Square vs Lightspeed: What’s the Best POS in 2021?

Square and Lightspeed both offer fully-featured POS systems for retail, restaurants, and online use. Both offer their own payment processor, although Lightspeed lets you select a third-party processor if you prefer (for a higher monthly fee). Lightspeed is best on iOS, while Square offers excellent mobile apps for iOS or Android.

Here’s a quick summary of who each system is best for:

• Square: Best for microbusinesses and solopreneurs, as well as growing SMBs
• Lightspeed: Best for medium-sized businesses, multiple locations, inventory management, sales of age-restricted items, and golf courses

When to use an alternative: Square and Lightspeed primarily serve brick-and-mortar businesses, as well as mobile sales. If your main priority is selling online, you’re better served by Shopify. It’s the best ecommerce platform for small business and has an excellent multichannel POS system for connecting mobile or in-store sales.

Read on for a detailed comparison of Square vs Lightspeed.

Square vs Lightspeed At a Glance

*Interest free installment plans available on select purchases.

Overall, Square and Lightspeed are two of the most highly rated and popular POS systems we review. In the drop-down, explore some of the “Best of” lists where you’ll find them both listed:

When to Choose Square

Square’s free POS system makes it the better choice for budget-minded businesses, seasonal businesses, and those only making occasional sales, such as crafters who sell at the local farmers market or artists who sell at conventions.

Square is also better than Lightspeed for appointment-based businesses. Square Appointments is also free and integrates with your online store, mobile app, and POS system. If you have a beauty salon, spa, gym, repair shop, or other service-oriented business, we recommend Square over Lightspeed.

If you know your business is going to grow, and you’d prefer to have all your tools working together natively, then Square will serve you better. The free account gives you access to all payment options plus a complete set of inventory, sales, customer, and employee management tools. Square even gives you a free magstripe credit card reader to get you started. Thus, you can get started with sales at zero cost.

However, as you grow, Square offers paid solutions to help with loyalty programs, marketing, and even payroll. Further, it has banking services from checking accounts to business loans. Square offers over 100 third-party integrations as well.

When to Choose Lightspeed

Square offers a lot, but its inventory and analytics are not as granular as Lightspeed’s. Lightspeed also has age-verification tools, making it the better of the two if you sell alcohol, tobacco, e-cigs, or other age-restricted items. This makes it a better choice for bars; Lightspeed also lets you create bar tabs with prepayment.

It’s also the better of the two if you need ingredient tracking. It offers greater choice for product modifications and has over 3,000 built-in product catalogs for reordering and finding new merchandise.

While both Square and Lightspeed offer payment processing, Lightspeed also gives you the option of choosing a different merchant account. (It may charge extra to implement it.) If you already have a merchant account and don’t want to switch, Lightspeed should be able to accommodate you where Square can’t. You may also be able to find better transaction rates than with Square or even Lightspeed itself.

The ability to choose a separate merchant account also means Lightspeed is compatible with high-risk businesses such as cannabis and vape retailers.

Most Affordable: Square

*Lower rates for paid POS subscribers

Takeaway: Overall, Square is the best choice for pricing. The free POS system and matching in-person transaction rates make it overall cheaper. If you do a large number of small, keyed-in transactions, even its keyed-in rate is better, despite the higher percentage.

Why Square Is Best for Pricing

To start, Square’s complete POS system is free; you only need to pay if you want advanced functions. Lightspeed, by contrast, only offers a 14-day free trial. In addition, Square waives the first $250 in chargeback fees per month. For a small business, this could be all you need.

With Square’s free POS, the in-person payment processing fees are the same as Lightspeed’s. If you subscribe to one of the paid POS plans, Square’s flat-rate payment processing fees drop down to 2.5% + 10 cents.

While Square’s keyed-in and online rates might initially look more expensive, they have lower cents per transaction fees (10-15 cents instead of Lightspeed’s 30 cents), which is ideal for smaller transactions. So, even the keyed-in rates are better for most sales under $20.

In addition, Square has a very reasonable fee for ACH and e-checks. We did not find any rates listed for Lightspeed. You may need a third-party processor for these kinds of payments.

Square’s hardware also offers more affordable options, from the free swipe card reader and $49 chip and tap reader to the POS systems that start at $299. It has a greater variety of POS hardware than Lightspeed, with full kits costing as much as $1,343, but several options at the $500-$650 range.

