A touch screen POS system is a point-of-sale program that operates on tablets and handheld devices. The biggest advantage of using a touch screen POS is a streamlined interface for faster checkout. Plus, touch-screen devices are more portable than cash registers or hardwired countertop POS systems, allowing for mobile sales capabilities.
Based on our evaluation, the best touch screen POS systems are:
- Square: Best overall free touch screen POS for small businesses
- Lightspeed: Best touch screen POS for inventory management
- Shopify: Best touch screen POS for online and multichannel sellers
- Upserve: Best restaurant touch screen POS for customer management
- Loyverse: Best free cafe and restaurant POS with built-in loyalty rewards
- Lavu: Best budget restaurant touch screen POS
- Toast: Best overall restaurant touch screen POS
- Vend: Best touch screen POS with built-in customer loyalty for retailers
Looking for something more specific? Check out our top picks for bars, cafes, convenience stores, food trucks, gas stations, grocery stores, liquor stores, and pizzerias.
Top Touch Screen POS Systems Compared
Monthly POS Software Fee | Payment Processors | Processing Rates | Device Flexibility | Offline Card Payment Processing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
$0–$60 | Square Payments | From 2.6% + 10 cents | Android, iPad | ✔ | |
$59–$239 | Lightspeed Payments, Worldpay, Stripe, TSYS, 2Accept | From 2.6% + 10 cents | Android, iPad | ✕ | |
$0–$89 | Shopify Payments | From 2.4% | Android, iPad | ✕ | |
$59–$359 | Upserve Pay | Custom quote | Android, iPad, proprietary mobile POS | ✔ | |
From $0 | CardConnect, SumUp, Worldpay | Based on integrated third-party rate | Android, iPad | ✔ | |
From $69 | Lavu Pay, PayPal, Worldpay, BridgePay, Heartland | Custom quote | Android, iPad | ✔ | |
$0–$272 | Toast Payments | From 2.49% + 15 cents | Proprietary hardware | ✔ | |
From $99 | TSYS, Worldpay, Cardconnecct, Chase, EVO Payments, PayPal, Square, and more | Based on integrated third-party rates | Android, iPad, Mac, Windows | ✕ |
How We Evaluated Touch Screen POS Systems
In this review, we compared 12 popular software that offer outstanding touch screen POS solutions based on price and features. The best touch screen POS systems should provide offline processing, capture digital signatures, and have device compatibility and access to mobile card readers.
We also considered general POS features, such as payment processing flexibility, remote and multilocation features, and level of inventory and business management tools available in baseline plans. Finally, we considered our retail experts’ opinions based on their personal knowledge of each software.
All things considered, Square emerges as the best touch screen POS for small businesses based on our evaluation criteria, receiving the highest overall score from our grading system for touch screen POS software (4.65 out of 5). Our scoring system ranked our top 12 choices according to what we would personally recommend based on our experience testing different software and working with small businesses that use POS systems every day.
Click through the tabs below for a more detailed breakdown of our evaluation criteria:
20% of Overall Score
20% of Overall Score
30% of Overall Score
This section measures each POS system’s touch-screen features and weighs them against business requirements. We gave high marks for providers that offer offline transaction processing and the most compatibility with mobile card readers and different touch-screen devices. We also awarded points for features unique to touch-screen systems, such as digital signature capture and the ability to issue customized digital receipts. Finally, we recognized systems that provide unlimited device connections that can help process transactions faster and ring in more sales.
20% of Overall Score
Touch screen POS systems should be easy to operate. We made sure that we highlight web-based and/or cloud-based solutions so that your data can be synchronized and accessed from every connected device. We also gave extra points for systems that provide round-the-clock support.
10% of Overall Score
Finally, we evaluated each system’s overall performance from a professional standpoint so that readers know how highly we would recommend the software and for what type of business it fits best. We took a detailed look at the quality of both general and industry-specific features, noting standout, as well as any missing functions. We also weighed the software and hardware options against their cost to determine which system offers a good overall value for its price. I also awarded points based on my personal experience interacting with the software and the company’s customer support.
