The Best Restaurant POS Systems for 2022

Our research has shown that Square POS is the best POS system for restaurants, combining powerful restaurant-specific features with slick hardware and a remarkably low price point.

You'll have likely seen and used Square POS terminals before — their easy to use tech and free (with fees) subscription model makes them extremely popular. Still, there might be a POS provider even better suited for your unique needs. For the record, Square aren't paying us to rate them top and all our recommendations are fully independent and based on our own hands-on testing – we're here to help your business, not sell you something that doesn't fit.

To help save you time, we've developed a restaurant POS comparison tool to help match your business with the right POS provider at the right price. 

Whichever provider you choose, a good POS system will streamline every aspect of your restaurant, food truck, bar or café, from orders and payments to your entire ingredient inventory, paying for itself in time and money saved.

In This Guide:

• Best Restaurant POS Reviews
• Restaurant POS Prices
• Restaurant Point of Sale: Buyers' Guide
• Frequently Asked Questions

Best Restaurant POS Systems for 2022 – Reviews

Some of the POS systems mentioned on this page were designed specifically for restaurants. Others have added a dedicated restaurant edition to their main POS offering. The one thing they have in common is they’re all deserving of being named one of the best systems on the market.

Here are Tech.co’s top picks for the best restaurant POS:

1. Square POS – Best overall restaurant POS & best for small businesses
2. Clover POS – Great customer loyalty app
3. Zettle by Paypal – Great value for money
4. TouchBistro – Best help and support
5. Epos Now – Best for a quick initial set up
6. Talech – Best small business growth features
7. Lightspeed Restaurant – Best for large businesses
8. Toast – Best Android hardware
9. Shopify – Best for ecommerce

Continue scrolling for more detailed, research-based reviews of each POS vendor, or click on the names above to jump directly to the vendor you’re interested in. Read more about our research process here.

1. Square POS – Best Overall Restaurant POS

Tech.co rating: 4.7/5

Price: Free

With dedicated solutions for table service, counter service, bars & lounges, coffee shops, bakeries, and food trucks, Square is a common name in the world of quick-service restaurants. Due to its strong industry standing and reasonable price tag, Square POS is a particularly good option for smaller, on-the-go businesses. In fact, according to our research Square POS is currently the best system for small businesses overall.

Highlights:

• No monthly fees
• Per-item sales tracking
• 24/7 support

Layout, inventory and menu management are included in the basic restaurant software package, though add-ons are also available (more on that below). The Square brand is well-known and stands for ease of use, feature rich software, and a reasonable support team.

Square POS features

Square POS offers a great range of features for restaurants.

It has strong menu management features with customizable layouts and item grouping to help make top sellers available faster. Bulk additions can help you quickly update your menu with new variants and loads of new dishes.

A huge range of third-party integrations can help you make delivery and pickup effortless. What's more, you can even add third-party tools for employee time tracking and customer reservations.

Square's order management platform allows you to control all your orders from one screen, regardless of whether they are being fulfilled by DoorDash, Postmates, or by your own drivers. If you run an on-the-go business like a food truck or stall, Square's mobile-compatible card reader can allow you can take payments anywhere, at any time.

Square also has an intuitive table management feature, which lets you click-and-drag tables to accommodate more customers or rearrange them to free up more space. What's more, you can monitor every seat in your restaurant to see which are closest to being turned and which have just sat down.

Square's reports are impressive, too. It offers top-line summaries and deep-dives into your sales by category, item, or payment type. Plus, you can monitor overall trends and see how many items were comped during shifts.

Square POS pricing

While Square’s service has no monthly charge, you will have to pay the following transaction fees:

• 2.6% + 10 cents of each card-based sale
• 3.5% + 15 cents for each keyed-in transaction
• 2.9% + 30 cents for online sales

All the features we've mentioned above are included in Square's transaction fee-only plan. However, Square does also offer a Restaurant Plus plan which gives you extra features for $60 per month, per location.

