Top 6 Compared: Square, Toast, Lightspeed Retail, Clover, Shopify POS & Helcim
| POS System | Best For | Monthly Fee | Transaction Rate | Hardware From |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Square POS | Overall best | Free | 2.6% + $0.10 | $49 |
| Toast POS | Restaurants | From $69/mo | Custom pricing | $899 |
| Lightspeed Retail | Retail stores | From $89/mo | 2.6% + $0.10 | $0 (iPad) |
| Clover | Customizable | From $0/mo | 2.6% + $0.10 | $49 |
| Shopify POS | Omnichannel | From $39/mo | 2.7% (Basic) | $49 |
| Helcim | Transparent pricing | Free | Interchange+ from 0.5% | $0 |
Square remains the most accessible POS system for small businesses in 2026. Its core software is completely free with no monthly fees — you only pay per-transaction rates of 2.6% + $0.10 for in-person payments. The Square Reader dongle starts at just $49, and the full Square Terminal with built-in printer retails for $299. Square Register, the all-in-one countertop system, costs $799.
Key Features: Inventory management, employee management, real-time sales analytics, offline mode, customer directory, appointment scheduling (Square Appointments), invoice generation, and a robust App Marketplace with dozens of integrations including QuickBooks, Xero, and Mailchimp.
Pricing: Free software. In-person: 2.6% + $0.10. Online: 2.9% + $0.30. Square Plus plan ($60/mo) reduces in-person rate to 2.5% + $0.10.
Best for: New and small businesses wanting zero upfront commitment, food trucks, pop-up shops, service providers.
Toast is purpose-built for the restaurant industry and it shows. From kitchen display systems (KDS) to table-side ordering, menu management, and tip pooling — every feature is designed with food service in mind. Toast integrates front-of-house, back-of-house, and online ordering into one unified platform. Hardware starts at $899 for a Toast Flex terminal with custom installation packages available.
Key Features: Kitchen display system, table management, online ordering, menu management with modifiers, gift cards, loyalty programs, payroll integration, multi-location reporting, and Toast Delivery Services.
Pricing: Toast Starter at $69/month. Custom pricing for processing rates (typically 2.49%+ based on volume). Hardware bundles from $899. Add-on modules for $50–$150/month each.
Best for: Full-service restaurants, quick-service restaurants, cafes, bars, and ghost kitchens.
Lightspeed Retail is built for inventory-heavy businesses. It handles complex product catalogs with matrix items (size, color, material), serial number tracking, purchase order management, and multi-store synchronization. The platform also integrates deeply with eCommerce via its own Lightspeed eCom module or Shopify/Magento connectors. Pricing starts at $89/month for a single register.
Key Features: Advanced inventory with matrix items, purchase orders, vendor management, multi-location sync, work orders, eCommerce integration, customer-facing display, detailed reporting with 40+ built-in reports, and API access.
Pricing: Lightspeed Retail from $89/month. Lightspeed Series from $169/month. Processing: 2.6% + $0.10 (integrated) or bring your own processor. Add-on modules extra.
Best for: Boutique retailers, apparel stores, bike shops, pet stores, and any business with large or complex inventories.
Clover stands out for its flexible hardware lineup and extensive app marketplace. Choose from compact readers (Clover Go at $49) to sleek countertop stations (Clover Station Pro at ~$1,799). The App Market offers 300+ apps for everything from loyalty programs to accounting integrations, letting you build a system that matches your exact workflow. Clover works with multiple payment processors, giving you negotiating power on rates.
Key Features: App Market with 300+ apps, custom hardware configurations, employee management, customer engagement tools, virtual terminal, recurring billing, and offline mode for card-present transactions.
Pricing: Clover Go from $0/month (hardware $49). Clover Mini from $49/month. Clover Station from $79/month. Processing rates vary by processor: typically 2.6% + $0.10.
Best for: Businesses wanting maximum flexibility, service-based businesses, small businesses that anticipate growth and customization needs.
If you sell both online and offline, Shopify POS is the natural choice. It syncs inventory, customers, and orders between your Shopify web store and physical locations in real time. The POS app works on any iPad or iPhone with a Shopify card reader ($49). Every Shopify plan ($39–$399/month) includes POS Lite; the Pro version ($89/month per location) adds advanced features like unlimited registers and staff PINs.
Key Features: Seamless online/offline sync, unified inventory, customer profiles across channels, Shopify Payments integration, email receipts, staff management, localized inventory tracking, and Smart Grid for customizable checkout.
Pricing: Shopify Basic $39/month (POS Lite included). Shopify $105/month. Advanced $399/month. POS Pro: $89/month per location. In-person rates: 2.7% (Basic) down to 2.4% (Advanced).
