5 Best Bar POS Systems for Small Business, 2018

A bar POS system is designed to help bar staff and managers oversee beverage service, so it must do more than a standard retail POS system. Drink recipe lists, substitutions, price scheduling, split inventory for liquor pours, and tab management are just a few things to look for in bar POS software, and what our five picks provide.

Best Bar POS System for 2018 – Summary Table

Bar POS System	Best for	Cost
Square	Small bars and startups wanting a low-cost POS than can grow	From $0/month
Toast	Growing bars that want to closely track all activities	From $79/month
Lightspeed Restaurant	Bars with multiple locations	From $69/month
TouchBistro	High-volume bars that need multiple registers	From $69/month
ShopKeep	Bars needing detailed ingredients inventory tracking	From $69/month

How We Evaluated & Selected the Best Bar POS Systems for 2018

In general sales management, all bar POS systems do what any POS system will do. You can take orders, process payments, manage inventory and purchasing, track sales, and review business analytics. What sets a good bar POS system apart are bar and beverage service-specific features, such as:

• Running customer tabs
• Being able to transfer tabs & split checks
• Order entry that allows drink customization
• Drink recipe lists with ingredients
• Splitting liquor inventory products & tracking pours
• Price scheduling for happy hour and other specials
• Tip tracking and end-of-day payouts
• Multi-user environment with staff tracking
• Customer relationship management (CRM) features

A good bar POS system puts these features at your fingertips to make every aspect of your business run smoothly. You can serve drinks faster, closely track inventory, allow patrons to pay however they wish, and monitor every aspect of your beverage service business — all within one streamlined system. Here are the five best bar POS systems for startups, small operations, and fast-growing bar businesses.

Best Bar POS Software for Startups & Small Operations: Square

We recommend Square POS for bar startups and small bar operations because it delivers a fully integrated set of inventory, sales, ticket management, and payment tools for free. As you grow and need advanced features like detailed drink recipes and modifiers, staff tracking, and happy hour pricing, you can easily transition to the feature-packed Square for Restaurants POS for just $60 per month. Whether you need an entry-level, zero-cost POS system or a full-featured POS with advanced features for your bar, Square fits the bill.

What You Can Do with Square POS Software

Don’t let Square’s free POS software price tag fool you, Square POS packs a lot of punch. Square provides a completely seamless suite of sales, payment, inventory, staff, and customer management tools in its free system. Tailoring these capabilities to beverage service and bar sales is a piece of cake.

With built-in tip tracking, inventory and menu management, modifiers, open tabs, and payment processing, it’s easy to see that Square POS is designed for food and beverage service operations. Here’s a look at the many ways Square POS software can streamline your bar operation:

Square POS Bar Sales Features 

• Add and subtract items in open tabs
• Split tabs for multiple payments
• Add item modifiers or a custom item and price to orders
• Let patrons choose to add a preset or custom tip
• Pay at tableside using mobile devices and send an e-receipt
• Fire orders to the kitchen for bar fare
• Accept prepaid online & takeout orders
• Track & reward customer interaction with a customer loyalty program*
• Sell gift cards*

Square POS Bar Operations & Business Management Features

• Categorize menu items and create modifier sets
• Allow or restrict price adjustments to menu items
• Create dual pricing per item for happy hour specials or promotions
• Track inventory items & set low-level alerts for reordering
• Add unlimited users and staff
• Track employee logins, sales & tips
• Manage employee scheduling & payroll*
• Access business reports from any computer or device
• Manage multiple locations
• Track customer feedback and send targeted email* & Facebook* promotions

Most features listed above are included in Square’s free POS system. The advanced add-ons* have added fees — but you can add them as needed, so you only pay for what you use. At $0, Square POS is certainly priced right for the shoestring startup. If you need advanced bar POS features as you grow, upgrading to Square for Restaurants is quick and easy. With impressive free features and as-needed expandability, it’s no surprise that small businesses and multimillion-dollar operations alike use Square.

