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6 Best POS Systems In Australia

The best point of sale systems for Australian businesses are affordable, easy to use, have a multitude of features, and take digital payments.

    Nicolette Kier
  • Last updated onUpdated

  • Matt Sherman
  • REVIEWED BY

    Matt Sherman

    Expert Contributor

Our content reflects the editorial opinions of our experts. While our site makes money through referral partnerships, we only partner with companies that meet our standards for quality, as outlined in our independent rating and scoring system.

POS systems help business owners in Australia take digital payment types, manage inventory, sell online, and get financial reports. The best POS systems in Australia allow retail, restaurant, and niche business owners to generate revenue by offering discounts and a loyalty program, and save money with excellent employee management and sales forecasting.

We evaluated 15 different POS systems with availability in Australia based on pricing, software features, available integrations, and POS hardware offerings to help you find the best POS system for your business.

Learn More About Our Top Picks

CompanyBest ForNext StepsBest For
Square POS

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  • Best free option
  • 0-129 AUD/month/location
  • Monthly contracts, no early termination fee
  • Best free option
  • 0-129 AUD/month/location
  • Monthly contracts, no early termination fee

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Shopify POS

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  • Best for majority eCommerce sales
  • 39+ USD/month (roughly 61 AUD/month)
  • Monthly and annual contracts, no early termination fee
  • Best for majority eCommerce sales
  • 39+ USD/month (roughly 61 AUD/month)
  • Monthly and annual contracts, no early termination fee

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TouchBistro

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  • Best for full-service restaurants
  • $69+ USD/month
  • Custom contracts, early termination fee
  • Best for full-service restaurants
  • $69+ USD/month
  • Custom contracts, early termination fee

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Lightspeed Retail

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  • Best for retail, rental item, and repair businesses
  • 129+ AUD/month
  • Monthly and custom contracts, early termination fee
  • Best for retail, rental item, and repair businesses
  • 129+ AUD/month
  • Monthly and custom contracts, early termination fee

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Revel POS

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  • Best for complex business needs
  • Custom pricing
  • Standard three-year contract, early termination fee
  • Best for complex business needs
  • Custom pricing
  • Standard three-year contract, early termination fee

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Lightspeed Restaurant

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  • Best for quick-serve restaurants and hotels
  • 40-340+ AUD/month
  • Custom contracts, early termination fee
  • Best for quick-serve restaurants and hotels
  • 40-340+ AUD/month
  • Custom contracts, early termination fee

Visit Site

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Show Fewer Options

Read more below to learn why we chose these options.

What Is A POS System In Australia?

A POS system is software with a connected card reader and/or virtual terminal that allows you to create orders, accept digital payment types, manage inventory and marketing efforts, and get financial insights into your business.

An Australian POS system is POS software and hardware that’s available in Australia and works with Australian payment processors.

6 Best POS Systems In Australia

The best POS system in Australia is affordable and easy to use. It allows you to manage inventory, sell online, get business reports, and generate revenue with marketing tools like a loyalty program.

Our top choices include:

The Best POS Systems In Australia Compared

PricingHardwarePayment ProcessingOnline OrderingFree Trial
Square POS0+ AUD/month65-1,099 AUD1.6%-2.2%
Shopify POS$39+ USD/month79+ AUD0.55%-1.95%
TouchBistro69+ USD/monthCustomCustomAdd-on
Lightspeed Retail129+ AUD/month109-749 AUD1.5%
Revel POSCustomCustomCustom
Lightspeed Restaurant40-340 AUD/month104+ AUDCustom

Square POS: Best Free Option

Total Rating 4.9
Pricing4.9

Ease Of Use5.0

Features4.8

Customer Service4.7

User Reviews4.8

Pricing Range

$0/month

Contract Length

None

Equipment Cost

$49-$799

Get a free card swiper from Square at no cost when you create a free account. Claim your card reader.

Pros

  • Free in-person and online sales software
  • Retail, restaurant, and service-based business software
  • Affordable POS hardware
  • Flexible monthly contracts

Cons

  • Must use Square as your processor
  • Not for high-risk businesses

Why We Chose Square POS As The Best Free Option

We believe that Square offers one of the best free POS systems on the Australian market for business owners in several industries. There are specific software plans for retail, restaurant, and service-based businesses, so no matter what kind of business you own, you can find affordable POS hardware to take sales with.

Square offers a free online checkout website builder (Square Online), invoicing tools (Square Invoices), and social media sales capabilities, and allows you to have an unlimited number of POS devices on the free plan. Square’s very affordable paid plans offer multilocation management, advanced inventory management features, and advanced employee management features.

Note: Square's free plans are free forever. Square offers a 30-day free trial of all paid plans, no credit card required.

Square Pricing

Square’s flagship Square POS app is completely free. Square also has free and paid versions of Square For RestaurantsSquare For Retail, and Square Appointments.