Best for: Businesses already on Shopify, retailers selling online and in-store, pop-up and market sellers with existing Shopify stores.
Helcim is the merchant advocate of the POS world. It uses interchange-plus pricing, meaning you see the exact card network fee plus Helcim's transparent markup (starting around 0.5% + $0.08). There are no monthly fees, no annual fees, no PCI compliance fees, and no statement fees. Volume discounts are automatic — the more you process, the lower your rate. Helcim works with most existing EMV terminals, so you may not need new hardware at all.
Key Features: Interchange-plus pricing with volume discounts, Helcim Card Reader (free with $25/month insurance), virtual terminal, recurring billing, invoice management, customer vault for secure card storage, multi-currency support, and detailed fee breakdowns on every transaction.
Pricing: No monthly fees. Interchange + 0.5% + $0.08 (volume discounts apply). In-person effective rate typically 2.1–2.4%. Online: interchange + 0.5% + $0.25.
Best for: High-volume merchants, businesses processing $20k+/month, cost-conscious operators, anyone tired of opaque processing fees.
| Feature | Square | Toast | Lightspeed | Clover | Shopify | Helcim |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Plan | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Inventory Mgmt | Good | Basic | Excellent | Good | Good | Basic |
| Multi-Store | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| eCommerce | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Offline Mode | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Kitchen Display | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | App | ❌ | ❌ |
| API Access | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Interchange-Plus | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | Optional | ❌ | ✅ |
| BYO Hardware | iPad | ❌ | iPad | ❌ | iPad | ✅ |
| Business Type | Recommended | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurant / Cafe | Toast | Purpose-built kitchen display, menu management, tip handling |
| Retail / Boutique | Lightspeed | Best inventory features, multi-store, purchase orders |
| Food Truck / Pop-up | Square | Free, portable, fast setup, no commitment |
| Omnichannel (online+offline) | Shopify POS | Seamless sync with Shopify store, unified inventory |
| Service Business | Clover | Flexible apps, virtual terminal, recurring billing |
| High-Volume Processor | Helcim | Interchange-plus saves hundreds/month at scale |
| Monthly Budget | Best Pick | Estimated Monthly Cost* |
|---|---|---|
| $0/month | Square or Helcim | $0 + processing |
| $50–$100 | Toast Starter or Clover Mini | $49–$89 + processing |
| $100–$200 | Lightspeed Retail | $89–$169 + processing |
| $200+ | Shopify + POS Pro | $128–$488 + processing |
*Processing costs depend on volume. A business processing $20k/month at 2.6% pays ~$520 in card fees regardless of the POS system.
Square and Helcim both offer completely free software with no monthly fees. Square charges 2.6% + $0.10 per in-person transaction. Helcim uses interchange-plus pricing that typically results in lower effective rates for businesses processing above $10k/month. For a brand-new business with low volume, Square's flat rate is simpler. As you grow, Helcim's transparent interchange-plus model usually saves money.
Toast remains the top choice for restaurants. Its kitchen display system, menu modifier management, tip pooling, and table-side ordering are all designed specifically for food service. Square for Restaurants is a decent budget alternative if you want to avoid monthly fees, but it lacks Toast's depth in restaurant-specific workflows.
It depends on the system. Square, Shopify POS, and Lightspeed work on your existing iPads with affordable card readers ($49). Toast and Clover require proprietary hardware, which is more expensive but offers tighter integration. Helcim works with most EMV-compliant terminals you may already own.
Yes, but plan for migration effort. Customer data and transaction history export formats vary. Shopify and Square offer the best data portability. Toast and Clover may require more manual migration. Always export your data before canceling a plan.
Square is the most popular choice for mobile businesses (food trucks, market vendors, mobile services). The Square Reader attaches to any phone or tablet, setup takes minutes, and there are zero monthly costs. Helcim is another strong mobile option if you want interchange-plus pricing.
A business processing $30,000/month at 2.6% + $0.10 with an average ticket of $50 pays roughly ($30,000 × 2.6%) + (600 transactions × $0.10) = $780 + $60 = $840/month in card fees. Switching to interchange-plus (Helcim) might reduce that to ~$690/month — saving $1,800/year. Always calculate total cost of ownership including monthly fees + processing.
We evaluated each POS system based on: real 2026 pricing from official websites, verified user reviews on G2/Capterra, total cost of ownership calculations for businesses processing $15k–$50k/month, feature depth across inventory, reporting, and integrations, hardware flexibility and cost, and quality of customer support. All pricing reflects publicly available information as of May 2026.