Transaction fees will be reduced to 2.5% plus 10 cents for in-person sales and 2.9% plus 30 cents for online sales. You'll also get advanced discounting tools, cash management features, and open check features. You'll find that your kitchen display becomes more useful with ticket routing and real-time order updates.

See our full guide to Square POS pricing for more.

A high-quality restaurant POS with strong support and a low price: it’s no wonder Square is one of the dominant POS systems on the market today. While Square sells plenty of hardware options, restaurant owners can opt for the software-only version to turn their existing iPads into quick-service devices at little cost.

2. Clover POS – Great Customer Loyalty App

Tech.co rating: 4.5/5

Price: $99 per month

If your restaurant relies on online orders or is looking to expand into this area in the future, Clover might be a very good fit – providing you already have a functioning website. Clover is also a suitable option for smaller businesses looking for a user friendly, all-in-one system.

Highlights:

• Online order and delivery
• Built-in customer loyalty app
• Good third-party integrations

Clover's business features aren't as strong as other contenders on this list. However, thanks to its affordable monthly plans, our research positions Clover's POS system eye to eye with Square's when it comes to value for money.

Clover POS features

As Clover excels with online ordering and delivery, you'll be heartened to hear that it offers deep and powerful integrations with third-party services such as Mailchimp for email marketing and bLoyal to give back to your repeat visitors. But even without those, its own suite of customer engagement features is impressive.

The Clover app allows you to build contact lists with options for sharing promos and rewards, or collecting private feedback, so that you can forge meaningful relationships with your clientele. It's simple to create offers and automate personalized perks for customers to use in person or online.  Bluetooth-detection can even remind mobile app customers of relevant promos, when they're nearby. Clover claims that loyalty features can encourage 60% more spend per transaction, and customers making purchases 90% more often.

Clover's interface is designed to be easy to learn, and it works from laptops, tablets, and mobile devices alike. A custom floor plan can be designed to match your specific location, helping servers keep track of which tables are open and which need to be served.

Clover takes payments in a variety of forms including credit, debit, contactless, mobile, gift card, check, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. Fraud protection for payments of up to $100,000 is included. Orders and billing can be completed directly from a mobile device, allowing busy customers to quickly place orders or pay when finished.

Clover also prides itself on its extensive hardware range. The Clover Mini and Flex, for example, are nifty, handheld POS tablets and payment terminals that cost $749 and $499, respectively.

Clover POS pricing

Clover pricing can be a pretty complex. Its Payments Plus plan costs $4.95 per month and offers cloud-based payments and employee and customer management tools.

The Register Lite plan costs $9.95 per month, but is designed for businesses making sales of less than $50,000 per year. However, it's only available to businesses that use the Clover Go, Flex, or Mini hardware devices.

The Register plan costs $39.95 per month, and if you use the Clover Station or Station Pro hardware devices, you will be required to use this plan.

Clover Table Service Restaurant costs $69.95 per month, and gives you access to floor planning apps and a specific restaurant orders app.

Finally, the Clover Counter Service Restaurant plan costs $39.95 per month, and is designed for vendors that don't offer table service. However, you'll have to pay increased payment processing fees compared to the Table Service Restaurant plan.

Confused? You're not alone. Check out our Square vs Clover guide for more information on Clover's pricing. While you're doing that, we'd recommend also taking a look at our POS price comparison tool to find out how much your restaurant should be paying for POS.

3. Zettle by PayPal – Great Value for Money

Tech.co rating: 4.4/5

Price: Free (transaction fees apply)

Entering the POS market in 2010, Zettle by PayPal hasn't been around as long as some of our other competitors, but that hasn't stopped it from making an impact. The slick point of service is extremely user-friendly and boasts a variety of food and drink-based features. The system is also free to set up, making it one of the most wallet-friendly options out there.

