Woman swipes a credit card using a point of sale system

Operations

The Best Restaurant POS Systems in 2024

A look at nine of the most popular POS systems for restaurants.

Restaurant point of sale (POS) systems refer to the computer hardware and software that allow restaurants to process transactions, accept payments, and manage multiple ordering channels. They’re the operational backbone of restaurants, so choosing the right one for your business is crucial.

To help you decide what’s best for you, we’ve rounded up the most popular POS systems on the market with a brief overview of features and considerations for each.

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9 Best POS Systems for Restaurants

Clover

With a reputation for dependability and modern design, Clover is a commonly found POS system in restaurants. Clover’s biggest strength is its versatility — it’s a good option for everything from quick service restaurants like bakeries and coffee shops to full service restaurants.

Order and menu management features include the options to split bills and combine multiple orders. In addition, customer engagement capabilities, like loyalty programs and gift cards, are built in. For full service restaurants, Clover offers table mapping and dine-in services like QR codes for ordering and paying. The system also facilitates shift and schedule management, allowing managers to see sales and tip data per employee.

A benefit of this system is that the cost for processing in-person transactions is one of the lowest in the industry. However, there isn’t a free version of the Clover POS like there is with a few other systems.

Heartland

Heartland's main selling point is secure payment processing. The company ran as a payment processing provider first for nearly 20 years before moving into point of sale for restaurants.

The interface is user-friendly (although with a slightly outdated design). Detailed reporting gives restaurant owners a significant amount of data to inform menu and sales decisions. Plus, tax management is also included in the POS.

There are two product packages available, depending on your restaurant’s needs. The more robust option includes multi-location management, an integrated kitchen display system (KDS) with coursing capabilities, waitlist functionality, and the ability to take third-party payments.

HungerRush

HungerRush specializes in order management with online ordering and delivery platform integrations. The company has a designer wizard that allows you to build your own online ordering experience and customize the color, font, and layout.

They’re also experimenting with AI and launched a voice bot program that can take orders over the phone. Ordering is integrated into your POS system, where you can see all customer data including past orders and loyalty rewards. The dashboard supports over 200 reports across sales, revenue, and labor data.

Be aware that there’s a four-year contract required, which might be too big of a commitment for some restaurants.

Lightspeed

Lightspeed stands out for its omnichannel capabilities. To give a holistic view of restaurant operations, it integrates online and offline orders, inventory, and customer data.

If you upgrade from the starter package, you’ll get more ordering capabilities including online ordering, order and pay at table, and contactless ordering. For additional costs, you can add on gift card management and accounting software integrations to automate bookkeeping.

The product features an intuitive interface, but customization options may require more technical knowledge. Payment processing rates are around the industry standard (2.6% + 10¢ per transaction) with monthly subscription costs landing in the middle to high end compared to competitors.

NCR

NCR prioritizes guest engagement features like a customer data dashboard with segmentation, loyalty programs, and email marketing tools. Additional products — including online ordering, gift cards, contactless ordering & payments, and inventory management — are available for added costs. Used by the likes of Starbucks and Chipotle, independent restaurants should consider whether paying for an enterprise-grade POS system is worth the enterprise-grade cost.

SpotOn

SpotOn is a comprehensive POS system with custom menu build, table layout, labor management, and multi-location management features. The company released a new suite of hardware in May 2023, adding three new devices (a 15.6” station, 10” counter, and 6.5” handheld) to their offerings.

From a software perspective, their data capabilities differentiate them, with 90+ reports available on metrics like sales & labor by hour, product mix, employee sales, station sales, and transactions. However, SpotOn integrates with only about 30 other systems, while many other POS options integrate with hundreds.

Square

Square excels in simplicity, with quick setup and an intuitive design. Order management, menu menu management, and payment processing are integrated into the POS. Their free plan has no monthly fee (you just pay for processing fees on transactions) and includes basic features, but it doesn’t get you 24/7 support or more advanced reporting capabilities.

Overall, this POS is a good fit for quick service and fast casual restaurants but may be too lightweight for full service concepts.

Toast

Toast is a popular point of sale system that’s specifically designed for restaurants and allows for a high degree of customization. This flexibility makes it valuable for a variety of establishments, from quick service to fine dining.

Toast’s system is feature-rich with order management, menu management, and table management, which is expected since the costs of their hardware, software, and payment processing are on the higher end of the market. Additionally, a long term contract is required and canceling early will incur an extra fee.

TouchBistro

TouchBistro has a robust set of features including tableside ordering, menu management, and floor plan & table management. The platform produces more than 50 reports, including sales data and staff performance. There are also integrations across a wide range of software like accounting tools, inventory management, and staff scheduling/payroll. Know that only TouchBistro’s monthly software fees are publicly available, while pricing for payment processing and hardware is by quote only.