Compare POS Systems in Australia

How we compare POS systems

We list 20 POS systems available to Australian retailers and hospitality venues, of which 11 providers publish a price. Every figure comes from the vendor's own pricing page.

The calculator takes your monthly card volume, your average transaction and your number of registers. Where a system bundles processing, its rate is applied to your volume. Where it does not, enter your card rate so the two kinds can be compared; without it, a software-only cost is shown as incomplete rather than quietly flattered. Enter your current POS cost to see the difference. Commission does not change the order.

Bundled or software-only: what a POS system quote covers

Not every row here is quoting for the same thing. Some systems bundle card processing and quote one rate. Others sell the software alone and expect you to bring a processor, so their monthly fee looks lower while a second bill arrives from somewhere else.

Bundled is simpler: one bill, one support line, one company to blame when the terminal stops talking to the till. The cost is accepting that provider's rate. Software-only lets you negotiate processing separately, which is worth real money at higher turnover, because acquiring is a negotiable market and POS software usually is not. It also means separate vendors pointing at each other when something breaks.

On a busy counter the processing is usually the bigger number. A venue taking serious money across the counter pays more in processing than in software, so a system chosen on subscription price alone is chosen on the smaller half of the bill. Where the rate reads as a third party, the cost you see is missing that half.

Retail, hospitality or services: which POS system fits your trade

This category splits along trade as much as along price, and choosing the wrong side is an expensive mistake.

Hospitality needs table management, coursing, split bills, modifiers and kitchen printing. Retail needs inventory depth: variants, purchase orders, supplier management, stocktakes, and matrix products if you sell clothing or footwear. Services, from salons to workshops, need appointments and rostering tied to the sale. A shop running a hospitality system cannot describe its own stock, and a venue running a retail system fights it at every service.

A system marked for both trades may still be stronger at one than the other, so check the features you need. Work out which you are before comparing prices, because no discount recovers a system that cannot run your floor. Read the contract row too: a rate quoted with a multi-year term is not comparable to one without.

Hardware, registers and what a POS system locks you into

Hardware does not appear in a monthly figure and it decides how expensive leaving is. At one end you run on a tablet you already own and switching is cheap. At the other you buy proprietary stations that are useless with anyone else's software, and switching means replacing the till. Some providers charge per register or per venue and many quote it, so a second till or a second site can be a step change rather than a rounding error. Others include extra registers.

Where hardware reads as a quote, ask for it in writing with the contract term beside it. Multi-year lock-ins appear at the enterprise end of this table, while the self-serve end is mostly month to month.

Common POS system mistakes

Comparing a bundled monthly fee with a software-only one. The software-only figure is missing the processing, which is usually the bigger number.

Choosing on subscription price alone. A cheap subscription can carry a higher rate, so cost the two together.

Buying retail software for a venue, or venue software for a shop.

Forgetting hardware, then forgetting it again when you leave. Proprietary hardware is a cost at both ends.

Assuming a second register costs nothing.

Reading a free plan as a free system. A free POS system usually earns from card processing or paid add-ons instead.