What Square Costs

Square is a free POS system. That means there are no monthly, startup, or cancellation fees to access and use the POS software on your smartphone, tablet or computer. So, if you already have an iPad or smartphone, you can quite literally run your bar using Square POS on your existing device and have no initial costs at all.

The only fees you pay to Square are payment processing fees when a customer pays with a credit card. Even then, Square’s low flat-rate card processing fees hold no surprises. You pay a small percentage of each sale, usually 2.75% on typical tabs, and that’s it. No hidden transaction fees, batch fees, or other charges at the end of the month.

Here’s what you’re looking at cost-wise if you choose Square as your bar POS system:

Square POS System & Hardware Costs

Service/Hardware	Cost
Square POS Software	Free: no startup, monthly, or cancellation fees
Credit Card Processing	Built-in with Square Payments: For bar tab & food ticket sales: 2.75% of ticket amount Online takeout orders: 2.9% + 30¢ per sale Takeout payments over phone: 3.5% + 15¢ per sale
Square for Restaurants POS Software	From $60/month for advanced features with lower credit card processing fees: 2.6% + 10¢ per sale
Expanded POS Features	Email & Facebook marketing: From $15/month Loyalty program: From $25/month Gift cards: 90¢ each Advanced staff management: $5/month per employee Add payroll: From $5/month
Square credit card readers for smartphones & tablets	Magstripe reader: Free with your Square account Contactless & chip card reader: $49
iPad Register Station	$169 for an iPad stand with contactless card reader (add an iPad for $498) Build out a register to suit your needs with a-la-carte peripherals like a cash drawer, receipt printer, kitchen printer, and more that all connect seamlessly
Square Register (New)	$999 one-time purchase Or pay over time: $49/month for 24 months Using Square Register, your credit card processing fees drop to 2.5% + 10¢ per sale

What Square POS Software is Missing

As a bar POS system, Square‘s free POS falls short in two areas that might affect your decision. These are:

1. You have to use Square to process credit card payments — Square is a payments processor and that’s where they make their money. You can’t use your own merchant account with Square POS, which means you can’t shop providers for lower rates. However, until you’re selling about $30K/month, Square tends to be cheaper than traditional merchant accounts anyways. When you reach that volume, you can usually negotiate a lower processing rate with Square, too.
2. Square’s inventory system doesn’t split inventory or track recipe ingredients — Square’s free POS inventory system will let you track complete items, but it doesn’t let you create drink menus that connect ingredients (like pours) to specific drinks. Also, you can’t split an inventory item, like a bottle of wine, into 4 servings. To easily handle this, you’ll need Square for Restaurants, which starts at $60 per month. However, in Square’s knowledgebase, you’ll find all sorts of clever user workarounds in the free POS. For example, one user enters all wine bottles as “Quantity 4,” then multiplies her physical counts by 4 when checking stock. So, there are ways to get these things done in Square’s free POS — if that’s best for your budget.

These two sticking points might make a difference in a mid- to high-volume operation, which is why we say Square’s free POS is best for smaller bars and startups. For these users, Square really delivers an amazing value in a sleek, low-cost POS system. Plus, the fact that it can be upgraded to Square for Restaurants as advanced features are needed is a very convenient perk.

Visit Square

Best Bar POS Software for Growing Businesses: Toast

Toast is an ideal bar POS system for the growing establishment that wants to track every aspect of its service using handheld devices, registers, or a combination of both. Toast’s top-notch bar POS software lets you manage the fine details of beverage service, including tracking pours for tight inventory controls, creating drink menus with customization options, and monitoring staff cash drawer access. It does all of this in a sleek Android-based interface that provides just about every beverage service feature a bar owner could ask for in bar POS system.

