The 6 Best Retail POS Systems for Stores in 2023

1. Square POS: Best Retail POS System Overall

• Tech.co retail rating: 4.7/5
• Price from: Free (plus processing fees)
• Payment processing: Card transactions: 2.6% + 10¢. Keyed-in transactions: 3.5% + 15¢

Square is, hands down, the best point of sale system we've tested. No surprise that it owns 30% of the POS market. It offers stellar business features, and businesses can get started with the system without paying monthly fees — making it ideal for vendors with smaller turnovers like kiosks, and market stalls. In fact, Square's pricing scheme has helped the system to achieve a perfect price score of 5/5, undercutting its rivals, Clover and Vend.

Square POS features

From powerful customer relationship management (CRM) tools to strong sales reporting features that let you track profit and loss, Square's suite of features is impressive. This is reflected in our retail POS research where we gave Square a 4/5 score for retail features, ranking higher than its rivals Clover, Vend, and Zettle in this category.

Square POS cross-location features
Source: squareup.com

What's more, after putting Square through the wringer, our research team gave Square perfect scores of 5/5 for its business management, inventory management, and business development tools — beating every single other provider we've researched to the punch. This means that if you choose Square, you don't need to tradeoff between practical features and business expansion tools unlike with solutions like Zettle and Vend.

After giving Square a try ourselves, we found its software and hardware are easy to use too, making it our top POS pick for smaller businesses and a great option for those just starting out. The provider has also recently improved the Bluetooth connectivity for its chip and pin Square Reader, making it even easier for small vendors like market stalls and kiosks to take payments on the go.

Since we last reviewed the POS back in April, it's also launched Square Subscriptions, a Square Online feature that allows ecommerce retailers to sell products on a recurring basis. This makes Square even more competitive for omnichannel retailers looking to secure consistent revenue.

But Square isn't just an asset to small or omnichannel sellers. With no other provider offering such strong business features, alongside a huge app marketplace that lets you connect loads of third-party services to your POS, we also found that Square is the definitive choice for any business after a comprehensive retail solution.

Square POS pricing and fees

Alongside Zettle by PayPal, Square is the most affordable POS we've reviewed — making it ideal for small or temporary vendors like market stalls or pop-up shops. 

Square Free lets businesses get up and running at no monthly cost. However, they will need to pay 2.6% + 10 ¢ for each card-present sale. This plan contains access to Square’s retail POS app, basic inventory tools, and a complimentary card reader.

Square also offers two paid tiers, Square Plus, and Premium. Square Plus is available for $60 per month and includes everything in the provider's free tier with more advanced inventory and reporting features, and slightly lower transaction fees of 2.5% + 10 ¢ for each card-present sale.

Finally, Square Premium contains the provider’s full suite of retail features including account management tools, and pricing is available on request.

Check out our pricing table below to learn more about Square's different plans.

You can find out more about Square and its unique pricing structure in our full guide to Square POS pricing.

2. Clover POS: Great Built-in Loyalty App

• Tech.co retail rating: 4.5/5
• Price from: $60 per month
• Payment processing: Starting from 2.3% + 10¢

Clover may not have as many retail features as Square, but it's a great choice for stores with a pre-existing website that want to start taking online orders. Its intuitive software lets you add online ordering easily to an existing website, and Clover even offers its own built-in loyalty app, making it easier for businesses to reward and retain loyal customers.

Clover POS features

Clover's till features are very solid. In fact, after testing the POS system, our researchers awarded it a retail score of 4.5/5, which is better than Vend and our #1 POS solution, Square. Clover lets you accept Visa, Mastercard, and Amex cards, as well as Google Pay, Apple Pay, and gift cards, it also offers digital receipts and one-touch tipping options, which will undoubtedly make life easier for staff.

Clover's built-in loyalty solution, Clover Rewards, is a unique mobile application that allows businesses to reward repeat customers with perks. The app is simple to use, and all customers need to do to qualify is enter their first name when transacting.

Clover POS reporting features
Source: clover.com

The POS also includes strong data analytics tools, which allow you to track sales performance in real-time and see your sales across different locations. These impressive analytics and CRM features also helped it to secure a score of 4.5/5 in business development in our wider POS research. While this doesn't quite beat Square's perfect score of 5/5, it still makes Clover a strong contender for businesses keen on motoring their performance.

