What Are the Best POS Systems for Bars?

We’ve researched and tested several POS systems and found that Square offers the best POS system for US bars. It’s affordable, with a functional free plan that includes bar tabs and free QR code ordering, plus it offers a variety of compact and portable hardware options.

However, larger bars or chains might prefer a system that offers them better organizational and financial oversight, such as Toast, which comes with ingredient tracking.

Either way, a good bar POS system allows for quick order processing, comes with discount tools for easy happy hour set up and preferably offers staff management tools, whether built-in or integrations.

The Best POS Systems for Bars: Summary

Here’s a quick summary of what the best POS systems for bars have to offer:

1. Square: Best Overall Bar POS System

Square is the best overall POS system for bars. It offers a comprehensive free software plan suitable for small bars, as well as affordable paid plans that can handle large establishments. Plus, its ecosystem of tools, which include online ordering and marketing, makes it easy for bars to maximize profits.

Why we recommend Square for bars

Square’s free POS software is highly functional, allowing small bars to do a lot for a low price. For example, on the free plan, you’ll get access to bar tabs, scheduled discounts (such as for recurring happy hours), auto gratuity and even floor plan management. For an extra $20 per month, you can integrate with Square’s KDS, which comes at no extra cost on paid plans.

The free plan also allows you to create an online ordering website and give customers the possibility to order drinks and food from the table via a QR code, speeding up service and cutting down on long lines at the bar.

Upgrading is also relatively cheap, with Square’s $69 per month Plus plan cheaper than competitors’ Clover and SumUp’s starting plans. You’ll get access to extra features such as the ability to reopen closed bills (a must on busy nights), customize your floor plan and split checks.

You’ll also get access to Square’s full suite of reporting features, which includes reports by shifts, time of day, section (tables versus bar, for example) and menu item.

Square also has an array of add-on software products, some of which have free versions. For bars the most useful is Square Shifts. It’s free for up to five employees, and beyond that costs just $4 per month, per employee. It lets businesses schedule and track shifts, breaks and overtime, access labour costs reports, and even automate tip pooling.

When it comes to hardware, Square offers versatility. For bars that need compact options, Square offers an iPad tablet stand for $149 and a new super compact handheld POS device for $399, which staff can easily bring to customers at the bar or at a table.

Our experience with Square

We found Square generally very easy to use. The backend was quite intuitive, and we had no trouble creating menus or listing items. We also appreciated the search function, which helped us find tools quickly.

However, we did run into a few annoying glitches. For example, the table plan didn’t appear in the backend, and we found the process of cancelling orders and adding staff accounts overly complicated.

When it comes to hardware, we tested the $299 Square Terminal, its portable POS device, and card machine. While it was easy to access inventory and process payments from the device, we did have issues with the physical design. The card machine was quite wide, so it wasn’t easy to hold in one hand, making it better suited to countertops than table service.

Luckily, Square has released a new handheld POS device, the $399 Square Handheld, which is designed for table service.

Where Square could improve

Square is missing a few tools that are vital for large chains, such as ingredient tracking or cost versus profit management. If those are the tools you need, we recommend Toast instead.

Square also doesn’t have a training mode for staff, which can slow down onboarding new recruits. That said, Square’s software is quite easy to use, so this isn’t a huge issue, but if a training mode is a must for your business, competitors Clover, SumUp and Toast all offer one.

2. Toast: Best for Bars With Complex Operations

Toast is the best option for large, established bars with complex operations, for example, with multiple floors or an extensive menu. Its built-in inventory and profit management tools, and add-on marketing features can help busy bars stay organized.

Why we recommend Toast for bars

Although Toast offers free basic POS software, bars will get the most out of it by selecting its $69 per month plan. This gives you full access to all of Toast’s add-ons, which is where the platform shines.

One of Toast’s most useful add-ons for busy bars is its Mobile Order & Pay feature. With this feature, bars can enable QR code ordering and payment for customers, reducing lines at the bar and speeding up service. However, this is a paid add-on and, as with most Toast add-ons, the cost isn’t specified.

Other useful add-on tools include advanced inventory management, which features food and recipe cost management, as well as low-stock alerts. With this, large, busy establishments have all the tools they need to cut down on waste and maximize profits.

Other useful add-ons include customer engagement tools, like loyalty program building (set spending and create a points system), email marketing and gift card creation, including physical gift cards, a feature SumUp is missing.

When it comes to hardware, Toast offers a compact handheld POS device for $494.10, allowing servers to take orders easily at tables or from anywhere around the bar. All Toast hardware is also spill and heat-resistant, so it can withstand a few accidents.

Our experience with Toast

We found Toast easy to use. The backend was particularly intuitive and easy to navigate and the setup tutorial offered a clear step-by-step guide that helped us find our way around the platform.

The only task we struggled with a little was setting up a discount on an order, which is something we had trouble with on a lot of other POS platforms we tested. In this case, we found Toast’s wording a little confusing, since you have to click on an “update” button to find the discount button. Square clearly labels this option on the checkout screen.

