5 Best Free POS Software for Small Businesses in 2023

• Basic POS software: $0 per month
• Advanced POS system: $60 to $69 per month
• Card-present processing fee: 2.6% plus 10 cents per transaction
• Keyed-in processing fee and card on file: 3.5% plus 15 cents per transaction
• Online payment processing: 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction
• Card readers: From $49
• Terminals: From $149
• 30-day free trial for Plus plans

Add-ons:

• Invoicing Plus: $20 per month
• Team Plus: $35 per month
• Payroll: $35 per month plus $5 per employee
• Marketing: Starts at $15 per month
• Loyalty program: Starts at $45 per month

POS and upgrades: Square’s POS system offers all the functions needed to run your store as well as have an online presence. If you need advanced features, the Pro plan costs $60 a month ($69 for Appointments POS). This is more expensive than some of the other providers on our list, which have plans of $50 or less. However, the paid plans still offer a good value overall, as comparable systems cost around $75 to $100 per month.

Payment processing: You are locked into using Square for payment processing. The other free POS software on this list either have lower rates or let you bring in a third-party app. However, Square does offer discounts for businesses doing more than $250,000 a year in credit card processing.

Hardware: Square’s free plan includes a mobile POS app, so you can start selling even without a card reader. On top of that, it also gives you your first magstripe reader free while an EMV chip reader costs only $49. Full POS systems run from $149 to $799. These prices compare well to most of the software on our list. Get the complete guide to Square fees.

• Restaurants: Square has a kitchen display system (KDS) and basic time clock functions as well as menu and table management. However, Square KDS requires a Pro plan subscription at $60 per month.
• Appointments: Square offers a version of its free POS system for one staff calendar. You can schedule appointments, send reminders, and sell items or classes. None of the other POS systems on our list include calendar functions like this.
• Multichannel sales: Like Zettle, Square works for multichannel sales, from the free online store to the Square payments button on your social media. One of its best free features of Square is the strong integrated contactless ordering, pickup, and delivery features.
• Integrations: If you need something that Square does not provide, it’s easy to find a third-party integration. Square integrates with more third-party applications than any of the free POS systems on our list.
• Invoicing: If you need invoicing capability, then Square can provide this for free. The processing fee for invoice payments is 2.9% plus 30 cents, or 1% if paid by automated clearing house (ACH), which has a minimum of $1.
• Mobile app: With a 4.8 out of 5 rating based on about 340,000 reviews, Square POS ranks No. 40 for Business in the Apple App Store. Users on Google Play give it 4.8 stars with nearly 169,000 reviews. Square also tops our list of the best free iPhone credit card readers.

• POS is free
• Payment processing: Varies―separate merchant account required
• Card readers starting at: Not applicable
• POS systems starting at: Varies

Add-ons

• Employee management: $5 per month, per employee
• Advanced inventory: $25 per month, per store
• Integrations: $9 per month, per store
• 14-day free trial on add-ons

POS and upgrades: Loyverse’s POS, dashboard, kitchen display, and customer display programs are all free. The free loyalty program on top of a robust suite of POS features also gives users a huge incentive for choosing Loyverse. Aside from Square’s restaurant version, most of the POS systems on our list with kitchen display options charge or put it in a paid plan, while others need a third-party application.

It has no upgraded POS plan, but if you want to add employee management or advanced inventory, those cost $25 per month. These prices are better than the prices Square and Toast charge for their add-ons. However, Loyverse alone charges for the ability to integrate with third-party systems.

Payment processing: Loyverse works with multiple payment processors and merchant accounts, including Zettle. As such, you can shop around for the best rates. If you get interchange-plus pricing, it may be cheaper than Square.

Hardware: You’ll get a card reader from your payment provider. Square, Toast, and Zettle either give or sell you one. Loyverse, in the meantime, sells its POS systems for $439 and up, which is more expensive than Square or Zettle. The terminals are Android-only. You need a tablet for iOS.

