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Point-of-sale (POS) systems are arguably essential for effective business operations. Fortunately, numerous free POS solutions are available, equipped with all the necessary tools to help launch and successfully manage your business.
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In this guide, I have assessed the leading free POS systems currently available, rating them based on various criteria, including user-friendliness, features (and their limitations), and integration capabilities. The ideal free POS systems should encompass all the fundamental tools typically expected from a POS system—such as inventory management, payment processing, omnichannel integrations, customer relationship management (CRM) tools, staff management, and reporting—along with options for paid features to support your growth. According to our assessment, the top free POS systems are:
Square : Best overall free POS system
Loyverse : Best POS for grocers and markets
Helcim : Best for low processing fees
Toast : Best for growing restaurants
SpotOn : Best for small new restaurants
Odoo : Best for customizations
Square is the leader in the small business point-of-sale market, with free industry-specific POS software for retailers, restaurants, and appointment-based businesses. I like its flexibility, as each of Square’s three POS systems starts out completely free, providing tools for inventory management, CRM, payment processing, an online store, and industry-specific features to help your business thrive. As your business grows, Square offers Plus and Premium plans with advanced and custom features to support your operations. Square also supports several integrations with third-party tools but prioritizes in-house solutions with add-on tools for loyalty programs, SMS marketing, and gift cards, to name a few, which can be added to any POS plan for as little as $15 per month.Square cannot be beat when it comes to what it offers for a $0 monthly fee. With mobile compatibility that requires no additional hardware, industry-specific tools, plans to support your growth so you never have to change POS providers, and some of the best customer reviews out there—it’s no wonder Square landed at the top of our list.
Loyverse POS is completely free and includes essential tools like multistore management, sales reporting, basic inventory management, and a loyalty program. I find its flexibility appealing, as instead of tiered plans, Loyverse offers add-on tools so you can pay only for the features you need. These include advanced inventory management, employee management, and integrations with e-commerce and marketing platforms.
Loyverse is particularly suited for grocers and food sellers, offering features like weight barcodes, portable scanning through its app, a customizable checkout screen, and bulk inventory management. This combination of affordability and tailored tools makes it a strong choice for small businesses seeking an adaptable POS solution.
Helcim stands out for its affordable interchange-plus pricing with volume discounts and a free POS system, making it a cost-effective choice for small businesses and professional service providers. Unlike other POS systems on the list, such as Square or Toast, Helcim doesn’t offer advanced industry-specific POS features. However, it provides essential tools like invoicing, subscription management, a free online store, basic inventory management, and reporting.
I think Helcim’s tools and features are good for professional service businesses, offering PCI compliance, recurring billing, and integrations designed for industries like law and contracting. While its POS tools are less robust than others, Helcim excels in meeting the needs of service-based businesses with straightforward and affordable solutions. It even has tap to pay on iPhone so any business only needs to have a compatible device to start accepting in-person payments.
Toast is the best free POS system for growing restaurants, offering tools like menu management, table management, digital menus, invoicing, and access to high-quality restaurant-grade hardware. Unlike other providers, Toast allows businesses to opt for a pay-as-you-go hardware plan, letting you pay higher processing fees instead of an upfront hardware cost—an advantage for restaurants looking to minimize upfront costs.
I think Toast’s $0 upfront cost is a good option without sacrificing essential functionality. Compared to other providers, it’s the only one to include industry-grade hardware in its free plan, making it a standout choice for restaurants. While the free software has limitations and higher processing fees, Toast offers affordable upgrades that grow with your business, providing flexibility and value for scaling operations.
SpotOn stands out for being a fully functional restaurant POS system with excellent employee management, loyalty functions, affordable payment processing, and industry-grade hardware. Among the POS systems in this guide, I would put it head-to-head with Toast. While Toast includes better and more comprehensive restaurant-specific tools, SpotOn has cheaper payment processing fees, making it a better option for smaller restaurants with simpler operations.
I also like that it has 24/7 customer support and all its plans come with setup assistance. Its no-monthly-fee baseline plan includes software and hardware already so new and small businesses can easily start accepting payments without any upfront costs.
Odoo is known for its modular system, which easily integrates with other Odoo apps like accounting, inventory, and CRM, making it a highly customizable solution for businesses that want an all-in-one ecosystem. It works with a wide range of payment terminals from Stripe, Adyen, Ingenico, and Razor, among others.
While Odoo’s POS may lack the extensive customer support and advanced industry-specific tools offered by others on this list, its flexibility and customization options make it ideal for businesses that need tailored solutions. The open-source nature of Odoo also provides unparalleled freedom to adapt the system to unique needs, which is a significant advantage over more rigid, pre-built POS systems.
Although free POS systems may lack the most sophisticated features, there are several key functionalities you should seek. Review the following list to understand what you can anticipate from a free POS system.
Inventory management: The top free POS options will offer inventory management capabilities, including unlimited inventory items, real-time tracking, and barcode scanning.
Customer management tools: You can expect a variety of free CRM features, such as a customer directory, the ability to add customers to transactions, and, in the best scenarios, loyalty programs and marketing tools.
Payment processing: All POS systems should provide integrated payment processing at no cost, either through an in-house solution or a free integration. There should be no restrictions on the types of payment methods you can accept, and the most effective POS systems will also include free customer financing options through services like Afterpay or Klarna.
Accompanying POS app: To facilitate mobile business operations and allow access to your POS from any location, the POS provider should offer a downloadable app for your personal device.
Sales channel integrations: Ensure that you can optimize your sales across various channels, such as online ordering platforms, marketplaces, and social media, through omnichannel sales integrations.
Staff permissions and logins: While payroll and scheduling management may not be available in a free POS solution, you should be able to establish access permissions and individual logins for your staff to safeguard your settings and data.
Industry-specific tools: If you are considering POS systems tailored to particular industries, such as retail, restaurants, or service businesses, you should expect to find a range of industry-specific tools that are crucial for the success of your business type.
Point-of-sale systems can incur monthly expenses amounting to hundreds of dollars; however, as discussed, this is not a necessity, and you can maintain functionality without compromise. Numerous excellent free POS solutions are available, including Square, which provides industry-specific options and scalable plans to accommodate your growth, and Loyverse, which is particularly suitable for new grocers and markets.
For expanding restaurants, Toast presents a robust solution with its extensive tools tailored for the food service industry. If minimizing ongoing costs is a priority, Helcim offers a free POS with interchange-plus pricing. New and small restaurants will appreciate SpotOn’s zero upfront costs, complemented by its restaurant-focused features. For those seeking a customizable option that allows for greater control over their system, Odoo POS is highly recommended.
If you are planning to launch a small business and wish to reduce expenses, the POS market provides a diverse array of effective, free solutions.
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