Where Toast could improve

Toast is an expensive option, since most of its best tools, such as marketing and advanced profit and inventory management tools, come as paid add-ons. It doesn’t help that, unlike Square or SumUp, Toast doesn’t advertise how much add-ons cost. Small bars with tighter budgets might prefer providers that are more transparent with prices.

Additionally, Toast offers both countertop terminals and a POS app that works on tablets, its app is only compatible with Android tablets. If you already use iPad-based POS software and want to spare yourself the expense of replacing your hardware, we recommend Square.

3. Clover: Best for Top-range Hardware

Clover is the best option for bars looking for state-of-the-art hospitality hardware. Its selection includes terminals with a fingerprint login system and handhelds with built-in receipt printers. All its devices have a sleek, modern appearance that can elevate the look of your bar.

Software pricing is for Clover’s “Full-service restaurant” plans. It also offers “Quick-service restaurant” plans, which do not include table service.

Why we recommend Clover for bars

Clover offers a variety of software plans, but its “Full-service restaurant” plans are the best fit for bars, since they include both counter and table service, giving you flexibility.

When it comes to hardware, the best device for bars is Clover’s $749 Clover Flex, and handheld POS with a built-in receipt printer. It’s surprisingly lightweight, despite its size, and is easy to carry, making it a great option for both bar and table service.

What we like about Clover’s main countertop terminal, the Clover Station Pro, is that it comes with a fingerprint login, enabling easy access to staff during busy times and speeding up order taking.

When it comes to software features, Clover is especially suited to large, busy bars. Its tools include live table status tracking, transferrable bar tabs, bill splitting and staff shift management, which is included at no extra cost, unlike with Square or SpotOn.

Also included at no extra cost is QR code ordering, a must for busy bars looking to reduce lines. Marketing features such as scheduled discounts, which you can display and promote on customer-facing screens, can boost sales.

You’ll also get access to in-depth reporting, including reports by staff, shift, menu items and even discounts. Plus, Clover offers cost versus profit tracking and management, a feature missing from Square, which allows large bars to cut down on waste.

Our experience with Clover

Clover has remained consistently easy to use in our testing, despite offering advanced features. We particularly like Clover’s frontend, which is highly intuitive and makes great use of color to highlight features. The drag-and-drop design of Clover’s table planner is also a nice touch for bars that change their floor plan a lot.

That said, it wasn’t quite smooth sailing when it came to certain backend features. For example, we had trouble finding where to set up discounts and loyalty programmes, and real-time syncing issues disrupted the overall smoothness of the experience.

When it comes to hardware, we were particularly impressed by how light the Clover Flex, Clover’s handheld POS device/card machine, was. Despite its size, it fit easily in our hand and didn’t feel awkward to hold, making it great for table service.

Where Clover could improve

Clover’s hardware can be expensive, and prices have recently gone up further. The Clover Flex alone now costs $749, far more than Square’s $299 equivalent. If you operate a small bar, have simple needs and are looking for an affordable POS system, providers like Square or SpotOn are a better choice since they both offer free plans and cheap hardware.

Clover also doesn’t offer automated tip management, so if your employees all get equal tips, we’d again recommend choosing Square and getting Square’s Shift add-on.

4. SpotOn: Best for Staff Scheduling

SpotOn is the best POS system for bars looking to simplify staff scheduling, thanks to its proprietary Teamwork app that handles shift management and labor cost projections.

Why we recommend SpotOn

Although SpotOn offers a completely free POS plan (software and hardware included), in exchange for slightly higher transaction fees of 2.89% + $0.25, bars will get the most out of the $135 per month Full-service plan.

The plan includes SpotOn’s Teamwork scheduling software (you need to pay an extra $3 per month, per employee), which not only lets managers schedule shifts but also prepare payroll, manage tip sharing and communicate with employees through SpotOn’s employee app. At $3 per employee, SpotOn’s scheduling software is cheaper than Square’s ($4 per employee) and goes a step further with payroll features.

Also included at no extra cost in SpotOn’s Full-service plan are digital menus and QR ordering, as well as KDS integration and two-way messaging between kitchen and bar staff. Plus, with SpotOn’s handheld POS devices, staff can easily take orders from anywhere in the bar.

The dark mode is the default mode for SpotOn’s POS system, which is usually a downside, but in the case of bars can be a plus, if you’re looking to maintain a dimly lit atmosphere.

Although SpotOn charges a fee (it used to be advertised as $1,000) for installation and setup, something most competitors don’t impose on businesses, this does include full staff training and POS layout customization. These are features that can increase efficiency and order processing down the line.

Our experience with SpotOn

SpotOn was one of the most intuitive POS systems to navigate that we tested. We didn’t have much trouble setting up discounts or creating menu items with variations.

However, the backend was easier to use than the frontend, mainly because the frontend required a few extra clicks to add items to an order, compared with how quickly we could do this using other POS systems, like Lightspeed.

