7 Best Free POS Systems for Small Businesses in 2023

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Our research found that Loyverse is the best free POS software for budget-conscious businesses. Its feature set is impressive, including everything from analytics to its own customer loyalty program. Square is another strong contender — while it charges transaction fees, it does offer strong retail and restaurant-focused features, making it suitable to a broader array of businesses.

As the economic climate grows even more challenging in 2023, free POS software gives businesses a way to scale back costs without compromising operational efficiency. To help match you to a solution that fits your needs, we reviewed the best free POS software — comparing their features, USPs, and additional costs. Scroll down to read our full reviews, or check out our table below to see how they weigh up side by side.

Alternatively, if you're willing to invest in higher-quality software, use our free POS system comparison tool for tailor-made quotes from leading POS providers (they might cost a lot less than you think).

In this review

Best Free POS Software for 2023
Verdict – Best Free POS Software
Is Free POS Software Really Free?
Pros and Cons of Free POS Software
Research and Methodology
The Best Free POS Software – Our Verdict
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Best Free POS Software for 2023

When it comes to picking out a free POS for your business, the main challenge is knowing which pros are definite musts and which cons are total deal-breakers. Luckily for you, we’ve rounded up the best free options, complete with lists of the main pros and cons that can help guide your decision.

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

Loyverse – Best free POS system overall
Square – Best POS system for small businesses
eHopper – Best for free payment processing
ShopKeep – Best for side hustles and tiny businesses
Shopify – Best for online-first businesses
Imonggo – Best for cash-only businesses
Zobaze – Best for businesses with Android hardware

Scroll down for detailed reviews of each POS, or click on the names above to jump directly to the system you’re interested in.

1. Loyverse – Best free POS system overall

When it comes to completely free POS platforms, you'll struggle to do any better than Loyverse as it offers all the tools you need to get your business ready for the next stage of its growth.

It was designed from the ground up as a genuinely free point-of-sale system. The system helps small businesses move away from Excel spreadsheets or even pen-and-paper setups to a slicker cloud-based solution.

Loyverse works best for retail businesses but could also be a great choice for service businesses or even takeaway food outlets. We wouldn't necessarily recommend it for restaurants, however, given its lack of a legit table management feature.

Loyverse

Great for businesses with multiple locations

In Short

Pros

The only free POS to support multiple locations and loyalty plans
Has more features than other free options
Works offline

Cons

No employee management
Limited inventory management
Add-ons cost extra

Gallery Click to expand

Loyverse features

For a free POS, Loyverse offers a surprisingly strong feature set. For businesses looking to grow their horizon and drive up revenue, the POS offers an array of useful tools including sales and analytics tracking and a well-rounded customer loyalty program. It does have a basic inventory feature too, but it's not the best on the market.

Loyverse can help you accept cash, credit, and debit card payments and works with a variety of payment partners including SumUp, WorldPay, and iZettle.

Loyverse pricing

Loyverse is a genuinely free POS. It doesn't even charge credit card processing fees. However, it does offer some neat little extras that might be worth keeping in mind as your business grows.

Employee management, for example, costs $25 per month, per employee. This will let you set employee shifts and workloads, as well as tracking their performance. Advanced inventory, which allows you to get inventory valuation reports, manage stock, and create purchase orders, will set you back $25 per month.

Loyverse will also charge you $9 per month to start integrating third-party apps such as your QuickBooks account or WooCommerce online store. These features are becoming increasingly important considering the amount of business that is done online at the moment, so it's definitely worth factoring into your plans.

However, compared to the more mainstream POS providers, it lacks complexity. Plus, you'll have to pay more for features such as employee management. That's why we'd likely recommend Square POS instead, for most small businesses.

2. Square POS – Best POS system for small businesses

Square is one of the biggest names in POS, and the free version of its service comes with plenty of features. It tracks sales and inventory, logs customer purchase history and emails receipts. Plus, its analytics features let users see their monthly or annual growth,which is an asset for businesses that are looking to drive up performance.

Square is our favorite POS system bar none and it just happens to be free to use — almost.

Square POS

Best overall POS system

In Short

Pros

Free to get started
Slick and stylish hardware
Serves businesses of all sizes and in all sectors
Strong analytics, inventory, and third-party integrations

Cons

Some necessary features for mid-sized businesses cost more
3.5% + 15¢ charge for keyed-in transactions
Support options vary by plan

Pricing

Free to install
No monthly fees, charges transaction fees instead
2.6% + 10c fees for card transactions

Gallery Click to expand

Square POS features

With Square, businesses will never risk losing out on revenue because they don't accept payment types. The POS lets you accept credit, debit, contactless, and chip payments and even offers unique payment options like QR payment and BNPL. Square also has its own integrated payment processing system, works offline, and lets workers send off digital receipts and invoices.