Highlights:

• VAT-friendly order features
• Great employee management tools
• Powerful data analytics

Zettle by PayPal features

Whether you're running a cafe or multi-venue restaurant, Zettle's range of food and drink-focused features were designed to make taking orders and processing payments simple and fuss-free.

If you're looking for help handling VAT payments, Zettle's' Sit in' or ‘Take out' feature lets members of staff label items depending on how they're being served. The system then automatically assigns the correct amount of tax to items, eliminating the need for workers to do this manually.

Zettle Food & Drink also makes light work out of tracking your performance. Its reporting and analytic features let you analyze sales data by employee, type of payment, and tax, and it also presents you with your business's best-selling products. These insights are fully accessible through Backoffice, and the product's free iPad app.

If your restaurant accepts both cash and card payments, the point of service will let you handle both with ease. The providers' own Zettle Reader even lets servers take remote payments through a unique payment link. For businesses that offer sit-down dining and table service, the POS also lets users accept orders and take payments later, by saving them to specific customer accounts.

Finally, while Zettle's customer support isn't available round the clock, its Help Center is renowned for going the extra mile. In fact, our research ranks Zettle 4.0/5.0 for Restaurant support, tying with both Square and TouchBistro.

Think Zettle by PayPal sounds right for your business? Our quick comparison tool will find you the best deal

Zettle by PayPal pricing

Zettle’s point of sale app is currently free to set up. However, the system remains profitable by charging per transaction.

Below we break down Zettle by PayPal's transaction fees:

• 2.29% + 9 cents for each card-based sale
• 3.49% + 9 cents for each manual card entry transaction
• 1.9% + 10 cents for every QR code transaction $10.01 and above
• 2.4% + 5 cents for every QR code transaction $10.00 and below

Zettle also offers card readers at $29, with the price increasing to $79 for each additional reader.

4. TouchBistro POS – Best Help and Support

Tech.co rating: 4.2/5

Price: $69 per month

As its name hints, TouchBistro was envisioned for restaurants from the very start. What's more, its various promising reporting and stock control features also lend themselves to a range of other hospitality businesses – specifically those handling extensive or complicated inventories.

Unfortunately, TouchBistro's limited till and business development features prevent it from beating our industry heroes like Square and Clover.

Highlights:

• Real-time stock level reports
• 24/7 support
• VIP Community Network

TouchBistro features

A versatile interface and strong inventory and staff management options make this a feature-rich POS, bolstered by its excellent support team (top-rated in our testing) and fair price tag. The company claims over 200 features are available from their service, which covers virtually anything most restaurants will ever need.

TouchBistro has a range of apps to suit the specific needs of different restaurant businesses. For example, its Full-Service app is designed for traditional restaurants, but it also offers Quick Service, Bars and Clubs, Food Truck, and Brewery apps.

TouchBistro has a strong tableside order management feature with easily digestible menus, which will reduce errors. The software also lets you create bespoke table plans and use them to add or remove seats, change parties, and more. Servers will be able to send orders directly to the kitchen via different kitchen printers or displays, if needed.

Interested in understanding how well your restaurant is performing? TouchBistro can also deliver daily reports to senior staff members using the data collected by the platform. With over 50 types of reports available, servers can keep tabs on a number of key metrics including which tables and orders are the most popular, which menu items offer the best ROI, and which servers work the fastest.

On top of TouchBistro's solid hospitality features, as mentioned, the provider really shines when it comes to customer support. In fact, according to our independent research, the POS offers the best help and support features out of any other provider on the list.

If you need a query to be answered, you can get in touch with a TouchBistro specialist by phone chat, or email any time, 24/7 on any day of the year. Since restaurants don't adhere to a 9-5 schedule, this round-the-clock support can be massively beneficial.

TouchBistro runs on all iPads after the first four generations, which can be used by servers or as the central hub of your operation. However, when it comes to hardware items such as receipt printers, you'll have to find those yourself as TouchBistro doesn't sell any hardware.

