Looking for the best tech to revolutionize your business operations?
Cloud-based Point-of-Sales systems offer incredible convenience, potential savings, and plenty of features that can make your life easier. My latest article reviews the top 5 cloud POS systems available today – including all their pros and cons – so you can pick the right system.
Whether you run a small cafe or a large retail store, our guide will help you find the perfect system that fits your budget and needs. I’ve done all the research, so you don’t have to – get up-to-speed on what’s out there now, read customer feedback from others businesses like yours, and compare prices before choosing what’s best for you!
Save yourself time and money by reading the 5 Best Cloud POS Systems.
Here are my top 5 cloud-based POS systems:
| 1. Toast POS: best for restaurants |
| 2. Clover POS: best for retailers |
| 3. Lightspeed POS: best for businesses with multiple locations |
| 4. Square POS: best for businesses looking for an omnichannel solution |
| 5. Aloha Cloud: best for quick-service restaurants |
With more than 7 years of experience in digital payments, payment processing, and point-of-sale systems – including contributing to one of the first mobile swipe devices – I can thoroughly assess the best cloud POS systems. So here is my informative review of the 5 best cloud POS systems.
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What Are the Best Cloud POS Systems?
Here is my ranked and reviewed list of the best cloud POS systems.
Toast
Restaurants of all shapes and sizes increasingly turn to Toast POS systems to better manage their business. With a cloud-based, end-to-end restaurant management platform, Toast offers an integrated restaurant experience, from the front of house to the back office and everything in between.
Toast POS systems provide a range of features that help streamline operations and give restaurant owners real-time insight into their financial performance. Through its POS system, Toast allows restaurants to accept payments securely while automating inventory tracking, table management, customer relationship management (CRM), labor scheduling, payroll processing, and more.
The analytics capabilities within Toast provide restaurants with data-driven insights into sales trends, customer profiles, and other vital metrics. This intelligence helps them shape decisions quickly and proactively respond to evolving customer needs or market conditions.
Toast also offers advanced customization options so users can tailor their experience according to individual preferences. From branding materials to menu design – restaurants can adjust their setup according to needs such as language differences or accessibility requirements. In addition, with detailed reporting from any computer or mobile device, restaurant owners can access up-to-date information about sales performances and customer relationships anytime, anywhere.
Toast is one of the best restaurant pos systems.
Top Features
- 24/7 support
- Full offline mode if you lose internet connectivity
- Manage on-prem and off-prem orders in 1 system
- Restaurant-grade hardware
- Accepts many payment methods (credit and debit cards, gift cards, mobile wallets)
- Digital ordering (online, contactless, and mobile)
- Handheld POS systems to take orders and contactless payments from anywhere
- Customizable Plans
- Back of house (kitchen display systems KDS)
- Guest engagement (loyalty features, marketing)
- Backoffice (payroll, labor, analytics, payment processing)
- Partner integrations (account, inventory management)
Toast Pros
Toast Cons
Pricing
Customizable Plans:
- Pay-as-you-go (1 – 2 POS terminals), Online ordering and delivery
- Growth (1 – 15 locations), custom hardware, integrated marketing tools, online ordering, and delivery
- Enterprise – 16 – 1000+ locations, reliable and secure, 100+ API partners, Unified data platform
Pricing Plans:
Starter Kit for single-location restaurants that need 1 – 2 terminals: starting at $0. Hardware kit with no upfront costs
- Cloud based POS system
- Hardware configuration, including one terminal
- Additional add-ons included
Point of Sale plan is ideal for restaurants looking for core functionality and flat-rate processing: starting at $69 per month. Monthly software subscription; choose your own hardware.
- Cloud based POS system
- Custom hardware configuration
- Additional add-ons included
The Essentials plan is ideal for restaurants looking to grow. Bundles POS with digital ordering suite. Starting at $165 per month. Monthly software subscription; choose your own hardware.
- Cloud based POS system
- Custom hardware configuration
- Online ordering, Toast TakeOut, and Toast Delivery Services
- Additional add-ons included
The Custom plan is ideal for restaurants that want to optimize with the complete Toast platform. Custom pricing. Monthly software subscription; choose your own hardware.
