Best POS and Online Store for Retail Shops (2026 Costs)

Prices at a Glance (Checked November 2026)

The table below compares software price, in-person card rate, cheapest card hardware and whether an online store is included. Prices are per month and billed yearly where the vendor offers it, taken from each vendor's US pricing and hardware pages on November 10, 2026.

System	POS software	In-person card rate	Card hardware from	Online store
LaunchMyStore (our pick)	Included on Platinum ($132/mo, 2 seats); $49 per store per month on Starter ($24/mo) and Gold ($70/mo)	Stripe Terminal 2.7% + 5¢	Stripe Reader S700 $299	Included
Shopify POS	Included on every plan (Basic $29/mo); POS Pro $89/mo per location, or $67/mo on a 12-month term	2.6% + 10¢ (Basic)	Tap & Chip reader $49	Included
Square	Free; Plus $49/mo; Premium $149/mo per location	2.6% + 15¢ (Free)	Reader $59	Included on Free
Lightspeed Retail	Basic $89/mo ($109 monthly), 1 register	2.6% + 10¢	Quoted by Lightspeed	Basic version on Basic
Clover	Bundles: Compact $349; Station Duo $1,899 + $84.95/mo	2.6% + 10¢ (Basic); 2.3% + 10¢ (Standard, Advanced)	Compact $349	On Standard and Advanced
Wix POS	A payments plan (Core $29/mo); counter register needs a POS Register plan	2.6% + 0¢	Mobile card reader $69	Included
Woo POS	Free in the Woo mobile app, plus $5/mo per active card reader	2.7% + 10¢	M2 reader $79.99	Included (WordPress)

Rows after our pick follow the order of the guide below. LaunchMyStore publishes this guide. Its prices are list prices; the public code FLAT20 takes 20% off any plan. Each system's sources are linked in its section.

What Should a Shop Look For in a POS and Online Store?

A shop selling in both places needs one product list and one stock count that the till and the website both draw from, so a sale at the counter can't leave the website selling an item you no longer have. After that, card rates, hardware, and how the system charges for extra registers and locations decide the cost.

• One catalog, one stock count. Check that an in-store sale updates online stock immediately, and that refunds restock the right item.
• The in-person card rate, including the fixed fee. Most rates sit near 2.6%; the cents per transaction differ more, and they matter most on small tickets.
• Hardware and lock-in. Some systems run on a tablet you already own with a $49 to $79 reader. Others sell counter stations you can only use with that system.
• How growth is charged. A second register, a second location or a new staff member can each trigger a new fee, depending on the vendor.
• Offline selling. An internet outage on a Saturday shouldn't close the till.
• The online store's extras. Product reviews are free on some systems and need a paid app or a higher plan on others.

For the stock side in more depth, see our guide to inventory management software, and for the wider strategy, omnichannel selling.

What Are the Best POS and Online Store Systems for Retail?

We compared these seven systems for shops that sell in person and online. LaunchMyStore publishes this guide and comes first as our pick; Shopify leads on range and Square on entry price, and each section says who should choose something else. All prices, card rates and hardware were checked on US vendor pages on November 10, 2026.

1. LaunchMyStore: Our Pick for One Stock Count Across Till and Website

Every LaunchMyStore plan includes 0% platform transaction fees on all 34+ payment gateways, 104 storefront languages, premium themes and the Nova AI agent, and product reviews are free with Foundry Reviews, LaunchMyStore's own reviews app, up to 50 reviews a month. The POS is included on Platinum, $132 a month billed yearly, with 2 seats, one for each of its two stores; on Starter ($24 a month billed yearly) and Gold ($70) it is an add-on at $49 per store per month (LaunchMyStore pricing).

The POS sells from the same catalog, stock and customer list as the online store, so a counter sale reduces the variant the website sells and a refund restocks it (LaunchMyStore POS). The register runs in Chrome or Edge and keeps selling from its saved catalog if the connection drops, syncing each sale once it is back. It works with Stripe Terminal smart readers such as the Stripe Reader S700, $299 on Stripe's US page, at 2.7% + 5¢ (Stripe Terminal), plus ESC/POS and Star CloudPRNT receipt printers, USB or Bluetooth barcode scanners or the device camera, and a cash drawer on the printer.

