If you’ve fully embraced omnichannel retailing and are looking to simplify operations, improve payments, and blend your offline and online presence, you already know how many point-of-sale (POS) systems are available. It can be a headache to sort through all the different kinds of POS systems, their respective features and benefits, and their pricing models.
One important thing to consider, however, is whether the POS system is cloud-based. This functionality means you can power your POS system through an internet connection—no licensing or on-premise seat purchasing required.
This article evaluates seven popular cloud-based POS systems, explains industries that should consider this option, and helps you make the right choice for your retail business strategy.
What is a cloud POS system?
A cloud-based POS system is the combination of hardware and software that allows businesses to process transactions, check out customers, accept payments, and make sales through an internet connection.
This means you can manage all aspects of retail operations, both in physical stores and online, with any device connected to Wi-Fi—like a computer, smartphone, or tablet.
These are some of the core features that distinguish cloud POS systems from traditional setups:
- Remote accessibility: Global access to sales data, inventory, staff and order management tools from anywhere with an internet connection.
- Automatic updates: Automatic software updates so your system stays free of bugs or performance degradation without requiring manual intervention.
- Cloud data storage: Store transaction, customer and order data securely in the cloud, reducing the risk of data loss due to hardware and backup failure.
- Device flexibility: Access the business platform on various devices, including tablets, smartphones, and computers, making it more versatile for different business environments.
- Easy integrations: Seamless integration with other cloud-based tools, such as enterprise resource planning platforms (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM) systems, and accounting software.
Benefits of a cloud-based system vs. on-premise POS
A cloud POS also differs from a traditional, on-premise POS system in regards to its benefits. Here are the top reasons a cloud POS system is a good pick for retailers:
- Lower upfront costs. Reduce (or eliminate) hardware expenses by using existing devices like tablets and smartphones instead of specialized equipment. Add new locations, devices, or features without shutting down your retail locations to perform a major system overhaul.
- Faster setup. Get your system up and running quickly without the need for complicated installations. It also allows for remote management: monitor and manage sales, inventory, and reports from any location, and oversee sales and operations across several locations from a single dashboard.
- Enhanced security. Protect your data with cloud-based backups and POS security measures, reducing the risk of breaches or data loss.
- Inventory tracking. Get real-time updates on stock levels to avoid shortages or overstocking. Analyze performance with built-in reporting and analytics tools for better decision-making, and sync data in real time across devices and locations, ensuring accurate and up-to-date information across your business.
- Improved customer experience. Speed up transactions and offer flexible payment methods, resulting in a smoother checkout experience for customers. You can also process payments seamlessly and securely—in-store, remotely, or on the go.
Top 7 cloud POS systems
- Shopify POS: Best all-in-one solution for retail businesses of any size
- Square POS: Best for appointment-based businesses
- Lightspeed Retail POS: Best for stores with complex inventories
- Toast POS: Best for food trucks
- Clover POS: Best for real-time sales tracking
- Revel Systems POS: Best for online orders
- Heartland POS: Best for native payment processing
Our methodology
While we believe Shopify POS is the best system for retailers of all sizes due to the plethora of features on offer, we recognize that every business has unique needs. This comparison is designed to help you understand and critically evaluate other top players in the cloud-based POS space, so you can find the right fit for your retail business.
1. Shopify POS: Best all-in-one solution for retail businesses of any size
Shopify POS is a cloud-based POS system by design, perfect for retail businesses of any size. While it’s true that Shopify POS allows you to manage your business from anywhere with an internet connection, that’s just one aspect of what makes it stand out.
Shopify POS is also a comprehensive and unified commerce solution. This means you can bring all your retail operations—in-store and online—into one system and have a single view of your customer, order and sales data. You can see your payment, inventory, employee, and customer data across all your retail locations in real time.
Since your data is stored neatly in a centralized dashboard, you can focus on providing outstanding customer experiences and growing your business—without having to reconcile data syncs, manage middleware connectors or worry that your back-end operational tasks are falling through the cracks.
Another thing that sets Shopify POS apart is its versatility. The platform integrates with more than 8,000 apps For unique business needs, the POS app is extensible by design, allowing you to build custom workflows to meet your business’s specific goals. Whether you run a small boutique or manage a large retail chain, Shopify POS adapts to your business, offering full flexibility and control.