Square: Best Overall Free Touch Screen POS
Square
What We Like
- Provides flexible payment options such as contactless and on-the-go mobile sales
- Free ecommerce and online ordering
- Can process card payments while offline
What's Missing
- Limited inventory management and basic reporting features
- Payment processing rates are not easily negotiable
- Limited customer support for free users
Square Pricing
- POS software subscription plans:*
- Regular POS, Retail, and Restaurant: Starts at $0; also has custom pricing
- Hardware cost: Square Stand ($169 or $27 per month for 6 months), Square Terminal ($299 or $27 per month for 12 months), Square Register ($799 or $39 per month for 24 months, Card readers (Starts at $49), Hardware kits ($526–$1,489)
- Processing fees: Flat-rate transaction fee (2.6% + 10 cents per transaction), Keyed-in payments 3.5% + 15 cents per transaction, Ecommerce sales (2.9% + 30 cents per transaction)
*Each software subscription comes with a free magstripe card reader. Volume discounts: For business processing over $250,000 in credit card sales
Square is the ideal touch screen POS solution for most small businesses. Its free version includes just about everything you need to run a single-location retail store or quick-service restaurant (QSR). Besides accepting payments, adding tips, and printing (or sending digital) receipts, Square lets you track employee hours, save a database of customers, and view sales reports—whether for your own reference or to integrate your sales and payroll data with QuickBooks. Square also offers optional upgrades for things like bar code scanning, a kitchen display system, or employee sales reports.
Based on our evaluation, Square leads our recommended touch screen POS systems, earning a total score of 4.65 out of 5—the only software that scored perfect marks for touch screen-specific features. While the lack of additional payment processing options and limited customer support kept Square from gaining a perfect score, its modest payment processing fee—combined with excellent features included in its free version—provides exceptional value, making Square the best touch screen POS, the best iPad POS, and the best overall POS systems for small businesses.
The Square iPad stand comes with a contactless and chip reader and turns your iPad into a POS terminal. (Source: Square)
The Square Terminal is an all-in-one mobile POS terminal where you can accept payments curbside and anywhere in your store. (Source: Square)
The Square Register comes with a separate display where customers can view and pay for their items and even sign up for your loyalty program. (Source: Square)
Square POS Features
- Inventory management: Add all your items to Square so that employees can check out customers more quickly by simply clicking an image of each item on the touch screen. You can add your inventory manually or import in bulk using a spreadsheet. The free version of Square has surprisingly strong inventory management—including categories, variants, modifiers, and low-stock alerts—although you’ll need to upgrade to print barcodes, create purchase orders, and view detailed inventory reports.
- Customer management: You can create basic customer profiles right from the checkout counter and track loyalty points and purchase histories. Engage your customers with a feedback tool on digital receipts for collecting real-time feedback. Get more insight with Square Loyalty ($45 per month) and Square Marketing ($15 per month) add-ons.
- Employee management: Employees clock in and out at the register, so you can keep track of their hours (including breaks and overtime) and export timecards for payroll.
- Restaurant features: The free version of Square includes table and menu management, so servers can open tabs and add items with ease. Square integrates with third-party delivery apps like DoorDash and Grubhub and also provides its own free online ordering platform. Square for Restaurants Plus adds a kitchen display system, table map, coursing, and more detailed employee/server sales reports.
- Reports: Square’s free version includes about a dozen sales reports, including sales by category, discounts applied, and real-time hourly, weekly, and monthly sales charts. Paid versions include more detailed personnel reports, such as sales by employee and revenue per labor hour.
- Customer service: Free users can access phone, chat, and email support Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern time. Paying users can access support 24/7.
Square’s Drawbacks
While the Square POS offers great value to startups, it might not be the best option once your operations grow. You will need a better inventory and reporting management tool if you begin maintaining complex inventories and multiple locations. For this, you will find Lightspeed as the better option, with a more sophisticated inventory management feature, a highly customizable reporting function, and better multilocation management tool. Additionally, Lightspeed offers a more flexible payment processing option which means you can shop around for better transaction fees.
Lightspeed: Best for Inventory Management & Multiple Locations
Lightspeed
What We Like
- Extensive built-in inventory features
- Automates purchase orders, receiving and returns
- Can connect an outside payment gateway for better rate shopping
What's Missing
- Requires use of Lightspeed Payments to get the best subscription pricing
- Only basic CRM and reporting features included in baseline plan
- Cannot accept card payment while offline
Lightspeed Pricing
- Software subscription plans:
- Retail:* Starts at $79 per month; additional registers at $29 per month
- Restaurant: Starts at $69 per month billed monthly; additional registers at $34 per month
- Hardware cost: Custom-quote hardware kits available. Card readers and peripherals are bought separately.
- Processing fees: Chip, tap, and swipe payments (2.6% + 10 cents per transaction, Keyed-in payments (2.6% + 30 cents per transaction), Volume discount available for businesses processing over $250,000
*Pricing is based on a monthly subscription and requires sign-up to Lightspeed Payments.
Lightspeed is our best recommendation for retail businesses with large inventories and those running multiple locations. The system comes with ecommerce features and a free payment terminal with each subscription, but Lightspeed’s inventory management features is what makes it stand out from competitors.