- Cloud based POS system
- Custom hardware configuration
- Online ordering, Toast TakeOut, and Toast Delivery Services
- Manage payroll
- Use automation to control operating costs
- Integrate with 100+ restaurant tools
- Additional add-ons included
Bottom Line: Ellen’s Take
Toast is the perfect choice for restaurants looking for a cloud-based POS system. Toast offers an end-to-end restaurant management platform with features that help streamline operations and provide real-time insight into financial performance, such as a Point of Sale system, inventory tracking, table management, CRM, labor scheduling, and payroll processing.
Toast also provides advanced customization options to tailor experiences to individual needs and detailed reporting that can be accessed from any device. With Toast’s cloud solution, restaurant owners have the data to make informed decisions and proactively respond to customer needs or market conditions.
Clover
Clover is a cloud-based Point-of-Sale (POS) system that helps businesses of all sizes manage their operations and gain higher levels of efficiency. With features such as inventory tracking, customer relationship management (CRM), and payroll processing, Clover offers improved visibility into the financial performance of businesses while streamlining operations.
Clover also has advanced customization options to tailor the experience to individual preferences. For example, it allows businesses to adjust branding materials, menus, and other settings according to language differences or accessibility requirements. In addition, Clover’s cloud platform gives business owners access to up-to-date information about sales performance and customer relationships anytime, anywhere.
Clover also provides mobile functionality allowing users to process payments on the go with a range of acceptance methods, including chip cards, contactless payments, and Apple Pay for quick transactions. Additionally, Clover’s analytics capabilities provide insight into sales trends and customer profiles, which can help shape decisions quickly and respond proactively to changing customer needs or market conditions.
While Clover provides fraud monitoring tools, it doesn’t provide a built-in chargeback resolution system. They do provide dispute resolution guidelines that you need to follow.
Get a $450 statement credit when you buy Station, Mini, or Flex.
Top Features
- Customizable systems
- 24/7 support
- Consistent rates
- Quick setup
- Reporting tools to track sales and manage inventory
- Backed by Fiserv
- Sales tracking and reporting
- Employee management
- Customer management and engagement
- Clover’s payment gateway seamlessly interfaces with their POS
Clover Pros
Clover Cons
Pricing
The plans all follow pay-monthly subscriptions – one monthly price, get hardware and software, a warranty, and easy upgrade options (does not include payment processing fees).
3 plans for each solution; each includes the hardware and software (but not payment processing fees)
Full-service Dining:
- Starter: front-of-house wait station: $150/month
- Standard: server station or table side: $195/month
- Advanced: take orders throughout the restaurant, connected front-of-house and back-of-house, robust management tools: $290/month
Quick-service Dining:
- Starter: Mini device: $90/month
- Standard: Station Duo: $130/month
- Advanced: Station Duo plus Flex handheld: $175/month
Retail Stores:
- Starter – compact 7″ countertop POS. $60/month
- Standard – duo – 14′ touchscreen terminal and 7″ customer-facing display. $130/month
- Advanced – duo plus Flex handheld device. $175/month
Professional Services:
- Starter: $0 + $14.95/month for software – Dashboard (no hardware)
- Standard – Flex handheld: $50/month
- Advance – Station solo: $120/month
Personal Services:
- Starter: Flex handheld: $50/month
- Standard: Mini device: $90/month
- Advance: Flex handheld: $50/month
Home and Field Services
- Starter: $0 + $14.95/month for software – Dashboard (no hardware)
- Standard: Go device: $49 + $14.95/month for software
- Advance: Station Duo: $130/month
- Card-present transactions: 2.6% + $0.10 for starter plan; standard and advanced: 2.3% + $0.10
- Keyed-in transactions: 3.5% + $0.10
- Handheld card reader with the Clover Go $49 + software plan
- Station solo – starting at $120/month – 14″ touchscreen plus peripherals
- Station duo (screens for both sides of the counter)- stars at $130/month
- Flex – a mobile device to take orders and payments from the floor, tableside, or on the go – starts at $35/month
- Mini – compact point of sale – starts at $45/month
- Dashboard – no hardware – take payments, track inventory and sales data, sell in person, on the phone, and online
Bottom Line: Ellen’s Take
Clover is an ideal choice for retailers looking for a cloud-based POS system. It features inventory management, customer relationship management (CRM), and payroll processing to help streamline operations. In addition, this lets you gain visibility into financial performance.
Clover also provides advanced customization options to tailor experiences according to individual preferences and can process payments on the go with various acceptance methods.
Furthermore, its analytics capabilities allow access to up-to-date information about sales performance and customer relationships anytime, anywhere. This gives retailers the data they need to make informed decisions and proactively respond to changing customer needs or market conditions.