TouchBistro pricing

TouchBistro operates its pricing slightly differently to most other POS providers. Instead of using a per user, per month system, TouchBistro offers a cap on the number of monthly users with each of its plans.

The Solo plan, naturally, gives you one user license for $69 per month. The Dual plan costs $129 per month and gives you two licenses, the Team plan costs $249 per month and gives you five licenses. It also offers the Unlimited plan, which gives your business an unlimited number of licenses for $399 per month.

TouchBistro doesn't include all its features in the main plans, however. For example, you'll need to pay $229 per month for its Reservations add-on, or $50 per month for its Online Ordering add-on.

This can make TouchBistro slightly more expensive than some rivals, so it's worth getting a bespoke quote for your business by using our POS comparison tool. It only takes a few minutes and you'll be under absolutely no obligations.

5. Epos Now – Best for a Quick Initial Set Up

Tech.co rating: 4.2/5

Price: $39 per month

Epos Now isn't quite as well-rounded as Square's offering, but it's still a very compelling option for businesses looking to get up and running quickly. It also offers extremely versatile hardware options, making it a great POS system for restaurants that haven't yet invested in devices.

Highlights:

• Simple set up process
• Individual staff permissions
• Strong hardware options

Epos Now features

Epos Now's software is feature-rich, but thankfully, the provider likes to keep things simple. Epos Now's start-up process is straightforward and fuss-free, meaning restaurants using the POS can have the system up and running within minutes. This is especially useful for busy businesses or those investing in this type of software for the first time.

Our product research also suggests that Epos could make a great fit for larger restaurants thanks to its excellent till features and till-based products. However, it's no one-trick pony and can easily match Square punch-for-punch when it comes to a range of other features.

For example, Epos's employee management toolkit is extensive. Managers using the system can assign staff individual access code pins, meaning that they will only be able to access the areas of your POS that you have allowed them to. By doing so, users can keep new servers away from essential functions, such as business reporting, until they're trained up and ready.

What's more, Epos Now supports full staff clock-in and clock-out functions, allowing you to make sure that everyone is punctual and all their time is accounted for — meaning you can pay your staff for the right number of hours.

Epos Now also offers comprehensive training sessions. For $35 per month, you can give your staff unlimited training sessions on the software. That might seem pricey but it's sure to have upsides for your business, reducing errors and improving efficiency. One-off training sessions can also be held for $175 each.

Epos Now's inventory and stock management functions allow for fine detail – you can track everything you've got in stock, from whole dishes right down to individual ingredients. It also allows you to bulk import products — which can be very handy when getting started or when you've received a big delivery.

Unlike the system's inventory management features, CRM tools are not included within Epos's inclusive package. This means that if you're looking for ways to encourage customer loyalty, you'll need to integrate this function through a third party.

But Epos Now's integrations aren't limited to CRM. The point of sevrice offers more than 80 third-party integrations to help make your life easier. Xero can be added to automate your accounting, Appointedd can be used for managing reservations, and Nettl and Mailchimp can be used for ecommerce and email marketing, respectively. 

Epos Now pricing

Epos Now offers three pricing plans, but prefers to keep the specifics of those plans close to its chest — you'll need to speak to a sales rep to get details for your company.

However, we do know that a free plan is not currently available. Epos Now's pricing starts from $39 per month. It also sells a lot of hardware bundles that you can buy directly from its website.

The full Epos Now Restaurant POS System, for example, costs $999 or $72 per month and gives you:

• Epos Now's proprietary Pro-C15W terminal, including water-resistant touchscreen and a solid-state drive (SSD) for speedy loading
• Epos Now hospitality software
• 90mm Epos Now Pro receipt printer
• Cash drawer
• Installation, configuration, and training

Before you start calling Epos Now's sales teams, we'd recommend getting custom quotes from the other leading POS providers using our quick and free comparison tool. It only takes a few minutes and you'll be under absolutely no obligations.

