Here's every restaurant POS we track, measured the same way. The table shows how long each contract runs, what it costs to leave early, whether you have to process cards with them, the software price, the card rate and how long the hardware warranty lasts, with a link to what it leaves out and what keeping it costs. The 36-month cost for your own numbers is in the calculator.
The order comes from our score. Each data point shows its source and the date we verified it. If a vendor doesn't publish something, you'll see "Not published" or "Quote only", never a zero.
Restaurant POS from Shift4 Payments that requires Shift4 payment processing. Software starts at $29.99 a month with loaned hardware and no upfront cost; the processing agreement runs 36 months and its early termination fee is a per-device amount for each month left.
Restaurant POS with two published plans. All-In costs $0 per station with hardware included and a 2-year minimum; POS Essentials costs $55 per station a month with month-to-month software and lower card rates. Payments run through SpotOn under a processing agreement with a 3-year initial term.
iPad restaurant POS for bars, quick service and food trucks, sold on a 36-month contract that renews for the same length. Lavu quotes its monthly price and doesn't publish its card rates or what it costs to leave early; the signer is a personal guarantor.
Lowest cost to get started (tied). Among 12 POS systems whose upfront prices are published, for our reference restaurant.
6.0/10out of 10
36 months
Software: all monthly subscription fees left in the term (Merchant Terms §10.4), and if you leave within two years you may be charged the difference between the hardware list price and the discounted price you paid (§1.4). Processing: 30 days' notice plus an Account Closure Fee whose amount is in your application (§5.2.C).
Lowest cost to get started (tied). Among 12 POS systems whose upfront prices are published, for our reference restaurant.
Longest equipment warranty (tied). Among 17 POS systems with a published warranty on the main terminal.
5.7/10out of 10
36 months
The monthly subscription for the full term, plus 90% of the average monthly fees of the referred processor (excluding interchange) times the months left, plus repayment of any incentives.
Oracle's Cloud Services Agreement makes an order non-cancelable and the sums paid nonrefundable, and it has no clause to leave early for convenience. If Oracle ends your order because you breached it, you pay what had accrued plus all sums remaining unpaid for the order. Oracle publishes no fee formula; what you owe if you leave during the initial services period depends on your order. After that period, either side can end the service with 60 days' notice. Oracle Payments is billed per payment.
PAR's subscription agreement makes orders non-cancellable and gives no right to leave early for convenience; either side can end it only for an uncured material breach or insolvency, and your payment obligations survive termination. PAR publishes no early termination fee formula. If you close a location for good and give 30 days' notice, PAR drops it from the next bill (with a prorated refund or credit if you prepaid for the year). If you also process cards with PAR Payment Services (optional, 36-month term renewing for 12 months), leaving early costs your estimated monthly card volume times PAR's own processing fees (not interchange or network fees) for every month left, and the same fee applies if PAR ends it for your breach, if you don't start processing within 60 days, or if your volume drops below 75% of your estimate for two months in a row.