Its analytics and reporting features are almost unmatched when it comes to free (or paid!) POS platforms, offering more than 20 detailed options for staff and business performance. Square even has a free CRM system that lets you track customer feedback and respond to it if needs be. With the average US business losing 23% to 30% of its customer base each year due to a lack of loyalty, features like these are becoming more valuable than ever.

Square POS pricing

Square does charge processing fees: 2.6% + 10 cents for each card-based sale, 3.5% + 15 cents for manually keyed-in sales, and 2.9% plus 30 cents for online sales. Cash and check transactions are free, though.

However, as you will only be charged when you make some sales, we consider Square POS to be worthy of consideration among these free alternatives. What's more, you'll also get a free Square card reader for iPhone or Android devices when you sign up.

All told, if you want to start a business with a free(ish) POS system, we'd choose Square.

Learn more about Square POS pricing.

3. eHopper – Best for free payment processing

eHopper gives you a lot of features on its free plan. You get the free POS, obviously, but you also get a free terminal, and free payment processing — which is an unmissable opportunity for businesses committed to keeping costs as low.

eHopper

A basic POS for single-location businesses

In Short

Pros

Strong sales management
Runs on iPad, Android & PCs
Data reports

Cons

No training or support
Only one register
Clunky interface

Gallery Click to expand

eHopper features

eHopper works with retail, restaurant, and service businesses and lets you accept cash, debit, and credit card transactions easily.

However, none of its free features are particularly sophisticated and you might find that the platform struggles to keep pace with your business as it grows. eHopper's inventory management, for example, is a bit basic, making it less suitable for anything other than food trucks and quick-service eateries. You can adjust stock counts, for example, but you can't add product variants.

What's more, table management, ecommerce, customer loyalty, marketing, advanced reporting, menu building, and even barcode management are all reserved for the paid tiers.

eHopper pricing

A big downside is that on eHopper's free Essential plan, you'll only get one register for one store — anything more will require an upgrade. Unfortunately, this prevents the free plan from being accessible to medium-sized businesses or those with multiple locations.

If you run a single location such as a gas station, eHopper may be a good fit. The one register cap is the toughest restriction, and there’s no similar cap on the number of products or customers. You’ll be able to run an entire store for free, as long as you never open a second register.

However, there’s no email, phone, or chat support should anything go wrong. A paid tier starts at $29.99/register/month, and includes all the above features that are left out of the free tier, including training and support.

4. ShopKeep – Best for side hustles and tiny businesses

ShopKeep offers a free account that will let one person operate a single register and make sales of up to $5,000 per month. This means that while ShopKeep is a great deal for scaled-down businesses like side hustles, it's less suited to small businesses with moderate turnovers.

Shopkeep POS

A decent offering in a mobile-friendly package

In Short

Pros

Works on Android devices as well as Shopkeep's proprietary register
Clean, intuitive user interface

Cons

Support options vary by plan

Gallery Click to expand

ShopKeep features

ShopKeep's single user, register and sales cap stipulations might sound harsh but you'll get detailed reporting and be able to add items to your inventory with modifiers such as sizing. You'll also be able to issue paper, SMS, and email receipts with your business' location and contact information. Plus, you'll be able to process credit card transactions, process returns, and even set up register shifts to help manage workloads.

ShopKeep pricing

As mentioned, ShopKeep offers a version of its software that is completely free, however only for one user of one register in one location and sales of up to no more than $5,000 per month.

ShopKeep's approach to its free account might not win over everyone but it's a great option for small retail stores just starting out. It gives you everything you need to hit the ground running.

It also gets you used to the ShopKeep UI and, should you need to expand, you'll be able to do so from $49 per month.

5. Shopify – Best for online-first businesses

Shopify isn't exactly a free POS system but you can get a free POS if you're already using its brilliant ecommerce platform, making it ideal for online stores that are looking to branch out into bricks-and-mortar.

Shopify POS

Best for ecommerce businesses

In Short

Pros

Very strong ecommerce integration
24/7 support via phone, live chat, and email
Works with lots of different hardware options

Cons

Exclusively-focused on retail and ecommerce
Charges transaction fees unless you're using Shopify's own Payments processing system
No offline mode

Pricing

14-day free trial
Plans available for $29/month
2.6% + 10c card transaction fees

Gallery Click to expand

Shopify features

Shopify POS Lite is included with all Shopify ecommerce plans and gives you some neat features.

