How Much Does A Cash Register Cost?

Modern Point of Sale (POS) cash registers cost between $150 and $1,500 on average, although you can find cheaper and more expensive models on the market.

Nowadays, most cash registers are sold by POS system providers, such as Square or Toast, alongside POS software subscriptions, which vary from $0 to $200+ per month. While it’s still possible to buy analogue cash registers, these are becoming increasingly obsolete as businesses digitalize their product inventories and sales processing.

Cash registers sold by POS system providers are typically more sophisticated touchscreen registers, and are now the preferred type of cash register for small businesses since they come packaged with all the accessories for your POS (point of sale) system, like a cash drawer, receipt printer, and barcode scanner.

Some cash registers can be purchased for nothing, in exchange for higher transaction fees, while others with base functionality can be purchased outright for as little as $149. However, high-end models can cost up to $2,000 with certain POS providers.

Read on, and we’ll show you exactly what you can expect to pay with examples of real-world cash register prices from the top-rated POS providers in the US.

How Much Do the Cheapest Cash Registers Cost?

Price range: $150 to $500 per cash register

The cheapest cash registers you can buy from a POS supplier cost between $150 and $600. At the $150 to $250 range, the cash register will usually consist of a tablet stand with a card machine, either built into the stand or connected via wireless.

An example of this is the Square Stand, pictured below. At just $149, the Square Stand is one of the cheapest cash registers on the market. It consists of a sleek, modern tablet stand (iPad or Android tablet not included), with a built-in card reader. PayPal offers a similar cash register for $159, and Shopify offers one for $219.

Cheap cash registers in the $300 to $500 range are usually more heavy-duty than their cheaper, tablet-based counterparts. They typically consist of a physical terminal with a touchscreen display (not just a tablet stand), an accompanying card machine.

While cash registers such as these are increasingly rare at this price range, Epos Now still offers one for just $349. It bundles Epos Now’s custom Pro-C15W touchscreen (and waterproof) terminal with a card machine. This cash register also includes a license for Epos Now’s POS software and installation, but a continued software subscription of $79 per month is required.

Either of these basic setups is most suitable for small businesses with little staff. Meanwhile, most POS suppliers offer entry-level register systems, so you shouldn’t find it hard to shop around. Hardware features are often similar at this price point, so you’re likely to be more concerned about whether the hardware is compatible with your chosen POS software system.

How Much Do Mid-Tier Cash Registers Cost?

Price range: $500 to $1,000 per cash register

Mid-tier cash registers cost between $600 and $1,000 on average. This is the price point most POS cash registers fall into, and they offer more for your money, often including not just physical terminal screens but also customer-facing displays, receipt printers, and even cash drawers.

Square offers a solid-performing hardware package at this price point. For $799, you can buy the Square Register, which is a physical touchscreen terminal with a built-in customer display and card reader. Alternatively, if you need more accessories, you can buy the Square Stand Kit for $539, which includes the Square Stand, a cash drawer, and a USB receipt printer.

Several cash registers in this price bracket are only available as part of a bundled subscription with software.

SumUp’s Point of Sale Pro is a solid example. It costs $799, and consists of a physical touch-screen terminal and a separate customer display screen, but it is only available alongside a software subscription that starts at $99 per month.

The same goes for SpotOn’s 10-inch “Counter hardware bundle”, another touchscreen terminal with a customer-facing display that costs $850 and is bundled with a $99 per month software subscription.

How Much Do Top-Range Cash Registers Cost?

Price range: $1,000+ per cash register

For $1,000 or more, many topline cash registers provide all the bells and whistles you could desire for your selling needs – a physical terminal, customer display, and several accessories – albeit for a more expensive price tag.

For instance, Clover – our favorite POS provider for quality hardware – sells its Station Solo Register for $1,799 which includes: a 14in HD display, a thermal dot receipt printer, payment processing for both chip and pin, a 5mp camera with scanning software for QR codes, and a cash drawer. The whole system has WiFi, ethernet, and 4G/LTE connectivity and is encrypted to keep your data safe.

The more expensive Station Duo, which costs $1,899, includes all this plus a customer display and cash drawer.

Alternative Payment Methods: Financing, Bundling and Variable Transaction Fees

While the above discussion centered on upfront costs, you can often pay in other ways. Namely, monthly financing, bundling, or leveraging transaction fee costs.

The following options can be better choices for any small businesses that are struggling to afford the upfront costs associated with setting up a POS system. Here are some details about each.

Monthly financing

Many POS retailers will sell their hardware for a fee per month. This tends to work by the user paying until a certain price point is reached. This overall figure is often more than paying upfront, but for cash-strapped businesses who prefer this kind of financing, it is a solid option.

For instance, with Square, you can purchase its Square Register over 3, 6, 12, or 24 payments. And each payment is a flat fee, starting from $39 per month.

Bundling

As already discussed in some degree above, you’ll often see hardware bundled together. While this will inevitably see you spending more than buying a few pieces of equipment, you will save compared to buying each piece of equipment separately.

POS software can often be bundled into an ongoing cost of specific hardware, too. However, this does vary by POS provider so it’s worth checking the details with a brand directly.

Transaction fees

Something that is a growing trend among POS providers is variable transaction fees. Typically, we have seen this regarding different plans of a specific POS software, however, we have increasingly seen it with hardware financing packages, too.

For instance, Toast offers its Handheld Starter kit, which costs $719.10 upfront at the time of writing, to be purchased for nothing ($0; including no monthly fees for software) when you agree to a 3.09% + 15¢ processing fee. 

By comparison, paying the $719.10 upfront cost – and a further $69 per month for the software – will have a lower transaction fee rate of 2.49% + 15¢.

Cash Registers vs POS Systems

Most cash registers today are embedded with POS (Point of Sale) systems, as we’ve highlighted across this page.

They still record sales, handle cash, and all the essential functions from calculating totals to storing cash securely. However, the advanced smarts of POS systems allow for much more, including inventory management, sales reporting, and features to improve customer relationships.

They’re typically available on a software-as-a-subscription (SaaS) model, which means you pay a supplier a monthly fee for access to their software. Although, as explained above, they can be bundled into hardware packages, too.

Questions to ask before you buy:

 

If you answered ‘Yes’ more than ‘No’:

A POS solution will help your company pull in more profits!

Here’s our guide to POS system prices

 

 

If you answered ‘No’ more than ‘Yes’:

A cash register can probably cater to your needs!

Best cash registers for small businesses

 

How much does a traditional cash register cost?

Traditional cash registers, also called analogue or electronic cash registers, cost between $200 and $700.

As you can see, they’re cheaper overall than POS cash registers; however, they’re increasingly difficult to find and purchase, with SAM4S being one of the few companies that still manufactures them. Plus, they don’t come with integrated software, unlike modern POS cash registers, with records kept only on the receipts the machine prints.

For these two reasons, most businesses now opt for POS cash registers over analogue models, which is why we’ve focused on POS in this pricing guide.

Which Cash Register is Best for Your Business?

Cash register costs vary from model to model depending on their feature set. You should invest in one that’s equipped to handle all of your point-of-sale needs.

Smaller businesses like independent bookshops or food service vehicles might not need laser scanners or thousands of PLUs. For these kinds of businesses, a basic machine is probably a better bet.

Others, such as grocery stores, clubs, and bars, may need fast machines that can power through lots of sales quickly. For these businesses, a more expensive register may prove a better buy.