9 Best Restaurant POS software and systems in 2024

10 minutes

Whether you own a cafe, bar, food truck, or full-service restaurant – you must have thought of getting a restaurant POS system that integrates seamlessly with other operational software to manage important restaurant operations. Leveraging a POS (Point of Sale) system brings enormous advantages to you as restaurant owners.

Here are a few of them:

Streamline sales transactions like a pro! A modern, new POS system helps you with processing fees. It provides you with mobile payment options and contactless card readers. Avoid confusion on what needs to be paid by customers and enable servers to accept payments instantly.
Automate repetitive tasks and save the time you spend ordering food and supplies. A good POS system automatically sends notifications when you are low on ingredients and your supplies should be restocked.
Enhance your service speed and maximize customer experience. Most POS systems help you streamline your floor plan management. There’s a fair distribution of work among servers and other staff members. Plus, they don’t need to perform manual data entry. Orders can be sent directly to the kitchen, enabling quicker delivery services. Restaurant POS systems reduce the chances of making mistakes.
Free up your team’s time for brainstorming sessions on improving customer satisfaction. A POS system provides you with built-in restaurant-specific features and functionalities related to shift management, loyalty programs, advanced inventory management, table management, real-time reporting, and more. With end-of-day, weekly, or monthly reports, you can easily identify your best-selling items and peak hours to optimize customer experience.

We will cover more on the advantages of restaurant POS systems later in the article.

In this guide, you will learn about some of the best restaurant POS systems available in the market that can enhance the efficiency and accuracy of sales transactions within your restaurant.

What is a restaurant POS system?

A restaurant POS system includes software and hardware options that restaurant owners and managers, heads of operations, and HR managers can use to run their restaurant business. It helps you with various day-to-day operations, inventory management, menu management, customer relationship management, staff scheduling, and more. Simply put, your restaurant POS system can be called your end-to-end restaurant management software.

These days, most restaurants use cloud-based pos systems as their restaurant POS software. A cloud-based POS system enables you to manage your restaurant operations online. You don’t need costly servers or software that requires you to pay every time you want to upgrade. The best part about any cloud point-of-sale system is that it runs on all devices such as laptops, desktops, iPads, and mobile phones.

You’d also require hardware options for your restaurant POS software to run smoothly. Any hardware options that enable payment processing are called POS terminals. For restaurant POS hardware, you have multiple options like an iPad POS system, kitchen display system, cash drawer, self-ordering kiosk, smartphones with plugged-in card readers, and countertop terminals that have barcode scanners and receipt printers.

Importance of POS Software for Restaurants

As mentioned earlier, when you upgrade to modern POS systems – you gain several benefits. Let’s look at them one by one.

Inventory tracking

Restaurant POS systems come with advanced inventory management tools that help you enable real-time updates and automate stock alerts. A restaurant POS system provides you with real-time data about which food items on the menu are selling fast and which ones are not in demand and makes it easier to track inventory. Such information enables you to make more informed decisions like what items you need to stock, the exact quantity that you need to stock, and when your next inventory stocking should be scheduled.

Order management

When it’s a peak hour at your restaurant, it might get challenging for staff members to process orders. This is where restaurant POS systems come into play. It automates order-taking processes and empowers staff members to enable accurate delivery services. A restaurant POS system like a kitchen display system displays customer orders directly in the kitchen and helps chefs prepare orders with precision.

Payment processing

A restaurant POS system helps you to simplify payment processing. It allows the functionality to accept payments in various forms like cash, credit cards, and digital transactions. Some POS systems come with integrated customer loyalty programs. Customers can pay using loyalty cards or reward points. Such facilities not only enable repeat business but also enhance customer satisfaction.

Business insights & forecast

Some POS systems come with real-time reporting and analytics features. You can visualize and interpret data about customer feedback, loyal customers, labor costs, hardware costs, employee performance, and more and identify areas for improvement. This, in turn, helps optimize your restaurant operations based on your observations and make accurate business predictions.