6. Talech – Best Small Business Growth Features

Tech.co rating: 4.1/5

Price: $4.95

Talech is an all-around POS solution that can be used by hospitality, service, and retail businesses alike. The point of service is affordable and offers a range of features designed to help businesses grow. However, our research suggests that compared to our frontrunners like Square and Clover, Talech will provide you with slightly less bang for your buck.

Highlights:

• Strong employee management tools
• Customer loyalty features
• Powerful data analytics

Talech POS features

Growing a food business isn't always easy. Fortunately, if you're looking to expand your restaurant's horizons, Talech offers a range of solutions designed to help.

Talech's real-time reporting tools help managers to keep tabs on every area of their business, including top-selling dishes, number of returns, and the most requested table. By turning this data into useful insights, restauranteurs can implement positive changes to grow their business.

From romantic Valentine's Day packages to group discounts, Talech also offers specialist loyalty features to encourage repeat buying. These features can all be accessed from the system's central dashboard and can be applied in seconds.

In addition to business growth tools, Talech's table management system will help staff serve customers quickly and efficiently. Its table positions feature lets servers streamline the ordering process by setting tables and seating positions, and the split items tool makes taking multiple forms of payment a breeze.

The POS also makes employee management light work. Its ‘clock-in' feature allows members of staff to sign in and out effortlessly. Based on their position and level of seniority, they can then gain different levels of access to the system. Talech's software also generates a report which displays the hours each employee works, helping managers to keep a keen eye on staff performance.

Talech POS pricing

Talech's point of service system is available at four different price points.

Talech's Starter plan costs $29 per month for the first device, and a further $29 per month for each extra device. This plan has no cap on employees or access to additional devices. However, users aren't able to upload more than 500 products. Talech's starter package includes basic features including order management, inventory tracking, and CRM tools.

Costing slightly more, Talech's Standard plan is ideal for casual dining establishments and quick service restaurants. Clocking in at $69 per month, with an additional $29 for each additional device, the plan includes everything in the Starter package with additional store credit, kitchen printing, and bundle features.

If you're looking for a slightly more comprehensive package, Talech Premium is available for $99 per month for the first device, with additional devices costing an extra $29 per month. This pricing tier gives users access to slightly more advanced table management features, making the plan a no-brainer for business owners running full-service restaurants or multi-location franchises.

Finally, if you run a large restaurant or have complex POS needs, Talech's Enterprise plan might suit you the best. Prices are available on request so you need to call Talech's sales team to find out more.

7. Lightspeed – Best for Large Businesses

Tech.co rating: 4.1/5

Price: $69 per month

Lightspeed is a huge name in the world of POS providers but, due to its focus on barcoded products, it isn't one of the very best solutions for most restaurant businesses.  However, thanks to the provider's low cost for adding terminals and omnichannel loyalty tools, Lightspeed could be a strong asset to a large restaurant or group of franchises.

Highlights:

• Strong business development features
• Integrated customer rewards system
• Omnichannel selling options

Lightspeed features

If your restaurant handles a large or complex inventory, chances are you'll benefit from Lightspeed's advanced stock control tools. From organizing your products by size color and material to tracking inventory across multiple locations, the POS carries out a number of functions that can help you shift stock fast.

According to our independent research, which takes a number of key performance metrics into account, Lightspeed POS offers some of the best business development features around. For instance, Lightspeed's CRM tools allow you to create customer profiles and assign each with a unique status. By doing so, users can keep track of their customer's preferences. To keep customers coming back, Lightspeed's customer management tools also let you create custom discounts and promo codes for regular buyers.

Lightspeed also offers one of the strongest ecommerce integrations on the market. So, if your restaurant is interested in fulfilling online orders,  Lightspeed eCom can help your business to make money online in no time at all. And the best thing? eCom onboarding is completely free to new and existing customers.

Data backup and software updates are also available for free, and live onboarding and 24/7 support options are packaged with all plans. All told, though, Lightspeed performs better for businesses with large barcoded items, so it might suit cafes better than restaurants.

