café pos
the point-of-sale system runs the bar. card payments, drinks menus, online ordering, kitchen display, loyalty, gift cards, reporting. for independent specialty cafés the choice usually comes down to square (free tier, transaction fees) versus toast (monthly fee, more depth) versus the european-strong lightspeed. uk independents often choose sumup or loyverse to avoid monthly subscription cost entirely.
Square for Restaurants
the default pos for independent cafés worldwide.
free + transaction fee
Toast
the full-stack restaurant cloud, café-friendly.
from $69/mo
Lightspeed
restaurant pos, big in uk and europe.
from £69/mo
SumUp
the card reader + free pos for uk independents.
free + transaction fee
Loyverse
free pos with a real feature set.
free tier, $0+/mo paid
Clover
fiserv's café pos stack.
from $60/mo
Vend (Lightspeed Retail)
retail pos, used for café bottle shops + retail arms.
from $89/mo
Square for Restaurants is the most-used POS in independent specialty coffee globally - free tier, no monthly fee, transaction-percentage pricing. Toast offers deeper feature depth at $69+/month and dominates US multi-site coffee. Lightspeed is the European-strong alternative. SumUp and Loyverse are the budget options for UK independents.
Yes - Square for Restaurants has a free tier that covers a single-bar café with one terminal. You pay 2.6% + 10¢ per card transaction. Paid tiers ($60-153/month) unlock multi-location, KDS, and advanced reporting.
Toast is purpose-built for restaurants (table service, deep menu management) and locks you into Toast Payments. Square is broader, has a free tier, and integrates with more third-party tools. For single-bar specialty cafés Square usually wins on cost; for multi-site coffee operations with food service Toast wins on depth.
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