The Best Restaurant POS Systems in Canada

We’ve researched and tested the 10 best POS systems and found that Square offers the best restaurant POS system. It’s got a functional free plan perfect for new ventures and more advanced paid plans that can support budding chains, while still being priced cheaper than most competitor systems.

Square won’t be the perfect fit for all restaurants, and established, large sit-down eateries will fare better with Toast or Clover, since they offer tools for managing expenses and limiting wastage, like cost versus profit and ingredient tracking.

If you don’t have time to read our in-depth reviews of each platform, you can use our quote-finding tool to find the best value service for your business in under a minute.

For a quick overview of the top systems, check out the comparison table below:

1. Square: Best for Scaling Up Your Restaurant Business

Square’s POS software is app-based and starts at $0 per month, making it a good entry-level system for new restaurateurs or small eateries. At the same time, the advanced features available on its paid plans (starting at $60 per month) and its wide range of hardware make Square an equally great option for small chains.

What’s great about Square’s restaurant POS?

Square is highly scalable thanks to its functional free POS software, which is capable of supporting new restaurants. It includes features such as bill splitting by amount, items or percentage, and has a native kitchen display system (KDS) that you can customize and view reports on. This last one costs $20 per month, per device, but is still available to use on the free plan.

On Square’s free POS plan, you can also create an online ordering website for free and accept payments through it. This is great for establishments looking to increase their sales, allowing them to serve more customers than their restaurant seats.

Square’s paid plans, the $60 per month Plus plan and the Premium plan with custom pricing, will give you access to more advanced features. These include floor plan customization, advanced staff management tools and the ability to reopen closed bills to make amendments. These are useful tools for larger restaurants with a complex seating chart that serve big parties.

You’ll also get access to in-depth reporting tools, such as live sales tracking, and reports divided up by section (bar, dining room and so on) or time of day (for example, lunch versus dinner service). These aren’t available on Square’s free plan, and are crucial for pinning down what works best for your restaurant and capitalizing on it.

Our experience testing 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.

What is Square’s restaurant hardware like?

Square’s POS system is app-based and compatible with both Apple and Android tablets (although these are not provided by Square). That’s something to consider if you don’t already own a tablet or need to purchase multiple ones, since doing so can drive up setup costs.

The equipment Square does provide is pretty modern-looking, which is a plus if aesthetics are important to your business. Available hardware includes:

• Register ($899): A standing register with a staff screen and customer-facing touchscreen terminal.
• Card machines ($69-$449): Most can accept contactless, chip and PIN, and mobile payments.
• Tablet stand ($249): Doubles as a contactless and chip and PIN card reader (tablet not included).
• KDS ($20/month): A 15.6-inch or 21.5-inch touchscreen.

Also available through Square are POS kits that include registers or tablet stands with cash drawers and receipt printers (prices range from $889 to $1,989).

We tested Square’s portable card machine, the Square Terminal, and found it easy to use. You can access Square’s POS software directly from it, easily adding items to orders. However, we do think that design-wise, it’s slightly too wide to be comfortably held by people with small hands. Clover’s equivalent, the Clover Flex, is better in that regard.

Where could Square improve?

We don’t think Square’s inventory management tools have enough depth to meet the needs of large restaurant chains or those with complex inventories. It doesn’t come with ingredient tracking or cost versus profit management, for instance. If those are the tools you need, Toast or Lightspeed Restaurant are better options.

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, Toast and Lightspeed Restaurant all offer one.

2. Toast: Best for Established Restaurants with Complex Operations

Toast offers a large array of inventory and profit management tools, as well as some neat customer engagement features. It is most suited to restaurants that are well-established, have multiple locations and require robust management tools.

What’s great about Toast’s restaurant POS?

One example of how Toast can help your business run smoothly is that it allows you to create different menus for different times of day (a feature missing from rival Clover) and create menu item variations. This will make catering to fussy customers easy, and ensure your staff don’t mix up items from different menus.

The Toast platform really shines when it comes to its add-on features, although unfortunately, most of these come at an extra cost (not specified by Toast). Features you can add to your Toast POS system include in-depth inventory management, which includes food and recipe cost management, as well as low-stock alerts.

You can also take your restaurant online with online and mobile ordering, Toast’s delivery services and takeout app, and a host of integrations with third-party delivery apps. These are essential features for casual dining restaurants looking to increase sales by reaching a larger number of customers.

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.