You'll be able to accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Apple Pay, and Google Pay transactions with a Shopify card reader. Plus, you'll get credit card processing rates starting at 1.7% with Shopify Payments.

You'll be able to offer split payments and partial payments, giving your customers more flexibility. You'll be able to customize your POS layout, making it quicker and easier to complete transactions and you'll be able to offer a mobile checkout anywhere within your store if you want to use a tablet or phone, for example.

You can list unlimited products with multiple variants to account for different sizes, colors, or materials, for example. Plus, you'll be able to easily allocate different inventories to different stores or your online platform.

Shopify pricing

Obviously, Shopify POS isn't actually a free POS. But, if you're already running an online store and are looking to expand, Shopify might be the perfect fit for you — especially so if you're already using Shopify to run your ecommerce operations.

The cheapest Shopify plan costs $29 per month which, considering you'll be getting ecommerce and POS, really isn't too expensive.

However, compared to other leading POS providers we've reviewed, Shopify's overall value offering isn't great. Due to the price of its advanced packages, and lack of a fully free plan, our researchers only gave it a 2.2/5 score for its price — a far cry from our frontrunner Square's perfect score of 5/5.

6. Imonggo – Best for cash-only businesses

Imonggo is a decent free option for businesses that solely take cash, but if you require more than one user permission, list more than 1,000 products or make over 1,000 transactions per month, you'll need to fork out for its paid plan at $30 per month.

Imonggo's free plan doesn't let you accept card payments either, making its use extremely limited.

Imonggo

Super simple interface is easy to learn

In Short

Pros

Inventory tracking
Intuitive interface
Customer service

Cons

Only one user
Only one location
Capped at 1,000 products

Gallery Click to expand

Imonggo features

Imonggo's installation process is easy, and you should be able to master using the software quickly.

It offers the basics, such as inventory and sales management, and a few useful extra features, like loyalty options, offline mode. Customer support is also included for free.

Imonggo is browser-based and works on Chrome, Safari, and Firefox meaning that you should be able to use it regardless of what hardware you might have.

While Imonggo might seem like a strong free POS system, it has one crippling downside – you cannot take card payments on the free plan.

Instead, you're limited to cash and check transactions only. This might have been fine a few years ago but now, with the prevalence of mobile payments and the emphasis on contactless transactions in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, Imonggo looks out of date.

Imonggo pricing

On top of the lack of card payments available, and the restrictions mentioned above that mean you can add no more than 1,000 products and take no more than 1,000 transactions each month, you'll also be limited to one user at one location on the free plan. This could be another stumbling block if your business employs a lot of staff or operates across multiple locations.

You can upgrade starting at $30 per month but, at that price, we'd be choosing a different provider.

7. Zobaze – Best for businesses with Android hardware

Zobaze is designed specifically to work with the Android operating system and is available from the Google Play Store. This makes it ideal for businesses already relying on Android hardware, but pretty useless for those that aren't.

Zobaze

An underwhelming Android-only POS

In Short

Pros

Is genuinely free
Designed to work with Android devices

Cons

Lacks advanced features
No customer support
Software isn't the most sophisticated

Pricing

Completely free to use

Gallery Click to expand

Zobaze features

While Zobaze does give you a free POS, support options are limited and the company is primarily focused on the Asian market. With that being said, you'll still be able to use it to accept cash, credit cards, debit cards, and checks. What's more, you'll get reporting on profits, peak times, sales by staff member, best performing products and product categories.

It even has an offline mode to help you in case the power goes out.

Zobaze pricing

The Zobaze app is free but offers in-app purchases which range from $4.40 to $269 per item.

Despite the app's upsides, there's no real good reason to choose Zobaze over Loyverse or eHopper as free options, and if you're willing to pay there are far better choices available, including Tech.co's top-rated Square POS.

Zobaze is a better choice than pen-and-paper but we'd go for any of the other providers on this list ahead of it.

Is Free POS Software Really Free?

While POS software can be free, no one’s giving away the hardware you’ll need. A tablet or smartphone may be the only essential hardware for a small operation (which you may already own), but card readers, iPad docks, or stand-alone touchscreen displays are all common POS hardware options, and will cost you.

Most small business POS systems on the market today are cloud-based. This means they are run by a company that hosts their software and licenses it out to businesses, who then use it while connected to the internet. (If the internet goes out, most POS systems can operate offline temporarily, and sync back up once they’re online again).

