As a shop owner with multiple locations, my day starts early, making certain everythingis set for a smooth operation….I wanted to talk about Is Shopify Pos Pro Really Free and how i answer this …
An important part of our daily routine, improving processes and supplying insights that assist us make notified choices.
and help you work out which version of’s point of sale system is ideal for you. Let’s dive in. OK, so there are two main reasons to use Lite. One– it lets you cost point of sale quickly, and cheaply. The crucial thing to comprehend about Lite is that it is bundled with every Shopify plan– there are no extra charges for utilizing it. This suggests that you can sell with Lite for as low as $5 monthly. It’s also extremely fast to establish. By contrast, is an add-on that costs $89 per
month, per location– meaning that if you desire to sell in more than one locationthan area simultaneously, things can get expensive quite quickly. Two– it’s truly simple to utilize. If all you want to do is accept simple payments in one place, Shopify POS Lite lets you do that really easily– all you’ll require really is your phone and a card reader. By contrast, which is geared more towards retail outlets and multi-location selling,
might be overkill for merchants with standard POS needsneed. It will generally involve more configuration and more hardware. But ultimately, you might discover yourself growing out of Lite quite rapidly– specifically if you plan to sell in more than one location at the same time. And that’s where the “strategy is available in. I’ll go over the contexts in which can be the ideal fit for merchants in just a moment, however before I do,
What is the difference between Shopify and Square POS?
In the early morning, I log into to examine inventory levels across all locations. With its centralized control panel, I can rapidly see which items are running low and require restocking. This conserves me valuable time that I can designate to other aspects of managing business.
might need no intro due to the fact that it is the most popular e-commerce software application vendor internationally. The business was founded in 2006 by a business owner called Tobias Lütke who struggled to develop an online shop for snowboarding devices and set out to develop the finest ecommerce platform to make it much easier. Observing that the software was excellent, he switched his focus from constructing an online shop to offering tools for retailers that required to construct one.
‘s e-commerce software application has enjoyed paralleled growth and amassed millions of consumers around the world. By 2016, the company had almost $400 million in yearly income, which figure took off to $4.6 billion by 2021 after the Covid pandemic spurred an online retail boom.
forayed into point-of-sale systems in 2017 by launching a Bluetooth-enabled debit and charge card reader for brick-and-mortar stores. Ever since, it has actually developed more items and turned them into a major source of profits. The business is based in Ottawa, Canada.
Throughout the day, helps me manage deals effectively. Its intuitive interface enables my personnel to process orders quickly, whether it’s at the checkout counter or on the shop flooring utilizing mobile phones. The integrated payment processing makes sure seamless deals, keeping our clients pleased.
One of the standout features of is its robust analytics tools. I frequently examine sales reports and consumer insights to identify trends and tailor our marketing efforts accordingly. The ability to produce customized reports provides me a deeper understanding of our service efficiency, allowing me to make data-driven choices.
Comparing to Square POS, the switch was driven by a number of elements. While Square provided fundamental functionality, supplied a more detailed option customized to the requirements of multi-location services like ours. The ability to manage inventory centrally, in addition to advanced analytics and reporting capabilities, were key selling points.
Furthermore,’s ecosystem used seamless integration with our online shop, enabling us to manage inventory and sales throughout all channels from one platform. This omnichannel method has helped us provide an unified shopping experience to our clients, whether they’re shopping in-store or online.
In general, the switch to has contributed in enhancing our operations, enhancing efficiency, and driving growth throughout our numerous areas.
Pros:
Advanced inventory management: Centralized stock tracking across multiple areas, making it simple to handle stock levels and restocking.
Robust analytics: Supplies extensive sales reports and customer insights to help make informed organization decisions.
Seamless combination: Incorporates efficiently with’s ecommerce platform, permitting an unified online and offline retail experience.
Customizable: Deals versatility to produce customized reports and tailor the system to particular organization requirements.
Cons: Not ideal for little businesses or single-location operations, does not have functions that deal with restricted scale or scope.
Cost: comes with a monthly subscription charge, which might be greater compared to some other POS systems.
Learning curve: While easy to use, mastering all the functions of might take a while for new users.
Hardware compatibility: Some third-party hardware may not be fully suitable with POS Pro, needing particular devices purchases.
e-commerce plans:
$ 29 for Standard when billed each year (or $39 when paid monthly).
$ 79 for routine when billed annually (or $105 when paid monthly).
$ 299 for Advanced when billed each year (or $399 when paid monthly).
Customized pricing for Shopify Plus.
All e-commerce plans included POS Lite for selling in-person. Updating to Pro for brick-and-mortar services costs an extra $89 per area.
‘s alternative options for mainly offering in-person:
$ 5 for Starter strategy, that includes one Lite area.
$ 79 (when billed every year) for Retail plan, or $89 when paid monthly; consists of one Pro place.
How Much Does a POS System Cost?
Hardware cost
$ 49 for Tap & Chip card reader.
