The Best Restaurant POS Systems in Australia

TouchBistro scores a 4/5 overall in our research. Created specifically for restaurants, TouchBistro offers restaurant-specific features. This includes bill splitting, tableside ordering, and menu management. TouchBistro scores a 5/5 in both the business and stock management areas as it offers over 50 detailed reports, the ability to track staff performance, and several stock management tools.

While TouchBistro has been designed solely for restaurants, Lightspeed offers more versatile systems. It does, however, offer Lighstpeed Restaurant, a restaurant-specific POS system. Overall our research scores it a 4.3/5, a tad higher than TouchBistro, mainly because Lightspeed offers more loyalty and CRM tools as well as more inventory capabilities. For smaller businesses, these might not be relevant but if it's important for your establishment, Lightspeed might be better fit than TouchBistro.

TouchBistro has a solid 5/5 for help and support, with email live chat. and phone support. Out of all of the providers in our research Lightspeed is located in the most amount of regions across the world, helpful for any international expansion plans.

Scoring a 4/5 overall in our research, and rated as being best for small restaurants because it offers restaurant-specific features and tools but it has some limitations such as limited inventory capability. The Clover Mini costs USD $799 and can be used to take tableside orders and payments, providing an efficient and flexible service for your customers. It also comes with a built-in barcode scanner that can be used for stock management.

Another reason it's a good choice for startups or small business is its free plan. This plan is hardware-free and can be accessed on a phone, tablet, or computer via the Clover dashboard and mobile app. Also, there is a monthly charge of $14.95 for the POS software, so it's not completely free. If you're looking for a $0 option, Square is a better fit as its POS software is free and its hardware is fairly affordable with a card reader priced at £16. If your business is small but you still want restaurant-focused features, Clover is a good fit but if you just want the bare bones of a POS system and no fees, Square might be a better fit.

Square has the highest score in our research with a 4.8/5, which makes it one of the best POS systems we came across in our research. While Square's POS software is free and it scores well in several areas such as business development and usability, it doesn't have the same comprehensiveness as TouchBistro or Lightspeed. It is, however, a great option for those with a limited budget as its software is free and its hardware is affordable. Plus, at $65, its reader — one of the best EFTPOS machines we've analysed in our research — offers great value for money.

Scoring a 3.8/5 overall, Epos Now is our lowest scoring POS system on this list but it offers a wide range of hardware. Its hardware is pricier than providers such as Square but its fairly comprehensive and a good fit for businesses who are used to using POS hardware as opposed to iPad-based systems which are becoming increasingly popular.

With a score of 1.7/5 for price, Epos Now has the lowest score for pricing in our research because of its high fees. You'll need a complete package when starting out with Epos Now, which is around a one-off $1,699 for the hardware and $49 per month for the software. These prices are higher than providers such as Square which has free POS software and hardware that starts from $29. It is worth noting that while the standard price is $1,699, Epos Now rarely sells at this price and typically offer a discounted rate of $678.

Epos Now scores highly in the customer service department with a 4/5. You can contact customer service via phone, email, live chat, or reach out to the Epos Now community online.