The 8 Best POS Systems for Restaurants in 2025

Did you know that 62% of full-service restaurant customers want to use contactless or mobile payment options when dining out?

If you want to accept a variety of payment methods, improve your speed of service, and serve more customers in a day, you must use an efficient restaurant POS system.

But with countless options out there, what are the best POS systems for restaurants? In this article, we will present you with the most popular restaurant POS software solutions and how they rank based on the key features they provide, so you can make the best choice for your business.

Instead of getting lost in all the information out there, we’ve compiled an easy-to-follow list of the best POS systems for restaurants, ranked based on pricing and these key features:

• Free hardware included
• Intuitive color-coded menu design
• Payment variety
• Straightforward menu editor
• Free online ordering integration
• Staff management features
• In-store and online analytics
• Offline mode
• Round-the-clock support

✅ Free hardware included

✅ Intuitive color-coded menu design

✅ Payments by cards, smartwatches, and digital wallets

✅ Straightforward menu editor

✅ Free online ordering integration

✅ Staff management features

✅ In-store and online restaurant analytics

✅ Offline mode

✅ Round-the-clock support

Pricing: $49 per location (2-year subscription) that includes a FREE starter kit with:

• Premium POS workstation with low profile base
• Ultra-secure countertop payment device
• Front-of-house receipt printer
• Employee RFID Cards for instant POS login
• Cash drawer (limited offer available until August 31st, 2025)

One of the newest, sharpest POS solutions that can take your restaurant to the next level, the GloriaFood POS system was created to make your work easier and increase customer satisfaction.

The sales-focused POS layout is easy to use with intuitive gestures and is designed to adapt to your type of business, be it:

• Table-service
• Quick service
• Bar
• Coffee shop
• Ice-cream shop
• Food truck
• Deli
• Brewery
• Bakery

✅ Free hardware included

✅ Intuitive color-coded menu design

✅ Payments by cards, smartwatches, and digital wallets

✅ Practical menu editor

➕ Free online ordering integration (available as a separate add-on)

✅ Staff management features

✅ In-store and online restaurant analytics

✅ Offline mode

✅ Round-the-clock support

Pricing: Starting from $0/mo with processing fees 2.89% + 25c that includes hardware: 15” SpotOn Station, guest-facing display, stand, cash drawer, receipt printer.

While the free plan may seem attractive, the big processing fees and lack of extra features won’t let you experience the full potential of this restaurant POS system. The more expensive plans include must-have features that make your work easier.

✅ Free hardware included

✅ Intuitive color-coded menu design

✅ Payments by cards, smartwatches, and digital wallets

✅ Practical menu editor

✅ Free online ordering integration

➕ Staff management features (advanced features available with monthly subscriptions)

✅ In-store and online restaurant analytics

✅ Offline mode

➕ Round-the-clock support (UK-based support, 7 days a week, from 8am to midnight)

Pricing: for a full-service restaurant, the starter pack is $179/month if you have a contract for 36 months or $1,799+ $89.95/month if you prefer to pay monthly. The hardware included is Station Solo – 14″ merchant-facing POS, cash drawer, and receipt printer.

Clover is a pricier POS system as the starter pack only provides a merchant-facing POS, cash drawer, and receipt printer. To get the hand-held POS and access to additional features like payment by smartphone, you will have to choose a more expensive plan.

❌ Free hardware included (to process payments, you must purchase hardware, such as Square Reader, Square Stand, and Square Terminal)

✅ Intuitive color-coded menu design

✅ Payments by cards, smartwatches, and digital wallets

✅ Straightforward menu editor

✅ Free online ordering integration

➕ Staff management features (essential features are available for free, for more advanced ones, like reporting, there is an additional cost)

✅ In-store and online restaurant analytics

✅ Offline mode

✅ Round-the-clock support

Pricing: Free + processing fees for the basic plan without additional features and $69/mo. per location + processing fees for the most popular one. Hardware must be purchased separately.

Square attracts small restaurants that don’t need many additional features with the free plan, where they only have to purchase the hardware and pay the processing fees. For restaurant owners who are ready to pay more, Square offers a variety of more complex features.

❌ Free hardware included

✅ Intuitive color-coded menu design

✅ Payments by cards, smartwatches, and digital wallets

✅ Practical menu editor

➕ Free online ordering integration (requires payment for ongoing use)

✅ Staff management features

✅ In-store and online restaurant analytics

✅ Offline mode

✅ Round-the-clock support

Pricing: $449 up-front or $39 per month (for a startup business with a 12-month term). Hardware must be acquired separately.