Take a moment to find out if Lightspeed is right for your business with our dedicated, time-saving comparison tool.

Lightspeed POS pricing

Lightspeed's pricing plans start from $69 per month with the Basic plan. You won't get access to ecommerce, accounting, loyalty, or sales analysis features, but you will get access to the core of the Lightspeed POS system and its payment processing service.

The $99 per month Starter plan lets you sell online with Lightspeed ecommerce. The Standard plan costs $199 per month, and lets you connect a third-party accounting provider such as QuickBooks or Xero.

The Advanced plan costs $169 per month, and gives you access to Lightspeed's customer loyalty tools. Finally, the Pro plan costs $229 per month, and gives you access to advanced store analytics which let you track sales, employee performance, and marketing campaign effectiveness.

8. Toast – Best Android Hardware

Tech.co rating: 4.0/5

Price from: $69 per month

Most POS systems prioritize running on iPads. Toast, on the other hand, has opted for Android-based software, which can be run on your existing Android tablets or, for the best experience, on Toast's own hardware, which has been “designed from the ground up for the restaurant industry.”

For this reason, Toast POS is particularly suited to small-to-medium restaurants with Android-compatible hardware.

Highlights:

• Android hardware
• Delivery service features
• Deep menu customization

However, while its interface is easy to understand, Toast doesn't have any integrated payment processors, its CRM tools are only available through integrations, and our research positions it low for help and support. Toast isn't perfect but if you have existing Android hardware, or aren't keen on buying iPads, it might save you some money.

Toast POS features

Toast lets your servers accept tableside orders from customers and relay them to your kitchen and bar staff. Plus, servers can take payments via a card reader with EMV cards and Samsung Pay.

A dedicated cost management feature lets managers easily study the costs of labor and dishes, factoring in fixed overhead costs for a simple, unified view of total revenue. This means you can get an in-depth understanding of where your restaurant is making and losing money.

Toast has also created a new, and entirely virtual POS: Toast Now. You don't need any special hardware — just a phone or a tablet — which offers support for online ordering, takeout, and contactless delivery. Plus, it's completely free for the first three months.

According to our in-depth research, Toast tops all our other competitors when it comes to till features. Whether you run a cafe or pizzeria, Toast's till features can be fully adapted to your style of business. This means no matter your specialism, Toast's versatile selection of kits makes customizing orders and taking payments easy.

Toast supports online ordering and even allows you to create a public-facing website that your customers can use to place their orders. Menus update in real-time and it connects to Toast's delivery dispatch feature to help get orders out the door. The site can be tailored to your restaurant's branding.

Toast POS pricing

Toast POS offers three pricing plans: Starter, Essential, and Growth.

The Starter plan costs $69 per month. It offers table and order management features, reporting and analytics, menu management, flat-rate credit card processing, and guest feedback features.

You can also opt for Toast's proprietary restaurant hardware package, which starts at $799.

The $165 per month Essentials plan offers online ordering and delivery features and adds the Toast TakeOut app, which lets you save payment and account information and automate push notifications, and is available across Android and iOS.

Toast starts its restaurant POS software subscription service at $69 per month per terminal. Remote or in-person installations are an additional cost, and they start at $499. Toast recommends that businesses use their devices (they offer a splash-proof, dust-proof range of handheld, desktop-mountable Toast Go hardware), with their most popular hardware packages starting at around $799. On top of all that, Toast charges a flat fee for its payment processing (while the fee is flat across all of a specific business's payments, the initial fee is determined based on that business's industry, and can vary depending on what that industry is).

Finally, the virtual “Toast Now” service offers digital ordering abilities for a cost of $50 per month (plus payment processing fees on top of that), with gift card support costing an additional $25 per month.

