How Much Does a POS System Cost?

A point-of-sale (POS) system has two components: hardware and software. Most businesses purchase POS hardware outright, meaning the upfront cost can range from $50 for a simple card reader to over $10,000 for a large restaurant that needs multiple registers and tableside solutions.

POS software typically follows a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model and is billed monthly or annually. Monthly fees can vary from $0 per month for a free basic system to $300 per month, per register for an enterprise-level solution. Some POS systems also have one-time installation and setup fees or extra fees for live customer support. Let’s explore the different costs involved in paying for a POS System.

The amount you pay for a POS system can vary widely depending on your industry, business size, and budget. Hardware and software are the main components of every POS system. However, many systems also include built-in payment processing which means they charge a fee for every non-cash transaction.

Total Costs of Popular POS Systems

*With Shopify ecommerce plan

POS Software Fees

POS software designed for brick and mortar businesses will generally cost between $50 and $100 per month per register for a budget solution and $100 to $300 per month per register for a more comprehensive plan. Mobile vendors needing a POS system can usually use a free or budget solution with monthly fees ranging from $0 – $50.

POS Hardware Pricing

The amount you spend on POS hardware depends on the type of business you run. A solopreneur selling products on a smartphone can get a card reader for $0 – $50 from services like Square or QuickBooks GoPayment, and that is likely all you need.

Square Terminal ($299) is a swipe, chip, and contactless card reader with Square’s free POS and Payment Processing technology built-in.

Restaurants, retail stores, boutique shops, health businesses, and spas will have to spend a great deal more on things like monitors or tablets, credit card terminals, receipt printers, barcode scanners, cash drawers, and other peripherals. For these types of businesses, you can spend as little as $300 for a single, bare-bones POS terminal, whereas a busy store with several cashiers will spend thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars.

ShopKeep offers starter hardware bundles for retail (pictured), restaurant, and quick-service businesses.

POS Payment Processing Fees

Some POS systems require businesses to use a third-party payment processor to collect sales, such as Payment Depot or Fattmerchant. However, it is becoming much more common for POS systems to come with built-in POS payment processing with set rates.

Generally, every sale made using a POS terminal generates a transaction fee that your business will need to pay. Some POS systems, like ShopKeep, collect these transaction fees in bulk at the end of a monthly or weekly period. Other POS systems, like Square, take the transaction fee directly out of the sale.

Most POS systems with built-in payments charge a percentage of the sale price plus a flat fee. For example, Square POS and Lightspeed Retail both charge 2.6% + 10 cents for card-present transactions, which is a fairly standard rate.

Factors That Impact the Cost of Your POS System

• Business size: Solo ventures, startups, small and medium-sized business, large enterprises, and corporate giants, will all pay different rates for their POS systems because they each need different amounts of hardware and software licenses.
• Industry: What you’re selling matters. Retail clothing shops have different needs than restaurants, and therefore have a wide difference in their POS setups. The POS system you choose should be tailor-made to the type of business you run. Software that handles complex inventory tracking or analytics will be more expensive than basic software that tracks payments.
• On-premise vs SaaS: On-premise means that the POS software is stored locally on your terminal’s hard drive. SaaS is cloud-based and is maintained by your POS service provider. On-premise POS systems typically have higher licensing fees and require more on-site maintenance. But, SaaS models typically have higher monthly fees.
• Hardware type: Again, this will vary on what type of business you run and what company you choose to provide your POS system. Tablet-based POS systems are very popular with bars, restaurants, retail stores, and mobile businesses. Businesses such as gas stations will require monitors, heavy-duty credit card machines, and a separate system for fuel. And restaurant POS systems often include table special management equipment, separate gear for hostesses, waitresses, and kitchen staff.

How to Budget for a POS System

If you run a business that depends on sales, your POS system should be one of the top priorities of your budget. Things to consider are if you want to pay monthly or yearly, whether you want to buy or rent your equipment, and if the system you choose can expand with your business as it grows.

Monthly vs Annual Billing

Most POS systems allow you to choose whether you want to pay month-by-month or for a whole year upfront. Businesses that don’t have much cash on hand might find monthly billing better for their cash flow, while more established businesses will find the discounts offered by annual plans to be more attractive.