Compared to other POS systems, Epos Now is reportedly harder to get used to, but also suitable for businesses with a large inventory. If you want access to customer support, which can be very useful, you will have to opt for the pricier plans.

❌ Free hardware included (hardware must be purchased, with a variety of payment plans)

✅ Intuitive color-coded menu design

✅ Payments by cards, smartwatches, and digital wallets

✅ Practical menu editor

➕ Free online ordering integration (available for a flat monthly fee)

✅ Staff management features

✅ In-store and online restaurant analytics

✅ Offline mode

✅ Round-the-clock support

Pricing: starting from $69/month

Toast is an intuitive restaurant POS system that is best suited for larger restaurants, as small restaurants may find the variety of features too complicated. The tools provided by the system will make managing a restaurant easier, for example, real-time inventory updates and automatic tip-sharing.

❌ Free hardware included (they offer hardware bundles or you can purchase your own compatible hardware)

✅ Intuitive color-coded menu design

✅ Payments by cards, smartwatches, and digital wallets

✅ Practical menu editor

➕ Free online ordering integration (available as a separate add-on with a monthly fee)

✅ Staff management features

✅ In-store and online restaurant analytics

✅ Offline mode

✅ Round-the-clock support

Pricing: starting from $69/month

If you’re looking for a simple POS system, TouchBistro is a great option as it is easy to use and includes features such as menu management, table management, and restaurant analytics. However, you will have to pay extra to also provide online ordering or table reservations.

❌ Free hardware included (available for purchase, both in bundles and individual items)

✅ Intuitive color-coded menu design

✅ Payments by cards, smartwatches, and digital wallets

✅ Practical menu editor

➕ Free online ordering integration (online ordering available as a paid add-on)

➕ Staff management features (free trial, requires paid subscription for access)

✅ In-store and online restaurant analytics

✅ Offline mode

✅ Round-the-clock support

Pricing: Essential plan for $189

Lightspeed is a POS system that is available for restaurants, yet not specifically tailored for them as it focuses more on stores that have barcoded inventory. However, it comes with a variety of features you can use, such as automating your bookkeeping and payroll, and workforce management.

While all the options presented above come with advantages and disadvantages, the GloriaFood POS system wins on two criteria:

• Pricing

Choosing between the best POS systems for restaurants becomes easier when you focus on the money. Some of the options provided above either have a large price tag, which works for an already established and profitable business, or draw you win with a free plan that doesn’t include many features.

On the other hand, GloriaFood POS is very transparent with the pricing. You pay an affordable monthly fee, and you get to enjoy the free starter kit and many other amazing features.

• Most critical and added value features

Some POS systems boast about their useful features, only to find out afterward that you must pay extra if you want to enjoy them.

If you choose the GloriaFood restaurant POS system, you are guaranteed to enjoy all of the following features for a low monthly subscription:

• Accept payments with cash, debit or credit cards, smartphones, and smartwatches;

• Customized dashboard that speeds up service: with easy-to-use search function and color-coded menu categories that adapt to your type of business;

• FREE online ordering system integrated that enables you to accept online orders using the POS system and automatically send them to the kitchen;

• In-store and online ordering analytics that can be accessed from the same dashboard for an overall view. You can monitor your sales, best-selling items, employee logs and much more;

• Printer management that can improve operational speed when you connect multiple printers in key areas of your restaurant such as bar and pizza station;

• Staff management features such as training module, assigning different responsibilities to different workers, and monitoring employee logs;

• Menu management: where you can update menu items, set up stock for dishes, add an out-of-stock label and many other useful functions;

• Offline mode: So internet problems will not hinder your operations as you will still be able to open checks and accept payments;

• 24/5 Support: That is responsive and helpful, plus training materials that you can use when you want to know more about the POS.

On top of all of the useful GloriaFood POS features, you also get access to the whole GloriaFood ecosystem that can help you grow your revenue:

• Sales and SEO optimized website to help you boost online ranking and sales;
• Automated email marketing campaigns to persuade customer to place more orders;
• Promotions module to increase the average order value;
• Kickstart module to attract more new customers.

If you’re ready to improve operational processes and speed of service, take the next step and choose one of the best POS systems for restaurants: GloriaFood. You can rely on the best technology and constant support from our team to grow your business day by day.