The Best POS Systems for Food Trucks

Square is the best POS system for food trucks, based on our latest round of testing and research. With a free POS software plan that still comes with advanced features like QR code ordering, as well as reasonably priced compact hardware options, Square is the best value system by some way.

When recommending POS systems for food trucks, we’ve focused on ones that are reasonably priced, offer compact, lightweight hardware that can be used easily in a tight space, and come with strong marketing tools so customers are motivated to come back.

Of course, different businesses have different needs and priorities, but we’re confident one of the five food truck POS systems discussed in this article will fit the bill:

Best POS Systems for Food Trucks: Quick Overview

For a quick overview of the best POS systems for food trucks, check out the table below:

1. Square: Best Value for Money

Square is the best value POS system for food trucks. It has free POS software, a free online store, and affordable compact hardware, perfect for the cramped space of a food truck.

Why we recommend Square for food trucks

Square is an affordable POS system that doesn’t skimp on functionality. It offers a free version of its POS software, from which you can track cash payments and even accept payments while your system is offline. All offline payments will be tracked as long as you reconnect to the internet within 24 hours.

Square’s plethora of free tools includes a free online ordering page, which can be used for QR code ordering. This is a treat for food trucks that want in on the internet deal, but don’t want to invest in a full website.

If you upgrade to Square’s paid POS software for $69 per month, you’ll get access to more advanced reporting tools, and crucially, you’ll be able to send order-ready texts to customers. So, if your food truck is generally very busy, and customers wander off while they wait for an order, upgrading to the paid plan could make your life easier.

When it comes to hardware, Square has a range of compact solutions perfect for small spaces. Square has a POS app, that you can download onto a phone or iPad for free, so you don’t need to bother with large physical terminals.

Its $59 card reader is also an incredibly compact 2.6″ x 2.6″ device that takes tap and chip card payments. Square also sells an iPad case with a hand strap that you can insert its card reader into, so you can keep your equipment in the same place.

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.

We did run into a few annoying glitches, however, such as the table plan not appearing 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 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.

Are there any downsides to Square?

One downside to Square is that it doesn’t have advanced cost vs profit management tools, or ingredient usage tracking, which isn’t ideal for businesses that want to keep a close eye on their finances. A good alternative is Clover, which has some great profit management tools, while Toast offers ingredient tracking.

Square is also missing a training mode, which can make onboarding new staff more time-consuming. That said, since Square was one of the easiest to use POS systems we tested, this shouldn’t be a major issue for most food truck businesses.

2. Toast: Best for Established Food Trucks

Toast offers advanced inventory management tools, as well as a wide range of built-in loyalty and marketing add-ons, making it a great option for established food truck businesses, especially ones becoming chains.

Why we recommend Toast for food trucks

Although Toast offers a completely free POS plan, which can be suitable for new, small food truck businesses, it’s much more basic than Square’s equivalent. Additionally, Toast POS really shines when it comes to its advanced features and add-on tools, making it more worth it for established businesses with a substantial budget.

One of Toast’s best add-ons for food trucks is its Mobile Order & Pay feature. This allows customers to scan a QR code, order, and pay via a secure webpage, which for food trucks can help reduce lines and wait times on busy days.

The QR code feature can be used in tandem with Toast’s excellent marketing and loyalty tools as a way to collect guest data to be used in targeted campaigns. These tools, all add-ons, include loyalty program building (set spending and create a points system), and gift card creation, including physical gift cards, a feature SumUp is missing.

Other top features for established businesses with complex inventories include an advanced inventory management add-on, which features food and recipe cost management, as well as low-stock alerts. These are essential features for food truck businesses that operate more than one food truck and need help minimizing waste and optimizing logistics.

When it comes to hardware, Toast’s POS software can be run on Android tablets and paired with its compact reader for taking payments. Toast also offers countertop terminals, one with a built-in customer display, for food trucks that have room to spare.

Our experience with Toast

We found Toast quite 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. Lightspeed and Square both clearly label this option on the checkout screen.

Another aspect we like is that Toast’s customer service line is open 24/7, 365 days a year (that’s right, even on holidays) – this includes a phone line and a web messaging service.

Are there any downsides to Toast?

The Toast app is only compatible with Android tablets, so if your food truck business currently operates iPad-based restaurant POS software and you want to spare yourself the expense of replacing your hardware, we recommend Square instead.