The paid versions of each Square plan are as follows:

  • Square For Restaurants: 129 AUD/month (Plus plan)
  • Square For Retail: 109 AUD/month/location (Plus plan)
  • Square Appointments: 40 AUD/month/location (Plus plan); 90 AUD/month/location (Premium plan)

Square also offers several paid add-ons, including:

  • Square Online (Paid Version): 36 AUD/month (Plus plan); 99 AUD/month (Premium plan)
  • Square KDS (Kitchen Display System): 25 AUD/month/device on Square For Restaurants free plan; unlimited devices for no additional cost on paid plan
  • Square Loyalty: Starts at 49 AUD/month/location (price dependent on number of loyalty visits)

Square Features

Square POS Features Availability
Multi-Store Support
Contactless Payments
Multi-Channel Selling
Gift Cards Add-on
Customer Loyalty Add-on
Marketing Tools
Online Ordering
Inventory Management
Reporting
Menu Management With Square for Restaurants
Delivery Management Add on
EBT Acceptance
Employee Management
Text Messaging

Square’s most unique free features for Australian business owners include the following:

  • Free retail and takeaway/delivery ordering website
  • Free Square checkout links so service-based and B2B businesses can accept invoice payments
  • Free appointment scheduling link/page so you can accept appointments for services, special events, or private shopping
  • Unlimited POS devices so businesses can take payments on phones, computers, iPads, and/or Square’s proprietary hardware

Retailers on a budget can sell an unlimited number of products in person, online, and on social media. You can also list your products on Google, place product buy buttons on blogs and marketing emails, and sync your inventory between all sales channels for free. On paid plans, you’ll get advanced inventory management features like automated purchase ordering, vendor management, and bulk stock editing.

Square’s restaurant plan is great for small counter-service restaurants, with an order manager, floor planner, and optional kitchen display system. Square’s paid restaurant plan is better for full-service restaurants, with order coursing, individual seat management, and an unlimited number of kitchen displays with ticket order routing. Both plans allow you to sync your POS with online ordering platforms like Doshii, Deliverect, DoorDash, and Uber Eats.

For service-based businesses such as contractors, you can provide estimates, send contracts with estimates and invoices, collect digital signatures, and send deposit reminders for free. Service businesses such as salons or nail stylists allow you to schedule appointments, set up an appointment calendar, accept prepayments/deposits, track inventory and resources, and give tipping suggestions for clients. Square is one of the best salon POS software for independent stylists because of the number of free features available.

Square Hardware

You’ll need at least the Square contactless card reader (65 AUD) to take payments. The Square Stand is an iPad stand with a built-in card reader that costs 149 AUD. The Square Terminal is a handheld POS system that costs 329 AUD. The Square Register, a full register with a customer-facing display, costs 1,099 AUD and is a great POS setup for servers to take orders at a counter.

Payment Processing Costs

Payment processing rates per transaction for Australian POS systems are as follows:

  • In-Person Payments: 1.6% on tapped/inserted cards for users who signed up after May 30, 2024; 1.9% for users of Square Reader or Square Stand who signed up before this date
  • Online Payments: 2.2% on website, apps, invoices, and payment links
  • Manually Entered Payments: 2.2% on keyed-in card payments on virtual terminal payments and manually entered card numbers on in-person payments

Contract Requirements/Warnings

Square has monthly software plans with no early termination fees, as well as great POS hardware warranties.

Note: You’ll get lower payment processing rates if you purchase a Square Terminal or Register. The initial investment is slightly higher, but worth it in the long run.

Choose Square If...

  • You want a free POS system with a great set of basic features
  • You want a POS system you can scale with affordable paid plans and add-ons

Get Started With Square POS

Read our in-depth review

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Shopify POS: Best For Majority eCommerce Sales

Total Rating 4.3
Pricing4.0

Ease Of Use4.9

Features4.4

Customer Service4.8

User Reviews4.4

Pricing Range

$29 - $299/month

Contract Length

Month-to-month

Equipment Cost

$0-$459+

Pros

  • Excellent eCommerce store builder
  • Multichannel selling features
  • Excellent international sales management
  • Huge third-party app market

Cons

  • Can’t process payments offline
  • Limited POS hardware

Why We Chose Shopify Australian POS System For Majority eCommerce Sales

We appreciate that Shopify goes beyond just syncing your online and in-store inventories. This Australian POS system offers selling options that combine online and brick-and-mortar sales with multichannel features, such as buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS), buy in-store, ship to the customer, and browse in-store, buy online.

You can also manage and fulfill curbside pickup and local delivery orders placed online directly from your Shopify POS and print product QR codes customers can use to learn more about and purchase products they see in your store.

All of these features and others make Shopify one of the best POS systems Australian retailers can use for omnichannel sales, and one of the best retail POS systems overall.

Note: Shopify offers a three-day trial, no credit card is required.

Shopify Pricing

Shopify offers free POS software with every eCommerce package, which comes at the following monthly prices:

  • Basic: 39 USD/month (roughly 61 AUD/month)
  • Shopify: 105 USD/month (roughly 165 AUD/month)
  • Advanced: 399 USD/month (roughly 628 AUD/month)
  • Plus: 2,300 USD/month (roughly 3,624 AUD/month)

Note: Shopify offers a 25% discount on plans if you pay for a year upfront.