We were also impressed by Toast’s native reservation management tools, which allow businesses not only to accept reservations but to automatically assign seating based on guest count and allow the host to keep track of service progression. Unlike competitors, Toast’s tools are built into the POS system and not integrations.

Our experience testing Toast

Toast is easy to use. We found the backend 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.

What is Toast’s restaurant hardware like?

Most of Toast’s hardware is matte black, creating a discreet, unflashy look. Its free Starter Plan includes either a terminal or a handheld POS kit, while its paid plans allow you to choose the equipment you need.

The core pieces of restaurant POS equipment available through Toast are:

• Flex Terminal ($719.10): A terminal with a 14-inch touchscreen that can accept all payment types, thanks to its built-in card reader.
• Flex Terminal + Guest display: A 14-inch terminal with an 8-inch touchscreen customer-facing display that can either be attached to the terminal or mounted separately.
• Toast Go 2: A handheld POS system that’s waterproof and lets you take tableside orders.
• KDS: A 22-inch touchscreen that can be mounted on the wall, can withstand high temperatures and can aggregate orders from multiple channels.

Toast also has POS accessories, such as receipt and kitchen printers, scales, and cash drawers.

We tested the Toast Flex, Toast’s countertop terminal, and overall, it was a good experience. The screen is bright and responsive, and at a good height for countertop use.

Where could Toast improve?

Although 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 EPOS software and want to spare yourself the expense of replacing your hardware, we recommend Square or Lightspeed.

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.

How much exactly isn’t something Toast advertises, which does raise some eyebrows. This isn’t the case for most rivals, including Lightspeed and Clover.

3. Clover: Best for Professional Restaurant Hardware

Clover is the best POS system for professional restaurant hardware. Its collection ranges from countertop terminals complete with screens (no need to purchase your tablets separately), to handheld devices that sync with the main POS system and allow you access to all features, from order management to reporting.

What’s great about Clover’s restaurant POS?

Clover has some of the best restaurant hardware on the market, and its handheld POS device, the Clover Flex, is a great option for restaurants that do table service. It’s light and easy to hold, making it a user-friendly tool for table staff.

The provider also has great terminals for counter-service restaurants. We particularly liked Clover’s customer display screens when we tested them – they’re bright and very reactive to touch, making it easy for customers to use them. Another standout is Clover’s fingerprint login function, making it quicker for staff to access the interface and serve customers.

When it comes to software, Clover’s POS system allows you to create custom table plans that perfectly match your restaurant’s layout, create customized orders for guests and even transfer orders from one table to another if customers switch seats. This is great for busy restaurants where customers might get drinks at the bar before being seated, or ones that need to adapt to large parties.

You’ll also be able to see the status of each table in real-time, track and transfer bar tabs, send orders straight to the kitchen, split bills, manage staff, take bookings and track your sales.

We will say, however, that Clover’s KDS system is a little lacking. It does provide the hardware, but the software is through a third-party app, and it doesn’t provide kitchen reports. Alternatives that do include Toast and Lightspeed.

Speaking of integrations, there’s also a Clover app store, where you can find a variety of marketing and reporting tools to integrate into your POS system, allowing you to fill in the gaps in Clover’s toolkit.

Our experience testing 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 colour to highlight features. The drag-and-drop design of Clover’s table planner is also a nice touch for hospitality businesses.

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.

What is Clover’s restaurant hardware like?

Clover has a variety of payment plans, most of which include a software account and a set of hardware, with hardware options varying by plan. All of Clover’s equipment has a sleek, modern design, with white frames and silver finishes.

Here’s what’s available with Clover:

• Station Duo: A terminal with a 14-inch staff touchscreen, customer screen (complete with swipe, dip or tap reader), cash drawer and receipt printer.
• Station Solo: Same as above, minus the customer-facing screen and card reader functionality.
• Mini ($849): A small terminal with an 8-inch touchscreen that can also take dip or tap payments.
• Clover Flex: A handheld device that connects to both Wi-Fi and 4G, and doubles as a card machine and POS interface, complete with a built-in receipt printer.
• KDS: A 14-inch or 24-inch touchscreen.

Clover also offers a bunch of restaurant accessories, such as a KDS bump bar (to operate KDSs mounted on the wall), stands and wall mounts, scales, kitchen printers, and employee login cards. It offers the widest range of equipment of any provider we researched and tested, helping to earn it the top spot for POS hardware.

Where could Clover improve?

Although Clover no longer displays its pricing in Canada, based on its US pricing, we can tell you it’s on the expensive side. If you’re a budding restaurateur, you might be better off with cheaper options like Square or SpotOn, both of which have free plans.