Another aspect we don’t love is that a lot of Toast’s marketing and advanced profit and inventory management tools come as add-ons, meaning you’ll have to pay extra for them. Toast also doesn’t advertise the price of its add-ons, which does raise some eyebrows. This isn’t the case for most rivals, including Square, and SumUp.

3. Clover: Best for Professional Hardware

Clover has the best POS hardware on the market, with a wide range that includes compact devices perfect for food trucks. It’s a great choice for businesses looking for a full kit that doesn’t take up much space.

Software pricing is for Clover’s “Quick-service restaurant” plans. It has separate plans for full-service restaurants.

Why we recommend Clover for food trucks

Clover’s range of hardware is a level above the rest and includes compact designs that are perfect for food trucks.

The Clover Mini is a small countertop terminal with a built-in receipt printer and card reader, complete with a card slot. It’s got a touchscreen and is only 8 inches wide. At $849, it’s not exactly a cheap option, but you won’t need to spend money on any other hardware.

For an even smaller device, you’ve got the Clover Flex. It’s essentially a card machine that doubles up as a handheld POS device, meaning you can access Clover’s POS software from it. Also fitted with a touchscreen and receipt printer, it costs $749.

Clover offers tiered pricing plans and POS software. For food trucks, we recommend the $89.95 per month Starter plan, from Clover’s “Quick-service dining management” suite. On this plan, you’ll be able to generate order numbers, categorize and track stock, and accept online ordering, whether that’s from an online store or through integration with third-party delivery apps.

There used to be an even cheaper plan, the $14.95 Essentials plan, but Clover discontinued it.

Our experience with Clover

We found Clover much easier to use than the other POS systems we tested, because the layout of the front and back end is very straightforward. Everything is nicely spaced out, avoiding clutter, and Clover makes use of different colors to visually separate items from each other. This clarity means quick order processing, which is vital for food trucks.

There were just a few issues with unclear signposting (the language Clover uses in the menu can be vague), and a lack of confirmation messages when orders were sent to the KDS.

Clover also doesn’t have a training mode, and its support center doesn’t have as large a library of guides as its competitors, such as Square.

Are there any downsides to Clover?

We don’t recommend Clover to food truck businesses operating on a tight budget, since its hardware is expensive, and prices have gone up further this year. Clover’s handheld POS device, for example, costs almost double Square’s costs.

Clover’s software plans are also on the expensive side, starting at $89.95, one of the highest starting price of any POS provider on this list.

On the feature side, Clover doesn’t offer any automated tip-sharing tools, which could pose issues for businesses that operate several food trucks and have an equal tip-sharing policy. For this feature, look to Square, SpotOn, or Toast.

4. SpotOn: Best For No Upfront Costs

SpotOn offers a free plan that includes both free POS software and hardware, in exchange for slightly higher card processing fees of 2.89% + 25¢, only slightly higher than most competitors’ standard fees. This makes it a great option for new food truck businesses looking to get started for zero upfront costs.

Why we recommend SpotOn for food trucks

SpotOn’s free plan includes basic software features, a terminal with a customer display, a receipt printer, and a cash drawer. Although the terminal you get on the free plan is bulkier than the ones on SpotOn’s paid plans (15 inches wide compared to 10 inches), it’s a small compromise for avoiding upfront costs.

All you’ll have to pay is the 2.89% + $0.25 card processing fee, which is only a little more than the 2.6% + 15¢ transaction fee on Square’s free plan, which doesn’t come with free hardware.

Although SpotOn’s free plan is missing QR code and online ordering (useful tools for food trucks), it still includes marketing tools, such as basic email marketing, discount code and gift card creation, and a loyalty plan builder. It’s rare for a provider to offer these tools at no extra cost, let alone on a free plan.

When you feel ready to upgrade, SpotOn’s next plan up costs $99 per month, plus $3 per employee for SpotOn staff scheduling software. Although this makes SpotOn slightly more expensive than most rivals, its 1.99% + 25¢ transaction fee on paid plans is one of the lowest on the market, and its staff management software is worth the extra spend.

Called “Teamwork”, the software includes not only scheduling, but payroll preparation, and full tip management, such as tip sharing and tip reports, features not offered by other expensive providers such as Clover.

Our experience with SpotOn

During testing, we found SpotOn to be the one of most intuitive POS systems to navigate. 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 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.