Shopify also offers an advanced POS package as a paid add-on for 89 USD/month (roughly 140 AUD/month), or 79 USD/month (roughly 124 AUD/month) if you pay for a year upfront.

Shopify Features

Shopify POS Features Availability
Multi-Store Support Supports multiple inventory locations
Contactless Payments
Multi-Channel Selling
Gift Cards
Customer Loyalty
Marketing Tools
Online Ordering
Inventory Management
Reporting
Menu Management
Delivery Management
EBT Acceptance
Employee Management
Text Messaging

While Shopify’s free POS Lite app is included with all plans except the Shopify Starter plan, most of the best in-person sales and inventorying features come with the Shopify Pro add-on.

The POS Lite app does include a few unique features, such as a customizable POS interface, allowing you to use an iOS device as a barcode scanner, and allows you to bundle items for a discount during checkout.

The Shopify Pro plan allows you to create purchase orders, perform item receiving counts, require manager approvals for POS actions, accept exchanges, and create an unlimited number of staff members.

If we’re being honest, though, Shopify’s eCommerce features are what sets this software apart from the competition. These features include:

  • Customizable online store builder (including hundreds of store templates) with item sales for in-store pickup, local delivery, shipping, and layaway
  • Social media in-app sales on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube to convert your marketing efforts into concrete sales
  • Suite of shipping tools to streamline item shipping and give accurate tracking updates to customers
  • Abandoned cart recovery emails to recapture the interest of potential customers
  • Subscription, event ticket, and digital download sales to widen revenue-generating product offerings
  • International sales management platform

Shopify’s vast app market, the largest third-party software marketplace out of all providers on this list (including Clover), also sets this POS apart from the rest. With the Shopify app market, you can add all kinds of functionalities to your POS and eCommerce store.

For example, contractors can generate and print out invoices for customers with the Simple Invoice app, while gyms can schedule personal training sessions and classes using the Sesami appointment scheduling/check-in app.

The Sesami booking app is one reason why Shopify makes our list of the best POS systems for gyms.

Shopify Hardware

You’ll need at least the 79 AUD WisePad 3 card reader, which you can pair with any smartphone, to take payments in person.

Additional hardware, including tablet stands, receipt printers, cash drawers, and barcode scanners are available to purchase.

Payment Processing Costs

Shopify breaks down payment processing costs by software plan, payment processing rates, and whether you use Shopify Payments or a third-party payment processor.

If you use Shopify Payments as your payment processor, you’ll pay the following rates:

  • Credit Card Payments: 1.75% – 1.95% per in-person transaction; 1.4% – 1.95% (plus a $0.30 flat fee) per online transaction
  • Debit Card Payments: 0.55% – 1% per in-person transaction

If you do not use Shopify Payments, you’ll pay a transaction fee between 0.5% and 2% per order.

Contract Requirements/Warnings

Shopify contracts are all month-to-month with no hidden fees; however, Shopify offers a 25% discount on annual eCommerce plans and a 10% discount on annual POS Pro plans.

You will pay an extra transaction fee if you opt out of Shopify Payments, but the extra fee may be worth it if you can save substantially on your payment processing fees by going with a different merchant services provider.

Choose Shopify If...

  • You want strong eCommerce features
  • Your business makes both in-person and online sales

Get Started With Shopify POS

Read our in-depth review

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TouchBistro: Best For Full-Service Restaurants

Total Rating 4.3
Pricing4.0

Ease Of Use4.6

Features4.9

Customer Service3.9

User Reviews4.1

Pricing Range

$69/month

Online Ordering

Add-on

Equipment Cost

Call for quote

Pros

  • Catering delivery settings
  • Reservation and waitlist management
  • KDS at no additional cost
  • Custom loyalty program available

Cons

  • Early termination fee
  • No self-serve kiosks
  • Only Square is available for payment processing

Why We Chose TouchBistro POS For Full-Service Restaurants

We believe that TouchBistro is an excellent POS system for full-service restaurants in Australia, as well as mobile restaurants such as food trucks and businesses that cater or host private events. This is because the POS system has an excellent offline mode that allows you to take payments on the go, a kitchen display system that helps you manage immediate and scheduled orders, and an excellent online ordering web app.

Every TouchBistro plan comes with table planning, monitoring, and turnaround times, plus employee management tools. For an added fee, you’ll get a built-in reservation and waitlist system that you can use on your own online ordering site, Google business profile, and phone call reservations. A built-in reservation system that syncs with your entire restaurant management ecosystem is unique among restaurant POS systems.

When it comes to one of the best restaurant POS systems, TouchBistro is a great option.

TouchBistro is highly affordable for smaller restaurants, and unlike many POS companies, TouchBistro doesn’t charge an additional monthly fee for its kitchen display system or customer-facing display.

TouchBistro Pricing

If you don’t use any integrations or add-ons, TouchBistro is 69 USD/month for one register, billed annually.

