Build a POS shortlist
Filter by business type before opening vendor pricing.
Jump to section →Buy Decoded business desk
Compare Square, Shopify POS, Toast, and Clover by workflow and lock-in.
Build a practical shortlist, estimate payment costs, normalize written quotes, and arrive at vendor demos with questions about contracts, hardware, support, offline mode, and data export.
Independent planning aid · heuristic scores are not ratings · verify current prices and terms
Resource directory
Shortlist, price the quote, then verify the terms.
Checkout photo for context only. Fit still depends on the shop's workflow, written rates, hardware, contract, and export path.
Estimate one quote
Turn one rate sheet into monthly cost and a three-year total.
Open →Compare two quotes
Put both proposals on the same sales mix.
Open →Open hardware finder
Check Square-listed printers, scanners, and drawers.
Open →Scenario-based shortlist
Choose the workflow before the vendor.
The score is an editorial heuristic, not measured performance or a customer rating. Use it to narrow demos—not to sign a contract.
0198/100
Square
Best for: Simple retail, mobile sellers, and a first POS
Watch: Advanced inventory or complex restaurants may outgrow it.
Fast setupPayments includedGood starter
Check Square official site
Direct official link—no active partner commission is attached yet.
0280/100
Shopify POS
Best for: Retailers where ecommerce matters
Watch: Best value usually comes when Shopify is also the online store.
EcommerceRetailOmnichannel
Check Shopify POS official site
Direct official link—no active partner commission is attached yet.
0380/100
SumUp
Best for: Very small mobile sellers and simple counters
Watch: May be too light for serious inventory or multi-location operations.
Low costMobileSimple
Check SumUp official site
Direct official link—no active partner commission is attached yet.
0477/100
Lightspeed Retail
Best for: Inventory-heavy retail and multi-store operators
Watch: More setup and monthly cost than starter systems.
InventoryMulti-locationRetail
Check Lightspeed Retail official site
Direct official link—no active partner commission is attached yet.
Payment-cost screen
Turn the advertised rate into a planning total.
Request a written quote. Card mix, rewards cards, keyed transactions, chargebacks, PCI fees, taxes, contract terms, and negotiated pricing can change the result.
Estimated blended monthly cost$819
About 893 transactions/month. 36-month processing, software, and setup estimate: $30,694.
Buying printers, scanners, or drawers?
Check the exact POS, device, and connection first.
Filter source-backed Square hardware starting points before ordering a similar-looking model or the wrong interface version. Shopify records remain excluded until official rows are verified.
Only have one offer?
Estimate that single quote first.
Use your card sales and transaction count before you treat a headline rate as the cost of the system.
Already have two proposals?
Put both quotes through the same sales.
Compare processing, per-transaction charges, software, add-ons, hardware, setup, annual fees, and cancellation costs over one contract term.
Owner decision library
Prepare for the workflow, contract, outage, and exit.
These guides turn a vendor demo into a repeatable buying process. Start with your business type, then test the risks most sales presentations skip.
POS Offline Mode and Register-Outage Plan
Prepare for internet, payment-terminal, printer, register, and cloud-service outages with vendor questions and a practical store fallback plan.
Open guide →POS Data Export and Migration Checklist
Protect product, customer, gift-card, sales, tax, inventory, and order data before moving to or leaving a point-of-sale system.
Open guide →Clover Contract and Reseller Checklist
Compare Clover offers by processor, reseller, hardware ownership, software plan, processing rates, contract, support, and cancellation terms.
Open guide →Complete POS Hardware Cost Checklist
Budget registers, payment terminals, printers, scanners, cash drawers, kitchen displays, networking, spares, installation, and replacements.
Open guide →POS Vendor Demo Scorecard
Use one repeatable scorecard for POS demos covering workflow, payments, hardware, support, offline operation, contracts, and data export.
Open guide →POS System Costs and Fees: A Complete Quote Checklist
Compare POS processing rates, transaction fees, software, add-ons, hardware, setup, annual fees, and cancellation costs using one sales scenario.
Open guide →Head-to-head starting points
Compare the operating model—not a star rating.
Eight systems to research first
Different shops need different tradeoffs.
Profiles summarize likely fit and a major caution. They are not hands-on reviews, current price quotes, or paid rankings.
Square
Best for: Simple retail, mobile sellers, and a first POS
Watch: Advanced inventory or complex restaurants may outgrow it.
Official site ↗Shopify POS
Best for: Retailers where ecommerce matters
Watch: Best value usually comes when Shopify is also the online store.
Official site ↗Lightspeed Retail
Best for: Inventory-heavy retail and multi-store operators
Watch: More setup and monthly cost than starter systems.
Official site ↗Toast
Best for: Restaurants, cafés, bars, and food service
Watch: Not the first pick for normal retail inventory.
Official site ↗Clover
Best for: Shops considering hardware bundles through banks or processors
Watch: Terms can depend heavily on the reseller and processor.
Official site ↗TouchBistro
Best for: Restaurants wanting restaurant-specific workflows
Watch: Less relevant for ordinary retail shops.
Official site ↗SumUp
Best for: Very small mobile sellers and simple counters
Watch: May be too light for serious inventory or multi-location operations.
Official site ↗KORONA POS
Best for: Specialty retail, ticketing, and regulated-inventory niches
Watch: Most relevant when the shop has specialized needs.
Official site ↗Vendor-demo script
Make each seller answer the same questions.
Ask for answers in writing and attach them to your decision record. A polished demonstration is not evidence that migration, offline operation, support, or cancellation will work as expected.
- 01What is the exact monthly software cost for our complete use case?
- 02What are card-present, keyed, online, and invoice processing rates?
- 03Is payment processing required, optional, or negotiable?
- 04Who owns the hardware after purchase or lease?
- 05What are the contract term and cancellation fee?
- 06Can we export products, customers, sales, gift cards, and order history?
- 07What happens if internet access fails?
- 08What support is available during our open hours?
- 09Which integrations cost extra?
- 10What setup and migration help is included?
Red flags
- Vague or incomplete payment rates.
- Hardware leases that cost more than buying.
- Long contracts before proof of fit.
- No clean data export.
- Support hours that do not match store hours.
- Inventory workflows that only look good in the demo.
Launch checklist
- Test scanner, printer, drawer, card reader, gift card, refund, tax, tip, discount, exchange, and offline sale.
- Train at least one backup person.
- Keep a documented register/internet failure plan.
- Reconcile the first three days against bank deposits.
- Export and retain baseline product and customer data.