Key Statistics: POS Software for Restaurants

The global point-of-sale software market is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 10.8% by 2030.
The point-of-sale market value will grow to $18.1 billion by 2027.
The restaurant POS terminal market size is expected to reach $16.46 billion in 2024.
The POS hardware options segment will grow to $66.30 billion by 2025.
43% of restaurants started looking forward to implementing a point-of-sale system in 2024 and beyond.
The global cloud-based pos market is expected to reach USD 36,250.2 million by 2032.

Top 9 POS Software Systems to Consider for Your Restaurant

1. Toast

Toast is a renowned restaurant pos system that serves different restaurant business types like cafes, bars, pizzerias, casual dining, fine dining, food trucks, breweries, quick service restaurants, and bakeries. With over 120,000 customers, Toast claims to provide you with the perfect restaurant POS system that can run your entire restaurant.

Features:

Handheld technology designed for the restaurant industry to enable staff members to spend more time with guests and speed up checkout processes.
Easy option to take tap, dip, or swipe payments tableside.
Commission-free curbside pickup and contactless delivery services.
Unified view of net sales and labor costs across multiple locations.
Automated menu updates and online invoices.

Pros:

Spill-proof rated POS hardware.
Cloud-based access to restaurant data from anywhere, anytime, and on any device.
Easy to set up restaurant POS system with open integrations.
A single point of contact for payments.
No additional markups or extra fees.

Cons:

Offline mode includes a hidden cost of backup routers.
Online ordering needs to be opted as an add-on for all plans.
Early termination fees and cancellation charges are costly.

Pricing:

The monthly restaurant POS system subscription starts at $69. It comes with a custom hardware configuration.

2. SpotOn

SpotOn is a popular restaurant POS system solution that caters to different restaurant types like casual dining, fine dining, bar & nightclub, brewery, quick service restaurants, fast casual, and cafe.

Features:

Strong and sleek hardware options that offer restaurant-grade performance. Options like SpotOn Handheld, Counter, & Station are available.
Flexible interface that simplifies table management.
Cellular backup is available in case there is no wifi or internet.
Supports coordination of multiple locations from one place.

Pros:

Secure payments with EMV readers to reduce chargebacks.
Check split based on guests.
Intuitive ordering with an option to add prompts anywhere and put everything under one ticket.
Curated reports on daily sales, labor costs, and more.
Insightful graphs and charts to make profitable data-driven decisions.

Cons:

Set up fee needs to be paid.
No free trial is available.
Limited customization offerings.
Initial integration issues.

Pricing:

In-person setup and training with custom pricing are available.

3. Square

Square POS is another popular restaurant POS system that empowers you with easy restaurant tech. The solution is fit for cafes and breweries, quick-service restaurants, full-service restaurants, and more. The restaurant POS solution can flex, expand, and pivot just like your business objectives.

Features:

Multiple hardware options to fit your unique needs.
Flexible payments through swipe, dip, or tap even in offline mode.
Intuitive order entry and offering to customize menu.
Click-and-drag floor plan layouts.
Kitchen display system to track prep times and route orders to correct stations.

Pros:

100+ technology partner integrations.
No long-term contracts or hidden fees.
An automatic tipping option is available.
QR code for taking orders when short-staffed.
Close-of-day reports for better floor management.
Integrations with top inventory providers like MarketMan, Yellow Dog, BevSpot, and more are available.

Cons:

24/7 support is not available when you opt for a free plan.
Irregular activity results in an account freeze.

Pricing:

Free, plus, and premium plans are available. The premium plan comes with customizable options.

4. Lightspeed

Lightspeed is one of the best restaurant POS systems you can consider for your business. With 15+ years of experience in the restaurant industry, over 150 Michelin-starred restaurants rely on Lightspeed restaurant POS. It is an easy-to-use cloud-based solution that’s built for speed.