Optional add-ons include:

  • Online Ordering: 50 USD/month
  • Reservations: 229 USD/month
  • Gift Cards: 25 USD/month
  • Loyalty Program: 99 USD/month
  • Marketing: 99 USD/month

The reservations app can be used to accept catering orders and book events.

The company also charges a nonrefundable setup fee that includes your hardware setup plus a software walkthrough.

TouchBistro Features

TouchBistro Features Availability
Multi-Store Support
Contactless Payments
Multi-Channel Selling
Gift Cards Add-on
Customer Loyalty Add-on
Marketing Tools Add-on
Online Ordering Add-on
Inventory Management
Reporting
Menu Management
Delivery Management
EBT Acceptance
Employee Management
Text Messaging

TouchBistro’s most unique features are for full-service restaurants, both fine dining and family-style establishments. These features include:

  • Reservation System: Customers can use TouchBistro’s built-in reservation system to make reservations from your web-based online ordering app, your Google Business Profile, and by calling. You can send reminder emails/phone messages about upcoming reservations, create floor plans specifically for managing reservations, charge large-party service fees, and assign different servers to reserved sections.
  • Waitlist System: Allow customers to add themselves to your restaurant’s waitlist online when your restaurant is currently full. Send customers SMS notifications about their waitlist status and estimated wait time, with wait time updates. Enforce waitlist cutoff times so staff won’t get overwhelmed with customers past closing time.
  • Table Management: Monitor seating times, courses, and table turnaround time for each table. Update floor plans quickly based on reservations and waitlists (e.g. pushing two tables together to accommodate a larger party.) Connect TouchBistro kitchen displays with individual seats to pace meals at tables.
  • Liquid Inventory Monitoring: Restaurants with a bar section/drink menu can track liquid sales and wastage at your in-house bar or events featuring alcohol with TouchBistro’s Bevchek or Freepour integration.
  • Customer Dining Preferences: You can ask for dining preferences/allergies when taking reservations. VIP diners can be flagged in customer reports, and their preferences can be saved for future orders to create a personalized dining experience.

TouchBistro’s loyalty program is an excellent revenue-generating software feature that allows you to offer points-based and item-based discounts, send marketing emails based on customer loyalty accounts, and have customers sign up on your restaurant’s online ordering site.

Caterers and mobile food service businesses will also appreciate the ability to:

  • Create House Accounts: If you regularly cater to offices, schools, government organizations, or other businesses, it’s helpful to create customer house accounts. You can allow billing to customers’ house accounts with saved payment types and partial or full balance payoffs. You can allow customers to preload credits to an account.
  • Take Catering Orders: Create a quote and take notes for future orders, require a deposit for future orders, and choose how far in advance someone can order. You can also set concrete event start and end times and set up catering order categories on kitchen displays.
  • Customize Catering Order Parameters: Caterers can set different delivery zones and increase minimum order requirements and service fees depending on the delivery zone. If a customer tries to order online and inputs an address outside your delivery zone, an automated message will ask the customer to contact you to discuss a custom order.
  • Accept Sales Off-Site: TouchBistro’s unique hybrid offline mode allows you to take orders at events or in a food truck. Sell prewrapped foods, bottles of alcohol, or retail items at events. You can also take future catering orders for new customers while at a job.

TouchBistro Hardware

TouchBistro is an iPad-based system, and you may use several models as POS registers, customer-facing displays, and kitchen display systems. You can purchase iPad cases from TouchBistro or use your own.

Payment Processing Costs

When using TouchBistro, Square is supported for payments in Australia.

Contract Requirements/Warnings

TouchBistro offers monthly and annual contracts, with the best per-month pricing on annual contracts. TouchBistro will charge an early termination fee for canceled accounts, though, so consider a short-term contract before committing to anything in the long run.

Choose TouchBistro If...

  • You want a POS system loaded with features for your full-service restaurant
  • You operate a food truck or mobile business and need a strong offline mode

Get Started With TouchBistro

Read our in-depth review

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Lightspeed Retail: Best For Retail, Rental Item, & Repair Businesses

Lightspeed Retail

Total Rating 4.1
Pricing3.7

Ease Of Use4.4

Features4.3

Customer Service4.1

User Reviews4.0

Pricing Range

$109-$239/month ($89-$289/month billed annually)

Contract Length

Monthly, annual, and custom

Equipment Cost

$199-$329

Pros

  • Several niche rental/repair integrations available
  • Integrated property management system
  • B2B and B2C sales capabilities
  • Excellent inventory management

Cons

  • Early termination fee
  • Can get expensive

Why We Chose Lightspeed Retail POS For Retail, Rental Item, & Repair Businesses

We love that Lightspeed Retail offers both a strong built-in retail inventory management as well as several software integrations for retail, rental, and repair businesses, which are some of the fastest-growing industries in Australia.

Retailers get the inventory, vendor, and employee management features any brick-and-mortar store needs to monitor stock movements, keep shelves filled with high-selling items, and ensure that staff is providing the best customer service possible. Rental businesses will benefit from rental item integrations that help business owners manage rental items, work orders, and customers, while repair businesses can easily send quotes, estimates, and invoices through Lightspeed or third-party integration.