Clover is committed to moving with the times too. As the payment industry modernizes and moves toward pin-based verifications, Clover removed mandatory signature verification in April, making it easier and quicker for businesses using the POS to authenticate and process payments.

Read more in our full Clover POS review

Clover POS pricing and fees

Clover offers three combined hardware and software packages for retail businesses.

Clover POS pricing plans start from $60 per month, for its Retail Starter Plan. This tier includes Clover's mini touchscreen POS and runs on the Essentials software plan.

Clover's mid-tier retail package, Retail Standard, includes a Station Duo POS with a receipt printer and cash drawer, access to the Register software plan, and costs $135 per month.

Finally, Clover's most expansive retail plan, Retail Advanced, costs $185 per month and includes the Station Duo POS, the handled Flex POS, a receipt printer and cash draw, and access to the Register software package.

Clover's plans are pricier than most of its rivals, but unlike systems like Square, Vend, and Zettle, the provider's plans include hardware and software options, somewhat justifying its higher cost.

To learn more about Clover's three retail pricing packages, and their respective transaction fees, refer to the table below:

Also known as Lightspeed Retail (X-Series), Vend is a POS system that's been designed specifically for retail businesses.

Vend's entry price may be steeper than Square's and Clover, but the POS still offers particularly good value for retailers — with a competitive training mode for new workers, real-time reporting, and integration options with a range of popular third-party providers. Unfortunately, Vend's run-of-the-mill retail features prevent it from appearing any higher on our list. Scroll down to find out more.

Vend POS features

Despite being a store-focused POS system, our insights team gave Vend's retail features a score of 3.5/5 as they aren't as comprehensive as its rivals like Square and Clover, who both scored 4/5 in the category. This suggests it's not the best choice for retail businesses after an expansive tool kit.

If you, like 46% of small businesses in the US, don't currently have a system in place to track your goods, Vend's streamlined inventory management system lets users add, manage, and delete products easily. In fact, when we reviewed the system as a whole, Vend achieved a perfect score of 5/5 for stock management like every single provider on this list.

Vend training mode
Source: support.vendhq.com

Vend also has a strong training mode for new staff members that allows users to trial the software without accessing the system's sales history, settings, or status page. Thanks to this feature, which is a great way to familiarize workers with the system without jeopardizing store data, our data suggests Vend is the #1 POS for onboarding staff, making it one of our top picks for expanding businesses.

Despite Vend's strengths, our researchers found its till features aren't as strong as its rivals, with its score dropping from 4/5 to 3.5/5 in our latest round of testing. This means that the POS may be less suitable for larger businesses and those with complex order systems. Vend doesn't offer delivery support either, which is another reason it's unable to beat our retail frontrunners, Square and Clover.

Vend POS pricing

With an entry price of $69 per month, Vend is more expensive to get started on than any other provider on this list. If you're looking to shirk these high monthly fees, we would advise going with Square and Zettle instead.

Vend does offer a free plan, however. If you're interested in learning more about Vend's pricing tiers, we break them down in our table below:

Find out more in our full Vend POS review.

4. Zettle by PayPal: Great Value for Money

• Tech.co retail rating: 4.2/5
• Price from: Free (transaction fees apply)
• Payment processing: Card transactions: 2.9% + 9¢. Keyed-in transactions: 3.49% + 9¢

While Zettle may not have achieved as much name recognition as other providers on this list, it has been assisting retail businesses for over 10 years.

If like 54% of small business owners, revenue and spiraling inflation rates are currently your top concern, Zettle could be a great option for you. 

Like Square, our researchers gave Zettle a price score of 5/5, and is completely free to get started with — charging transaction rates instead of monthly fees. The system's toolkit is not as comprehensive as others on this list though, making it unsuitable for large and specialty stores. 

Check out our Zettle by PayPal review for more information

Zettle by PayPal features

If your business sells goods online and in-store, Zettle omnichannel tools make this process simple and fuss-free. The Zettle app is able to connect seamlessly to your online store, allowing you to sell products across channels from one easy-to-use platform.