It can sort through items with searchable tags, automatically add to your inventory by scanning barcodes, check supplier lists and draft purchase orders straight from the platform. All these make Lightspeed highly effective in handling thousands of unique SKUs, which also makes it our top choice for POS inventory management.
Based on our evaluation, Lightspeed earned a score of 4.32 out of 5 with outstanding marks for its top-of-the-line inventory management and analytic tools and ease of use. It fell behind Square in terms of pricing, because while the monthly plans are within our pricing threshold, access to offline transaction processing, additional registers, and mobile card readers are an additional cost, making large POS setups quite pricey.
Lightspeed's iPad retail kit comes with an iPad stand, one LAN receipt printer, one cash drawer, one Bluetooth scanner, and receipt paper. (Source: Lightspeed)
The Lightspeed restaurant iPad hardware kit includes a Lite Server that maintains and backs up your database. (Source: Lightspeed)
Lightspeed Mobile Tap is a mobile and contactless reader that accepts tap, chip and swipe card payments. (Source: Lightspeed)
Lightspeed Features
- Inventory management: Lightspeed Retail offers the most advanced inventory management of any touch screen POS on this list. It’s equipped to handle hundreds or even thousands of unique SKUs thanks to handy features like the ability to tag items with searchable terms. Plus, Lightspeed Retail uploads vendor catalogs, making it easy for businesses to reorder stock whenever it runs low. Most other POS systems don’t have built-in product catalogs or features to manage purchase orders directly.
- Customer management: Along with the basic CRM functions, Lightspeed offers additional tools with Lightspeed Loyalty. It allows you to create a rewards program, customer credit accounts and build SMS and email marketing campaigns. You can also automatically segment customers for targeted messaging and for sending coupons as well as special offers.
- Employee management: All Lightspeed plans let you create an unlimited number of user accounts for employees to clock in and out. This allows you to track hours and monitor employee performance with reports, like sales, average basket size, email capture rates, and how many customers each employee is helping.
- Marketing management: Lightspeed has a very strong loyalty program. You can create a branded smartphone app for customers to check their points and view rewards. This also allows you to send push notifications, SMS, and email alerts for any special offers or eligible rewards. To access the loyalty program you’ll need to be on an “Advanced” plan or higher.
- Reports and analytics: Lightspeed includes more than 60 built-in reports covering inventory, sales, and customer behavior. While this alone is more than most POS systems will offer, the “Pro” plan also lets you build custom reports using any data points in the system.
- Customer service: Phone, live chat, and email support are available 24/7.
Lightspeed’s Drawbacks
One of the key features that we’re missing on Lightspeed is an offline payment processing function. It allows you to continue working on other business management tasks such as accepting orders and tracking inventory, but the system does not have the ability to accept card payment transactions while offline. If your business operates in areas with a less-than-stable internet connection, you’ll be better served with alternative solutions such as Square and Toast that offer secure offline payment processing.
Shopify: Best Touch Screen POS for Multichannel Sellers
Shopify
What We Like
- Top-notch ecommerce platform
- Excellent omnichannel selling tools
- Includes marketing features in its baseline plan
What's Missing
- Lacks offline card payment processing
- No reporting features in the baseline plan
- Charges a fee for using third-party payment processors
Shopify Pricing
- POS software plans: POS Lite is free with any Shopify ecommerce plan or separately at $9 per month. POS Pro is $89 per month, per location, or free for enterprise users under the Shopify Plus plan.*
- Hardware costs: Startup Bundle from $789 (includes an iPad stand, card reader, receipt printer, cash drawer, and barcode scanner), Retail Bundle from $159, Card readers from $29
- Processing fees: Basic Shopify plan, 2.7% for in-person transactions and 2.9% + 30 cents for online transactions. Shopify plan, 2.5% for in-person transactions and 2.6% + 30 cents for online transactions. Advanced Shopify plan, 2.4% for in-person transactions and 2.4% + 30 cents for online transactions
*Shopify Ecommerce plans from $29–$299 per month. Shopify Plus subscription starts from $2,000 per month for enterprise users.
Shopify is the best POS solution for online retail businesses that want to expand to in-person sales. As one of the world’s leading ecommerce platforms for small businesses, Shopify allows you to create an online store and manage both your online and in-person sales from the same system. This keeps your inventory, sales, and customer data synchronized at all times.
Furthermore, you can use Shopify to sell on Amazon, eBay, Facebook, and Instagram—truly managing all your sales channels from one platform. While each Shopify account does come with a free POS app plan to help you get started, it’s important to note that key POS features can only be accessed by upgrading to a paid plan.