Additionally, although Clover has advanced features, it’s missing automated tip sharing, a useful feature for hospitality businesses. The best option for easy tip sharing is Square.

4. SpotOn: Best for Simplifying Staff Scheduling and Communication

SpotOn is a great POS system for simplifying staff scheduling and streamlining communication. It’s designed specifically for restaurants and has a proprietary “Teamwork” app that handles shift management and cost projections.

SpotOn pricing is only displayed in US dollars (USD).

What’s great about SpotOn’s restaurant POS?

SpotOn is well-suited to new restaurants, since its starting plan is free, and includes a terminal, customer display, stand, receipt printer and cash drawer. All you’ll have to pay is the card processing fee (2.89% + $0.25 in US, Canadian fees may differ), which goes down once you upgrade to one of SpotOn’s paid plans.

That’s a better deal than even Square, which charges upfront fees for its hardware, even if it has a free version of its POS software.

If you’re on a paid plan, you’ll also get access to SpotOn’s Teamwork app, which includes full tip management, such as tip sharing and tip reports, features not offered by established providers, Clover and Lightspeed Restaurant.

SpotOn’s menu and table management functions are also on a par with big guns like Clover, allowing for full table plan customization and separate menus and item variations.

On the customer side, SpotOn has a customizable customer-facing screen and optional marketing tools, such as email marketing, discount code and gift card creation, and a loyalty plan builder. It’s on a par with Lightspeed and Square when it comes to customer engagement tools.

The software also has an automatic offline functionality, which means none of your data will be lost if your connection is lost.

Our experience testing SpotOn

During testing, we found SpotOn to be one of the 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.

What is SpotOn’s restaurant hardware like?

Hardware is included in all of SpotOn’s plans, even its free tier. Here’s what you can expect to get in your package:

• Station POS ($750 USD): A black, 15.6-inch countertop terminal with a touchscreen and built-in customer display screen that can take tap, dip or swipe payments.
• Counter POS ($850 USD): A white 10.1-inch countertop terminal, with an optional customer display screen/card reader or a clip-on card reader.
• Handheld (price not specified): A handheld mini POS device that doubles as a card reader (tap or dip) for tableside service.

However, there are virtually zero accessories, like printers, cash drawers, or scales, available with SpotOn. For those, you’ll need third-party equipment. If you want a provider with a full range of proprietary POS hardware and accessories, Clover is your best bet.

Where could SpotOn improve?

As we’ve noted above, 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.

Also unavailable is a tablet-based POS system, with SpotOn’s software only available on desktops or via its countertop terminals. If you’re looking for a cheap iPad-based POS system, we recommend Square.

5. Lightspeed Restaurant: Best for Increasing Customer Loyalty

Lightspeed Restaurant is the best POS system for restaurants looking to increase customer loyalty, thanks to its range of integrated marketing features.

What’s great about Lightspeed Restaurant’s POS?

With Lightspeed Restaurant, you’ll get access to email and SMS marketing, loyalty programs, and automated marketing, all of which can entice customers to return. It’s got far more built-in loyalty and marketing features than rival Clover, for example.

There’s also an optional Order Anywhere feature, which allows you to give your customers more ways to order, such as online or via a QR code. These can increase order uptake, especially during busy times when seats are full or lines are long, and help create a loyal customer base and contribute to growth.

On top of its marketing and loyalty tools, Lightspeed Restaurant also has a robust array of restaurant management features. You’re able to customize your floor plan, menu, and displays, which is especially useful for customer-facing screens and KDSs.

Other top features include ingredient usage tracking, cost versus profit breakdowns for menu items, and automated resupply orders. These features are missing from Square’s offering and are part of what makes Lightspeed Restaurant more suitable for large restaurants.

Lightspeed’s POS system also has an automatic offline function, which means it’ll log data even if you get disconnected from the Wi-Fi and sync everything automatically when the connection returns. Square offers this too, but it’s not automatic; it needs to be enabled. This risks you losing key sales data if the connection goes down unexpectedly.

Our experience testing Lightspeed Restaurant

Lightspeed Restaurant remains a slightly difficult-to-use platform, which is the main reason it slipped down in our rankings during our latest round of testing.

We had a lot of difficulty creating a discount, mainly because the process was overly complex, with too many options for offer time limits. Bulk importing products also took a lot of time, and we didn’t like that we weren’t alerted clearly when an import had failed. We also didn’t love that the menu featured a lot of unlabelled icons that required hovering to interpret.