9. Shopify – Best for ecommerce

Tech.co rating: 3.9/5

Price: $29 per month

Finally, while this solution isn't quite strong enough to beat our other contenders to the post, Shopify is another great restaurant-based POS. Shopify is predominantly a website builder, but its point-of-service software can also be used by brick-and-motor restaurants and cafes. The POS offers plentiful useful integrations, but, unfortunately, its shortage of hospitality features prevents it from appearing any higher up on our list.

Highlights:

• Online ordering
• e-commerce tools
• Great inventory tracking

Shopify features

When it comes to omnichannel selling, Shopify is undefeated. In fact, our research ranks the provider#1 for businesses looking to sell goods across multiple channels.

Restaurants can use the software to sell dishes and products online, and in-store simultaneously. The POS even allows customers to pick up orders on-site and offers tools that help service workers to manage, fulfil and send off local deliveries. These functions can be indispensable to restaurants handling a lot of online orders.

But omnichannel selling isn't Shopify's only strength. The software also boasts all the features expected of a solid point of service system. Some notable mentions include the POS's inventory tracker, which makes it super easy for employees to measure stock levels, and its demand forecasting display, which offers managers useful insights into which products are doing well.

Shopify prices

Shopify offers five pricing plans, Shopify Basic, Shopify, Shopify Advanced, Shopify Lite, and Shopify Plus.

Shopify's cheapest plan, Shopify Lite, is available for $9 per month. It includes basic order and project management functions, develops unique customer profiles, and is fully compatible with mobile devices. This plan is best suited for smaller food delivery businesses.

Next up, Shopify Basic is Shopify's scaled-back package that's ideal for budding service businesses and those handling occasional in-person sales. Its use is limited to two users and each purchase is subjected to a 2.9% transaction fee. However, at $29 per month, the plan is still an affordable option for smaller food establishments.

The provider's ‘Shopify' plan is available for $79 per month, or $825 per year. It's targeted towards smaller businesses generating around $4,000 per month, that frequently sell both online and in-store. The package includes unlimited access to Shopify's POS app and also offers seamless hardware integration.

Retailing at $299 per month, Shopify Advanced doesn't come for cheap, but its post-sale tools debatably make up for its hefty price tag. The plan gives users full access to Shopify's advanced report builder, making it easy for them to understand and improve their customer's buying journey. Unfortunately though, due to its weighty monthly cost, this plan will be off-limits to many restaurants.

Finally, for enterprise-level restaurants, Shopify's Plus plan gives you full access to its suite of services. Due to the sophisticated toolkit it offers, it's reserved for restaurants earning over $750,000 per year.

Restaurant POS System Prices

Typical POS prices start between $69 – $99 per month for a single terminal.

However, the restaurant POS industry charges per-month costs that vary depending on the number of terminals and locations, and whether you’re only using software or need hardware as well. You'll also have to consider payment processing – some companies, such as Square, have this built-in. But if your provider doesn't, it'll have to be an extra cost.

Your hardware costs can quickly rack up if you're not careful. iPads aren't cheap, and neither are cash drawers and receipt printers. Some companies will sell you the hardware you need as you go, while others will sell it on a monthly instalment basis.

Given that costs can vary so much, how do you know which POS is right for your restaurant? First, consider how your business relates to the following variables:

• Quick service venue, mid-size business, or large layout?
• Number of POS terminals needed?
• Number of locations?
• Unique features needed?

Next, you’ll need to reach out to the right POS vendors for a customized quote so you can compare the prices.

Restaurant POS Buyer's Guide

There are a lot of questions that come up when it comes to buying POS systems for your restaurant. We'll do our best to answer some of the more pressing options below, so you can get started today.

Why do I need a restaurant POS system?

A good restaurant POS system will help any business thrive and grow, providing accurate and important data to base decisions on. But a restaurant will especially benefit from an industry-focused POS System.

Every business records its sales, but a restaurant must also be able to accept reservations and track which orders were placed from which table. Every business tracks inventory, but a restaurant must track the amount and cost of the ingredients used in each dish, in addition to the amount and cost of the orders that are placed.