Last, we love Lightspeed’s customizable loyalty program that’s easy for staff and customers to use. Loyalty programs have been shown to increase customer retention rates and are highly worth it for retailers to generate a strong customer base.

Note: Lightspeed Retail offers a 14-day free trial, no credit card is required.

Lightspeed Retail Pricing

The following plans are for business owners who use Lightspeed Payments, Lightspeed’s in-house payment processor (only one register included):

  • Basic Plan: 159 AUD/month; 129 AUD/month billed annually
  • Core Plan: 279 AUD/month; 229 AUD/month billed annually
  • Plus Plan: 389 AUD/month; 329 AUD/month

If you don’t use Lightspeed Payments, an extra monthly charge applies. Additional registers can be added for an extra monthly fee.

Lightspeed Retail Features

Lightspeed Retail Features Availability
Multi-Store Support
Contactless Payments
Multi-Channel Selling Core plan and up
Gift Cards
Customer Loyalty Core plan and up
Marketing Tools Core plan and up
Online Ordering
Inventory Management
Reporting
Menu Management
Delivery Management
EBT Acceptance
Employee Management
Text Messaging

Lightspeed Retail’s most unique retail features include:

  • B2B Retail Sales: Create customer accounts that allow you to block bulk pricing behind a user account login, making B2B and B2C sales possible. Create online catalogs for B2B customers. Accept deposits into accounts for use later and set account limits for different B2B customers.
  • Inventory Management: Auto-populate purchase orders based on set minimum stock levels and backorders. Create vendors and edit pricing based on vendor, item, or category. Receive partial and full purchase orders.
  • Subscription Sales: Sell subscriptions for a set amount of time or on an ongoing basis with a saved card on file. Create separate plans with separate tiers, and even sell non-physical items such as membership fees.
  • Multi-Store Management: Create multiple permanent and temporary locations as you open more locations or sell at one-time events. Move inventory between locations, set custom reordering levels for each location, and get sales reports for all locations.
  • eCommerce Sales: Lightspeed offers an eCommerce platform and integrates with Booxi, an eCommerce software that allows you to sell appointments, rentals, and retail items.

For rental businesses, such as bike or boat rental businesses, you can integrate your POS system with rental software for online and on-premise item rentals, repairs, and customer management. You can generate quotes, turn quotes into invoices, create item holds and layaways, and provide reservations for venues or retail items.

Businesses that rent out rooms, such as hotels, can use one of Lightspeed’s several booking/property management integrations, although if you include food and beverage services, Lightspeed Restaurant with a property management integration is probably a better choice (more on this later).

Repair businesses can allow people to book repairs online, estimate costs, communicate with repair workers, and allow workers to generate digital job cards.

Lightspeed’s highly customizable loyalty program allows you to engage with customers by rewarding points for every purchase, rewarding certain item purchases, creating sales and promotions for certain days, and using loyalty member data to create marketing campaigns for your business.

Lightspeed Retail Hardware

Business owners in Australia may purchase iPads for use with Lightspeed POS software from the company or a compatible one from elsewhere.

To use Lightspeed Payments, you’ll need to buy your card reader from Lightspeed. The company uses the WisePOS E terminal, which retails at around 469 AUD, for tap and chip card payments, as well as mobile wallet payments.

If you choose to integrate your POS with Tyro for payments, you can rent countertop EFTPOS terminals and/or wireless mobile EFTPOS terminals.

Payment Processing Costs

Lightspeed offers its own payment processing program, Lightspeed Payments, that charges 1.5% per transaction for in-person payments.

Note: Lightspeed Payments does not work with Lightspeed’s eCommerce product, Lightspeed eCom, but you can integrate your eCommerce site with hundreds of online payment processors, including Stripe, Square, and PayPal.

You may also integrate your POS system with Tyro, an Australian-based merchant services provider, for an additional 30 AUD/month. Tyro charges 1.4% per in-person transaction. The 0.1% difference can mean a lot for higher sales volume businesses, but you must also consider the fact that you’ll be renting payment terminals monthly if you decide to work with Tyro.

Tyro does not directly list pricing for online transactions, but online sources estimate an additional 0.4% fee for keyed-in card numbers, as well as fees for international card payments and currency conversion.

Tyro was the first bank in Australia to implement least-cost routing for contactless tap-and-go debit and credit card payments. This payment processing model allows Australian business owners to save between 6% and 8% on payment processing fees on average. Ask a Tyro representative more about how least-cost routing works and how to opt into the program.

We recommend that you try to estimate your monthly payment processing costs for both Lightspeed Payments and Tyro by estimating the number of Tyro card terminals you would need and a rough estimate of your monthly sales volumes before committing to either payment processor.

Contract Requirements/Warnings

Lightspeed charges an early termination fee and requires all business owners to get a custom quote, which will detail your exact contract length and account cancellation process/fees. The company typically has strict hardware warranty requirements as well.