Are there any downsides to SpotOn

SpotOn doesn’t offer a tablet-based POS system, which means your hardware will only be as compact and light as SpotOn’s smallest terminal. If you’re looking for a cheap tablet-based restaurant POS system, we recommend Square.

Still, on the hardware front, SpotOn doesn’t offer as wide a range of POS hardware and accessories as competitors, so if you want all your equipment bases covered, from scales to ticket printers, you’re better off with a provider like Clover or Square.

Lastly, SpotOn is the only provider on this list to charge setup fees. It no longer advertises how much setup will cost, but it used to note that fees could go up to $1,000. While other providers might charge for extra setup support, SpotOn’s fees are compulsory.

5. SumUp: Best for Marketing and Loyalty Tools

SumUp’s POS system comes with built-in marketing and loyalty tools, making it a great option for food truck owners who work events and want to get word of their location out to customers.

Why we recommend SumUp for food trucks

If you run a food truck that frequently changes locations, and needs to keep customers informed of where you are, and offer them incentives to buy from you, then SumUp is a great choice.

Its POS software has a heavy focus on marketing and loyalty tools, although the amount of tools you get varies depending on how much you pay. With SumUp’s free POS software, POS Lite, you won’t get access to any marketing tools, and features are restricted to order processing,  inventory management, and reporting.

That’s why we recommend SumUp’s cheapest paid plan, the $99 per month Connect Lite plan since it gives you access to a customer database, where you can view their purchase history and save contact information. If you upgrade to the $199 per month Connect Plus plan, you’ll be able to set up rewards programs and send email promotions. These get upgraded to automatic email promotions on the $289 per month Connect Pro plan.

You’ll also be able to accept online and QR code ordering on all of SumUp’s paid plans, which can speed up service on busy days.

When it comes to hardware, SumUp’s offering is a little limited. It doesn’t have any small POS terminals that could easily fit in a food truck, however, there is a SumUp POS app that you can download on your phone or tablet. This can be paired with one of SumUp’s three card readers. For food trucks, we’d recommend the $99 SumUp Solo. It’s a compact touchscreen device with a built-in unlimited data SIM card, perfect if you don’t have access to Wifi.

Our experience with SumUp

We found SumUp easy to use when it came to basic tasks such as creating menu items and adding items to an order. This is largely thanks to the intuitive nature of its interface, which had clear signposting for the most part.

Our biggest critique is that changes, such as to menu items, made in the backend were very slow to sync with the front end, which could slow down order taking. We also had a little trouble trying to use SumUp’s customer database. When processing an order, we couldn’t figure out how to add a new customer to the database.

Are there any downsides to SumUp?

Although two of SumUp’s card readers have a built-in SIM card, its system doesn’t have an offline functionality. That means if the Wifi or cell reception is bad, the system won’t log sales. So, if your food truck operates in areas with faulty service, we’d recommend Square instead of SumUp, since it has an offline mode.

Additionally, although SumUp offers affordable hardware, its paid plans have an expensive starting point, even more than Clover. If you’re trying to keep costs low, we recommend Square.

Buying Guide: What to Look for in a Food Truck POS System

Since working in a food truck means you’re operating in a small space, and potentially out of reach of a reliable signal, you’ll have slightly different POS system requirements than regular restaurants or cafes.

Here’s what you should consider:

• Portability of the hardware: most food trucks don’t have space for large countertop terminals, so look for a provider that offers small, portable hardware. App-based POS systems are particularly well-suited to food trucks.
• Offline functionality: if your food truck operates in areas with unreliable Wifi or cell service, it’s vital that you choose a POS system that has offline functionality. This way, all your day’s sales will be saved, regardless of your connection.
• Marketing tools: if you’re a mobile food truck, and pop-up at different events, choosing a POS system with built-in marketing and loyalty tools is very valuable. It’ll help you notify customers of where you are, and give them incentives to come visit you.
• Mobile and QR ordering: accepting orders online or via QR codes can really boost sales, as a lot of customers would rather come to pick up an order when it’s ready rather than wait in line. We recommend you choose a system that has these features built-in or integrates with third-party apps that facilitate them.
• Order tickets or order-ready texts: along those same lines, on busy days, customers might want to wander off and return when their order is ready, rather than wait. Choosing a system that can print numbered tickets, or send texts or emails when an order is ready will make it easier for you and your customers to keep track of orders.

How We Test POS Systems for Food Trucks