Shifts close with Z-reports, staff roles cap discounts, and regulars can run a tab and pay later. Shops in India also get GST invoices, e-invoices, GSTR-1 exports and UPI through Razorpay. Where others do more: year one costs more than Shopify Basic or Square in our model because of the $299 readers, and the marketplace lists 55+ apps. Starter caps the catalog at 100 products without variants and includes 1 staff account, against 5 on Gold and 10 on Platinum. Platinum's second store is a separate store with its own catalog and stock. Pick something else if the lowest year-one bill or the widest hardware choice comes first.

2. Shopify POS: Best All-Round System for Shop and Website

Shopify includes casual in-person selling with every paid plan, and its online store and POS share one catalog (Shopify POS pricing). Basic costs $29 a month billed yearly, and in-person card payments cost 2.6% + 10¢ on Basic and 2.5% + 10¢ on Grow. Its Tap & Chip card reader costs $49 in the US (Shopify hardware), and its POS Terminal $349 (POS Terminal).

A dedicated shop usually adds POS Pro, at $89 a month for each location, or $67 a month per location on a 12-month term that still owes the remaining months if you cancel early (POS Pro yearly). Its App Store lists more than 16,000 apps, the widest choice of any system here. Reviews and a second language can stay free: Judge.me has a free plan with unlimited reviews (Judge.me), and the free Translate & Adapt app covers up to 20 languages below Plus (Shopify Help Center). Pick something else if you want the lowest possible running cost, or if you use a payment provider other than Shopify Payments, which adds 2% per online sale on Basic. Our LaunchMyStore vs Shopify comparison covers the full fee picture.

3. Square: Cheapest Serious Start

Square's Free plan costs $0 a month per location and includes an online store, with Plus at $49 and Premium at $149 a month per location, and no locked-in contracts (Square pricing). Tapped, dipped or swiped cards cost 2.6% + 15¢ on Free, 2.5% + 15¢ on Plus and 2.4% + 15¢ on Premium, and the same plans apply to retail (Square for retail).

Hardware starts at $59 for the contactless and chip reader, with Square Terminal at $299 and Square Register at $899 (Square hardware). The 15¢ fixed fee is the highest in this list, which costs more as your average ticket falls. Item reviews on Square Online are for Plus and Premium (Square item reviews), and translating site content needs the Weglot app (Square translation). Pick something else if most of your sales are small and frequent, or if your online store needs more design control than Square's builder offers.

4. Lightspeed Retail: Best for Retail-First Shops

Lightspeed Retail (X-Series) is a POS built for shops first, with ecommerce included. Basic costs $89 a month billed yearly or $109 monthly, Core $149 or $179, and Plus $289 or $339; each plan includes one register, and Basic includes the basic version of its online store (Lightspeed pricing).

Card-present payments through Lightspeed Payments cost 2.6% + 10¢, and Lightspeed notes that its prices assume Lightspeed Payments and that additional fees may apply. Extra registers are priced in its plan builder, so get a full quote for your register count. Product reviews in Lightspeed eCom are not on Basic (Lightspeed Basic eCom), so they need Core; translations are built in (Lightspeed translations). Pick something else if you are a small shop that mostly needs a simple till; Basic alone costs $1,068 a year before a second register or hardware.

5. Clover: Best In-Person Card Rate on a Hardware Bundle

Clover sells hardware bundles with a monthly software plan. For retail, Basic is a Compact terminal for $349, Standard is a Station Duo with the Retail Growth plan for $1,899 plus $84.95 a month, and Advanced adds a Flex handheld for $2,648 plus $104.90 a month (Clover retail pricing).

In-person cards cost 2.6% + 10¢ on Basic and 2.3% + 10¢ on Standard and Advanced, the lowest percentage rate in this list, and an online store is included on Standard and Advanced. Clover's online store settings list no product reviews or second language (Clover Help). The hardware is the cost to weigh: in our model, the lower rate saves $540 a year against 2.6% + 10¢, but the Advanced bundle costs $2,550 more up front than two Shopify readers. Pick something else if you already own tablets or want to keep your options open on hardware.