In general, we recommend thoroughly reading through any merchant agreements before signing up with any software provider, especially one that provides payment processing services.

Choose Lightspeed Retail If...

  • You rent items to customers and want POS features and tools specific to your business
  • You want a strong retail-centric POS with great inventory management and customizable loyalty programs

Get Started With Lightspeed Retail

Read our in-depth review

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Revel POS: Best For Complex Business Needs

Total Rating 3.9
Pricing3.6

Ease Of Use3.9

Features4.3

Customer Service4.2

User Reviews3.8

Pricing Range

Quote-based

Online Ordering

Yes

Equipment Cost

Call for quote

Pros

  • Retail, restaurant, and service business features
  • Very customizable
  • More payment processor options
  • Good multilocation management

Cons

  • Expensive for smaller businesses
  • Early termination fee

Why We Chose Revel POS For Complex Business Needs

We love that Revel is an extremely customizable POS solution with built-in features for niche businesses in Australia.

Unlike many other POS systems such as Square and Lightspeed Retail, you don’t have to choose between retail, restaurant, and service business software plans. This is great for hybrid businesses that serve food and retail items, retail products and appointments, and more. Revel also offers several proprietary add-ons, business reports, and third-party integrations for business owners to streamline operations and thoughtfully expand their offerings.

This POS is also a great option for businesses with multiple stores and wanting to franchise. Revel has excellent multi-establishment hierarchy settings that help you manage brands, individual establishment permissions, royalty payments, product settings, and more. There are also lots of product transfer settings that help you monitor the location of any product at any given time.

Revel Pricing

You will need to contact Revel for a quote. Generally, the lowest pricing requires a two-terminal minimum, three-year contract, and you must agree to use Revel Advantage International (powered by Adyen), Revel’s in-house payment processing solution.

However, most businesses will want to add on Revel products such as its delivery software, online ordering platform, highly customizable loyalty program, and multi-location management functions. A Revel representative will give you a custom quote for all these software add-ons.

The company also charges a one-time implementation fee, which includes a personalized hardware and software setup.

Revel Features

Revel POS Features Availability
Multi-Store Support
Contactless Payments
Multi-Channel Selling
Gift Cards
Customer Loyalty
Marketing Tools
Online Ordering
Inventory Management
Reporting
Menu Management
Delivery Management
EBT Acceptance
Employee Management
Text Messaging

Revel offers one of the most comprehensive feature sets of any POS software on this list, mainly because you have access to both retail and restaurant management features.
No matter what type of business you run, you’ll appreciate these unique Revel features:

  • Loyalty Program: Includes custom rewards point setup, gift options, and automated loyalty points marketing for customers who haven’t stopped by in a while
  • Online Ordering: Online ordering for local delivery with real-time driver monitoring and shipping with auto-generated third-party shipping rate calculations; third-party delivery platform integrations
  • Purchase Ordering: Purchase order generation with set par levels, vendor management, and partial/full order receiving
  • Employee Management: Includes scheduling, time clocks, employee roles, and payroll, all within Revel dashboard
  • Multi-Establishment Management: Create different parent and child establishments, unique brands, charge royalty fees, and push changes across single, multiple, or all establishments
  • Inventory: Revel offers inventory matrixing, custom attributes, stock unit conversions, waste management, loss reports, and automated perishable food/liquid inventory tracking

All restaurant types can make good use of Revel’s kitchen display systems, which help kitchen staff decrease order prep time by routing the correct order items and modifiers to digital screens rather than relying on paper tickets. Revel kitchen display systems will also take order types from third-party ordering platforms, takeaway orders, in-house delivery orders, catering orders, and any custom order type you specify.

Full-service restaurants will appreciate Revel’s table monitoring system, which allows servers to transfer customer orders to different sections (such as moving from the bar to a table), change a customer’s seat at the table, monitor table turnaround, order sharing and splitting, and charge items to house accounts.

You can also set up catering, charge service fees based on party size, and set up waitlists/reservations.

Quick-service restaurants will appreciate kiosks, customer display screens so customers can confirm their orders, digital menu integrations, omnichannel order management, and even drive-through capabilities.

Any business that provides services such as catering, rentals, or repairs will appreciate Revel’s built-in appointment booking system and predefined service charges. Revel also has an open-ended item feature that allows you to charge a custom fee depending on how long you spent on a service, how long a person rented an item or venue, or any other cost parameter.

Revel Hardware

Revel iPad POS register, iPad stand, iPad customer-facing display, cash drawer, receipt printer, and card reader.

Revel offers POS hardware and accessories for Revel users, which you’ll get a custom quote for.

Alternatively, with Revel’s written permission, you may purchase Revel-compatible hardware on your own. The company asks for written permission to ensure that you are spending your money on hardware that will work and can avoid having to return any equipment to third-party providers.

Revel Advantage International users can purchase the Verifone v400m or P400 Plus payment terminals.

Payment Processing Costs

Revel users can get a custom payment processing rate for Revel Advantage International, the company’s international built-in payment processing solution.

Alternatively, business owners can integrate their POS system with Windcave or Tyro for an added monthly fee.

