How to compare POS systems for retail (2026)

The job

A retail POS has one job: take a card, update an available-to-sell number, and land money in a business account. Hardware is furniture. Loyalty is extra. A five-year restaurant suite is a different aisle. Best POS for small retail is the short list. Coffee shops, food trucks, and salon books have their own pages — use those if you are a bar, a window, or a chair.

The method

• Write last month’s in-person card volume and last month’s online/invoice volume. They have different rates.
• Write whether the catalog already lives on Shopify. If yes, Shopify POS is the default fork. If no, do not buy Shopify to get a register.
• Write whether you bag cash. If yes, you also need a branch bank. The POS will not solve that.
• Get Square’s public card and any Clover/Toast quotes in writing — software, hardware, term, effective rate.
• Add payroll if you have hourly staff. Square Payroll is $35 + $6 if the iPad is Square. Otherwise Gusto. See retail payroll.
• Ignore AI merchandising. Aiacent.

Inventory that disagrees across channels is a different ranking — retail inventory and ecommerce inventory. Do not buy a second POS “for stock.”

A volume napkin as of September 21, 2026

Square Free: $0 software; in-person 2.6% + 15¢; online/invoices 3.3% + 30¢. Plus $49/month per location at 2.5% + 15¢ in-person. Premium $149/month at 2.4% + 15¢. Custom talk-to-sales if you clear $250k+/year. Shopify: paid plans from $39/month class; POS Lite included; POS Pro +$89/month per location on the public card; Basic in-person Shopify Payments commonly 2.6% + 10¢. Clover and Toast: quotes. Confirm squareup.com, shopify.com/pos/pricing, clover.com, pos.toasttab.com.

At $20,000 in-person in a month, Square Free’s percentage is the tax you already pay. Plus’s rate cut has to beat $49 on that volume or you bought a sticker. A Toast quote has to beat both after hardware and the term. That is the comparison. The stand color is not.

The forks

• Single counter, no Shopify: Square Free, then Plus if staff and inventory depth need it.
• Catalog already on Shopify: Shopify POS Lite; Pro for a real floor.
• Processor or bank already on Clover: get the effective rate in writing before you stay.
• You are actually a restaurant: Toast, maybe. Gift shops should leave Toast alone. See coffee-shop POS and restaurant ops stack.
• Food truck: food-truck POS.

Mistakes we see

• Buying Toast for a boutique because a cousin’s bistro likes it.
• Two POS systems so “online can have its own.” The available-to-sell number dies.
• Signing a hardware term longer than the lease.
• Comparing software stickers and ignoring 2.6% vs 2.4% on real volume.
• Skipping a business account so payouts hit personal checking. See mistakes when picking business banking.
• Running payroll on a third timesheet while Square Team already has the hours.

Pick this week

If you can take a tap on a phone this Saturday, open Square, connect the business account, and sell. Add Plus when the free limits hurt. If the website is already Shopify, turn on POS Lite before you buy a second religion. Get any Clover or Toast number in writing. Then read retail ops stack so inventory, payday, and the bank match the register.