Best POS Systems Canada : Top 10 for 2023

POS systems are valuable solutions for almost every type of business that deals with significant numbers of clients and customers. You probably already know they can simplify your business operations, streamline the selling process, and increase profits. However, you need to get the best POS System in Canada to gain all those benefits. 

That’s why we’ve found and reviewed the top POS software solutions in Canada and provided you with a detailed list of the best ones. Read on to learn all you need to know.

Best Canada POS Systems : Top 8 for 2023

We’ve reviewed a lot of POS solutions that work in Canada and eventually come down to eight that we believe are the best POS systems for Canadian businesses.

They offer excellent solutions that make your transactional system simple, fluid, and highly functional. Their prices are reasonable, and each one suits specific needs perfectly, so you are bound to find the one that will satisfy your requirements. Here are the options: 

1. Lightspeed — Overall best POS system in Canada
2. TouchBistro — Most useful POS solution for restaurants
3. Square — Most feature-full free plan
4. Clover — Great pick for retail stores
5. Greenline — Best Canadian POS system for cannabis stores
6. Epos Now — Perfect for small businesses
7. Revel — Most suitable for advanced feature needs
8. Oliver POS — Perfect for WooCommerce users

Top POS Systems in Canada Reviewed

Now that you’ve seen our top solutions, it’s time to review each of them in greater detail. Once you’ve read these reviews, you’ll know exactly which POS system will fit your business. 

1. Lightspeed — Overall Best POS System for Canadian Businesses 

Lightspeed is our top pick overall because it offers the best solution for Canadian businesses and features everything you might need from a cloud POS service. What’s more, Lightspeed is also ideal for Canadian-based businesses, as it is also located in Canada — Montreal, to be specific. 

Lightspeed has an exciting business model in which it offers industry-specific packages. Through them, it can optimize POS systems for specific types of businesses like retail and restaurants. 

An interesting thing about the best POS software in Canada is that you can easily integrate both online and offline stores with features like inventory management. Inventory management is also where Lightspeed truly excels, which is why we think it’s one of the best inventory management software solutions. 

You will also get other advanced solutions like vendor management, industry-specific integrations, analytics, and more.

This POS software also shines in the online realm, where you will also get a plethora of features. You can easily set up your eCommerce store with customized templates, inventory sync, and full mobile compatibility. 

The only downside of Lightspeed is the price, at least for small businesses. Still, it’s reasonable if you take into account all the features it offers. Plus, you can save some money by paying annual subscriptions that are significantly cheaper, and you can test out the service using the free trial option. 

Pros:

• POS systems for retail and restaurants
• Very easy to implement and use
• Countless helpful features
• Advanced inventory tracking
• Supply chain management solutions

Cons:

• Expensive when all options included

2. TouchBistro — Best Canada POS System for Restaurants

TouchBistro is not only the leading POS solution for any type of restaurant in Canada but also the best-selling service in more than 37 countries.

It lets you fully customize your POS to make it ideal for the exact type of restaurant you have. That is precisely why it’s considered the best POS system for restaurants.

The company has optimized its POS service for many types of venues, including full-service restaurants, cafes, bakeries, bars, clubs, fine dining restaurants, breweries, food trucks, and many others. 

Some of the key features TouchBistro offers include table management, menu management, staff management, CRM software, credit card processing, and reporting. 

This POS system is perfect for both big and small restaurants. Namely, it doesn’t charge additional monthly fees, which makes it very affordable for the smallest establishments — even food trucks. 

Some restaurants might find the lack of add-ons and integrations unsatisfactory, but most customers are happy with TocuhBistro’s basic setup, as it usually has everything a business may need from its POS restaurant system. 

You will still get some interesting add-ons if you pay extra, like online ordering, gift cards, marketing, and loyalty solutions. 

Pros:

• Ideal for many types of restaurants
• Perfect for both small and large venues
• Best-selling POS restaurant system for iPads
• Extremely fast 
• Easy-to-use, intuitive software

Cons:

• Few add-ons or integrations
• Not suitable for retail stores

3. Square — Best Canada POS System With a Free Plan

Square is our top choice for budget users mainly because it offers a free plan that includes a wide range of features, and you only have to pay specific card fees. Naturally, there are paid plans as well, but all of them are very affordable compared to what you get, especially when you consider that Square strives to add new options and perks all the time.

This is primarily a POS restaurant system and retail system. However, it provides solutions for other types of businesses as well. In essence, the service is very customizable and compatible, making it useful for many different business types and sizes. The pricing system is a bit confusing, including the card rates, but this is all because Square offers many different solutions for different needs. 