What You Can Do with Toast Bar POS Software

Really, the question is what can’t you do with Toast bar POS software. Toast is designed to fill every service and management need of the modern bar owner. Basic beverage service management functions are all there, plus patron-attracting features like a loyalty program are built right in. Here’s a rundown of the top features that make Toast a top bar POS system designed to help you grow:

Toast Bar POS Service Features:

• Mobile device tableside ordering & checkout
• Run customer tabs & split checks
• Transfer tabs between servers & track tips
• Drink recipe lists that tie to inventory
• Drink order customization for patron requests
• Automated price scheduling for happy hour and other specials
• Food menu support with fire to kitchen for serving bar fare
• Customer loyalty program for discounts and free offers

Toast Bar POS Operating & Business Management Features:

• Customer support 27/7/365
• Offline mode allows you to process sales if without internet connection
• Multi-location management
• Customer relationship management (CRM) tools for promotional needs
• Table layouts for managing seating areas
• Split inventory products to track pours
• Multi-user staff logins for security
• Employee time tracking & scheduling
• Track staff cash drawer access
• Liquor sales & purchase compliance tracking
• Detailed business reports and analytics

It’s the small details, like splitting inventory to track drink pours and tying drink recipes to inventory usage, that make Toast an ideal bar POS system for growing businesses. These small things all add up and help you run your entire operation more efficiently. Plus Toast’s excellent staff tracking features help you pinpoint security issues and minimize cash losses. Another nice feature is Toast’s 24/7/365 customer service, which is a big plus for an after-hours establishment. If you have a technical issue at 11 pm, Toast has you covered.

Perhaps the best thing about Toast’s stellar suite of bar management features is that it frees up your time to focus on business-building activities. In fact, Toast also supports these needs with a good set of CRM tools and a detailed patron database. By tracking patron data per-sale, you can develop targeted marketing campaigns to attract repeat business or build out a sales-driving loyalty program.

What Toast Costs

With monthly fees that start at $79, Toast offers pricing that’s very small business-friendly. That $79/month gives you complete access to Toast’s top-notch bar POS software and usage on one device (sold separately) like a register station or tablet. You can connect additional devices for $50/each per month. So, if you want to run two complete register stations or use one station and one handheld device, or more, say for tableside ordering, you can easily do that with Toast.

Toast also offers a range of register and mobile device options, like these, to meet your service needs and budget.

Toast is Android-based, but unlike some other bar POS systems in this list, you must buy your register stations and handheld devices from them. You can’t download Toast to your own device, unlike Square and Lightspeed. That said, Toast’s registers and handhelds are competitively priced, here’s a look at Toast’s overall costs and range of hardware packages, see more here.

Toast Bar POS System & Hardware Costs

Service/Hardware	Cost
Bar POS Software	$79/month for 1st device; $50/month per additional device
Credit Card Processing	Built-in with Toast Payments: Flat-rate fees per quote
Expanded Features	Loyalty program +$25/month Gift Cards Integration +$50/month Online ordering +$50/month
Handheld Device Package	From $450 - includes the tablet preloaded with Toast and credit card reader
Basic Register Station	From $850 - includes tablet stand, credit card reader and receipt printer
Full Register Station	Around $1350 for a register with touchscreen, cash drawer, card terminal and printer

What Toast Bar POS Software is Missing

As we state above, there’s little that Toast can’t do to help you manage and grow your bar business. But there’s one important feature that it lacks: You can’t use your own merchant account provider to process credit card payments.

Like Square, Toast is its own credit card processor, so you can’t shop around for different credit card merchant account providers. Like Square, Toasts offers simple flat-rate credit card processing fees, but unlike Square, these fees aren’t published. You negotiate your fees based on your account needs and sales volume. In checking user reviews, rates don’t seem to be a source of complaints, but it’s something to keep in mind as you search for your ideal bar POS system.

Visit Toast

Best Bar POS Software for Multiple Locations: Lightspeed Restaurant POS

Lightspeed Restaurant POS is an ideal solution for bars owners that want to manage multiple locations via a centralized POS system. Lightspeed delivers multi-location management capabilities and targeted bar sales features at quite a low price. It supports inventory transfers between locations, multi-location staffing, per-location sales reporting, and much more. Add to that a stellar set of service-focused tab support, drinks lists, and split inventory tracking, and Lightspeed Restaurant POS is a top bar POS system to consider.