Features:

One platform for multiple locations and PMS integration for hotels.
QR code ordering, online ordering, and tableside ordering are available.
An automated bookkeeping functionality.
iPad hardware kit with receipt printer, cash drawer, iPad stand, and kitchen printer.

Pros:

Flexible, multilocation payment processor to scale your business.
Automatic guest profiles with every card transaction.
Fully automated inventory management to reduce waste and control costs.
Quick and automated daily summary of sales that matches your workflow.
Detailed view of every order including modifiers and ticket times to keep a check on turnaround.

Cons:

Long-term contracts are needed for a few plans.
Extra charge for syncing the solution with accounting software.
Add-ons are costly.

Pricing:

The starter plan costs $69 per month. Essential and premium plans are also available.

5. Clover

Clover is a powerful restaurant POS system that claims to hustle as fast as you do! The solution is designed for quick-service and full-service restaurants.

Features:

One system built for taking and modifying orders, accepting payments, creating menu categories, and more.
A single dashboard designed for restaurant owners and operators to manage finances and boost operational efficiencies.
Simplified online ordering with e-commerce solutions.
Clover kiosk for quick-service restaurants.

Pros:

Inventory tracking and real-time order display.
Contactless payments for takeout, curbside pickup, delivery, and dine-in.
Scan-to-order and scan-to-pay capabilities are available.
Self-service kiosk with an option to browse and customize orders.
Customizable restaurant tools like Flex, KDS, Station Solo, and more.

Cons:

POS solutions don’t support third-party tools or hardware.
Add-on features are very costly.

Pricing

Custom pricing is available to build your own POS system. Starter, Standard, and Advanced plans are available for full-service and quick-service restaurants.

6. TouchBistro

TouchBistro is an all-in-one and one of the best restaurant POS systems. It provides you with restaurant-specific front-of-house, back-of-house, and guest engagement solutions. The best part? You get everything on one single platform.

Features:

Easy-to-use and reliable point-of-sale system.
Seamless table management offerings to monitor time seated and table spend.
Easy bill splitting by items ordered.
Tableside ordering with mobile POS.
Menu management feature for both on and off-premise orders.
50+ reports for deep insights into sales trends, staff performance, & more.

Pros:

Built-in tools that speed up table turnover.
Mobile POS to make faster payments and seating for customers.
On-the-go tools for table management, floor management, and more.
A restaurant tableside ordering system built with an intuitive design for faster ordering.

Cons:

Doesn’t provide an early termination option.
No free plan is available.
Automatic contract renewal.

Pricing:

Starts at $69 per month.

7. Revel

Revel is the best and most flexible cloud-based restaurant POS system for multi-location growth. It is trusted and loved by 20,000 global restaurant businesses. It serves quick-service and table-service restaurants.

Features:

Advanced, hybrid architecture – runs without interruption in offline mode or local network.
PCI-compliant cloud technology.
Point-to-point encrypted payments.
Versatile POS system with real-time inventory management.
Enterprise-level point of sale reporting.

Pros:

Intelligent reports about busiest hours and top-selling items.
Real-time updation of online ordering menu.
iPad point-of-sale system that supports easy creation and application of discounts.

Cons:

Customer support is unsatisfactory.
Confusing interface.

Pricing:

$99 per month per terminal. ]

8. SkyTan

SkyTab is the best restaurant POS system for front-of-house to back-of-house. Around tens of thousands of happy customers consider SkyTab a top-rated and best restaurant pos system. The solution caters to full-service restaurants, quick-service restaurants, bars, pizza shops, and coffee shops.

Features:

Reliable and durable options for point-of-sale hardware.
Commission-free online ordering system.
Mobile ordering and payments for faster table turn.
QR code technology for a contactless ordering experience.