Our evaluation earned Shopify an overall score of 4.31 out of 5, receiving a perfect score for ease of use and top marks for pricing and general features. Shopify’s omnichannel selling tools create the perfect platform for easy business expansion. However, its lack of offline payment processing and need for upgrading to a paid plan in order to access key touch screen POS features, such as digital signature capture, prevented Shopify from earning a higher score and landed it right behind Lightspeed.
Shopify offers a tap and chip reader (left) and a chip and swipe reader (right) option. (Source: Shopify)
Shopify supports Star's mPOP hardware—cash drawer and receipt printer in one—connected to an iPad. (Source: Shopify)
The Shopify retail bundle kit comes with a chip and swipe card reader and is compatible with 9.7" and 10.2"/Air 10.5" iPads. (Source: Shopify)
Shopify's Start-up bundle kit includes a Shopify chip & swipe card reader, receipt printer, cash drawer, and barcode scanner (Source: Shopify)
Shopify Features
- Inventory management: With Shopify’s POS Pro add-on ($89 per month), you get a much more advanced inventory system than what you’ll find from Square, as Shopify enables you to create purchase orders and track incoming shipments. Once they arrive, you can use a barcode scanner to confirm the items received and automatically add them to your inventory.
- Customer management: Shopify’s CRM tools in the baseline plan offer only basic features. You can create simple customer profiles and automate emails to send order updates, digital receipts, and post-purchase promotions. More dynamic CRM features can be accessed through integrations.
- Employee management: Like most touch screen POS systems, you can create employee user accounts and have employees clock in/out to track their hours and monitor performance. However, Shopify does limit the number of user accounts you can set up on basic and standard plans.
- Shopify Lite: Shopify Lite allows you to sell in-person through the POS Lite app, or add a buy button on other websites. And while this plan does not allow you to build your own online store, you can still access in-store inventory and customer profiles, offer customer discounts, and access back-office functions—such as product management, order management, and reporting.
- Ecommerce: One of the main perks of using Shopify is the ability to create an online store and manage your orders from the same platform as your in-store sales. Shopify’s website builder is one of the most popular on the market. It’s capable of supporting just about any feature and integration you might require, and you can even use Shopify to sell on Amazon, Instagram, and Facebook.
- Omnichannel selling: In addition to taking payments, processing returns, issuing refunds, etc., in person, you can manage all the nuances that come with having both an online and physical storefront. For example, have customers pay online and pick up at your curbside. Likewise, you can accept online returns in person.
- Customer service: Phone, live chat, and email support are available 24/7.
Shopify’s Drawbacks
Shopify is an unbeatable choice for ecommerce businesses, but if you have a storefront with majority of your revenue coming from in-person sales, this software may not be the best choice. Shopify requires its users to upgrade to a higher plan in order to access general features such as advanced CRM and customized reports. You’ll also need to upgrade if you want to capture customer signatures on your digital device, or customize your digital receipts.
Instead, consider Square, which comes with a native ecommerce feature and easy-to-use store builder in its free plan. It also offers a free card reader with each Square account.
Upserve by Lightspeed: Best Restaurant Touch Screen POS for Customer Management
Upserve by Lightspeed
What We Like
- Outstanding customer and reservations management
- Calculates menu profitability off real-time ingredient prices
- Powerful reporting and management tools including built-in workforce management
What's Missing
- Pricey add-on functions like inventory and online ordering
- Undisclosed transaction fees
- Expensive to add additional terminals
Upserve Pricing
- POS software subscription plans: Core ($59 per month, additional $60 per terminal), Pro ($199 per month, additional $50 per terminal), Pro Plus ($359 per month, additional $40 per terminal)
- Hardware cost: Upserve POS terminal ($1,350), Upserve iPad stand ($300), Tableside mobile POS ($500), EMV card reader for iOS ($251), Magstripe reader ($105)
- Processing fees:
- Payment processor: Upserve Payments
- Processing rate: Custom-quoted flat rate
Upserve by Lightspeed is our recommendation for restaurants looking for unparalleled customer management, given its guestbooks, logbooks, and reservation management features, which is powered by its restaurant analytic software, Upserve HQ. It also rivals Toast in terms of its high-quality interface and inventory management capabilities, as you can track item quantities down to the ingredient and calculate your menu profitability and wastage.
Upserve also integrates with many major food suppliers, allowing you to reorder supplies directly from the app and view ingredient costs in real time. You can also get detailed restaurant analytics and insights on the go with Upserve’s mobile management app.