Purchasing vs Leasing POS Equipment

Like all things tech, POS systems are constantly improving—adding new features, becoming faster, and more durable. If you purchase your equipment outright, it’s a one-time cost and you won’t have to worry about monthly or yearly payments. If you lease equipment, you have the option to upgrade every few years.

However, leasing does come with extra monthly or yearly payments. For most small businesses like retailers and other brick and mortar storefronts with a few terminals, purchasing POS equipment outright is still the most economical option, even if you do replace equipment every few years.

POS System Financing

If you don’t have the cash on hand to pay for a POS system upfront, many POS providers allow you to make payments on their systems. For example Square allows you to pay for your POS system over the course of up to 12 months with rates ranging from 0-30% APR. Whereas providers like ShopKeep offer financing options that have no payment schedule, they simply take a portion of your revenue on an on-going basis, until your balance is paid off.

Choose a System That Can Grow With Your Business

If you’re a small business or a startup, it may be tempting to get the least expensive system that fits your needs. However, some POS systems don’t scale very well. If your business grows to a medium or large size, and you need more advanced inventory or analytics tools, or want to start selling online, it can be very disruptive to your business to switch systems down the road.

POS System Costs for Different Business Types

1. Retail POS Costs

Square Register Kit ($1,329) is a retail hardware bundle with a touch screen register, customer display screen, credit card reader, cash drawer, and receipt printer.

• • Retail POS Setup Price: Smaller stores can often set up a simple retail POS system for free. However, restaurants, multi-location businesses, and franchise stores may have more demanding setups that require a professional installation fee. Some POS systems also offer remote setup for inventory product lists for a flat-fee.
  • Retail POS Software Subscription Price: Most POS software subscriptions are billed either monthly or yearly. Generally speaking, this will be the most constant cost of any POS system. For example, Square for Retail is $60 per month per location, whereas Lightspeed Retail’s Pro plan is $229 per month.
  • Retail POS Payment Processing: You will pay a flat fee and/or percentage for every sale made. The exact amount will vary depending on your POS system and credit card processor. However, on average, your effective credit card processing rate will likely be between 2-3%.
  • Retail POS Hardware: Hardware for retail stores can include but are not limited to the following:
    • Terminals
    • Tablets
    • Bar code scanners
    • Credit card machines
    • Receipt printers
    • Cash drawers
    • Inventory management devices

If you’re running a multi-location retail chain or are a retail franchise, you may run a proprietary POS system. Meaning that instead of going through services like Square or ShopKeep, the company builds and maintains its system. The costs of this can be astronomical if you’re the owner of the business. However, if you’re just a franchisee, it takes all of the guesswork of picking a POS system—and is baked into the price of doing business.

2. Restaurant POS System Costs

POS systems for restaurants that require register terminals, kitchen display systems, and handheld devices for tableside service will cost much more than a retail shop with one register.

• Restaurant POS Setup: The very complex nature of restaurant POS systems almost precludes restaurateurs from setting them up themselves. Table layouts, menu management, and ingredient management make restaurant software more complex. Plus, if you need kitchen display solutions and tableside ordering or payment options, the hardware setup is also very complex. For example, Toast POS has a $499 minimum installation cost.
• Restaurant POS Software Subscription: The cost of your restaurant POS subscription will vary depending on what kind of restaurant you run. There will be no way to know for certain how much you’ll pay monthly or yearly until you get a quote from providers like Toast, Revel Systems, or Lavu.
• Restaurant POS Payment Processing: Like with retail POS systems, some restaurant POS services will have a flat rate for all transactions using their own processing service, while others will allow you to bring in an existing merchant account. Most systems will allow you to negotiate a discounted payment processing rate if you reach a certain sales threshold (usually above $20,000 monthly).
• Restaurant POS Hardware: Restaurants have a variety of hardware options for different types of establishments. At the very least, any restaurant will need a credit card machine and a full-sized register terminal. However, a full-bodied restaurant POS system can include some or all of the following:
  • Terminals
  • Tablets
  • Hostess stations
  • Credit card machines
  • Cash drawers
  • Receipt printers
  • Kitchen displays
  • Wireless routers
  • Tableside ordering devices

3. Cafe POS Costs

Cafes can use a simpler POS setup, similar to retail stores, however, sit-down restaurants will need a more complex setup.