Pros:

Payment options are available via Apple Pay, Google Pay, and credit cards.
Quick third-party integrations are available.
24/7 reservation acceptance.
Built-in customer satisfaction surveys.
Targeted marketing campaigns with in-house customer data.

Cons:

Unsatisfactory customer support.
Poor technical support.

Pricing:

Starts at $29.99 per month.

9. Aloha

100,000+ restaurants of all sizes trust Aloha POS. With over 30 years of expertise in the restaurant industry, Aloha can be considered one of the best POS providers in the market.

Features:

Flexible cloud-based and on-premise solutions are available.
Simplified online ordering.
Mobile management tools are available.
Next-day funding for faster payments.
Slim handheld restaurant pos hardware that fits in an apron pocket and frees up your staff to bust lines.

Pros:

Real-time alerts will be sent directly to your phone.
Accurate order routing, recipes, and training for consistent food production.
Easy-to-use intuitive interface.
Fully integrated kitchen display systems.
Real-time analytics and marketing support.

Cons:

Frequent customer support is required to update programs.
Technical support isn’t always available and takes time to respond.

Pricing:

Custom pricing is available. Free setup is available too.

Things to consider when choosing a restaurant system

Hardware type

Ask POS providers about the type of hardware required to run the POS system. For example, if your team likes working on Apple devices, there’s no point in picking a system that runs on Android devices. Some POS vendors provide propriety hardware. Make sure you have the budget when you opt for such vendors. Propriety hardware is usually expensive.

Scalability

You need to make sure that your POS software system can grow with your growing restaurant business. When you are required to adapt to industry changes, your POS system should be able to adapt to changing market scenarios too. It should also support third-party integrations when needed.

Customer Support

Even the best restaurant pos system can run into problems. However, with good, 24/7 customer support by your side – you can resolve problems quickly and prevent disruptions to your business.

Automation Capabilities

Automation is a must when you are looking for POS systems. It can help generate intelligent predictions and reports and facilitate impactful business decisions. Automation capabilities also help reduce labor costs and enhance guest engagement and table turnover.

We hope our article helps you find the right POS system for your restaurant business.

Get Started – Integrate KNOW with your POS system

The KNOW app does not specifically function as a restaurant POS system. It may not directly fit into a list of the best restaurant POS systems for 2024. However, its capabilities in streamlining restaurant operations such as scheduling, compliance, and communication make it a valuable supplementary tool for overall operational efficiency. KNOW is trusted by 1,000,000+ users and leading restaurants across the globe and can help increase productivity by 70%. You might consider integrating the KNOW app with your chosen POS system to enhance operational oversight and employee management.

Must-Read: 4 steps to digitize your restaurant operations

Here are some of the best features you should know about:

Digital log books, checklists, & reports – with one-click retrieval.
Instant visibility on compliance and audit status.
Checklists for managing kitchen handovers and logging daily sales and wastage.
Functionality for program custom learning journeys for new hires with bite-sized content.
Full-timer and part-timer scheduling & attendance to track work schedules.
HACCP checks, hygiene audits, and tracking of equipment temperatures.
Digitized pest control, fire safety, equipment checks, and facility quality checks.
Digitized kitchen and front-of-house checklists, temperature checks, sales data collection, and other daily tasks.
Easy report-sharing with third-party vendors.Get started today!

FAQs

How much does a restaurant POS system cost? Some of the best restaurant POS systems in the market are Toast, Lightspeed, Clover, SkyTab, and others. All of them have different pricing available.
What is a restaurant POS system? A restaurant POS system includes software and hardware options that restaurant owners and managers, heads of operations, and HR managers can use to run their business. It helps you with various day-to-day operations, inventory management, menu management, customer relationship management, staff scheduling, and more.
What hardware is needed for a point-of-sale system?A restaurant POS hardware includes a card reader, receipt printer, cash drawer, and central terminal.
What POS system does McDonald’s use?McDonald’s uses the NewPOS NP6 system, also known as the McDonald’s NP6.