Based on our evaluation, Upserve earned an overall score of 4.19 out of 5, receiving perfect marks for ease of use and outstanding marks for its touch screen-specific features, scoring better than Toast because it is compatible with iOS and Android devices. Its low scores are mainly from the steep cost of its add-on features, use of additional POS terminals, and undisclosed payment processing fees. Upserve is in a close race with Toast for being the most expensive touch screen POS on the market. However, they are also two of the best options available for restaurants.
Tableside is Upserve's mobile POS designed to allow servers to accept orders and payments (dip, swipe, or tap) anywhere in the restaurant. (Source: Upserve)
Upserve Terminals are compatible with both iOS and Android devices and comes with a built-in EMV. (Source: Upserve)
Upserve Features
- Inventory management: Upserve’s inventory management system is unique in that it integrates with many major food suppliers, so you can reorder supplies directly from the app and your supply levels will automatically update. Another benefit is that food prices will always be up-to-date, allowing you to track the real-time profitability of your menu.
- Customer management: With Upserve HQ, you get seamless customer management tools (guestbooks, logbooks, and reservation management) that allow you to build unique customer profiles and create various customer categories to maximize upselling opportunities.
- Reputation management: Upserve HQ includes a built-in reputation management feature that tracks your restaurant’s online reviews and that of five other establishments, so you get an idea of how your customers’ opinion stacks up against your competitors.
- Logbook: Another one of Upserve’s highly praised features is the manager’s logbook, a customizable snapshot of each day’s sales, guest count, weather, and notable events. You can also create custom questions or checklists to be filled out by staff at the end of their shift and have their responses automatically added to the log entry. Toast launched its own logbook feature in May 2020, but Upserve has offered it longer and has a leg up on the competition.
- Online ordering: Upserve lets you set up your own online ordering system for an extra $59 per month. It also integrates directly with Grubhub, Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Caviar via Chowly.
- Reports: This is another area where Upserve excels, providing all the main sales reports (such as sales by category, tender type, and comp/void activity), labor reports (including sales and tips per employee), and inventory (like food costing, supplier expenditure, and wastage).
- Customer service: Upserve has phone, live chat, and email support available 24/7.
Upserve’s Drawbacks
If you are more particular with inventory management rather than CRM, Upserve may not be your best option. While it offers robust inventory features, it is only available as an add-on for baseline users or if you upgrade to its higher plans—which is significantly more expensive (from $199 per month). If this is a deal-breaker for you, consider Loyverse, which offers a free baseline subscription, including basic inventory management, and charges $25/month for an advanced inventory add-on.
Loyverse: Best Free Touch Screen POS With Built-In Loyalty Program
Loyverse
What We Like
- Free POS software with kitchen display system
- Includes built-in loyalty program
- Inventory breakdown and product variants
What's Missing
- Limited direct integrations
- No built-in payment processing
- 24/7 support only for paid users
Loyverse Pricing
- POS software subscription plans:
- POS software: Free; includes POS dashboard, kitchen display, and customer display software
- Add-on software:* Employee management ($5 per month, per employee), Advanced inventory ($25 per month, discount for more than three stores), and access to third-party integrations ($9 per month)
- Hardware cost: Loyverse recommends iPads and Android POS terminals by Sunni, Bematech, and iMin.
- Processing fees:
- Payment processor: Upserve Payments
- Processing rate: Custom-quoted flat rate
*Add-on software all include a 14-day free trial, and pricing is for monthly billing. Two month discount available for annual subscription.
Loyverse is the only free POS we’re aware of that also includes a loyalty program (Square charges $45 per month). It automatically tracks points as customers make a purchase and prints their balance on the receipt. While it’s not the most sophisticated option in our list, this POS system offers simple transaction processing, data analysis and unlimited device connection at no extra cost.
On top of that, Loyverse add-ons are also inexpensive (Shopify’s advanced inventory will cost you $89 per month), making Loyverse very ideal for small food-service operations like coffee stands or food trucks that are looking to engage their customers with a loyalty program.
Overall, Loyverse garnered a score of 4.15 out of 5, earning high marks for touch screen POS-specific features, particularly on device flexibility and unlimited register connection, and ease of use. However, the lack of built-in payment processing and key features for larger, full-service businesses—such as table map, third party delivery integrations, and credit card preauthorization—prevented Loyverse from gaining more points.
Aside from iPads, Loyverse is also compatible with a variety of Android devices.
(Source: Loyverse)
Loyverse Features
- Employee management: For an extra $5 per month, per employee, the employee management add-on will let you track staff hours, manage account permissions, and run employee sales performance reports.