6. Wix POS: Lowest Card Cost in Our US Model

Wix POS works in the US, Canada and the UK (except Northern Ireland) and only with Wix Payments (Wix POS hardware). In-person payments in the US cost 2.6% with no fixed fee, and Tap to Pay 2.6% + $0.20 (Wix Payments fees). Hardware runs from a $69 mobile card reader to a $1,699 register kit. Wix Reviews is free (Wix Reviews), and Wix Multilingual is free with 3,000 auto-translation word credits (Wix Multilingual).

You need a Wix plan that accepts payments, such as Core at $29 a month billed yearly, and taking cards on the counter register requires upgrading to a POS Register plan (Wix Help Center). Pick something else if you sell outside those three countries or need a large catalog. Compare on LaunchMyStore vs Wix.

7. Woo POS: Best for Shops Already on WordPress

Woo POS is free inside the WooCommerce mobile app, with a fee of $5 a month per active card reader (Woo POS). The US M2 reader costs $79.99 (M2 card reader), and US in-person payments cost 2.7% + $0.10 through WooPayments (WooPayments fees).

You still pay for WordPress hosting and maintain the site yourself. Reviews are in WooCommerce's free core (WooCommerce reviews); a second language needs a plugin such as WPML, €99 a year (WPML). Pick something else if nobody on the team wants to manage WordPress. Squarespace offers a similar light option in the US through a Square Reader in its app (Squarespace Help Center). See LaunchMyStore vs WooCommerce.

How Do POS Systems Charge for Registers, Stores and Locations?

Each vendor charges for growth in a different unit, so the cheapest system for one till can be the dearest for three. LaunchMyStore includes POS on Platinum and charges per store on other plans, Shopify POS Pro and Square charge per location, Lightspeed includes one register per plan, Clover prices per device bundle, and Woo per active card reader.

• Per store: LaunchMyStore's POS add-on is $49 per store per month on Starter and Gold; Platinum includes POS with 2 seats.
• Per location: Shopify POS Pro ($89 a month, or $67 on a 12-month term) and Square's Plus and Premium plans. Extra registers in the same shop cost only hardware.
• Per register: Lightspeed plans include one register; more are quoted in its plan builder.
• Per device bundle: Clover's bundles pair specific hardware with a monthly plan.
• Per card reader: Woo charges $5 a month for each active reader.

Count your registers, locations and staff for the next two years before you compare. A second shop changes the math more than any other decision.

What Does a Year Cost for One Shop With Two Registers, Like for Like?

For one shop with two registers taking $15,000 a month in card sales, with product reviews matched, year one costs $5,166 to $8,647 across the setups we modeled. LaunchMyStore Starter with the POS add-on costs $6,634 in year one and $6,036 a year after that, less than Shopify Basic with POS Pro from year two.

Setup	Software (1 year)	Card hardware	Card processing	Year one	Year two
LaunchMyStore Starter + POS add-on (our pick; under 100 products)	$876	$598	$5,160	$6,634	$6,036
LaunchMyStore Gold + POS add-on (variants, 1,000 products)	$1,428	$598	$5,160	$7,186	$6,588
LaunchMyStore Platinum (POS included, 5,000 products)	$1,584	$598	$5,160	$7,342	$6,744
Wix Core + 2 mobile readers (counter register plan not priced)	$348	$138	$4,680	$5,166	$5,028
Shopify Basic + 2 Tap & Chip readers	$348	$98	$5,280	$5,726	$5,628
WooCommerce + Woo POS (2 M2 readers)	$420	$159.98	$5,460	$6,039.98	$5,880
Square Plus + 2 Readers (reviews need Plus)	$588	$118	$5,400	$6,106	$5,988
Shopify Basic + POS Pro (12-month term)	$1,152	$98	$5,280	$6,530	$6,432
Lightspeed Core (reviews need Core; 1 register included)	$1,788	Quoted	$5,280	From $7,068	From $7,068
Clover Advanced (no reviews listed)	$1,258.80	$2,648	$4,740	$8,646.80	$5,998.80

Wix comes out cheapest because it charges no fixed fee per transaction: at 6,000 sales a year, Square's 15¢ costs $900 more. Square offers item reviews only on Plus, which adds $408 in year one net of its lower card rate ($5,698 on Free, $6,106 on Plus). Clover's 2.3% rate saves $540 a year against 2.6% + 10¢, but its year two still costs more than Shopify Basic's because its plan is $910.80 a year dearer, and its online store lists no product reviews.