• Restaurant features: Loyverse has register and inventory features that make it excellent for small or quick-service restaurants. These include split payments, menu creation, composites for tracking ingredients, kitchen printers, KDS, and tracking stock of items that are produced from ingredients. It’s a great choice if you just need the basics.
• CRM and loyalty: Loyverse takes the lead for its customer management and loyalty features, with Zettle a close second. It not only lets you store customer information and create a points-based program, but it also lets you create loyalty cards and track purchase history. This is part of the free system.
• Multiple integrated payment processing: Unlike Square or Helcim, Loyverse does not tie you to its payment processor. Instead, it offers several payment integrations from Worldpay, SumUp, and PayPal Zettle.
• Mobile: Loyverse has 4.6 out of 5 stars on the Apple App Store with around 270 reviews and 4.3 out of 5 stars on Google Play with more than 9,000 reviews. Users say it’s a great app with great customer support.

Pay-as-You-Go Starter Kit

• Upfront cost: $0
• Monthly software cost: $0
• Card-present transaction fee: 2.99% plus 15 cents (platform rate)
• Keyed-in transaction fee: 2.99% plus 15 cents (platform rate)
• Add-on software cost (Growth Plan): 0.4% per transaction (includes online ordering, email marketing, loyalty management and gift card management)
• Contract length: Two years
• Inactivity fee: $85 per month; fee waived if at least one credit card transaction is processed in the preceding 90-day period

POS and upgrades: Toast offers two basic plans: the pay-as-you-go and standard plans. Both include a long-term contract, but the pay-as-you-go option doesn’t charge you anything upfront. However, you get higher transaction rates and an inactivity fee of $85. Higher subscription plans range from $69 to $272 per month and give you access to optional add-ons and team management tools instantly.

Payment processing: A single platform rate of 2.99% plus 15 cents is applied for both card-present and card-not-present transactions if you subscribe to the pay-as-you-go option, and an additional 0.4% if you subscribe to the set of add-on tools. Processing rates for the standard basic plan are 2.49% plus 15 cents for card-present and 3.5% plus 15 cents for card-not-present transactions.

Overall, Toast’s payment processing rates are competitive if you consider options like Square, which has 2.6% plus 10 cents per card-present and 3.5% plus 15 cents per keyed-in transaction.

Hardware: The Toast hardware kit comes with two free plan options: A countertop kit (Toast POS Flex terminal, Toast Tap payment device, and router) and a handheld kit (Toast Go2, wireless access point, and router). There is no upfront or monthly subscription cost, but the processing fees are significantly higher.

The standard plan countertop hardware kit has an upfront cost of $799, which consists of a Toast Flex POS terminal, while the standard handheld kit cost starts at $609, Toast Tap payment device, and a router. An optional customer display costs an additional $200. It’s $389 plus $50 per month for the software fee for the handheld kit.

• Toast loyalty: This allows you to sign up your customers from the checkout counter and link their credit cards, so there’s no need for a separate loyalty card. You can also customize your points-based rewards program and offer personalized rewards by analyzing your customer’s buying history.
• Toast marketing: Manage your email marketing task from a single platform with Toast marketing. It allows you to create message templates and customize them according to your customer’s purchase history and track your marketing campaign’s performance in real time.
• Digital ordering: Toast POS software supports online ordering and mobile app orders with the Toast Takeout app. Your inventory is integrated, so available menu items are always updated. If you add Toast Delivery, you have the option to choose between managing your in-house delivery team or integrating with third-party delivery apps.
• Toast Inventory: Toast Inventory allows you to track ingredients and monitor inventory for low stock. You can manage your menu and sync it in real time, so you don’t display items that are no longer available. xtraCHEF adds the ability to scan invoices, place orders and payments to suppliers, get rebates from manufacturers, and more.

• Card-present processing fee: 2.29% plus 9 cents
• Keyed-in processing fee: 3.49% plus 9 cents
• QR code processing fee: 1.9% plus 10 cents for transactions of $10.01 and above, 2.29% plus 5 cents for transactions of $10 and below.
• Card readers: $79 (first card reader discounted $29)
• Terminals: From $249

POS: Zettle’s entire POS system is free with the use of PayPal’s payment processing. There are no premium plans like Square but also no limited uses or features.

Payment processing: PayPal Zettle charges 2.29% plus 9 cents for card-present transactions, and 3.49% plus 9 cents for keyed-in transactions, which are extremely reasonable for flat-rate fees and considerably lower than Square’s fees. Helcim charges interchange-plus rates while Loyverse lets you choose your own payment provider, so you may find better prices with an interchange-plus merchant service.

