In today’s competitive landscape, retailers need functionality beyond simply ringing up sales and processing payments. Retail point-of-sale (POS) systems must also have robust inventory management tools, multichannel sales management, streamlined CRM features, staff management, and reports and insights into which products and employees perform best.
The best retail POS systems should offer all these functions in an affordable and easy-to-use package.
Based on our evaluation, the best retail POS systems are:
- Best overall (and best free): Square for Retail
- Best for online sellers: Shopify POS
- Best for advanced inventory management: Lightspeed Retail (Lightspeed R-Series)
- Best for flexible payment processing: Vend by Lightspeed (Lightspeed X-Series)
- Best for high-risk sales and event management: KORONA POS
- Best Retail POS Systems Compared
- Square for Retail: Best Overall Retail POS System
- Shopify POS: Best for Primarily Online Sellers
- Lightspeed Retail: Best for Advanced Inventory Management
- Vend by Lightspeed (Lightspeed X-series): Best for Flexible Payments
- KORONA: Best for High-risk Sales & Events Management
- How We Evaluated Retail POS Systems
- Bottom Line
Best Retail POS Systems Compared
Take a look at how the top retail POS systems compare.
| Score | User Reviews* | Built-in Ecommerce/ Online Ordering | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 4.58 out of 5 | 4.65 out of 5 | ✓ | Visit Square |
 | 4.48 out of 5 | 4.05 out of 5 | ✓ | Visit Shopify |
 | 4.43 out of 5 | 4.05 out of 5 | Only included in higher plans | Visit Lightspeed |
 | 4.22 out of 5 | 4.1 out of 5 | Only included in higher plans | Visit Vend by Lightspeed |
 | 4.07 out of 5 | 4.0 Out of 5 | ✓ | Visit KORONA POS |
| Free Plan | Monthly POS Software Fee | Processing Rates | POS Register Cost | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ✓ | $0–$60 | In-person: 2.6% + 10 cents
Online: 3.5% + 15 cents | $799 | Visit Square |
| ✓ | $0–$89 | In-person: 2.4%–2.7%
Online: 2.4%–2.9% + 30 cents | $219 (tablet not included) | Visit Shopify |
| ✕ | $89–$269 | In-person: 2.6% + 10 cents
Online: 2.6% + 30 cents | Custom quote | Visit Lightspeed |
| ✕ | $89–$269 | In-person: 2.6% + 10 cents
Online: 2.6% + 30 cents | Custom quote | Visit Vend by Lightspeed |
 | ✕** | $59–$89 | In-person: varies with processor Online: varies with processor | Custom quote | Visit KORONA |
Square for Retail: Best Overall Retail POS System
What we like:
Overall, Square offers some of the best POS systems for small businesses of all types. Square for Retail is no exception. It stands out as a user-friendly system offering unbeatable value and smart tools to grow your business.
The system is cloud-based and runs on iPads or Square Register. Every plan comes with built-in payment processing via Square Payments, a free online store for ecommerce and curbside pickup, digital receipts and customer feedback collection, and customer profiles with marketing insights.
Shopify POS: Best for Primarily Online Sellers
What we like:
Shopify POS is an add-on to Shopify’s industry-leading ecommerce platform. It’s only available to Shopify ecommerce sellers, so it’s best for online stores looking to expand to in-person sales or small businesses looking to sell online and upgrade their in-store software program.
What makes this provider shine is its powerful, comprehensive omnichannel selling features that make it the best option for retailers wanting to grow online sales or emphasize curbside pickup—a necessity for retailers today. In our evaluation, Shopify earned perfect marks for ease of use and a near-perfect score for register features.
Lightspeed Retail: Best for Advanced Inventory Management
What we like:
Lightspeed Retail is a robust retail POS system that includes more than 40 sales and inventory reports, analytics tools, and detailed inventory management. It also has top-of-the-line ecommerce and loyalty add-ons.
Overall, Lightspeed Retail is one of the best retail POS systems because of its sophisticated inventory and analytics tools. In fact, Lightspeed is our top-recommended POS for inventory management.
Vend by Lightspeed (Lightspeed X-series): Best for Flexible Payments
What we like:
Vend by Lightspeed (now known as Lightspeed X-series) is an intuitive iPad POS system built specifically for retailers, with key features such as built-in loyalty programs, mobile checkout, a free customer-facing display app, and a mobile scanner app for quick inventory counts. It also stands out for its flexible payment options—you can choose your own merchant account and set up custom payment types like layaway, store credit, and on-account sales.
The checkout screen is also one of the easiest to navigate, especially when it comes to ringing returns and exchanges. While many POS systems try to offer every feature for every business, Vend focuses on providing fantastic in-store retail functions and lets third-party apps handle everything else.
KORONA: Best for High-risk Sales & Events Management
What we like
KORONA is a leading POS system for businesses that process age-restricted or high-risk sales and retailers that need ticketing or event management functionality.
This POS has tools to help retailers keep track of perishable goods, process age-restricted transactions, and ticket management tools. Thus, KORONA is ideal for retailers that host events that serve alcohol or other high-risk goods and businesses that handle both food and beverage as well as non-perishable goods.
Overall, KORONA earned a 4.07 out of 5 in our evaluation, getting top marks for its ease of use and niche management tools for high-risk and event-based retailers but losing points for its lack of a free plan and modifier/variant inventory management tools.
How We Evaluated Retail POS Systems
We prioritized POS systems that are affordable, reliable, and easy to use. We also considered inventory management tools, online store and multichannel selling features, customer and employee management, payment processing options, reporting and accounting tools, customer support hours and quality, and third-party integrations. Finally, we considered our hands-on experience testing and using the software.
Each system on our list has multiple hardware options, including iPad apps, tools for selling online, and multiple plans so the software can grow with your business. Every system on this list is also cloud-based. Based on our evaluation, Square for Retail is the best overall retail POS system, earning a 4.58 out of 5.
Methodology
Bottom Line
A retail POS system is a crucial software tool that serves as the central hub for your retail business. In addition to processing sales, retail POS systems collect and analyze data to help inform purchasing and staffing decisions, manage employees and inventory, and help build your customer base with loyalty and marketing efforts.
Square for Retail is our top pick because it has a free plan to help new businesses (or businesses new to using a point-of-sale) get started, with plans and add-ons to grow with your business. Square also makes it easy and free to set up a basic online store with in-store pickup options, manage customers, and track sales. Visit Square to create a free account.