Revel advertises that it will give the lowest rates and discounts on POS hardware if you opt into Revel Advantage, but we recommend getting additional quotes and bringing them to Revel to negotiate the best rates.

Contract Requirements/Warnings

Revel’s standard contract is three years, with a substantial early termination fee depending on how far you’re into your contract before canceling.

While you’ll get the best prices with a longer contract, we recommend making extensive use of your demo, asking lots of questions to your Revel account representative, and even signing up for a month-to-month plan until you’re sure that Revel is the right fit for your growing business.

Revel typically offers a discount for users who bundle their software, hardware, and payment processing into one bill. We recommend that you get an estimate on hardware and payment processing rates from outside companies and bring that estimate to Revel to see if they’ll match it.

Choose Revel If...

  • You operate a hybrid business and need a POS system that can keep yp with your complex needs
  • You have multiple locations and are looking to franchise in the future

Get Started With Revel POS

Read our in-depth review

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Lightspeed Restaurant: Best For Quick-Service Restaurants & Hotels

Lightspeed Restaurant

Total Rating 4.0
Pricing3.1

Ease Of Use3.8

Features5.0

Customer Service4.3

User Reviews4.7

Pricing Range

$189-$399+/month

Online Ordering

Yes

Equipment Cost

$129-$519

Pros

  • Great inventory management
  • Lots of software integration options
  • Customer order pickup screen
  • Good kitchen management features

Cons

  • Can get expensive
  • Early termination fee
  • Must use Lightspeed payment processor

Why We Chose Lightspeed Restaurant POS For Quick-Service Restaurants & Hotels

We love that Lightspeed Restaurant offers a holistic restaurant management system with fast inventory management, item updates, discount schedules, kitchen workflows, and wastage tracking, which are useful for all restaurant types. Quick-service and fast-casual restaurants will appreciate the numerous ways customers can order, quick-serve mode on registers, easy-to-use kitchen bump bars, and order pickup screens. Order pickup screens will inform customers of the status of their orders so they don't get too impatient and relieve servers of the responsibility of sorting orders for pickup.

Additionally, Lightspeed Restaurant offers many third-party integrations to give hotels the ability to manage restaurants within a property and other aspects of their hotel (guest reservations, housekeeping, etc.) all within one software platform.

Note: The K-series of Lightspeed Restaurant, suited for hotels, offers a free 10-day trial, and no credit card or consultation with a Lightspeed representative is required.

Lightspeed Restaurant Pricing

Pricing for Lightspeed Restaurant is as follows:

  • Basic: 40 AUD/month
  • Plus: 120 AUD/month
  • Growth: 220 AUD/month
  • Pro: 340 AUD/month

Additional registers incur an additional $40 monthly fee per register.

Any third-party integrations you add will come at an additional fee from those software providers, not Lightspeed.

Lightspeed Restaurant Features

Lightspeed Restaurant Features Availability
Multi-Store Support
Contactless Payments
Multi-Channel Selling Online and third-party delivery platform orders
Gift Cards
Customer Loyalty
Marketing Tools
Online Ordering
Inventory Management
Reporting
Menu Management
Delivery Management Paid add-on
EBT Acceptance
Employee Management
Text Messaging

Lightspeed’s best features for quick-service and fast-casual restaurants include:

  • Order Types: Allow customers to order from anywhere via QR code, web-based app, third-party integration such as Doshii or DoorDash, self-service kiosk, or from servers at registers
  • Display Screens: Integrate an order pickup screen with your POS and kitchen display software so that customers can see the status of their meal preparation; include a customer-facing display so that customers can ensure their order is right before pushing it through to the kitchen
  • Kitchen Display Management: Lightspeed’s bump screen makes accepting online orders for delivery, pickup, or dine-in easy; break tickets up by single item, station, or employee
  • Inventory & Wastage: A wastage tracking module is available on Lightspeed plans, as well as detailed product purchasing, item production, and stock-taking features
  • Loyalty Program: Integrate your POS with a strong loyalty program that collects customer data for marketing campaigns

Hotels have several property management software options available to integrate with Lightspeed, including Oracle, Preno, and Protel. Alternatively, on Lightspeed’s highest-level plan, you may integrate your current property management system with your POS software. With either solution, you can accept reservations, charge meals from different restaurants to an individual’s room, break up group meals into individual charges, and offer room service with one software.

Lightspeed Restaurant Hardware

Business owners in Australia may purchase iPads for use as POS registers, self-serve kiosks, kitchen displays, order pickup screens, and more. Lightspeed’s iPads cost between 599 AUD and 1,899 AUD, depending on the models you purchase.

A cash drawer costs 109 AUD and tablet stands cost 159 AUD.

Lightspeed uses Verifone products for payment processing. You must purchase your credit card terminals from Lightspeed.

Payment Processing Costs

Unlike Lightspeed Retail, you are required to use Lightspeed Payments on a restaurant plan. You’ll get a custom payment processing rate based on your restaurant size, time in business, and card mix.