Key features
- Cloud-based omnichannel sales. Sell your products across physical stores, social media platforms, and your website, all from a unified, cloud-based system, from basic check outs like buy-online, pick-up in store to complex checkouts like mixed cart fulfillment.
- Inventory management. Track stock levels across all channels, receive low-stock alerts, and perform inventory counts from one centralized platform. Monitor your best selling products and create purchase orders to restock based on inventory forecasting reports.
- Clienteling. Equip your staff with information to create personalized shopping experiences by accessing detailed customer profiles and shopping preferences.
- Retail analytics. Unlock in-depth reporting and real-time data to understand your retail locations performance to better understand the overall impact on your retail locations are marking, and make smarter business decisions.
- Staff management.Manage employee roles, monitor performance and sales attributions, and control access to sensitive information with customizable, location specific permissions.
- Customizable terminal. Personalize the home screen of your POS terminal, your buyer facing brand experience, to match your brand aesthetic and capture customer email addresses and marketing opt-ins at checkout.
- Shopify Payments. Streamline transactions using Shopify’s built-in payment gateway, which supports multiple payment methods including offline payments to process sales even when internet connection is dropped.
- Returns and exchanges. Effortlessly process omnichannel returns and exchanges while maintaining up-to-date and accurate inventory and customer transaction records.
- Gift cards. Offer both physical and digital gift cards that can be redeemed in-store or online within a customer profile, so they can be reissued if needed.
- Plug-and-play apps. Expand your system’s functionality as needed with apps for loyalty programs, logistics, time tracking, and more.
Pros
- 24/7 support
- 99.99% uptime
- Simple and intuitive setup
- Easy for retail staff to learn
- Suitable for businesses of all sizes
- Robust integrations through the Shopify App Store
- Flexible and customizable to your unique business
- Easy to manage operations across all stores from one system
- Unifiedemployee, customer, and sales data across multiple sales channels
Cons
- Must upgrade to access all Shopify POS features
- Third-party payment processing fees
Pricing
Payment processing fees: See pricing.
Monthly fee: Shopify plans start at $5/month.
2. Square POS: Best for appointment-based businesses
Unlike Shopify POS, which is customizable to any type of retail business, Square POS offers a few standard systems to choose from.
For example, if you run a salon, you can opt for the Square Appointments POS, which will allow you to accept payments and make appointments from one system. If the customer booking experience is top of your mind, Square Appointments is worth evaluating.
Key features
- Online booking system. Enable clients to schedule appointments through an online platform.
- Free booking website. Get access to a complimentary website where clients can easily book your services.
- Automated appointment reminders. Send clients timely reminders about their upcoming appointments.
- No-show and cancellation fees. Implement charges for missed appointments or late cancellations to minimize revenue loss.
- Client loyalty programs. Reward repeat customers with loyalty programs.
- Mobile app. Manage your appointments on the go with a mobile app.
Pricing
Payment processing fee: 2.6% + 10¢ per in-person transaction.
Monthly fee: Starts at $0 for the basic plan.
3. Toast POS: Best restaurant POS system for food trucks
Toast POS is one of the popular restaurant POS solutions. While Toast works for restaurants, cafés, and bars, it’s also interesting for smaller food businesses like vendors, food trucks, and drink stands. The reason? It offers a mobile system that allows you to take payments and check your inventory—even when you’re offline.
Key features
- 24/7 support. Access customer assistance whenever you need it, day or night.
- Mobile payment options. Let customers pay easily using their internet-connected device.
- Real-time inventory tracking. Manage and monitor stock levels instantly across your business.
- Streamlined order processing. Simplify taking and tracking orders for efficient service.
- Tailored business reports. Create customized reports to gain valuable business insights.
- Durable restaurant hardware. Use robust hardware built for restaurant environments.
Pricing
Payment processing fee: From 2.49% + 15¢ per transaction (if you pay for hardware upfront).
Monthly fee: The Starter Kit plan starts at $0, and the Point of Sale plan starts at $69 per month.
4. Lightspeed Retail POS: Best for stores with a range of inventories
Lightspeed Retail POS is another cloud-based platform that offers separate POS systems for certain niches. Formerly known as Vend POS, it has a POS system designed for retail, restaurants, and golf.
Each POS plan has different features designed to help businesses in those industries. For example, the basic plan of its retail POS offers advanced reporting to help businesses monitor inventory.
