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Whether you’re a startup or have an established location, a coffee shop point-of-sale (POS) system can quickly improve every facet of your business. POS systems centralize your sales, inventory, payment processing, customer data, marketing tools and staff tracking within one streamlined dashboard. Platforms designed for restaurants work well for coffee shop operations. Most have low-cost plan options and a few top-rated systems are free. Forbes Advisor researched the best POS systems for coffee shops and ranked seven top picks based on overall cost, essential features and marketing tools that help cafes grow. Android Pos Software
$6.95 per month, 0.29% to 1.99% per transaction
Yes, but no cafe features
Lowest overall cost for the most features
Yes, but no cafe features
Yes, but no cafe features
Lowest overall cost for the most features
Lowest overall cost for the most features
For the money, you get more with eHopper than many competitors, making it our top value pick. The OmniChannel version of eHopper POS delivers a ton of features for very low monthly fees. The eHopper POS also gives you payment processing flexibility and many hardware options.
Built-in features include ingredient-level inventory, online ordering, easy menus and item recipes, plus a loyalty program, marketing tools and customer and staff tracking. The eHopper POS also powers self-service kiosks, which you can build using Android tablets, Windows computers or the eHopper all-in-one register.
Along with 24/7 phone support, eHopper offers free data migration from other POS systems. You can use your own payment service or take advantage of 0% card processing that adds a “convenience fee” to card sales.
Learn more: Read our full eHopper POS review.
Coffee shop owners who want a feature-packed POS system ready to run two registers or checkout stations with minimal monthly fees.
It has two plans, a free POS and the paid OmniChannel plan, which has the features you need in a coffee shop POS. The OmniChannel plan requires one license for each register or tablet you operate. It doesn’t have a free trial, but you can set up a demo to see if eHopper meets your coffee shop POS needs and there is a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Lowest cost for top-tier POS plans
Lowest cost for top-tier POS plans
Lowest cost for top-tier POS plans
The popular Clover POS system has many specialty versions and the Counter Service Restaurant version is ideal for anyone needing a coffee shop POS system. Clover isn’t the cheapest POS on the list, but its top-tier plans give you more for the money versus the competition, including online order-ahead, easy menus, order add-ons and staff tracking.
QR-code ordering, a loyalty program, email marketing and gift cards are also built into Clover’s Counter Service Restaurant POS. However, you’ll need add-on apps for some cafe-specific features, such as self-ordering kiosks, menu recipes and ingredient tracking. Even with added costs, it’s an economical way to build a coffee shop POS with exactly what you need.
Clover offers 24/7 phone support, accessible from the system’s dashboard. Rates begin at 2.3% plus ten cents, and you must use the platform’s native processing platform.
Learn more: Read our full Clover POS review.
Coffee shop startups looking for a full-featured POS designed for counter sales and seamless online order-ahead.
Clover doesn’t have a free quick-service plan for a coffee shop POS, but its monthly paid plans are a good value and include payment plans for startup hardware. There is no free trial, but you can set up a demo account to see if Clover is the best POS for your coffee shop needs.
These rates reflect the “pay in full” option, which lets you purchase the hardware outright. If you’d prefer to pay a monthly lease for the equipment, you may do so for $90-$175 per month depending on which plan you choose. This is a higher monthly payment but includes both the hardware and software you’ll need.
Seamless multi-location inventory, sales reports and gift cards
Seamless multi-location inventory, sales reports and gift cards
Seamless multi-location inventory, sales reports and gift cards
Lightspeed Restaurant POS delivers a solid set of food service-specific features including order management and tracking, ingredient-level inventory, easy menu creation, recipes and order firing to kitchen tickets and kitchen display screens. Higher-tier plans include loyalty programs and gift cards while online ordering and other features can be added to any plan for additional monthly fees. You can add multiple checkout registers and mobile devices, but that increases your monthly fees. Overall, Lightspeed is pretty pricey for a small coffee shop.
Where Lightspeed Restaurant POS shines is multi-location management. If you’re planning to open several locations, Lightspeed is worth a look. You can oversee all location sales, inventory and staff tracking from a sleek central dashboard. Plus, it seamlessly supports gift cards, loyalty programs and inventory transfers across multiple locations.
Lightspeed users enjoy 24/7 phone support, online knowledge base and detailed tutorials. Competitive payment processing is a flat rate of 2.6% plus ten cents (or 30 cents if the card is manually keyed in). However, you can’t connect your own payment processing service.
Learn more: Read our full Lightspeed POS review.