What You Can Do with Lightspeed Restaurant POS in Your Bar

Lightspeed POS is an award-winning multi-industry POS system that has been at it for years. But that doesn’t mean it’s a one-size-fits-all solution that lacks bar-specific details; far from it, in fact. Lightspeed Restaurant POS takes Lightspeed’s already stellar inventory, sales, and staff tracking features and fashions them into exactly what bar and restaurant owners need. And it does this all for a surprisingly budget-friendly price, especially for multi-register and mobile device users.

Add to that robust multi-location management tools and an amazing array of ready integrations, and you tailor Lightspeed Restaurant POS to fit your exact bar service needs. Here’s a rundown of the top features that make Lightspeed Restaurant POS an ideal bar POS system, too:

Lightspeed Restaurant POS Service Features:

• Mobile device tableside ordering using iPads & iPhones
• Run customer tabs & split checks
• Drink menu lists that ties to inventory with automated reductions per-order
• Drink order customization with modifier price adjustments
• Automated upsells and promotion reminders
• Schedule timed price events and discounts for happy hours and other specials
• Add a food menu tied to your kitchen for bar fare
• Offer a customer loyalty program via several 3rd party integrations

Lightspeed Restaurant POS Operating & Business Management Features:

• Customer phone support 27/7/365
• Choose from a number of integrated merchant account providers
• Robust multi-location management
• Shift inventory between locations
• Multi-user staff logins for security, time & tip tracking
• Split inventory products to track pours
• Manage stock purchasing and receiving per-location
• Table layouts for managing seating area
• Offline mode allows you to operate without an internet connection
• Location-specific customer data collection for promotional needs
• Detailed location-specific and aggregate business reports and analytics

Lightspeed handles most bar sales and management needs seamlessly. The base system makes managing tabs, customizing orders, tracking tips, tying split inventory to every sale, and staff management a breeze. Another plus over Square and Toast, Lightspeed lets you choose from several merchant account providers, like Cayan and others, for credit card processing. This lets you price-shop processors to get the best rates.

If you need to manage sales, inventory, and staff across multiple locations, Lightspeed Restaurant POS has you covered. You can oversee all location-specific activities from one central hub. From there, you can break down reporting by location or look at aggregate data. You can even track patrons by location to target your email, social, and loyalty marketing efforts by location.

What Lightspeed Restaurant POS Costs

Lightspeed Restaurant POS offers 3 monthly pricing tiers to meet any budget, ranging from $69/month for 1 register to $198/month for up to 5 registers. So, you only pay about $40/month per register if you need 5, which is less per register than many competitors.

Lightspeed Restaurant POS System & Hardware Costs

Service/Hardware	Cost
Bar POS Software - 3 Plans	$69/month for 1 register $129/month up to 3 registers $198/month up to 5 registers Contact Lightspeed for multi-location pricing
Credit card processing	Choose from several providers like Cayan and others
Expanded Features	Advanced business reporting +$29/month Extra registers +$37/month (for $198/month plan only) Added capabilities via 3rd party integrations
iPad & iPhones	Use an iPad as a mobile terminal or add a-la-carte register hardware like stands or printers Use iphones for tableside quick ordering
Purchase Register Bundle	From $1100 - includes tablet stand with card reader, cash drawer, and receipt printer
Lease a Register Station	From $69/month. Lease a full Lightspeed Restaurant POS register through Lightspeed’s partnership with RedFynn

Lightspeed register terminals are iPad-based and you can access the backend business management system from any mobile device or computer. A big plus here is that you can download Lightspeed POS to your own iPads if you already have them. You don’t have to purchase new hardware from Lightspeed in order to operate its POS. For tableside ordering, you can even use Lightspeed with an iPhone.

Of course, Lightspeed also offers register bundles or you can build out your own checkout register with a-la-carte iPad stands, cash drawers, and receipt printers. The takeaway here is that Lightspeed Restaurant POS lets you use the registers and devices that meet your specific service needs and budget, and you can use any iPads, iPhones, and computers that you already have.