What’s more, the POS system covers most of what you’ll need, if not everything. It includes bookings, payments, checkout links, invoicing, analytics, loyalty programs, team management, and so much more. 

You can even use the POS system to track employee hours, find the top performers who need to be rewarded, and adjust the overall labour costs. You can even go further and use the Square Payroll system that handles the majority of your payroll needs, as described in this Square Payroll review. 

Pros:

• Offers a comprehensive free plan
• Ideal for budget buyers
• Highly suitable for retail and restaurants
• Very intuitive interface
• Easy to set up 

Cons:

• Regular credit card fees
• Not suitable for high-risk companies

4. Clover — Best Retail POS System in Canada

Clover POS is a great cloud-based POS system specialized to suit retail stores. This is primarily because you can use it to easily monitor several vital aspects of a retail business, including sales, inventory, and performance. 

It’s also one of the best POS systems in Canada, as it’s incredibly simple to use. Once you set it up, you won’t have to spend countless training hours teaching your employees how to use it, as is often the case with some other POS systems. Here, most workers will learn the ropes in no time, as many users have already attested to. 

This is primarily because each hardware piece comes preloaded with the features you’ve paid for in your plan, and the system offers various prompts that help users get the hang of everything quickly.

Clover also offers various payment plans — as a result, it’s pretty flexible for the diverse Canadian businesses that require a POS software solution like this one.

Pros:

• Very easy to use
• Minimal setup requirements
• Modern and appealing hardware
• Good customer service 
• High-quality inventory solutions
• Also one of the best POS systems in the UK

Cons:

• Substantial price increases with upgrades
• Not suitable for larger businesses

5. Greenline — Best Canada POS System for Cannabis Stores

Greenline was specifically designed to assist the Canadian cannabis market. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that this is the area where it truly excels. Naturally, the system is suitable for other retail stores as well, seeing that it’s still a great retail POS software and hardware solution. 

The system has been utilized by more than 800 stores in seven provinces and territories, which only goes to show how practical and far-reaching Greenline is. 

This POS system is highly intuitive, and it can work on iOS, Android, and desktop devices. Moreover, the system offers fast and simple compliance reports, so stores don’t have to worry about meeting the latest standards. 

A great thing about this system is that it covers various integrations like Buddi, Alpine IQ, Merrco, QuickBooks, and Artemis. This makes it highly customizable, which is why it is safe to say it can suit many different needs. 

With full support and various training sessions you can take, it’s a perfect system for many businesses in Canada, regardless of their size.

Pros:

• Fully optimized for cannabis stores
• Complete focus on Canada
• Perfect for businesses of all sizes
• Very easy to use
• Training sessions available

Cons:

• Not ideal for other types of retail stores
• Occasional glitches

6. Epos Now — Best Canada POS System for Small Business

Epos Now is a great POS system that suits all small businesses, most notably those in the retail and hospitality industries. Thanks to its wide range of features, reasonable price, and enough integrations and add-ons, it’s currently the best POS for small business needs. 

The system includes a great dashboard that’s fully customizable and offers various real-time reports. You can also set authorization levels for the entire system, so specific people in the company can get specific access. 

Inventory management is smooth and seamless. You can easily monitor or update stock levels across all of your business locations, and you can set the system to automatically create purchase orders when the stock of a particular item is low. 

Some features are missing from this POS software platform, but you can quickly get them through various add-ons and integrations.

Pros:

• Best suited for small businesses in retail or hospitality
• Flat rate pricing
• Easy to use and innovative 
• Suitable for many industries
• Wide range of plugins 

Cons:

• Not as advanced as some users would like
• Requires long-term contracts

7. Revel — Best POS System in Canada for Advanced Users 

Revel is one of the leading cloud-based and iPad POS system providers. It offers advanced inventory management solutions, built-in card processors, excellent multistore capabilities, and many other advanced functions. 

Thanks to the numerous features it offers, it’s one of the top solutions for large businesses. Still, seeing that the pricing is quite fair, smaller companies can also benefit from it. So, regardless of how big your company is, if you are looking for advanced tools and features, this is the best POS system for you.

What’s more, it is highly customizable, as it allows you to create the exact POS system your business needs. However, Revel’s true strength lies in its speed. Its system is well-optimized to suit businesses that need to handle a large number of transactions daily — most notably retail stores and restaurants. 

This speed is present in every solution Revel offers, no matter the price. This makes it perfect even for smaller restaurants and other food joints. So, even though it’s not the best POS system for restaurants like TouchBistro, as it’s not fully optimized for that industry, it still comes pretty close. 

