iPad-based POS system is right for your business at all. If you’re a single-location or pop-up seller in need of a flexible, portable set-up, then getting started with an iPad POS will be a good idea. If you’re an established store that serves a high volume of customers, then opting for a POS terminal will be a sensible course of action.

iPad POS set-ups don’t have to be bare bones, however. Lots of POS providers, such as Clover, sell their own hardware. This hardware is easier to integrate more deeply with peripheral tools, such as barcode scanners and cash drawers.

What iPad do I need?

We would also recommend taking a look at iPad prices before committing to buying them for your business, especially if you’ve not already got ones lying around at home, ready to be repurposed. The new iPad Air models, for example, start from $799. The cheaper iPad Mini and plain-old iPads cost $499 and $599, respectively. If you’re going to be kitting out a group of stores or restaurants in one go, it might be worth getting in touch with your POS provider, to see if they’ll offer a bespoke price for bulk hardware orders instead.

Saying this, iPads are very intuitive – almost everyone will have used one – which can make onboarding staff significantly easier. What’s more, you won’t be beholden to a single POS provider with its branded hardware – if you don’t like a change it makes, you can leave and delete your app.

It’s important to point out that some POS hardware is only compatible with certain types of iPad, so it’s always worth doing your research before purchasing a new model. For example, Shopify’s POS Tablet Stand is only compatible with Lightning iPads (iPad 10.2″, 10.5″ Air, iPad 9.7″).

iPad POS System FAQs