What Lightspeed Restaurant POS Software is Missing

If you need lots of add-on features, like a loyalty program, email marketing, or online ordering, you’ll get these through 3rd-party integrations which can add to your total monthly costs. These aren’t built-in to Lightspeed. The benefit here is that you only pay for the add-ons you need. So, rather than paying a hefty monthly fee for bar POS software with every bell-and-whistle, Lightspeed Restaurant POS has streamlined base pricing and you can add just the features and costs that matter to your operation.

Visit Lightspeed Restaurant

Best Bar POS Software for High-Volume Operations: TouchBistro

TouchBistro is our top pick for high-volume bars that need to run a number of registers, generally 5 or more. As an overall solution, TouchBistro delivers much of what the other bar POS systems in our list provide, but it can be pricey if you plan to use 2-5 registers or mobile devices. We find that TouchBistro offers the best value if you need to run 10 or more registers and/or mobile devices, such as in a busy sports bar or large table service operation.

What You Can Do with TouchBistro Bar POS

TouchBistro is specifically designed for food and beverage service and really shines when it comes to managing high-volume operations smoothly. You can even use iPad kiosks on your bartop for self-service ordering. Worth mentioning is that of our 5 top bar POS picks, only TouchBistro runs on an internal network, not a cloud-based system. This requires more setup, but can operate much faster and more consistently since you’re not subject to internet speeds or outages.

TouchBistro Bar POS Service Features:

• Take tableside orders using iPads
• Provide bartop iPad kiosks for self-ordering
• Run customer tabs & split checks
• Drink menu with custom modifiers and pricing
• Move patron orders from bar to table
• View all open orders and tabs at once
• Switch between lunch, happy hour, and dinner menus
• Add a food menu tied to your kitchen for bar fare
• Provide customers incentives to return via a loyalty program

TouchBistro Bar POS Operating & Business Management Features

• Customer phone support 27/7/365
• Choose from many integrated merchant account providers
• Multi-user staff logins for security, time & tip tracking
• Split inventory to the ingredient level to track ingredients and pours
• Tie ingredient inventory to drink recipes and track usage
• Create table layouts to manage seating area
• Internal network model lets you operate without an internet connection
• Track sales and performance with business reports and analytics

What TouchBistro Costs

TouchBistro works off of licenses, and each license equals one register or mobile device. Every plan gives you full access to TouchBistro’s fantastic bar POS software. But for a small outfit, adding registers or devices increases costs quickly. At the 5 register level, LightSpeed Restaurant POS, at $198/month, is far less than TouchBistro’s $249/month 5-license plan.

Where we find great value is in TouchBistro’s $399/month unlimited license. It sounds pricey, but if you move volume and need a combination of 10 or 20 registers and handheld devices for a large waitstaff, it’s a deal.

TouchBistro Restaurant POS System & Hardware Costs

Service/Hardware	Cost
Bar POS Software - 4 Plans	Solo: $69/month for 1 license Dual: $129/month for 2 licenses Team: $249/month for up to 5 licenses Unlimited: $399/month unlimited licenses (best value)
Credit card processing	Select from many integrated merchant account providers
Expanded Features	Loyalty: From $99/month Added capabilities via 3rd party integrations
iPad	Use an iPad, iPad Pro, or iPad Mini as a mobile or main register. Costs from $199 to over $1000 For more than 1 register, you need to add an Apple Mac mini computer as a server
Build Your Own Register	TouchBistro is iPad & Mac-based, and you can build your own register station with an array of compatible devices, including iPad stands, cash drawers, printers, and touchscreens to fit your needs and budget.

What TouchBistro Bar POS Software is Missing

Cloud-based simplicity is what TouchBistro lacks. TouchBistro runs off of an internal network, so its setup can be more complicated and costly than the others on our list. This is especially true if you need to purchase the mini server required to operate more than one register. But, if you have a large waitstaff, need to run multiple registers and mobile devices, or want to give self-service kiosk ordering a try (sports bar anyone?) TouchBistro is worth considering.

