POS System Ultimate Guide: Everything You Need to Know About Electronic Sales Systems
A POS system can equip your business with the right tools to drive sales and growth.
Best POS Systems For Your Small Business
With so many POS providers out there, we explore which ones could be best for your business.
Last updated 11/09/2025
Choosing the Best POS System for Your Business
POS systems used to be an alternative way of taking payments. Now they’re so much more. Far more than allowing you to just take electronic payments, POS machines and systems can help you manage your entire business. From tracking your orders, staff shifts and stock, all the way to offering you ways to change how you manage your business, a modern POS system can be the business partner you didn’t know you needed.
However, even though a POS system can take your business to the next level, there’s such a range of POS systems out there that knowing which one to choose can be a hard choice to make. Questions about cost, practicality, ease of use, and contracts are just some of those that can muddy the waters when it comes to choosing the right POS system for your business.
That’s why we’ve made this list; to take you through the best POS systems for small businesses in the US. Whether you need to start your POS journey or upgrade your current outdated system, there’ll be a provider on this list to suit you. Best of all, all those questions we mentioned just now have all been considered by us, so you don’t have to waste time researching them.
Want to cut to the chase?
If you want to strip away all of the reading and get a quote for a POS system today, you’re in the right place. While we’re good at researching POS systems, we’re even better at finding tailored POS quotes for businesses like yours. We can find you the best POS system for your business by asking you a few simple questions.
Who Provides The Best POS System?
As we said above, we know it can be difficult to know where to look for your POS System, especially if you’re just getting started with it or looking to upgrade after a long time, which is why we’ve done the digging for you.
This article will go through our top five POS system providers (listed below) that could work for your business. We’ll discuss fees, usability, and practicality so you will have all the information you need to choose the best POS system for you. Click each of the providers to find out more about them.
Benefits of a POS System
POS systems boost your profits in numerous ways. If, for example, you’re upgrading from a cash register, a good POS system can improve the speed you can take and process sales, all while costly errors are kept to a minimum.
In addition to this, a POS system can allow you to tap into new revenue streams and diversify your audience, so you get a bigger slice of industry trends. eComm software can also be easily integrated with some POS systems (which we explore in this article), so you can sell your products and services via some of the world’s busiest online marketplaces.
Finally, the reports that your POS system generates can give you a deeper insight into not just how your business currently works, but also how it could work better and more efficiently. From being able to see who your top performers are to who may need some extra support. With insights like these, you will be able to work smarter, rather than chasing your tail.
All of the providers on this list offer services like these and all of them do it well. As you will see on this list, there are POS systems that will suit certain types of business more than others, and there’s no single POS provider that is the best in every way. The best POS system is the one that works best for your business, so it’s your business that will help you make the decision on which provider to choose.
First on our list is Clover, and it’s a good place to start. Clover POS systems pack a punch with both its hardware and software, but where it really excels is in its POS machines. Whatever the needs of your business are, Clover can provide a machine to suit you.
Its range of card machines spans right from the most mobile of card readers (the pocket-sized Clover Go) to the fully integrated Station Duo, which acts as your business’s central hub of sales. As well as this, Clover provides fully interactive kitchen display systems for restaurants to easily track where orders are and, as if this wasn’t enough, they even provide the Clover Kiosk – a 24” touchscreen that allows your customers to order themselves, perfect for fast-food places. This range of hardware is unmatched by most POS providers and singles Clover out as one the best POS hardware providers on the market.
How Much Does Clover Cost?
Clover’s pricing depends on the type of hardware you choose, and how much of it your business uses. Different card machines and POS systems come with different prices. The Clover Flex, for example, is a fairly basic hand-held device with Clover’s software built-in and is yours for either $649 or $40 per month. Its bigger brother, the tablet-based Clover Mini, meanwhile, comes with a price tag of $799 or $45 per month. The prices of hardware go up incrementally like this until you get to the Clover Kiosk, which costs $3,499 plus a $34.95 monthly charge.
Transaction fees, again, depend on the nature of your business. If yours is a restaurant business, you can expect to pay a transaction fee of 2.3% +10￠for contactless payments and 3.5% + 10￠for keyed-in payments. If you run a retail business, your fees will start at 2.5% + 10￠for contactless payments and 3.5% + 10￠for keyed-in transactions. There’s also a different pricing structure for more niche business types.
While many of the other POS system providers within the industry (and on this list) have a specific range of products and features aimed primarily at retail and hospitality businesses, EPOS Now goes a step further and caters to specific business types within these umbrella categories. It can cater its services specifically to flower shops, garden centers, bookstores, food trucks and many more. Regardless of your business’s type, you’ll be able to access analytics tools to help you manage your business.
As well as being able to meet your specific needs with its software, EPOS Now’s hardware is also able to put up with a range of business environments. It provides a range of card machines, static till systems, iPad POS systems, and accessories to allow you to take payments in the way that suits you.
How Much Does EPOS Now Cost?
EPOS Now doesn’t have a fully transparent pricing structure available. To get a good idea of how much using its services would cost your business, you’ll have to approach the company via its website.
However, EPOS Now does provide an idea of how much its hardware starts. Printers, for example, start at $250, while barcode scanners and POS accessories start at $73 and $58 respectively. Its actual POS hardware, which includes a static computer system and card reader, starts at around $1000. Its tablet-based systems cost a little less, starting at around $550.
When it comes to transaction fees, EPOS Now again prefers to cater each quote to your individual needs. However, it does make it clear that there are no hidden fees or long-term contract requirements if you choose its services. There is one fixed rate for card transactions, and you can accept any type of card you wish.