Lightspeed POS
Lightspeed’s cloud-based POS systems offer solutions for various industries, including retail, golf, restaurant, and e-commerce. Its retail POS system is one of the best in the market, providing users with an intuitive user experience, powerful features, and easy integrations. In addition, the retail system offers features such as inventory management, customer loyalty programs, and mobile payment processing.
In addition to retail stores, Lightspeed’s restaurant POS provides integrated table management, convenient fast payment options, and back-office analytics. Their Golf POS system gives golf courses complete control over where and how their members play, allowing them to easily track tee times, course bookings, and transactions. Finally, its e-commerce platform has been designed to help large and small businesses grow their sales online with features like automated marketing campaigns and customizable checkout experiences.
The Lightspeed cloud POS software offers excellent features for managing multiple locations, such as stock transfer between sites, inventory, purchase orders, and customer profiles.
All these features make Lightspeed cloud POS an excellent choice for businesses looking for a reliable POS solution.
Top Features
- Best for established locations because of the costs of the features
- Offers dedicated systems for Retail, eCommerce, Restaurants, and Golf shops
- Inventory management
- Retail Analytics with customizable reporting capabilities, including multi-store reporting
- Integrates with bookkeeping software, eCommerce marketing apps, and more
- Customizable checkout solutions
Lightspeed POS Pros
Lightspeed POS Cons
Pricing
You can get a discount by paying annually over monthly. You also get a deal using their payment processor, Lightspeed Payments.
- Lean plan: essential business needs – $69/ month on annual plan; $89/month on monthly
- Standard: omnichannel businesses – $119/ month; $149/month
- Advanced: more tools – $199/month; $269/month
- Enterprise: dedicated support and consultation – Custom pricing
- Lean plan: essential business needs – $119/ month on annual plan; $139/month on monthly
- Standard: omnichannel businesses – $169/ month; $199/month
- Advanced: more tools – $249/month; $319/month
- Enterprise: dedicated support and consultation – Custom pricing
Retail Lightspeed Payments pricing:
- Card-present rate: 2.6% + $0.10 per trans
- Manually keyed-in rate: 2.6% + $0.30
- Free chargeback assistance
Hardware prices are not disclosed online.
Bottom Line: Ellen’s Take
Lightspeed POS is the perfect choice for established businesses with multiple locations. Its cloud-based point-of-sale system offers a full suite of features, including retail POS, restaurant POS, eCommerce, and golf systems, that can be managed remotely. In addition, the platform provides an intuitive user experience, powerful features, and easy integrations to help businesses manage customers, inventory, and staff more efficiently.
In addition, its automated marketing campaigns and customizable checkout experiences can help businesses grow their online sales. With these features in mind, Lightspeed POS is the ideal solution for established companies with multiple locations looking for a reliable pos solution.
However, the higher cost makes it more suitable for established businesses with multiple locations.
Square POS
Square is an ideal choice for large and small businesses in need of an omnichannel solution. It provides a cloud-based point of sale system with fast payment processing, inventory tracking, online sales integration, and merchant services.
Its intuitive interface makes it easy to set up and customize your POS solution. At the same time, its mobile capabilities allow you to process payments using any device from anywhere in the world.
Top Features
- Multiple add-ons to expand features
- Numerous third-party integrations
- Scalable Plans
- Flexible Hardware Solutions
- Easy to Apply and Setup Square Account
Square POS Pros
Square POS Cons
Pricing
- Square Stand: $149
- Square Stand Mount: $149
- Square Register: $799
- Square Terminal: $299
- Square Reader for contactless and chip: $49
- Square Reader for magstripe: first reader FREE
- Restaurant Mobile POS Kit: $249
- Square Stand Kit: starting at $659
- Square Register Kit: $1479
- Square Stand Restaurant Kit: starting at $1139
- Square Stand and Terminal Restaurant Kit: starting at $1439
- @Rest Stand for iPad mini Kit: starting at $539
- @Rest Stand for iPad mini 2 Kit: starting at $659
- Infinite Peripherals Mobile kit for Square Reader: $625
Bottom Line: Ellen’s Take
Square POS is my top choice if you are looking for an omnichannel point-of-sale system. Square’s platform is designed to facilitate commerce across multiple channels, enabling you to make online and in-store payments.
Additionally, Square POS offers robust inventory management capabilities and customer loyalty programs.