- Inventory: Loyverse provides basic inventory management tools for free, letting you import items and track their quantities. The Advanced Inventory add-on ($25 per month) allows you to print barcodes, create purchase orders, and run inventory reports.
- Loyalty: Loyverse provides a basic loyalty program for free. After being signed up by a cashier, customers can earn points on their purchases, which can be automatically redeemed for a discount. It is not as sophisticated as other POS systems, which allow you to customize rewards and enable customers to sign themselves up and check their points from a smartphone.
- Reports: The platform includes all the basic sales reports, such as sales by item/category and daily/weekly sales trends. It does not come close to the advanced reporting offered by Lightspeed or the ingredient-level tracking provided by Upserve.
- Customer service: 24/7 live chat support is available only to paying users. All customers receive email and community support.
Loyverse’s Drawbacks
Loyverse’s free POS software is perfect for managing small, quick-service restaurants like coffee shops. However, for a growing restaurant business, even those with just a single location, Loyverse might not be a good fit. The system lacks key restaurant features to manage dine-in customers such as table mapping and a credit-card pre-authorization functionality to allow for open tabs. It also lacks integration with delivery services that you will need if you want to grow your market with online sales. If this is something that your restaurant needs, consider Toast with its full-service features for large, upscale restaurants and a pay-as-you-go subscription plan.
Lavu: Best Budget Restaurant Touch Screen POS
Lavu
What We Like
- Provides flexibility with in-house and integrated payment options
- Sophisticated inventory management including multi pizza builder module
- LavuPay accounts are activated after two days.
What's Missing
- Baseline plan can only have one terminal
- Add-ons can get pricey
- Poor customer support
Lavu Pricing
- POS software subscription plans:
- Single Terminal (starts at $69 per month)
- Multi terminal (custom quote)
- Enterprise (custom quote)
- Hardware cost:
- Terminal enclosures ($125–$200)
- Card readers ($60–$150)
- KDS hardware ($800–$2,500)
- Rear customer display ($95)
- Mac mini servers (varies)
- Processing fees:
- Payment processor: Lavu Pay
- Processing rate: Custom-quoted rate
Lavu is a restaurant touch screen POS system with an affordable price point for niche restaurants. Subscriptions start at $69 per month for a single terminal, significantly lower than Toast or Upserve, but still offer versatility that you won’t find in a free software like Loyverse.
Lavu’s features include ingredient-level inventory and menu management, tableside ordering, loyalty, and real-time sales reporting among others. It also supports both in-house and integrated third-party payment processing, so you have the freedom to find the best transaction rates that work for you.
It is in inventory tracking and menu management where Lavu truly shines, and unlike Toast and Upserve, Lavu’s inventory feature is included in the baseline subscription. You can link your inventory with your menu and track stock availability in real time, even with multiple modifiers. Loyverse even has a pizza builder module with customized modifier screens to support pizzerias.
Based on our criteria, Lavu earned a score of 4.11 out of 5, with perfect marks for general features and outstanding scores for ease of use. However, it lost points for its limited pricing information and device compatibility—both important for touch screen POS systems. Lavu’s website is unclear as to what features are included in the baseline plan, which cost Lavu points in our evaluation.
Aside from swipe card readers, Lavu is also compatible with PayPal chip and tap card readers for mobile payments. (Source: Lavu)
Lavu POS can be downloaded to a compatible iPad device and fitted with a stand for a counter top setup. (Source: Lavu)
Lavu Features
- Inventory management: Track your ingredients in real time and send notifications to your servers on the floor whenever a food item is about to be discontinued. You can also customize measurements and create a detailed ingredient list for each dish in your menu.
- Menu customization: Use modifiers to customize your menu and accommodate special customer requests. You can also create a variety of combos and send orders to different printers (drinks to the bar, entrees to the kitchen) at the same time. For pizzerias, use Lavvu’s pizza builder module to create different pizza flavors.
- Staff management: Comes with five premade user profiles with different access levels which can be customized to suit your operational needs. You can create and manage shifts, monitor staff attendance and working hours, set allowable overtimes, and track open tabs.
- Mobile ordering: MenuDrive is a native online ordering tool for Lavu users that allows you to accept orders online and via email, phone, chat, and text messages. It also lets you create custom delivery zones and set delivery fees for each area.
- Delivery management: MenuDrive also allows you to assign deliveries to your riders, find the best route, and send driving directions and delivery instructions to their mobile.
- Customer management: This allows your servers to enroll customers in your loyalty program while they are placing their orders. Build your customer database and integrate your data with your delivery tools and customized rewards management system.
- Reporting tools: Includes over 40 customizable, built-in reports with real-time sales and labor reporting functionality. Pilot is Lavu’s reporting app that allows you to access real-time performance data from a smartphone.