Lightspeed has the bulk of businesses covered with its two systems; one of which focuses on retail and one which focuses on hospitality. Its restaurant-focussed system allows you customization options, so you can implement your own specific menus, workflows, and floor plans. As well as this, you can improve guest experiences with seamless ordering and data-backed recommendations. When it comes to Lightspeed’s retail POS systems, it allows you to easily track inventory, manage online orders, identify trends, and automate your marketing efforts.
Lightspeed’s hardware, like its software, is also split between retail and hospitality. Its retail hardware, while more limited than that of other providers on this list, is neat and functional. Based mainly around an iPad (which you will have to buy separately) its POS stand combines the functionality of mobile tablets with the usability of its software, allowing you to process payments with ease.
In addition to this, you can add cash drawers, barcode scanners, and printers to create a POS system catered for your specific needs. The same products are available for Lightspeed’s hospitality hardware but, here, there are more options for card machines, printers, and industry-specific devices.
How Much Does Lightspeed Cost?
While Lightspeed’s hardware doesn’t come with a set price; instead coming with a requirement to get a quote from the company directly to ensure you get a catered price, its software does have an easily accessible price. For its retail software, you can opt for the basic plan which (if you have one location and require one register) costs $89 per month, its core plan, which costs $149 per month or its plus plan, which is $289 per month. Each plan offers different levels of access to things like support, reports, and API access. All the plans come with the same transaction fees, which are 2.6% + 10￠.
Lightspeed’s hospitality pricing structure works similarly; costing $189 for its essential plan and $399 for its premium plan. There is a transaction fee of $2.6% + 10￠for the essential plan and a custom rate for the premium plan.
While many small businesses continue to thrive with physical stores, the modern world has opened up loads of opportunities for more online-based businesses, and Shopify is one of the best providers of POS systems for businesses of this type. While it does provide solutions for businesses that want to take in-person payments, its main focus is on online payments.
By offering small businesses help with everything from building their website to taking payments, Shopify casts itself as the ultimate online sales assistant. When it comes to selling your products and services online, there’s a whole load of features that not only allow you to design your customer journey in detail but also integrate with a tonne of popular apps, so your customers can buy from your business via social media platforms and other external places. All of this is really easy to set up and use too so, if you’re new to business and want to start selling online, Shopify is a good choice.
How Much Does Shopify Cost?
While Shopify does come with an array of useful features that can essentially make it easy to run an online business, it does come at a cost. Unlike Square (explored below), Shopify doesn’t offer a free version of its services. The most basic plan is aimed at solo entrepreneurs and costs $29 per month (when you pay annually). The next step up is for small teams, and it costs $79. With this version, you get additional shipping discounts and more staff accounts.
Shopify’s most expensive plans are the advanced, which costs $299 per month and the plus, which costs $2,300 per month. These plans come with loads more features and are suitable for businesses that are larger and more complex. Regardless of the plan you choose, you’ll have access to Shopify’s fast checkout system, in-depth analysis and a range of commerce apps to help you sell.
Square offers a variety of payment methods and solutions to suit a wide range of business types. Like many of the other POS providers on this list, Square focuses specifically on certain types of businesses, providing hardware and software suited to industries including restaurants, retail, and beauty businesses.
From payment processing to table and inventory management, its restaurant POS software allows communication to flow from your tables to your kitchen and your back office, making your business more streamlined from front to back. Its retail software, meanwhile, allows you to track customer spending habits, monitor stock levels, and manage your staff more effectively.
Square’s intuitive software is matched by its equally intuitive hardware. Again specifically adapted to certain business types, it provides everything from handheld card readers to fully integrated static sales systems capable of standing up to the heat in a busy store.
How Much Does Square Cost?
One of the best things about Square, and one of the key things that makes it a solid choice for any small or growing business, is the fact that its software is free. You don’t even need a card machine either; the Square app means you can turn any mobile device into a card machine, so you can completely bypass the need to buy a POS machine. If, however, your business is ready for more professional software, you can pay $29 per month to access more advanced features.
Unfortunately, its hardware isn’t free. Depending on how advanced you want it to be, you can spend anywhere from $59 for its entry-level card reader, to $799 (or $39 per month) for its most advanced till system. There’s also the option to add other accessories like cash drawers, charging docks, and printers, which come with an additional cost.
In terms of Square’s transaction fees, there’s a 2.6% + 10￠per transaction for in-person transactions, 2.9% + 30￠per transaction for online transactions, and 3.5% + 15￠per transaction for keyed-in transactions.
Verdict
Of all of the POS system providers in this list, Square is the one you’ve most likely already heard of and it’s probably the best all-rounder on the list above. Its specific focus on providing reasonably cheap, easy-to-use, and practical payment solutions to small businesses rightly makes it a popular choice amongst businesses of this type.
However, having said that your business could still suit a different POS provider better. Shopify, for example, is a great choice for businesses that are selling their products exclusively online, while Clover is best for businesses that require a plethora of hardware.
If you don’t want to be locked into a contract or want to accept all types of card payments, something like EPOS Now would be a good choice, while Lightspeed is great for offering your customers a personalised experience.
Ultimately it comes down to what you need for your business and the kind of system your budget can stretch to. Whatever your needs, there’s a provider explored on this list that can meet them.
FAQs
What is the best POS system for small businesses?
Unfortunately, there is no ‘best POS system’ out there. There are so many POS options available, with many specifically aiming at certain business types and certain industries, so the best one for you will depend on how well a given POS provider can work with your business.
Ultimately it comes down to what you need for your business and the kind of system your budget can stretch to. Whatever your needs, there’s a provider explored on this list that can meet them and allow you to take your business to the next level.