Square integrates easily with various payment processors, allowing businesses to choose their preferred payment provider that has the features they need.
Square is backed by a knowledgeable and helpful support team that can help troubleshoot issues quickly and efficiently.
With its comprehensive features and dependable customer service, Square POS is an ideal solution for businesses that need an omnichannel point-of-sale system.
Aloha Cloud
Aloha Cloud is an Android-based cloud POS system from NCR that is well-suited for independent restaurants and emerging chains with less complex operations. This makes it an excellent choice for quick-service restaurants requiring a robust, easy-to-use point-of-sale system. Aloha’s intuitive interface allows staff to quickly process orders. Its integration of digital menus makes it simple to adjust menu items as needed. Its advanced features include employee time tracking, inventory management, and customer loyalty programs.
Additionally, Aloha works seamlessly with various payment systems, enabling businesses to take in-store and online payments. Furthermore, Aloha’s support team is available 24/7 to help troubleshoot issues quickly and efficiently.
With its robust features and reliable customer service, Aloha Cloud POS is an ideal solution for quick-service restaurants that need a dependable point-of-sale system.
Top Features
- Front-of-house solutions
- Back-of-house solutions
- Integrated customer engagement and loyalty tools
- Reporting and analytics
- Dedicated setup services
- Intuitive user interface
- Employee portal to manage schedules with automatic suggestions
- Multiple optional add-ons, such as Gift cards, kitchen production, inventory, advanced reporting, delivery marketplace integration, and labor scheduling
Aloha Cloud Pros
Aloha Cloud Cons
Pricing
Starter plan from $0/month
- Payment processing 2.25% +$0.15 per trans
- Includes first PX15 hardware terminal subscription
Premium plan from $175/month
- Payment processing 2.99% +$0.15 per trans
- Includes Mobile App and Analytics
- Includes Online ordering
Hardware prices are not available without contacting their sales teams
- Table Service hardware bundle includes a 15″ POS terminal, EMV and NFC device, cash drawer, and receipt printer
- Fast Casual and Quick Service hardware bundle consists of a 15″ POS terminal with customer-facing display, EMV and NFC device, cash drawer, and receipt printer
Bottom Line: Ellen’s Take
Aloha Cloud POS is my top choice for quick-service restaurants because it offers a comprehensive suite of features that make it easy to manage and customize the point-of-sale system. Its intuitive interface allows staff to take orders quickly. At the same time, its digital menu integration makes it simple to adjust items as needed.
Furthermore, Aloha works with multiple payment systems, enabling businesses to take in-store and online payments. Additionally, Aloha’s support team is available 24/7 to help troubleshoot issues quickly and efficiently.
With its robust features and reliable customer service, Aloha Cloud POS is an ideal solution for quick-service restaurants that need a dependable point-of-sale system.
What is a cloud POS system?
A cloud-based Point-of-Sale (POS) system is an internet-connected device that helps you manage your operations and gain higher levels of efficiency. Unlike legacy POS systems or traditional pos systems, a cloud POS typically offers improved visibility into the financial performance of businesses while streamlining operations.
In the ever-evolving world of retail and service industries, a cloud POS system is a game-changer, and its importance cannot be overstated. To illustrate this, the global cloud POS market size was valued at a substantial USD 3,615 million in 2021. According to industry forecasts, this figure is projected to escalate to an astounding USD 26,355 million by 2030, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24.7% between 2022 and 2030. This meteoric rise underscores the growing adoption and dependence on cloud POS systems across various sectors.
Cloud POS systems also provide access to up-to-date information anytime, anywhere, with advanced customization options to tailor the experience to individual preferences.
The key features of a cloud POS are data security, inventory tracking, customer relationship management (CRM), payroll processing, mobile functionality for accepting payments on the go, and analytics capabilities for insight into sales trends and customer profiles.
Data security is paramount in any digital retail environment, so a cloud POS system provides encryption for secure payment transactions. With this added layer of protection, businesses can ensure their customer information’s safety and privacy without investing in additional hardware or software solutions.
Conclusion
In conclusion, cloud POS systems are ideal for all businesses needing a dependable point-of-sale system. With features such as data security, inventory tracking, and customer relationship management (CRM), companies can leverage the power of the internet to improve their operations and gain higher levels of efficiency.
Many cloud POS solutions in this article are tailored to your retail, restaurant, or eCommerce business type.
I hope this article has helped you decide which option suits your business needs.