We also didn’t like the floor plan functionality, since it’s not drag and drop. To change the size of the tables, you have to click a bar chart button rather than drag them to make them bigger, something restaurants with large floor plans might want to consider.

Where SpotOn could improve

SpotOn doesn’t offer as wide a range of POS hardware and accessories as competitors, so if you want all your equipment bases covered, you’re better off with a provider like Clover or Square.

Additionally, SpotOn doesn’t offer a tablet-based POS system; its software is only available on desktops or via its countertop terminals. If you’re looking for a cheap iPad-based restaurant POS system, we recommend Square.

5. SumUp: Best for Speed and Efficiency

SumUp offers an easy-to-use POS system, clear pricing, and a host of integrated marketing and loyalty tools, making it a great option for bars looking for a simple system to help them increase efficiency.

Why we recommend SumUp for bars

Although SumUp does offer free POS software, like Square and SumUp, it’s a little too basic for the average bar, missing features such as table management and SumUp’s excellent proprietary marketing tools.

Upgrading to SumUp’s $99 per month Connect Lite plan and above gives you access to SumUp’s best hospitality POS tools. These include easy and free digital gift card creation, a loyalty programme, and email and SMS marketing, included at no extra cost, unlike with Square. This makes SumUp a great option for bars in competitive areas that need to stand out from the crowd.

Also included as standard with SumUp’s paid plans is staff shift tracking, so you can know exactly how many hours each employee has worked, and they can clock in and out themselves.

Bars that serve more than just snacks will also appreciate SumUp’s built-in menu allergen warnings, which let you easily add allergens to menu items in the backend, which then appear in the frontend, simplifying allergies for staff and customers.

Additionally, like any good bar POS system, SumUp has an open tab function, as well as discount scheduling for happy hour, although it is missing QR code ordering, a feature it’s planning to enable in the coming months.

When it comes to hardware, SumUp offers compact terminals and card machines, which can fit behind even the tightest bars.

Our experience with SumUp

The frontend of SumUp’s POS system is very user-friendly, allowing for speedy service, but the backend remains hard to navigate.

SumUp’s frontend has a simple, clear and responsive interface, with a minimalist design making finding features, such as table management and order cancellation, and editing, easy. We especially like the “park order” function, which allowed us to quickly adjust items mid-transaction.

However, the backend consistently frustrated us, since its design was much clunkier, and we ran into a lot of slow loading when trying to access reports, bulk imports and user settings. The sidebar menu would also often cover up other navigation elements, which made completing tasks difficult.

Where SumUp could improve

As we’ve mentioned, SumUp doesn’t yet offer QR code ordering, although this feature is reportedly in the works. Nevertheless, bars looking to reduce lines now might prefer a system that already has this feature, such as Square or Clover.

Additionally, SumUp doesn’t yet supply handheld POS devices in the US, although it has rolled out a new device for the European market. In the meantime, bars that do table service are missing this key hardware tool offered by most competitors, including Square, Clover and SpotOn.

What to Look for in a Bar POS System

When choosing a POS system for your bar, you should first define your specific needs. These will vary depending on the size of your establishment, if and how you serve food, and the number of locations you have.

Here’s what to consider when evaluating your choices:

Software

Make a list of must-have and nice-to-have features based on your bar’s operations to get a clear picture of what kind of system you genuinely need.

These could include:

• Inventory and ingredients management: To help you keep on top of your ingredients and prevent you from running out of something unexpectedly. This can help you track usage and help you plan ahead for busy times, so you never run out of your regulars’ favourite drinks
• QR code ordering: Letting your customers order food or drinks independently can free up your staff to focus on customers at the bar.
• Staff management: So you can stay on top of employee shifts, reward your best employees and identify those who need further training.
• Analytics and reporting: So you can learn which meals are most popular, which staff members are processing the most transactions and more.
• Customer loyalty programs: Rewarding your regulars shouldn’t be overlooked since they’re the faithful patrons that keep your business running.

Hardware

Think about the important pieces of hardware for your business and how many of them you need – from POS terminals and handheld POS devices to receipt printers, kitchen printers, and cash drawers.

Not all providers automatically provide you with card machines, for example. They’re sometimes replaced with a tablet or terminal that can take payments.

If you have existing hardware and want to save yourself from having to buy everything new, find a POS system that’s compatible with your existing equipment. Most POS providers appreciate that you might be switching to them from another supplier and that you won’t necessarily want a complete overhaul of all your hardware.

Ease of use

Choosing a POS system that’s easy and intuitive to use is especially important for busy bars, since it’ll speed up order processing and reduce wait times.

Plus, in an industry where staff turnover is high, it’s especially important for your POS system to be simple enough that it can be picked up quickly by new staff.

Pricing

Consider the upfront costs of a POS system, its monthly fees and what’s included in them. Is it both software and hardware, or one and not the other? Make sure to include the added cost of integration, training, and transaction fees in your budgeting.

Realistically plan for any projected growth as well. Choosing a system that can accommodate your expected future needs will prevent you from having to switch systems later down the line.

How We Tested Bar POS Systems