However, it wasn’t all bad. The frontend was much more intuitive than the backend, and we didn’t have much trouble processing payments or creating customer profiles during a sale. We also appreciated the depth and flexibility of features, like the loyalty system and product categorization, particularly for businesses with complex inventories or advanced needs.

What is Lightspeed Restaurant’s hardware like?

Lightspeed’s POS software is completely app-based and only works on iPads. You can purchase iPads from Lightspeed or use your own if you already have them.

Lightspeed doesn’t disclose the price of any of its hardware, which is kind of frustrating if you’re trying to budget.

The KDS and customer display screens are also app-based, and Lightspeed doesn’t offer dedicated hardware for these. This means you’ll need to buy additional tablets, which can really drive up costs if you need to buy tablets for multiple locations.

A lot of restaurants prefer these types of systems because they offer mobility to staff, but if you want dedicated KDS of customer display hardware, you can get them through providers like Clover, Square or SpotOn.

When it comes to accessories, here’s what Lightspeed can provide your restaurant with:

• iPad stand: A black, Lightspeed-branded stand for the counter.
• Cash drawer: Available in sizes large or small, and connects to the iPad stand.
• Receipt printers: A variety of Epson models are available (some designs are slightly clunky).
• Card machines: Three mobile Verifone models (Verifone e285, Verifone P400, Verifone V400m), including one with a built-in receipt printer, and a Mobile Tap card reader attachment for iPads and iPhones.

Where could Lightspeed Restaurant improve?

Because Lightspeed is a tablet-based POS system, it can only be operated via iPad, and the company doesn’t sell physical terminals. If you’d prefer a physical terminal, providers like Square, Toast or Clover have got you covered.

It also doesn’t have an automated tip-sharing feature, which isn’t great for fairness among staff, and is offered by rival Square. Plus, changing the floor plan on Lightspeed Restaurant is a bit of a hassle, since it requires backend access. This means it’s not the best option for establishments that make frequent changes to table placement.

Costs and Pricing Structures

Consider upfront costs and monthly fees, as well as what’s included in them. Is it software and hardware, or one and not the other? For example, SpotOn offers “free” software and hardware, but its transaction fees are high, and you’ll need to pay extra to access the best features.

Don’t forget to include the added cost of integration and training in your budgeting, and to plan for any projected growth by choosing a system that can accommodate your future needs. Switching systems is expensive, so it’s easier to stick with the same provider in the future if you can.

Software

Make a list of must-have and nice-to-have software features based on your restaurant’s operational model. These could include:

• Inventory management: To help you keep on top of your ingredients and prevent you from running out of something unexpectedly
• Reservation management: To help you book out tables in advance and gather customer data
• Staff management: So you can reward your best employees and identify those that need further training
• Online ordering functionality: So you can offer your food to takeout customers or accept online pre-orders
• Analytics: So you can learn which meals are most popular, which staff members are processing the most transactions, and more
• Customer loyalty programs: So you can offer benefits that entice customers back to your restaurant as repeat visitors

If you prioritize features that help you automate workflows and prevent manual work, you might be able to reduce your labour costs.

Hardware

Think about what pieces of hardware are vital for your restaurant, and how many of them you need – from POS terminals and card machines to receipt printers, kitchen printers, and cash drawers.

Not all providers automatically provide you with portable card machines, for example. They’re sometimes replaced with a tablet or terminal that can take payments. But if you need your staff to do table service, you should choose a provider that includes portable card machines in their packages.

If you have existing hardware, just make sure to find a POS system that’s compatible with your existing equipment. This will save you from having to buy everything new. 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.

Add-ons and integrations

You should also pay attention to what software or apps your chosen POS system can integrate with. If you already use software, such as accounting software, make sure the POS system you choose has a ready-made integration for it, as this will help you streamline operations.

It’s also a good idea to check what other add-ons or apps are available via a POS system. Some providers offer advanced marketing or reporting features as add-ons, usually for an extra fee – but if these seem particularly valuable to your business they could be worth the extra price.

Customer support

Make sure you check how available the POS provider’s customer support team is, and how easily reachable they are.

A POS provider should have a customer support phone line that’s open on weekdays, at the very least. Live chat support and community forums you can go to in a pinch are a welcome addition.

You should also check the training resources, onboarding support, and post-implementation support terms provided by the POS provider to ensure your team will get the support they need to learn the new system.