- Customer support: Training handbooks and a support database are available online, while US-based customer support is available 24/7 via phone, email, and webchat.
Lavu’s Drawbacks
Lavu’s back office integration options are still in need of some improvement. For instance, if you are a QuickBooks user, you won’t be able to use Lavu as it does not support this accounting software integration. Instead, you will be better served by trying Square for Restaurants as an alternative POS system. Also, Lavu does not have an integrated vendor management system, so if this is a priority in running your business, we recommend you try Upserve by Lightspeed.
Toast: Best Touch Screen POS for Restaurants
Toast
What We Like
- Proprietary, industry-grade hardware includes multi-functional handheld tablet
- Offers a pay-as-you-go and $0 upfront cost subscription
- Excellent order and table management tools
What's Missing
- Advanced inventory management tools require purchase
- Mandatory purchase of proprietary hardware
- Mandatory remote installation fee for Loyalty and Gift Card add-ons
- Requires a Toast Payments subscription, no payment integrations available
Toast Pricing
- Software subscription plans:* Starter (from $0 per month for up to two terminals), Essentials ($165 per month), and Growth ($272 per month)
- Hardware costs: Starter kits: Pay-as-you-go ($0), Standard paid plan (from $799) Additional terminals ($999), Mobile Handheld POS: Toast Go ($499 + $50 per month)
- Processing fees: Pay-as-you-go plan:* 2.99% + 15 cents for card present and card not present transactions (Additional 0.40% per transaction for plans with add-ons), Standard paid plan: 2.49% + 15 cents for card present and 3.5% + 15 cents for card not present transactions
*POS subscription is $69/month when purchasing a starter kit with a standard paid plan.
Toast takes the lead when it comes to touch screen POS systems for full-service restaurants. Its top-of-the-line order and table management features are designed to keep servers in constant communication with the kitchen, while handheld terminals ensure that servers are immediately notified whenever orders are ready or if an item is 86ed from the menu. Also, the touch-screen KDS allows the back-of-house staff to keep track of all orders—whether they come from the dining room or from a third-party delivery app—and send notifications back to the waitstaff.
Toast also offers detailed inventory management, an array of touch-screen hardware options, and flexible ordering tools—making it the best overall touch screen POS for restaurants.
After careful evaluation, Toast earned an overall score of 4.10 out of 5 and received top points for ease of use, general features, and expert evaluation. However, the additional cost to use simple tools—such as inventory, employee management, and loyalty and gift cards—can make the system quite pricey. Moreover, the proprietary hardware meant there is a lack of both terminal and card reader flexibility, which is essential for touch screen POS systems, and thereby prevented Toast from getting a higher score in our evaluation.
Toast Go is a mobile POS terminal allows your servers to accept dine-in and take-out orders and process card payments anywhere in the restaurant. (Source: Toast)
Toast's starter kit bundles Toast software with Toast Tap, a Toast Flex terminal, and a router. (Source: Toast)
Add $200 to your starter kit to include a customer facing display. (Source: Toast)
Toast Features
- Inventory management: Toast provides a powerful inventory management system, allowing you to keep an eye on your food costs, wastage, and menu profitability. It is not quite as advanced as Upserve, however, as far as integrating with food suppliers for real-time pricing.
- Customer management: Toast allows you to create customer profiles that let you send digital receipts and collect and respond to feedback. Combine it with add-ons like Toast Loyalty that supports a customizable rewards program and Toast Marketing to create customized and targeted emails for rewarding regulars or enticing customers to return.
- Employee management: Allow employees to clock in and out to track hours, including breaks and overtime. Toast also offers its own payroll solution for an additional fee, or you can integrate with one of several restaurant payroll providers.
- Table management: Many users like how Toast improves communication between front-of-house and back-of-house staff. When servers are using Toast’s handled tablets, menu item quantities are updated in real time, so they’re aware of 86s before taking a customer’s order. Likewise, servers are given a notification as soon as a course is out of the kitchen and are reminded about where it’s headed. Toast is also the only POS on this list that offers fully contactless ordering, allowing customers to order and pay from their smartphones.
- Online ordering: Users on the $165 per month plan and higher can set up their own commission-free online ordering system. Toast also integrates with Grubhub, DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Caviar via Chowley.
- Customer Service: Toast offers 24/7 phone, chat, and email support.
Toast’s Drawbacks
As a touch screen POS, the biggest drawback for Toast is that it uses proprietary hardware, which not only takes away the flexibility of this type of POS system but also drives up the cost of running your business. This ties you to a possible long-term contract and to Toast’s in-house payment processing solution, preventing you from getting the best deals in transaction fees. Lavu is a better alternative in this regard, as it is compatible with both iOS and Android devices and also supports integrated third-party payment processing.