In addition, a high-quality system can:

• Help the kitchen interact with the servers quickly and easily
• Help a manager track employees’ work hours and plan their future schedules
• Log data from past weeks or months in order to create detailed reports about the restaurant’s long-term growth
• Streamline the order process from start to finish, including accepting online orders and sending email receipts

The bottom line: A good POS centralizes all the processes of a restaurant, bar or cafe, allowing the manager to improve on what’s working and fix what’s not. It will pay for itself and then some.

With a few key bits of information from you, our dedicated comparison tool will filter through the available POS systems and obtain a quote specifically designed for your restaurant business.

What are the top Restaurant POS software features to look for?

While the best systems might include a handful of unique traits, they should also provide a selection of the following top features.

• Inventory Management — tracks orders and ingredients used
• Inventory Alerts — sends automatic personalized notifications when specific ingredients need to be restocked
• Employee Tracking — records which employee was operating which station, and at what time
• Table Service — tracks which tables will receive which orders
• Billing — accepts cash, card, and contactless payment
• Loyalty Programs — offers deals and gift cards in order to attract repeat customers
• Customer Engagement — collects and securely manages approved contact lists, such as email addresses or phone numbers, for customer marketing
• Reservations — allows workers to track meal reservations weeks or months in advance
• Online ordering — allows quick-service restaurants to let customers place orders online

Some of these features haven't always been essential. For example, the coronavirus pandemic has made online ordering all but essential for even the largest and fanciest restaurants. In the past, you might have been able to get away without online ordering but nowadays, you simply can't.

While the features above are important to consider when picking out a POS for your restaurant, you should think about other factors, too. The best restaurant POS systems are also cost-effective, well-reviewed, easy to use, and come with a professional customer support team.

Do I need to buy Restaurant POS hardware accessories?

While the software powering a restaurant POS is the main element of a POS system, hardware is important as well. Here are some of the best physical POS accessories that will make your daily chores more manageable.

• Touchscreen display — Quicker and more portable than a desktop computer for running software. iPads are most common, though other tablets or smartphones can be used as well.
• Card readers for iPad — Cash tills aren’t enough any more. Tiny card readers the size of a quarter can be plugged into an iPad’s headphone jack. They’re often sold by POS vendors and might be included in a POS package. Larger countertop versions come as “cubes” rather than portable readers.
• iPad stands and docks — A stand, typically designed to swivel so that customers can easily sign their bill, is a must. These are also usually sold by specific vendors.
• Self-service kiosk — A larger stand, a receipt printer, and a large card reader can all serve as a kiosk for customers to check their orders out by themselves, cutting down on employee busywork.
• Power supply — Don’t expect your iPad battery to outlast your customers: Invest in compact portable chargers.

How to choose a POS system for your restaurant

Not every point of service system is equal, and even a feature rich POS might not be right for your specific business. Here are a few factors to consider, some of which you won’t find on most POS websites but which remain relevant to your decision.

• Your customers — The demographic of your audience determines what type of POS system they will embrace.
  • Their age — Older customers might not understand or care about options like contactless payment or QR-code coupons.
  • Their social expectations — A quick-service location might have a self-checkout option, but higher end restaurants would never give their servers iPads.
  • Their digital adoption — Silicon Valley is packed with early adopters who want all the options, but restaurants on the Rust Belt can stick to a more compact POS with fewer features.
• Customers with disabilities — A self-serve station might seem easier than an in-person order system, but might not be an accessible option for those with poor eyesight or limited mobility.
• Your budget — Don’t overextend your business, especially if you plan to pay up front.
• Your size — A single food truck and a sprawling restaurant have differing needs: the larger your restaurant, the more important your POS communication features become.
• Future growth — As your total orders, order stations, or restaurant locations grow, the cost for your POS system will grow, even though the features it offers likely won’t. Choose a system that will be ready for your future needs.

Frequently Asked Questions