Key features
- Multichannel and multi-location. Manage sales and operations across multiple channels and locations.
- Inventory management. Keep track of stock levels in real time.
- Barcode scanning. Speed up transactions and inventory management with easy barcode scanning functionality.
- Fully integrated payments. Process payments directly within the system.
- Real-time reporting and insights. Access up-to-the-minute data and analytics.
- Automated taxes. Automatically calculate and apply taxes.
Pricing
Payment processing fee: 2.6% + 10¢ per in-person transaction; 2.9% + 30¢ per online transaction.
Monthly fee: Starts at $89/month.
5. Clover POS: Best for real-time sales tracking
Clover POS is a point-of-sale system that works for retail stores, service-based businesses, and especially restaurants. If you run a larger food operation—like a restaurant chain or franchise—Clover may be a more viable option than Toast.
Clover’s POS system automates much of the restaurant and kitchen processes, including taking orders, sending them to your kitchen, mapping tables, and processing payments. You can also see updates in real time across all your locations.
Key features
- Real-time inventory tracking. Keep an eye on stock levels as they change.
- Table management tools. Organize and monitor seating arrangements.
- Instant reporting. Access immediate insights into sales, performance, and overall business operations.
- Online ordering system. Allow customers to conveniently place orders through your website or app.
- Staff management features. Schedule shifts, track working hours, and manage employee roles.
- Customizable apps. Choose from a range of apps to manage online store orders, reservations, and loyalty programs.
Pricing
Payment processing fee: From 2.6% plus 10¢ per transaction.
Monthly fee: Starts at $13 per month.
6. Revel Systems POS: Best for online orders
Revel Systems POS is similar to Clover and Toast in that it also aims to improve retail operations for restaurants. While restaurants of any size can use it, Revel stands out for companies focused on improving online ordering operations.
Revel’s online ordering system provides real-time menu updates, inventory updates, and an intuitive interface that allows customers to place orders from any location.
Key features
- Always-on mode. Keep business operations running even if the internet connection goes down, with offline transaction processing and local network support.
- Secure payments. Protect business and customer data with PCI-compliant cloud technology and point-to-point encrypted payments.
- Real-time inventory management. Monitor inventory levels in real time.
- Customizable discounts. Create and apply discounts during transactions.
- Comprehensive reporting and analytics. Access real-time insights on sales, inventory, and customer behavior.
- Drive-through management. Enhance drive-through operations with features designed to improve efficiency and accuracy.
Pricing
Revel doesn’t share its pricing publicly, though Forbes states that plans start at $99 per month. Contact sales for a quote.
7. Heartland POS: best for native payment processing
Heartland is a POS, payment processing, and payroll solutions provider that was acquired by Global Payments in 2015. Its restaurant and retail-focused cloud-based POS solutions target SMB and midmarket customers in the US.
Heartland’s retail offering provides you with compatible POS hardware, including a mobile POS and countertop terminals, to complete your set up.
Key features
- Over 900 integrations with partners like Shopify, WordPress, Magento, and Gravity Forms.
- Countertop and mobile POS systems to sell from anywhere in-store.
- Integrated payment processing with Global Payments.
- Robust sales and inventory reporting with real-time analytics.
- Face-to-face selling support which prioritizes meeting with prospective customers in-person to establish and strengthen relationships.
Pricing
Payment processing: Starts at 2.6% plus 10¢ per transaction.
Monthly fee: From $89 per month for one station.
How to choose a cloud POS provider
Unified commerce functionality
Your cloud-based POS system shouldn’t sit in isolation. Aside from the issue of separate tools each with their own logins and subscriptions, you’ll struggle to collate data and turn them into strategic insights you can use to grow your business.
When you switch to a single platform capable of powering all aspects of your retail business, you’ll unlock new ways to manage data and manage orders. Customers also get a seamless shopping experience wherever they engage with your brand. Online and offline becomes a continuous experience—something that’s easier to offer when all of your data is housed in a single unified commerce platform.
Shopify POS, for example, helped tokyobike blend the online and offline shopping experience for customers. Shoppers can visit its retail store to test drive a bike. Should they leave without purchasing, reps use Shopify POS to save and email the customer a personalized shopping cart. It’s ready for them to checkout as soon as they get home.
Thanks to the unified view of its store, customer data, and inventory, tokyobike saw double the amount of sales from in-store pickup orders. Sales cycles were also cut dramatically—down from 30 days to under one week.