Vend by Lightspeed: Best Touch Screen Retail POS With Built-In Loyalty Program
Vend by Lightspeed
What We Like
- Built-in customer loyalty program
- Easy-to-use and intuitive interface
- Flexible payment processing options
- Offers a free trial
What's Missing
- Pricey subscription plans
- Limited transaction volume with the basic plan
- Basic ecommerce integration and reporting features
- No built-in payment processor
Vend Pricing
- Software subscription plans:
- Lite ($99 per month)
- Pro ($129 per month)
- Enterprise (custom quote)
- Hardware costs:
- All-in-one mPop (from $499)
- Starter hardware kit for iOS ($600)
- Starter kit for PC and iOS ($684)
- Pro hardware kit ($807)
- iPad stands (from $99)
- Processing fees: Depends on your chosen payment processing provider (TSYS, Worldpay, Cardconnect, Chase, EVO Payments, PayPal, Square, and more)
Vend is an excellent option for brick and mortar retailers looking for a touch screen POS that offers a built-in customer and loyalty management. Very few POS include loyalty programs, store credit, and layaway functions in its basic plan. Combined with its offline processing features and its ability to integrate with third-party processors and offer multiple payment options, Vend is a solid option for retailers.
It also rivals Square with its inventory features, so high-volume businesses that prefer alternative payment processor options to offset the higher subscription plan should consider using this system.
After careful consideration, Vend earned a score of 4.02 out of 5, with perfect scores for general features and ease of use. For touch-screen features, Vend scored well on device flexibility, electronic signature capture, and customizable digital receipts availability. On the other hand, the software lost points for its unreliable offline payment processing, pricey subscription plans, and limited transaction volume, and subsequently prevented Vend from performing better in our ranking.
Vend's iOS starter kit features an all-in-one mPOP with an integrated cash drawer, printer, and scanner. (Source: Vend)
Vend Pro's hardware kit includes a 10.2” iPad plus stand, mobile barcode scanner, compact printer, and cash drawer. (Source: Vend)
Vend Features
- Inventory: Real-time inventory tools are available from its basic plan. It allows users to upload and edit products in bulk, track variant bundles, and set custom low stock alerts and automatic reordering. It also lets you build a centralized catalog that can be accessed directly from the POS, back office, and mobile for easy management of multiple locations.
- Customer management: As a cloud-based system, users can manage their customer list across any integrated platform. Vend’s baseline plan includes CRM features such as creating customer profiles that track purchase history and contact information. With Vend Pro, you get access to management tools for customer groups, gift cards, store credit, and a flexible loyalty program with customizable rewards and points.
- Point of sale: Vend accepts all credit card payment types, as well as mobile payments, gift cards, layaways and buy-now-pay-later plans.
- Loyalty program: This is available in its Pro plan and already comes with gift cards. Loyalty points information is available during checkout so that you can engage your customers more with great buying suggestions. Vend also offers a free customer-facing display app where customers can enroll for loyalty programs and enter their email address if they prefer getting their receipt via email.
- Reporting and analytics: Vend Lite comes with custom analytics reporting with the ability to filter data, similar to Lightspeed. Upgrading to Vend Pro gives you advanced reporting functions such as discounts, employee insights, seasonal trends, and gift card analytics.
- Customer service: Offers 24/7 phone support—in addition to live chat, email, and social media. Users can also sign up to Vend U for on-demand courses and training webinars.
Vend’s Drawbacks
Vend is the only provider in our top picks that imposes a transaction volume limit in one of its plans. Considering a rather expensive baseline subscription ($99) that has yet to include key features such as ecommerce integration and loyalty, this raises the question of Vend’s value-for-money, particularly for small business owners. So, if you prefer a touch screen POS with inventory and reporting tools included in a much more affordable baseline subscription plan, consider Lightspeed.
Bottom Line
While there are a definitive number of business types, each business owner’s approach to growth is unique. The many different types of POS systems in the market are designed to offer a variety of features to match combinations of business concepts, size, objectives, and growth strategies. Whether your primary goal is to manage a vast inventory, handle multichannel sales, boost your loyalty program, or improve the quality of your table service through tableside ordering, a touch screen POS system will help you get the job done efficiently.
If you aren’t sure yet where you need to be investing your money, the free POS tools offered by Square provide a great jumping-off point. Square offers just about everything a small retail shop or restaurant will need to get started, and it can scale with you. To try Square for free, click the button below.