As inflating price tags limit customer demand, Zettle's flexible payment features make it easy for businesses to drive up their revenue. The point of sale accepts all mainstream payment types, including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and mobile payment.

Zettle by PayPal's payment features are improving every month too. The POS provider recently launched a Tap to Pay feature for Android devices, making it more quicker and more convenient for customers with Android devices to pay for products and services.

Zettle POS retail app
Source: zettle.com

What's more, unlike many providers, Zettle doesn't feature a user limit — meaning each of its plans is available to an unlimited number of users. This, combined with the system's affordable price point, makes it suitable for a large number of stores.

Despite Zettle's decent payment features and generous user limit, when looking at the system as a whole the POS doesn't rank favorably for business management or business development features, only scoring 2.3/5 and 3.8/5 in these categories respectively. Therefore, if you're looking for a POS with strong reporting and loyalty tools, you may benefit from a system like Square, Clover, or Shopify.

Zettle's POS offering is decent, but you can use our custom pricing comparison tool to find out if it's the best option for your business.

Zettle by PayPal pricing and fees

Since Zettle’s POS app is completely free to set up, it's cheap to get the system up and running. Zettle, however, charges businesses per transaction. This means that costs can accumulate over time.

We break down Zettle by PayPal's transaction fees below:

• 2.29% + 9 cents for each card-based sale
• 2.29 %+ 9 cents for every QR code transaction
• 3.49% + 9 cents for each manual card entry transaction
• 3.49 % + 49 cents for invoicing transaction

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

5. SpotOn: Most Customizable POS System

• Tech.co retail rating: 4.2/5
• Price from: $15 per month
• Payment processing: Variable – relies on third-party provider

With retail features that give our frontrunner, Square, a run for its money SpotOn is a flexible POS system that lets you tailor your POS to what you're selling. This high level of customization makes it easier to sell goods to your target demographic, which is an easy win for any business.

However, while SpotOn is reasonably priced and has no user limit, many of the POS's features are only available as paid add-ons. This makes SpotOn less suited for businesses looking for an affordable, one-size-fits-all solution and prevents it from trumping other solutions like Vend, and Zettle.

Check out our SpotOn POS review for more information

SpotOn features

From its slick online dashboard to its intuitive product catalog, SpotOn really excels when it comes to retail features. After testing them out, our researchers gave it a retail score of 4/5, which is a stronger score than its competitors Clover and Vend.

SpotOn also scored a perfect 5/5 for its stock management capabilities too. With SpotOn's product catalog, users can track their sales by channel, and monitor their financial performance at the same time. The tool also lets retail workers keep track of their business's online and in-person sales simultaneously. With multichannel transactions often being challenging to measure, this can be a lifesaver for click-and-mortar businesses.

SpotOn POS scheduling feature
Source: spoton.com

As we've touched on, SpotOn's offering can also be customized to just about every retail business under the sun. From home decor to sporting goods, SpotOn's business profiles are just about as niche as it gets. By picking a POS mode that's right for your business, you have access to a wide selection of industry-specific tools. This feature is undoubtedly one of SpotOn's greatest strengths and is especially useful to businesses with distinct niches like sporting goods stores.

If you're after CRM tools, SpotOn also has you covered. The provider's digital loyalty program lets you enroll buyers during checkout and reward loyalty with custom rewards. The tool is also super easy to apply, helping you to drive up repeat visits with minimal effort. However, unlike Clover, SpotOn doesn't offer a specialized CRM app, and its wider business management tools are less substantial, with a score of 3.6/5 vs Clover's 4.5.

SpotOn pricing and fees

SpotOn's cheapest plan, Ponyt, costs $15 per month after the first one-time setup fee. The tier is pretty basic, but offers some quality cataloging, payment, and ordering features and allows users to add a variety of extensions.

SpotOn's Register Lite package will cost businesses $45 per month, and comes with a POS software package, a built-in card reader, an 8″ merchant-facing touchscreen display, a 4.3″ customer-facing display, and a built-in receipt printer.

Last up, SpotOn Register costs $65 per month, and includes a range of advanced POS features, from reporting to employee management, and a 13.3″ display, thermal printer, and Bluetooth connectivity.