“Connecting our online store and retail stores with Shopify unified our brand,” said Juliana Di Simone, Partner in America. “Now, customers can begin and complete their purchase wherever and whenever they want.”
Integration capabilities
When choosing the best cloud-based POS company for your business, one key factor to consider is its integrations. Ensure the system you choose integrates seamlessly with your existing tech stack.
Common POS integrations used by retailers include:
- Marketing tools
- Business intelligence software
- Team scheduling and payroll apps
- Inventory management apps
- Returns and exchange tools
- POS loyalty programs
📌 Pro tip: The Shopify App Store is home to over 8,000 integrations—many of which are compatible with Shopify POS. This gives you ultimate flexibility over how you manage your retail business. Shopify POS also easily integrates with key ERPs, IMS, CRMs and more.
Scalability
The last thing you want to do is opt for a basic POS system and then realize it can’t handle the amount of transactions you’ll need to process.
Look for a POS that scales with you. It should easily accommodate your business growth, whether that means handling more transactions, supporting additional locations, or integrating with new tools as your needs evolve.
Another benefit to a good cloud-based POS system is you won’t have to buy expensive hardware as you scale. Since everything operates on the cloud, you can use existing internet connected devices like tablets or smartphones, making it more cost-effective and flexible as your business grows.
Shopify, for example, lets you mix-and-match your POS stack to create a completely customized set up. Add new staff members with ease, integrate POS hardware when you need it, and sell through multiple sales channels—all from the same cloud-based system your team knows and loves.
Ease of use
A POS system should make your life easier—not harder. Look for one that’s simple to set up and intuitive to navigate. This way, your team can hit the ground running without spending hours on POS training.
The ideal cloud-based POS should streamline daily tasks like ringing up sales, updating inventory, and pulling reports without hassle or confusion. Features like real-time syncing across devices, remote access to manage your business from anywhere, and automatic software updates make a big difference.
📌 Pro tip: Customize the Shopify interface with POS UI extensions to build custom workflows directly into the POS app, building off the muscle memory staff have already gained from using the app.
Customer support
No matter how intuitive your POS system is, there may be times when you need to contact customer support for help with troubleshooting. If you do need to call, you want someone to answer immediately. And you want help from someone who knows the POS system inside out.
Some systems may be less expensive than others, but do they provide service if you’re in a pinch? Look for a POS that offers 24/7 global support from experts.
Cost and pricing structure
When you sign up for a cloud-based POS system, it’s crucial to understand both the upfront and ongoing POS costs. Hidden fees can quickly add up, turning what seemed like an affordable solution into a significant expense.
These can include:
- Sign-up fees
- Monthly fees
- Payment processing fees
- Third-party processor fees
- Cost of any required POS hardware
Be cautious of any POS provider that lacks transparent pricing. Without clear information, you might find yourself facing unexpected charges that strain your budget and hurt your bottom line.
Opt for the cloud POS system that grows with you: Shopify POS
Every retail business has unique requirements—from basic transactions to complex operations. Shopify POS is built to support retailers at every stage of growth, with flexible features that adapt to your business needs. Start with essential POS functionality for a single location, then easily scale to manage multiple stores, complex inventory, and advanced operations—all while maintaining a unified view of your business across online and in-store channels.
Cloud POS system FAQ
How much does cloud POS cost?
The cost of a cloud POS varies depending on the system you choose and the features you require. Typically, you’ll pay a monthly subscription fee along with transaction fees, which differ based on your chosen provider.
What is a cloud-based POS?
A cloud-based POS is a point-of-sale system that processes transactions and manages business operations over the internet. It stores data in the cloud so you can access and manage your business from any device (e.g., tablet, computer, smartphone) with an internet connection.
What is the difference between cloud POS and mPOS?
A cloud POS operates online and is accessible from multiple devices, making it versatile for various business needs. An mPOS, or mobile POS, runs on smartphones or tablets and is designed for mobile or on-the-go transactions. It’s often used by businesses that need flexibility in payment processing.
What is the best POS system in the world?
The best POS system depends on your unique business needs, but Shopify is widely regarded as one of the best and most versatile options. It’s good for retail businesses of any size and offers a comprehensive solution that you can customize to your business. It also integrates with more than 8,000 other apps, so it’s easy to streamline all of your back-end operations into one system.