Pros:

• Easy to use once after it has been properly set up
• Made to suit large business needs
• Ideal for stores with many daily transactions
• Numerous advanced features offered
• Fully functional when offline

Cons:

• Complex setup process
• Potentially costly for small businesses

8. Oliver POS — Best POS System in Canada for WooCommerce

Oliver POS is not your everyday POS system. It’s built on WooCommerce, and it perfectly combines physical and eCommerce stores. 

Naturally, it works with numerous types of devices, including Mac, PC, iPad, and more. It was made for small and medium retail businesses and is among the best POS retail systems you can get. 

Oliver POS syncs perfectly with all WooCommerce tools, including more than 1,000 WooCommerce plugins. It does all of this for free or as a part of one of the paid plans, most of which are quite affordable. 

This POS system offers everything you may need, including inventory management solutions, integrations, third-party payments, and cash management features. 

Pros:

• Ideal for most eCommerce stores
• Fully syncs with WooCommerce tools
• Highly affordable across the board
• Great trade-in credit feature
• Monthly statements easily generated

Cons:

• Poor customer support
• Many features missing from the free plan

Best Canadian POS Systems Compared

If you want to compare all the leading POS solutions we’ve reviewed, here’s a detailed table listing their monthly prices, card rates, and support channels:

What Is a POS System?

A POS (point of sale) system refers to the system where the customer pays for the service or product your business offers. The point of sale thus encompasses both the hardware piece used in physical stores and the software solution behind it.

Modern POS systems incorporate credit card processing solutions, mobile payments, contactless payment options, various integrations, and much more. Basically, whenever your customer or client completes a transaction, they are performing a POS transaction through the POS software solution you’re using. 

POS systems today include multiple hardware pieces like barcode scanners, credit card readers, cash drawers, receipt printers, and monitors. They also offer features like sales reporting, customer management, employee management, inventory management, and more. 

As you can see, they are all highly complex and need to be optimized for your type of business. In addition, they must be secure and cost-effective. It’s why choosing the very best Canadian POS system for your needs is so crucial. 

If you get the right solution, not only will you solve your point of sale needs, but you’ll also improve your overall earnings and streamline everyday sales activities. 

How Does a POS System Work?

When it comes to the features they offer and the type of industry they support, every best POS system for Canadian businesses is unique. Nevertheless, each one works quite similarly. That’s because every business’s point of sale is always the same. 

It all starts when the customer decides to purchase the service or product you offer. The POS system is used to locate the item or service and calculate its price. This includes the cost of the item and the sales tax if applicable. 

Once that’s completed, the customer can make the payment. They might use a credit card, debit card, tap card, cash, or even a gift card or some loyalty points. The POS system needs to be able to handle all this. 

Once the payment is made, the customer’s bank authorizes the payment, and the point-of-sale transaction is finalized. Naturally, besides the payment going through, this also includes the creation of a receipt and the customer getting the item or service they’ve purchased. 

How Much Do POS Systems Cost?

As you’ve seen in the reviews of all the best Canadian POS systems in this guide, pricing varies a lot, and it depends largely on the providers, kinds of plans they have, and industries and types of businesses they target.

Even though basing your ultimate choice on price alone is one of the most common mistakes to avoid when choosing a new POS system, you still have to take it into account. However, bear in mind that prices vary widely. They can start from $0 and go to over $240 per month for a single POS terminal in one store. Bigger companies often have to spend thousands of dollars per month, but this still depends on the number of terminals they need, stores they want to cover, features they want to include, and more. 

The thing you’ll have to worry about the most is the subscription fee, which is usually paid on a monthly basis, and a card rate fee, which is usually paid for each transaction. Depending on whether your store is brick-and-mortar or online, you might also have to pay for the hardware.

In general, no matter which POS system they choose, small and medium-sized companies will be looking at average costs from $1,300 to $2,000 in total. Bigger companies will have to spend around $7,000 or more. 

It’s worth mentioning that if you run a very small store and require the simplest solution, which usually includes a single card reader and tablet, you won’t have to spend more than $800. 

Benefits of Having a POS Software for Canadian Businesses

Nowadays, POS systems are incredibly beneficial — even necessary. The truth is, if you decide to start using one, you can reap a wide range of benefits. Here are some of the major ones. 

Improved Efficiency

With every good POS system, your sales services will improve significantly. Namely, this software will allow you to serve more customers in a short period, thus making your business more efficient.

More Payment Options for Customers

With a POS system, you can finally offer customers more payment methods, as these solutions are not limited to cash payments only. Your clients will be able to use credit or debit cards, gift cards, and even loyalty or other types of points your business has. 