6. Shopify: Best for Omnichannel Sellers

• Tech.co rating: 3.7/5
• Price from: $29/month
• Payment processing: Starting from 2.4%

Shopify is primarily an ecommerce company, but it offers a retail POS system too. Shopify has excellent online store integrations, and it offers the best free trial of any provider we've tested, too. However, while this solution is great for online enterprises looking to expand into brick-and-mortar retail stores, its high monthly costs prevent it from making our top five.

We still thought Shopify was worthy of a mention though, mainly due to its generous free trial and abundant ecommerce add-ons. We break the POS system down further below.

Shopify POS features

Omnichannel retail is booming, and research reveals the market is projected to grow a further 13.6% before 2030. If your retail business sells online and in-store, Shopify will be perfectly equipped to meet your needs.

The provider lets you run your ecommerce site and up to 1,000 physical stores, all from one unified platform. This makes the POS an asset to large omnichannel franchises, and retail stores looking to branch out into new locations.

After we tested Shopify's ecommerce toolkit, alongside its impressive analytic tools, we decided to give the provider a solid business development score of 4.2/5 in our wider POS research, helping it to edge out other providers, like Vend.

Shopify POS Reports overview
Source: shopify.com

Shopify also offers a great selection of till features, but the POS really shines when it comes to stock control. The provider's inventory management tools let you create, edit, and review stock levels in a few clicks, which is why our researchers awarded it a perfect score of 5/5 in this category.

While Shopify's potential is huge, many features, like CRM, accounting, or marketing tools, are only available as third-party integrations. This, unfortunately, bumps up the overall price of the service for businesses in need of these capabilities.  

How does Shopify compare to a more traditional POS provider? Find out in our head-to-head comparison of Lightspeed vs Shopify.

Shopify POS pricing and fees

Shopify's POS pricing can seem confusing but, trust us, it's a pretty good deal. Check out the table below for an overview of its main plans, or read our guide to Shopify pricing for more details.

Overwhelmed with confusing pricing plans? Use our pricing comparison tool to receive tailored POS quotes.

How to Choose a Retail POS System

If you're just getting started with your search for a good POS system, you might not know what to consider when it comes to choosing the right provider. Here are some factors to consider when choosing the right retail POS system for your business.

Price

Cost is always a good place to start when it comes to any business software including POS systems. If your budget is tight, starting with a free plan that only charges transaction fees might be your best bet. On the other hand, paid plans can get you more affordable transaction fees, as well as more features for reporting retail sales and managing sales and discounts.

Business size

You'll need to consider the size of your business carefully when choosing a new POS system. Some are more natural fits with startups and SMBs, while others are designed to be scalable and better suit larger organizations. For instance, our top pick Square is perfect for smaller sellers starting out, but Shopify's strong ecommerce integration may make it more suitable for bigger businesses.

Features

A good POS system for small businesses will log the number and value of the sales you’ve made, track your inventory, and let you know when to restock. It’ll also help you analyze sales and refunds so you can maximize profits.

More advanced systems provide POS features that enable you to make more sales, both in person and online, as well as manage your staff and customer base – all while identifying smarter ways to work.

Check out our POS data analysis guide for more information

Retail POS System Prices

Small business POS system costs are normally somewhere between $15 and $100 per month for a system with a single cash register. Larger businesses, on the other hand, might be looking at costs between $100 and $300 per month, with additional one-time hardware purchases that typically cost in excess of $2,500 per location.

Compared to Restaurant POS systems, Retail POS systems tend to be a similar price or slightly less, depending on which provider you opt for and how many food service features you require. For instance, Square's paid retail and hospitality plans cost the same amount at $60 per month, while SponOn's restaurant plan will cost businesses $65 per month more than its retail package.

Although rising inflation rates are forcing business owners to be even more mindful of their bottom line, buying an industry-specific POS will almost always be more expensive but better value than investing in a generalized system. This is because tailored POS systems are packed with more industry-specific features and specialist hardware — from ticketing systems and kitchen displays for food businesses, to barcode scanners and weighing scales for retailers.

Whether you choose a one-size-fits-all POS or a specialized system, the month-to-month pricing alongside transaction fees can seem high at first. However, the right system will make your business far more efficient and profitable in the long run, so investing in a top solution really is a no-brainer.