Since these systems tend to make their money on a subscription basis, some offer a free tier. This allows POS providers to gain brand recognition, and creates a broad customer base that might eventually move up to a paid subscription plan. It’s a “freemium” plan: Free, but with a premium option for those willing to reach for their wallets. An example is Loyverse POS.

Another type of “free” POS system is the type that takes a few percentage points off the revenue from each sale. While there’s no up-front cost for using the software, your monthly revenue will drop by around 2-3%, so it’s not really free. However, the price might be more acceptable for a small business that can’t depend on consistently meeting a budget, or an individual vendor that doesn't sell year round. Square POS operates using this model and provides significantly better features for it.

Find out more – How Much Does a POS System Cost?

Other free POS systems include those offered by companies as a no-strings-attached loss leader to boost their brand name and encourage sales of POS hardware or add-ons, as well as open-source POS software, which is created and maintained by online volunteers but is often clunkier and may be outdated.

Pros and Cons of Free POS Software

It's a hard time to be running a restaurant or business at the moment. As surging inflation rates push up the price of stock, and the cost of living hampers consumer spending, maintaining healthy profits has become even more challenging for business owners.

Free POS software might seem like an easy way to reduce your overheads. But be warned, not all of them are as “free” as they claim to be, and others simply don't have the features you'll need to run your business.

In comparison, paid POS software always looks slick and feels intuitive. The interfaces on a free POS, however, can vary wildly. Some look like a text-based version of the old Oregon Trail game and others look like an early 2000s pop-up ad. Whichever you pick, you’ll have to stare at it day in and day out, and it may be difficult or slow to use.

If you're interested in exploring paid solutions, check out our guide to the best POS for small businesses here.

Free POS systems will track sales and inventory, but may not have any options for managing employees or offering loyalty programs. This isn’t necessarily a con, however, as many small businesses wouldn’t benefit enough from these extra features to make them truly cost effective.

What it eventually comes down to is the POS system you choose has to be the right POS for your needs. You can use our free POS comparison tool to find the best value POS system for your business. It's simple, quick and easy-to-use, and you'll get a free, no-obligation quote to help you assess your business' needs.

Research & Methodology

We're very committed to making accurate and well-informed recommendations at Tech.co. This is why we never list a provider on our site without researching it extensively first.

When compiling our list of the best free POS systems, we collected data on the leading providers before comparing them on factors that are of high importance to our users. This included criteria like till features, business development tools, and help and support options.

We also checked to see whether the POS providers charged transaction rates and hidden fees, and used all this information to rank the software in order of their overall value, while also pointing out which solution is best suited to different types of businesses.

We review every type of business software a little differently at Tech.co, so read our research process to learn more.

Verdict - Best Free POS Software

The best completely free POS is Loyverse. It has a surprisingly wide feature set, including some strong customer loyalty skills. But if we had to pick just one software to recommend, it would still be Square. You won't have to pay any money until you start making sales and it's likely to be a far better long-term option for your business.

While paid POS systems offer more advanced business features and generous user limits, you don't have to pay monthly fees to get your business off the ground. If you're unsure of the best choice for your needs, use our free POS comparison tool to help you find the most affordable POS system for your business needs.

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Best Free POS Software: Frequently Asked Questions

While Loyverse can give you a completely free POS system, we think that Square is actually cheaper in the long run. The latter's more advanced features should give you a better return for your investment down the line.

The best completely free POS software is Loyverse. It has surprisingly strong features and is perfectly good enough for small businesses just starting out.

Yep. eHopper is a completely free POS, with one register in one store. The downside is that none of eHopper's free features are particularly sophisticated, so you might find that the platform struggles to keep pace with your business as it grows. Still, we'd recommend you try eHopper for free to get a feel for the software, and see if it's right for your business' needs.

Zobaze is completely free. However, it has some fairly significant drawbacks: it only works on Android hardware, has no proper customer support, and it lacks a lot of advanced features.

Square's POS app is completely free. The provider doesn't require any setup or monthly fees. However, Square does charge transaction fees for each sale, at 2.6% + 10¢ for card-based transactions, and 3.5% + 15¢ for keyed-in transactions.

Businesses can get free POS software by selecting a complimentary service provider, then downloading the software. However, it's important to note that while free POS software doesn't incur monthly fees, they do tent to charge higher transaction fees which can add up over time.

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Best Free POS Software 2023: Benefits, Hidden Fees & More

Best Free POS Software for 2023