Contract Requirements/Warnings

Lightspeed requires every business owner to get a custom quote, which will detail the length of your contract, terms of payment, and conditions for hardware warranties. It also includes an early termination fee. We recommend you read your contract very carefully before signing anything.

Choose Lightspeed Restaurant If...

  • You operate a restaurant and want a strong POS with restaurant-centric features
  • You want a POS with strong hospitality features for your hotel

Get Started With Lightspeed Restaurant

Read our in-depth review

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Retail POS Review Methodology

Merchant Maverick has been researching and reviewing POS providers since 2012. Our writers have tested over 100 different point of sale systems, evaluating pricing, features, ease of use, customer service, and user reviewers. Read more about how we rate POS providers.

Weighted Rating Breakdown

Pricing 40%
Features 30%
Ease Of Use 15%
Customer Service 10%
User Reviews 5%

When comparing different POS software systems, we consider many data points, including relative pricing, the depth of niche features offered, the price of hardware, and any associated payment processing fees. Our lists of the best providers include only apps we’ve deemed worthwhile from multiple vantage points. The POS vendors we pick share qualities such as widespread availability, accessibility, user-friendliness, and reasonable pricing. We also look carefully at niche features, such as check-splitting, inventory management, eCommerce, loyalty programs, gift cards, and more.

We spend an average of 10-15 hours researching and updating each one of our lists, making sure the providers included meet our internal standards for quality and reputation.

80+

Vendors evaluated

65+

Attributes assessed per vendor

20+

Features weighed

30+

Combined years of experience


How To Choose An Australian POS System

To choose POS software as a business owner located in Australia, note what software features are available in your country (some software providers offer new features that have not been rolled out globally yet), what payment processors are available, the kind of POS hardware you want to incorporate, what kind of customer support is offered in Australia, and the specific needs of your business.

All businesses should consider built-in marketing features like targeted sales, discounts, and a loyalty program. They should also consider what types of reports they need, such as location-based inventory reporting for multi-location businesses.

Most businesses (and POS software) are broken into retail, restaurant, and “niche” types. Here’s how to choose POS software based on your business type.

Choosing Retail POS Systems In Australia

Retail businesses should consider these specific features in a retail POS system:

  • Inventory Management: Your inventory should be easy to manage, accommodate the number of items you have (or plan on having), sync up between online and offline sales, and be flexible enough to work for your business type. For example, if you have a B2C and B2B business type, your inventory should be able to accommodate individual and discounted bulk item sales.
  • Online Sales: Consider where you’d like to sell online. Would it be useful for your business to sell on social media, online marketplaces, on other websites, and/or on your own website? The right POS software for you should be able to sync to all the online places you want to sell. For example, clothing brands often sell on TikTok or make shoppable Instagram posts.
  • Shipping & Delivery: If you sell online, you’ll need shipping management. You may also want to offer local delivery and will need to make that an option for people shopping online and in person.
  • Mobile Sales: If your business sells at events or you don’t have a permanent location, you’ll need a mobile POS system with a handheld card reader to take sales wherever you are.

Choosing Café POS Systems In Australia

Cafes and restaurants should consider these restaurant POS system features:

  • Perishable Inventory Management: To optimize your inventory and cut wastage, an inventory management system that can handle perishable inventory.
  • Menu Configuration: If you offer a rotating menu or courses, you’ll want a POS system that allows you to update your menu periodically on-location and remotely, whether in real-time or by scheduling updates ahead of time.
  • Ordering Type: Most restaurants will benefit from offering multiple ordering types, including online ordering for takeout and delivery.
  • Delivery Platforms: Most restaurants will also benefit from listing their establishment on popular third-party delivery platforms.
  • Kitchen Management: Depending on your ordering volume, you should consider purchasing a kitchen printer or kitchen display system software (which will reduce recurring costs and is better for the environment.)
  • POS Hardware Needs: Your POS hardware needs will vary depending on the size of your café. Consider how the number of registers and other hardware (such as self-serve kiosks) will affect pricing and how well they all sync up when choosing your POS software provider.

Choosing A POS System For A Niche Business

A very specific type of business, such as a kayak rental business, will have very specific software needs. You should make sure that your POS software either has those specific features built in, is flexible enough to meet your software needs, or integrates with a niche third-party software that works for your business.

What Is The Right Australian POS System For Your Business?

The best POS system for your business comes at the right price for your business size, can manage your specific industry’s needs, offers payment processing and customer support in Australia, and integrates with a good deal of third-party software providers with solutions available for Australian business owners.

You should also have several POS hardware options to fit your location’s size (if you have one) and accommodate mobile sales.

Finally, negotiate a good merchant agreement to get the best pricing and payment processing rates for your business.

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Nicolette Kier

Nicolette Kier

Expert Contributor
Nicolette began writing on small business topics in 2020. After hundreds of hours researching, testing, and assisting small business owners with web building and point of sale software, she is now an expert on all things eCommerce and point of sale. She has a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Pittsburgh and resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Nicolette Kier
View Nicolette Kier's professional experience on LinkedIn.
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