When to Use Lightspeed

While Square is overall the cheaper option, Lightspeed could be your better deal if your average sales are over $20. That’s because Lightspeed’s keyed-in percentage is so much cheaper than Square’s. While there is still the monthly fee to consider, if you do enough sales, the savings may pay for the subscription.

You may be able to get cheaper payment processing rates with a third-party processor, but Square does not allow you to use another processor. Lightspeed does. So, if you do high-volume sales, Lightspeed may again be the more affordable choice.

Complaints of Held Funds

Lightspeed has very few complaints by users for held funds or closed accounts. Square, however, has a large number of complaints concerning confusion about its hold policy, held funds, or account deactivation. Keep in mind that Square is one of the largest POS/payment processors in the industry.

Best for Register Functionality: Square

Takeaway: Both systems are powerful, but Square’s price point and breadth of features make it the better register. Its interface is also a lot more streamlined than that of Lightspeed, making it a good option for businesses that prioritize checkout speed and easy employee training.

Why Square Is Best for Register Functions

Square consistently takes the No. 1 spot in our reviews for POS hardware because it offers so much at such a great price. Square offers a completely free version that covers the basics and is easy to use. The free version has an online store (albeit very basic), a virtual terminal, customer profiles and segmenting, gift card management, refund tools, and more.

Square’s paid version has additional functions like employee scheduling, yet is still cheaper than Lightspeed. Its inventory is more basic than Lightspeed’s, but we cover that in the next section.

When to Use Lightspeed

One thing Square lacks is age verification tools, which Lightspeed includes in all plans. This makes it best for liquor stores, smoke shops, vape shops, and other age-restricted item sales.

It’s also the better choice for multistore management. Lightspeed lets you set different prices for different locations, manage inventory across all locations, and configure employee permissions whether they work in a single store or travel between multiple locations.

Unlike Square, Lightspeed is also able to handle work orders. This makes it a better fit for retailers like bike shops that offer repairs or boutiques that provide tailoring services. The register can also accommodate special orders, for example, if you need to order a custom part or hard-to-find item. Finally, the Lightspeed register can also track warranties for specific sales, so you can see at a glance if a customer’s purchase is still under warranty.

Best for Inventory: Lightspeed

Takeaway: While Square has tools for the most used inventory management needs, Lightspeed is the more powerful system.

Why Lightspeed Is Best for Inventory

Lightspeed ranks No. 1 in our list of the best POS inventory systems. It’s the most powerful, able to handle over 10,000 SKUs, variants, bundles and kits, and more. It can track inventory by unit or volume, a great help when dealing with foodstuffs or selling items by the individual item or case. Its 40+ reports provide detailed analysis.

Naturally, it has low-inventory alerts and vendor management, so you can quickly send out purchase orders. Over 3,000 catalogs are already loaded into the system, making it easy to replace stock and discover new items. Lightspeed stands out, however, with its Supplier Network. Not only does it make it easy for you as a retailer to find and order products, but if you do B2B sales, you can apply to get your products hosted in the catalog as well.

When to Use Square

Square is no slouch for inventory management, but its tools are not as in-depth. It does not have kitting capability, for example. It does let you upload and edit items in bulk, set low-stock alerts, and manage vendors—just not to the degree Lightspeed can. However, the system is free or you can upgrade at $60 per month (still cheaper than Lightspeed), so the budget-minded should consider it.

Best for Restaurants & Food: Lightspeed

Takeaway: Both are great POS systems for restaurants, with menu modification, online ordering, touchless and kiosk ordering, and kitchen display syncing. Both work great for food carts or full-service restaurants and have table management. However, Lightspeed has more powerful tools for managing multiple locations, detailed ingredient tracking, bar features, and integration with hotel property management system (PMS) software.

Why Lightspeed Is Best for Restaurants

Lightspeed makes it easy to take special orders and tracks to the ingredient level, which helps you keep track of all your items, not just the finished meal. You can keep open tabs, transfer those tabs from bar to table or between servers, and group or split payments as needed. If you sell alcohol, Lightspeed’s age-verification tools make sure you stay compliant with state and local laws. With Lightspeed’s upsell reminders, you can nudge your staff to mention those extras that go great together.

Overall, Lightspeed’s superior inventory and reporting makes it better for larger operations and quick service restaurants. In addition, if you have a hotel, Lightspeed integrates with hotel PMS so that you can manage room service. Read our full Lightspeed Restaurant review to learn more.

When to Use Square

Once again, price is a big consideration. Plus, Square’s user-friendly interface makes it a good fit for high-volume operations like cafes, pizzerias, and bakeries. It’s mobility makes it a good fit for food trucks and other vendors.