Specific Permissions for Employees

As a business leader, you are probably aware that not all employees need access to everything. That’s why you will be happy to learn that POS systems allow you to create user accounts with specific permissions. You can use these settings to set up accounts with customized permissions for different employees — in other words, they will be allowed to see only what they need to see. 

Product Reports

POS systems are not only intended for payments. Namely, they often offer product reporting features that can help you find out which products need to be discontinued or improved based on their performance. 

Detailed Customer Insights 

POS software gathers data, which can be used to create better-targeted marketing campaigns. In turn, these campaigns will help you reach more people, many of whom are potential customers. The best part is that numerous POS systems also offer various marketing tools that will let you capitalize on POS data easily. 

Accurate Calculations and Fewer Errors

A POS system can process any transaction and sale efficiently and accurately. It will factor in sales tax and similar elements that make calculations more complex for humans. So, there is no need to worry — with a POS system, no mistakes will be made. 

Various Mobile Features

Many POS systems are mobile (mPOS), so you’ll get to use them on different types of smartphones. You will be able to enjoy the convenience of iOS and Android apps, use features like receipt emailing and bill splitting, and even benefit from their compatibility with Google Pay and Apple Pay. 

Customer Facing Displays

Many Canadian POS retail systems have customer-facing screens, which can display all the details they want to see during the transaction. Naturally, this leads to a better and more transparent experience for customers. These displays are also a valuable method for promoting your marketing campaigns. 

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

POS systems offer a whole host of CRM functionalities and features. You will have access to payment histories, contact histories, and a lot more. All this will help you build better relationships with your customers and improve your sales numbers. 

mPOS and Tablet POS Systems

Many of the best POS systems for Canadian businesses are very flexible, which is why they can work on different devices, including phones and tablets. 

mPOS is a mobile point of sale system that can work with nothing but a smartphone and mobile card reader. With this simple setup, you will still get to process payments and perform other functions a POS system offers. 

Naturally, anyone can use mobile POS systems, but they are primarily designed for small businesses that don’t confine themselves to a single address. That’s why they are ideal for food trucks, market vendors, home repair services, and the like. 

Tablet POS systems work on regular iPads or Androids, which makes them great for regular businesses looking for more mobility and flexibility when it comes to payments. They can stand in one place if you fix them to a stand, but your employees can also carry them around, which is why they are very useful for restaurants or bars. 

How to Choose the Best Canadian POS System Provider

If you want to choose the perfect POS system provider for your business needs, you need to consider a couple of important factors.

Determine What Your Business Needs Are

Before you start with external research on POS systems, you need to conduct an internal analysis. You have to figure out the requirements of your business so that you can understand what it is you need from a POS system. 

POS Hardware

If you own a brick-and-mortar store, you’ll need hardware for your POS system. Naturally, you can obtain it from the provider — however, seeing that this equipment does not come cheap, you need to determine what exactly you need. 

For a small store, you’ll likely only need a tablet, cash box, and card reader. On the other hand, if you have a bigger business, you’ll need to consider additional items —  things like barcode scanners, POS terminals, receipt printers, etc. 

POS Software

Every POS system has software, but each offers different capabilities and features. Some of these, including CRM, accounting software, eCommerce tools, and more, are often considered optional and are paid for separately. That’s why it’s crucial to determine what you need so that you can factor everything into the budget you have for a POS solution. 

Ease of Use

Some POS systems are easy to set up, as they come with pre-installed features and tools. On the other hand, some can be pretty complex and may even require training and assistance. Therefore, make sure to consider how user-friendly the POS of your choice is.

Integrations

Every POS system needs to be compatible with various tools and apps that businesses like yours typically use. However, some systems may try to restrict you to their own services only, which is why you need to find the one that can be integrated with all the apps you need to continue using. 

Automations

A good POS system needs to be able to automate various processes. For instance, it should be able to connect your logistics and supply chain data to the inventory management systems and update them accordingly. This is just an example, as there are many other important automations you may need from a POS system. 

Customer Support

POS systems are very complex, as they include various features, hardware pieces, and more. As a result, you will probably need assistance from the provider at some point. That is why you need to have available and easy-to-reach customer service with dedicated agents who can help you out. 

Conclusion: What is the best POS System in Canada?

As you can see, having a good POS system is a must today, as it provides a whole host of benefits and can improve your sales and revenues by a significant margin. The only question is — which one should you choose?

Thankfully, one of the several systems we’ve reviewed is bound to do the trick for your business. You can safely opt for any of the eight solutions we recommend, but bear in mind — Lightspeed is the best overall. You can hardly go wrong if you decide to use this one, no matter what type of business you have and what you need from a POS system. 

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