Café POS systems are something of a hybrid between restaurant and retail systems. Since cafes generally have a small kitchen (if they have one at all), they’re much less complicated and less expensive. And since they sell smaller, inventory-based food items, they function more like retail systems.

• Cafe POS Setup: Café POS systems setups resemble retail systems far more than restaurants. In fact, most café systems can get by with just a tablet system like Square or ShopKeep. Keeping setup costs to a minimum, and an outside installer is rarely needed.
• Cafe POS Software Subscription: Again, the costs of these are very similar to retail. Subscriptions for café POS systems like Square start at $0 and Lightspeed Restaurant starts at $59.
• Cafe POS Payment Processing: You can expect to pay around a 3% effective payment processing rate, similar to retail businesses.
• Cafe POS Hardware: Since cafes are a mix of both restaurant and retail, your business may require aspects of both systems, including:
  • Terminals
  • Tablets
  • Credit card machines
  • Cash drawers
  • Receipt printers
  • Tableside ordering devices
  • Handheld inventory devices
  • Kitchen displays

4. POS Systems for Health and Wellness Businesses

Some health and wellness businesses may just need a tablet or computer for managing appointments, while some spas or gyms with retail elements may need accessories like bar code scanners, card terminals, and receipt printers.

Health and Wellness businesses have POS needs that are unique. Systems that cater to this specific business type usually include a combination of appointment scheduling, invoicing, and retail features. Examples include Square Appointments, Fresha, Vagaro, and Acuity Scheduling.

• Health and Wellness POS Setup: Most health and wellness POS systems, such as Fresha, that have zero setup fees. If you are using a franchise-specific option, it will likely come with mandatory professional setup fees.
• Health and Wellness POS Software Subscription: While Fresha software is free to use, other options like Vargo start at $25 per month for a single user, and go up in price depending on how many users you have. Others still, like Square Appointments, range from $0 – $90 per month for up to 10 employees.
• Health and Wellness POS Payment Processing: While you can expect generalized payment processing prices with health and wellness POS systems, it’s important to note that online billing and invoicing payment processing fees are typically more expensive than card-present retail transactions.
• Health and Wellness POS Hardware: Since most health and wellness businesses are appointment-based, they don’t require much in the way of hardware. But you may want to invest in the following:
  • Tablet
  • Smartphone
  • Credit card reader
  • Bar code scanner
  • Cash drawer

5. POS Costs for Food Truck Businesses

Food trucks need a mobile POS with credit card processing and a touch-screen terminal. Square Stand ($199) includes a portable chip and tap card reader, plus an iPad stand with a magstripe reader (iPad not included).

Food trucks are another unique business that has its own particular POS system needs. A food truck POS must be mobile, wirelessly connected to the internet, and generally kept as minimal as possible.

• Food Truck POS Setup: While other options for food truck POS systems exist, the most practical is a tablet-based system, like the ones that come with Square and ShopKeep. Both of which have minimal or free setup costs.
• Food Truck POS Software Subscription: Since food trucks require a mobile POS, these are often simpler software than a program designed for brick and mortar businesses, so they are also often less expensive. For example, Square POS, a popular option for food trucks, is completely free to use.
• Food Truck POS Payment Processing: Payment processing fees for food trucks will be similar to those of retail stores; effective rates will likely be around 3%. However, if you accept online or mobile orders, those online payment rates will be higher.
• Food Truck POS Hardware: While you probably want to keep your hardware setup as minimal as possible, you will need to invest in at least some of the following:
  • Tablet
  • Credit card reader
  • Cash drawer
  • Receipt printer
  • Kitchen displays
  • Wireless routers

Bottom Line

When everything is calculated, paid for, and processed, you can generally expect to put out $3,000 – $10,000 a year for your business’s POS system. That’s a huge range and varies depending on your industry, business size, revenue stream, hardware needs, and more. Mobile businesses and occasional sellers will have minimal costs, while brick and mortar businesses will need to pay higher rates for more sophisticated hardware and software setups. For a more specific cost estimate, find the best POS system for your business, and request a direct quote.