Multi-location coffee shops and small chains with high sales volumes will appreciate the centralized, cross-location management tools in Lightspeed Restaurant POS.
Lightspeed Restaurant POS has four price tiers, each with added features. All plans support one location and one register, and you can add registers for $39 each, per month. You can test-drive Lightspeed with a 14-day free trial.
Free plan supports unlimited locations, registers and devices
Free plan supports unlimited locations, registers and devices
Free plan supports unlimited locations, registers and devices
Square for Restaurants includes food service management features in both the free and paid versions. The free version delivers nearly everything a small coffee shop needs, such as custom orders, easy menus, inventory tracking, online ordering and pickup, tips, gift cards, staff logins and time tracking. You can also use unlimited countertop checkouts and mobile checkout devices in the free plan with no added costs.
Square Plus for Restaurants extends staff tracking, business reporting and floor management features for $60 per month. However, these features can be overkill for a small coffee shop. In many cases, the free version is all you need. You can add a loyalty program, email and SMS marketing, kitchen displays and payroll to either plan for added monthly fees.
Square Plus users enjoy 24/7 phone support and free POS users can get phone support from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., PT, Monday through Friday. Square’s payment processing rates range from 2.6% plus ten cents to 3.5% plus 15 cents, based on plan tier and type of sale. You can’t connect your own payment processing service to Square POS.
Learn more: Read our full Square POS review.
Business owners who want a free coffee shop POS that delivers a solid set of menu, order, inventory, online ordering, gift card and customer tracking features.
Square for Restaurants has three plan tiers. As soon as you register for Square, you can download and use the free Square for Restaurants app. The paid Square Plus for Restaurants POS has a 30-day free trial.
Free starter kit with two checkout devices
Free starter kit with two checkout devices
Free starter kit with two checkout devices
Toast POS is a powerful restaurant POS system with every feature that larger cafes and bistros need to run efficiently. Toast does offer a free starter plan with basic POS features, however, its higher-tier plans and optional features can get quite pricey for a small coffee shop. That’s why we recommend Toast POS for larger operations.
Toast’s free POS plan includes menu creation, quick ordering, custom orders, digital menus and mobile checkout. Higher-tier paid plans include online ordering, self-service screens, delivery tracking and takeout management. You can also add online ordering, loyalty programs, email marketing and gift cards to free and paid Toast POS plans for added fees.
Toast POS has 24/7 phone support and an online knowledge base with extensive tutorials. Starter Kit payment processing rates range from 2.49% plus 15 cents to 2.99% plus fifteen cents, based on sale type. Payment processing rates for paid plans are per quote. You can’t use your own payment service with Toast POS.
Learn more: Read our full Toast POS review.
Owners of large cafes and bistros can appreciate all that Toast POS has to offer and afford the cost. Plus, the two-terminal free Starter Kit can fit the needs of small coffee shops.
Toast POS has four plan tiers with added features at each level, plus add-on modules with plan-based pricing. The best way to know your overall cost is to ask for a custom quote. Toast POS offers a complete demo, but there’s no free trial period.
Free loyalty program and automated promotions
Free loyalty program and automated promotions
Free loyalty program and automated promotions
The free SumUp POS + Loyalty restaurant plan offers the Fivestars loyalty platform with promotional marketing pushes. This is a paid feature in most coffee shop POS systems. Beyond that nifty perk, SumUp POS offers solid restaurant POS tools for order management, item and menu creation, gift cards, customer tracking, inventory and business reporting. The paid Pro plan adds staff tracking and more monthly promotions, plus has lower payment processing fees.
Online ordering isn’t a built-in feature, but you can connect SumUp to Wix and WooCommerce to process online order payments. For in-store sales, SumUp POS software and card readers work with iOS and Android devices, plus you can get pricing for all-in-one touchscreen terminals and tablet stand checkouts when you book a demo.
SumUp POS offers 20/7 phone support plus an online knowledge base with tutorials. Payment processing rates are based on your plan. Starter POS + Loyalty ranges from 3% plus ten cents to 3.5% plus 15 cents and Pro POS + Loyalty runs from 2.6% plus ten cents and 3.5% plus 15 cents, based on type of sale. You can’t use your own payment provider with SumUp.
Learn more: Read our full SumUp POS review.
Coffee shop owners who want a free POS with a robust loyalty and promotions program with no added fees.
SumUp POS + Loyalty for restaurants has a free and paid plan and each has setup fees. SumUp offers demos on both plans and a 30-day money-back guarantee on the paid plan.
Newland N950 Connect your own payment processing service