Visit TouchBistro

Best Bar POS Software for Detailed Inventory: ShopKeep

ShopKeep has a fantastic, super-detailed inventory tracking system that will let you track every drink on your menu to the ingredient, and tie any drink sale back to your ingredients inventory. If you need to keep a close eye on pours or tightly manage your craft cocktail ingredient stock to avoid shortages, ShopKeep POS can really increase your efficiency.

What You Can Do with ShopKeep POS in Your Bar

Like Lightspeed POS, ShopKeep is an award-winning multi-industry POS system that’s easily tailored to meet the needs of bar and restaurant owners. ShopKeep delivers stellar inventory, sales, and staff tracking features, and adds bar tab management, tableside ordering, plus numerous integrations that let you expand your bar management and marketing as-needed. Plus, you can use your own merchant account provider, like Cayan, or try ShopKeep Payments, built-in credit card processing solution. This lets you price-shop processors to get the best rates.

But the real story here is ShopKeep’s detailed ingredient-level inventory management system. You can create your menu, tie specific ingredients, in specific amounts, to each item recipe, and ShopKeep will track it all. When you get low on one item, say, mint leaves for Mojitos, ding! ShopKeep’s low-level tracker notifies you it’s time to reorder. But its intuitive system does far more than that, including:

ShopKeep Bar POS Service Features:

• Tableside ordering using iPads with onscreen tipping & payment
• Run customer tabs & split checks
• Create menu items that tie to ingredient inventory
• Drink order customization with modifier price adjustments
• Customer loyalty programs via several 3rd party integrations
• Sell gift cards

ShopKeep Bar POS Operating & Business Management Features:

• Customer phone support 27/7/365
• Choose from a number of merchant account providers
• Detailed ingredient inventory management
• Multi-location management
• Unlimited staff logins for security, time & tip tracking
• Manage stock purchasing and receiving
• Pull detailed sales and business analytics reports
• Access business management data on smartphone
• Create and send targeted marketing via popular email program integrations

What ShopKeep Costs

ShopKeep has very straightforward pricing: $69 per register, per month. It’s not the cheapest bar POS system on our list, but it’s still very reasonable for all of the inventory, payment management, and server tools that you get. Like most of the others on our list, ShopKeep is iPad-based and you can use their tablets and registers a number of ways. Here’s what it costs to set up and run ShopKeep:

ShopKeep Restaurant POS System & Hardware Costs

Service/Hardware	Cost
Bar POS Software	$69 per month per register
Credit card processing	Your choice: ShopKeep Payments or connect your own merchant account
Expanded Features	Added capabilities via 3rd party integrations
iPad Stand Register	Select from a number of simple iPad stands for regular size tablets and iPad Minis, starting at $99
iPad-based register kits	You can use a simple iPad screen checkout or build your own register starting around $800 with a cash drawer, iPad stand, and receipt printer.

What ShopKeep Bar POS Software is Missing

As a beverage and foodservice POS, ShopKeep is missing a few key elements that the more targeted restaurant and bar POS systems on our list provide. It doesn’t have a table layout screen, kitchen display system, or built-in online ordering or payroll. But you can add some of these features with paid integrations.

Plus, each register you run is $69/month, so having a few registers plus a few mobile iPad checkouts can get pricey. At that stage, one of the more targeted bar POS systems provides more features for less. But, ShopKeep’s stellar reputation, excellent ingredient management, and on-the-spot customer service make it one to consider.

Visit ShopKeep

The Bottom Line

When searching for the perfect bar POS system for your operation, you’ll find many options. Some packages are designed specifically for food and beverage service businesses, like Toast and TouchBistro. Others are tailored versions of popular multi-industry POS systems, like Square, Lightspeed, and ShopKeep.

The most important factor in the selection process is you. Taking the time to list the features you need for your operation now, and what you anticipate needing in the future is key. That will help you pick the best bar POS system that can fit your business and budget now, and as you grow.

Do you operate a bar or beverage service business using a POS system? Which systems do you use and why? We’d love to hear your experience and insight in the comments below.