As always, the fact that Square offers its basic (but still powerful) restaurant POS system free makes it a great choice for those who don’t need all the extras. Read our full Square for Restaurants review to learn more.

Best for Appointments & Services: Square

Takeaway: Square for Appointments is the best for most service-based businesses. However, Lightspeed has a unique solution specifically for golf courses.

Why Square Is Best for Appointments

Square has a specific version both in countertop and mobile POS for appointment-based businesses. Square Appointments lets you book clients online or on the application, send automated SMS reminders, handle recurring appointments, and even charge cancellation or no-show fees. You can check people out at the counter (or on the app) or send them an invoice.

The software includes notes for client profiles and team management. Plus, you still get Square’s powerful POS system. Square is our top choice for the best POS for salons and spas. Learn more about pricing and features in our full Square Appointments review.

When to Use Lightspeed

Lightspeed cannot compete with Square in this arena. It’s not designed to. The closest it gets is with the appointment function on the online store that lets your customers set appointments for services or shopping. It will send confirmations and reminders.

However, if you have a golf course or other amusement activity based on that model, you should consider Lightspeed Golf. This lets you manage and set up tee times for up to 54 holes and a multitude of play types. Lightspeed also allows you to follow your customers from the course to the restaurant, letting you keep a single tab running for all services. If you are managing a golf course or similar kind of operation, then Lightspeed is a better choice.

Best for Ecommerce & Multichannel Sales: Lightspeed

Takeaway: Lightspeed edges out Square for best for ecommerce. Its functionality is much stronger, but at a higher price.

Why Lightspeed Is Best for Ecommerce

Lightspeed comes with 50 themes for building an online store, plus it offers decent CRM, SEO, and marketing tools. It has extensive shipping tools for organizing and tracking shipping and integrates with shipping services like EasyPost and ShipStation. It also integrates with 21 third-party services for local delivery.

Lightspeed works for international sales and can be set to 14 different languages, plus multiple currencies. You can also program international shipping rates. These features, combined with Lightspeed’s sophisticated built-in SEO tools to help drive traffic to your online store, beat out Square easily.

Like Square, Lightspeed also allows you to sell on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

When to Use Square

Square’s online tools (Square Online) are free. By comparison, Lightspeed’s ecommerce solution comes with the Starter plan, which is $99 per month. Square also offers buttons that you can add to your website if you prefer to have an online store on your website. Square also offers a wider choice of ecommerce integrations, from delivery services to ecommerce solutions.

Overall, Square Online is really designed for online ordering for pickup, curbside, and local delivery. If you want a full-blown online store that will grow separately from your brick and mortar shop, you will find Square’s features lacking. Read our full Square Online review for details.

Best for Mobile: Square

Takeaway: Overall, for quality, versatility, and ease of use, Square is the better choice for mobile.

Why Square Is the Best Mobile POS App

You’ll find Square at the top of our lists for POS applications for mobile. The versatility, ease of use, and price make it a great choice for selling crafts at the flea market or running a booth at the mall. It also works offline, recording and storing transactions to sync to the cloud when you have connectivity back.

Square’s app syncs with the POS system, so you get all the advantages of Square no matter where you are. Overall, it’s an excellent system, as shown by its high ratings among users in both the Google and Apple app stores.

When to Use Lightspeed

Lightspeed’s app is designed with restaurants in mind, while Square’s mobile version works best with retail and appointments and for general purposes. Lightspeed’s mobile app includes such tools as bar tabs and table management. Plus, Lightspeed has a separate self-order kiosk app to turn any iPad into a customer-facing ordering screen.

Like with Lightspeed’s POS, Lightspeed’s mobile app is great if you have more complex inventory needs, such as tracking multiple modifiers, ingredients, or product waste. It also integrates with third-party payment processors. It has time tracking for your staff as well.

Bottom Line

In the contest between Square and Lightspeed, who wins depends on what you need. Square is clearly the best POS system for very small businesses, those looking for a free system, and most mobile businesses. It handles the basics for sales, inventory, and ecommerce. Plus, if the free version is not enough, there are affordable paid versions and add-ons that let it grow with you.

Lightspeed, on the other hand, offers more choices for payment processing, a more granular inventory system, and stronger restaurant functions. It’s more expensive, but the features are well worth the investment.

You May Also Like …

• See our picks for the best POS systems for small businesses.
• Learn how Square compares to Shopify.
• Find the best merchant account for your business.