Hardware: PayPal Zettle does not have a free card reader like Square but sells you your first reader at a steep discount. You can use this with your tablet or desktop, but if you want to upgrade to a full countertop setup, Zettle also offers four hardware POS kits with a combination of touch screen, receipt printer, barcode scanner, or handheld devices. Prices for terminals run from $249 to $499, which makes them among the cheapest on our list.

• Scalable: Zettle rivals Square primarily for versatility. This flexible system is good for solopreneurs while large international corporations use PayPal in general and can be an addition or your main payment system. While it does not have as many software integrations as Square does, it does work with third-party apps and has greater reach as a payment processor.
• Bulk inventory functions: Zettle lets you load inventory in bulk, make bulk assignments of categories, delete items in bulk, or make edits to multiple items or variants at once. We only found this many bulk features with Square, which is not as easy.
• Multichannel sales: Like Square, Zettle is well suited for multichannel sales, with its own online store or the capability to integrate with popular ecommerce solutions like Shopify and WooCommerce. In addition, PayPal is one of the most commonly accepted payment systems in the world; you can add a PayPal button or link to anything from a newsletter to a website.
• Mobile: PayPal’s Zettle mobile app for Android has more than 38,000 reviews and a score of 4.1 out of 5. For iOS, there are only about 400 reviews and a score of 3.2 out of 5. Your phone or tablet needs iOS 10 or Android 5.0, or higher.

• Card-present fee: 0.10% plus 5 cents to 0.30% plus 8 cents
• Card-not-present fee: 0.20% plus 10 cents to 0.50% plus 25 cents
• ACH payment: 0.5% plus 25 cents per approved transaction
• International payment processing: Currency conversion fee of 1% above the daily 5 p.m. Eastern time market rate
• Card reader: $109

POS: Helcim’s POS software comes free with every Helcim merchant account so, unlike Square, you won’t need to sign up for an upgraded plan or add-ons to access advanced features. Users can have their products and services stored in a catalog while also getting advanced employee management tools, invoicing, and customer management functions without having to pay extra.

Payment processing: As with Square, users are locked into Helcim’s payment processor, although that may not be so much of a disadvantage considering this is what sets Helcim apart from other merchant providers.

Helcim offers automatic volume discount pricing, which means you get lower credit card processing fees with more sales so that you don’t have to upgrade or apply for discounts. Helcim’s average processing fee comes up to 1.92% plus 8 cents for card-present transactions (vs Square’s 2.6% plus 10 cents) and 2.38% plus 25 cents for card-not-present transactions (vs Square’s 2.9% plus 30 cents for online and 3.5% plus 15 cents for keyed in).

Hardware: Helcim does not provide free hardware, but the free POS software can run on iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows so you can use existing desktops, tablets, and smartphones. However, you will need to purchase the credit card reader to start accepting payments with the POS. At $109, Helcim’s 3-in-1 card reader is very similar to PayPal Zettle’s but is not offered with a discount and is among the most expensive on the market.

• Completely free POS features: Helcim’s full POS software features are completely free. This includes inventory and price management features. You can even upload product images. It also includes advanced employee management and reporting tools.
• Native ecommerce tools: Like Square, Helcim is equipped with built-in ecommerce that integrates your online and in-store sales. Advanced store options are also available with tools to track your website’s performance. Helcim also comes with free online ordering tools compatible with small restaurants and cafes.
• Free customer portal: Part of Helcim’s CRM features is a free customer portal, which you won’t always find available in free plans from most popular POS providers. This is ideal for subscription-based retailers and those that offer product rentals.
• Level 2 and 3 payment processing: Helcim POS comes with a built-in payment processing solution that supports business-to-business (B2Bs) sellers. Both level 2 and 3 payment processing features tie in efficiently with Helcim’s automatic volume discount processing method that lowers interchange rates significantly.
• Mobile: There is not much feedback for Helcim’s mobile app, but those who did leave a review seem to either like the app a great deal or did not like it at all. It earned 2.6 out of 5 stars from around 20 reviews on the Apple App Store and 2.9 out of 5 stars from around 50 reviews on Google Play.