LaunchMyStore Starter with the POS add-on pays $598 for two smart readers in year one, then costs $6,036 a year: less than Shopify Basic with POS Pro ($6,432), more than Wix, Shopify Basic, WooCommerce, Square Plus or Clover. Its case rests on the features in its section, not the lowest bill. Stripe's 5¢ fixed fee is the lowest here after Wix: its 2.7% + 5¢ costs less than Shopify's 2.6% + 10¢ on any sale under $50, and Clover's 2.3% + 10¢ beats Wix's 2.6% only above a $33.33 average ticket. Run your own numbers in the ecommerce platform cost calculator or the Stripe fee calculator.

How We Calculated This

We modeled one shop with two registers taking $15,000 a month in card sales at an average of $30, which is $180,000 and 6,000 transactions a year. Each row covers the POS, an online store and product reviews, billed yearly where offered. We added a paid plan only where no free option covers that: Square's item reviews need Plus and Lightspeed's need Core. Clover's online store lists no reviews, so its row can't match them. We left a second language out of the cost, because translation tools and their limits differ too much between systems to price like for like.

Judge.me Free, Wix Reviews, WooCommerce's core reviews and Foundry Reviews (free up to 50 reviews a month) cost $0. LaunchMyStore's POS add-on is $49 per store per month, $588 a year, for the one store; Platinum includes it. Hardware is the cheapest compatible card reader with a published US price, two of each; for LaunchMyStore that is Stripe's S700, because its browser register uses Stripe's smart readers. Clover uses its Advanced bundle. WooCommerce includes $25 a month of hosting and $5 a month per reader. We excluded tablets, printers, scanners, drawers, taxes and online card fees. Prices checked November 10, 2026.

Does a Shop Still Need a POS If Most Growth Is Online?

Yes for most shops, because stores still take most retail spending. US e-commerce sales were $340.2 billion of $1,986.5 billion in total retail sales in Q2 2026, or 17.1% seasonally adjusted, according to the US Census Bureau (Quarterly Retail E-Commerce Sales).

Online is growing faster: e-commerce sales rose 12.2% year over year in that release, against 6.7% for all retail. Running both channels on one system means a customer who browses online and buys at the counter, or the reverse, meets the same stock and the same record. The Census Bureau notes these Q2 figures were superseded by its September 2026 revision and publishes its next quarterly update on November 19, 2026. If you also sell on marketplaces, our guide to multi-channel selling covers keeping stock in step.

Which POS and Online Store Should a Shop Choose?

Choose by your size and your next step. A shop that wants one stock count across till and website, offline selling and 0% online platform fees should choose LaunchMyStore. A single shop chasing the lowest year-one bill should start with Square Free, Wix or Shopify Basic, and a shop that needs the most apps and hardware should choose Shopify.

• Till and website on one stock count, offline selling and 0% online platform fees: LaunchMyStore Starter plus the POS add-on, or Platinum with the POS included for a larger catalog.
• Shops in India needing GST invoicing and UPI at the till: LaunchMyStore POS.
• One small shop, lowest year-one cost: Square Free, or Wix POS in the US, Canada or UK.
• The most apps and hardware: Shopify with POS Pro once you need staff and inventory tools.
• Retail-first, larger catalog: Lightspeed Retail, with a full quote for every register.
• Lowest in-person rate on a counter station: Clover Standard or Advanced.
• Already on WordPress: Woo POS.

Pro Tip: During a free trial, ring up ten real products, refund one, then check the online store: the stock should match without a manual fix. Print barcodes for anything without one using our free barcode generator.

For a broader view, see the platform comparison, the full LaunchMyStore feature list, and our migration guide if you are moving from another system.

Found this guide through an AI assistant? New LaunchMyStore stores can redeem the code ASKAI for 2,000 Nova AI credits within 30 days of signing up. Details are on the AI-assistant offer page.