$ 219 for Tap & Chip counter top set (iPad not consisted of).
$ 299 for Go mobile device.
$ 349 for terminal.
$ 459 and up for terminal countertop sets.
Contract length
Our versatile plans are created to fit your needs, with the alternative to pay monthly or dedicate to a longer-term agreement for additional savings. Select from annual, two-year, or three-year strategies, and take pleasure in the liberty to change your mind without any responsibilities.
Pros:
Free fundamental version: Square provides a totally free version of its system, making it available for small businesses with restricted budget plans.
Simple setup: Square is known for its simple setup process, allowing services to start processing deals quickly.
All-in-one solution: Square offers additional services like payment processing, consultation scheduling, and payroll, all incorporated into one platform.
Compatibility: Functions with a vast array of third-party hardware, supplying more versatility in picking equipment.
Consumer assistance: Square provides responsive customer support via phone, email, and chat, helping services repair problems efficiently.
Cons:
Minimal inventory management: While adequate for fundamental needs, Square’s inventory management features may not suffice for services with complicated requirements.
Fundamental analytics: Square’s reporting capabilities are not as comprehensive as’s, doing not have some advanced analytics functions.
Less scalable: Square may not be as well-suited for businesses with several places or those preparing considerable growth, as it does not have some features needed for intricate operations.
The Pro variation offers higher flexibility in terms of offering places, as there is no limitation to the number of locations you can add, unlike the Lite version. Nevertheless, each extra place added to a membership will sustain an additional month-to-month fee of $89. While this may seem like a disadvantage, it is crucial to note that this cost represents only a small portion of the overall expenditures of an effective retail operation. The “per location, each month” prices technique enables for higher modification and flexibility, making the Pro plan a scalable choice for services of all sizes. Furthermore, the Pro strategy provides enhanced control over personnel use, enabling you to reward employee for their efficiency and performance.
provide them different gain access to rights to your system, or assign various functions to them, then is a much better option than the ‘Lite’ version. It provides you a truly wide variety of tools for managing your group’s relationship with your system. 3– it offers you a lot more customer-focused features. Lite lets you accept payments from your consumers cheaply and merely, however that’s about it. By contrast, lets you do far more for your consumers. Unlike the ‘Lite’ variation, it.
lets you facilitate exchanges; provide custom invoices; use discounts; and offer local pick up choices. So, to sum up, Lite is suitable for merchants who desire a simple and inexpensive method to offer personally in one location. Pro is better for merchants who require to sell in numerous locations, desire more control over how personnel usage and want to use their consumers more purchase and shipment choices.
The Go is an all-in-one terminal that includes a card reader and barcode scanner. You can utilize the scanner to instantly spot the price of a product and the card reader to receive the money from the customer. This device accepts tap, chip, and swipe payments. It has a 5.5-inch high-definition display and a long battery life to ensure you can use it for a whole organization day after a full charge.
The smaller sized card reader lets you accept tap and chip payments from customers however not swipe. It links wirelessly to a tablet or via Bluetooth to a mobile phone. It is compact and easy to manage, indicating it is appropriate for businesses that run on the go, e.g., farmer’s markets.
Shopify Payments
provides a payments processing option that lets you charge cash to all significant debit and charge card. Your clients can insert their cards, tap them, or swipe them depending on the type of hardware you selected. There’s also Tap to Pay, which lets you accept payments on your iPhone without any extra hardware. The prices is transparent– between 2.4% and 2.7% on each successful transaction– without any covert fees or setup fees.
Inventory Management
One of the significant pain points that retailers face is handling their stock; knowing which items are offered at a given time and the prices for each of them. The advantage is that provides functions to assist.
You can take stock of each product and appoint products to different locations and channels utilizing’s software application. You can likewise perform precise inventory counts with your barcode scanner after getting goods. You can set the system to alert you if a product is running out of stock or to provide sale item recommendations. Similarly, you can get comprehensive reports to track your sales; what items are selling quicker, what products aren’t selling, which items need to be restocked, etc synchronizes one of the market’s best point-of-sale systems with the e-commerce platform. With the app, you can sell your services or products personally and online. Take orders from clients,
As soon as you have a plan, you can download the app– readily available for iOS and Android devices. Using the app, you’ll have the ability to visit and begin customizing your system. If you’re selling face to face, you can either use Tap to Pay on iPhone or purchase hardware, and you’ll be ready to begin taking customer orders.
is best for businesses that:
Want to take advantage of’s e-commerce features. While does use 2 simple strategies for service’s that primarily sell personally or on social media, the bulk of its offerings are for omnichannel sellers who desire to develop a custom online shop utilizing.
Sell online and personally. is optimized for offering across online stores, social networks channels and brick-and-mortar stores. The remarkable lineup of functions is perfect for omnichannel merchants.
Prefer to utilize a single supplier for and payment processing. Payments is included with all monthly strategies to process online deals as well as in-person payments. You can utilize a third-party provider, such as Amazon Pay, Authorize.net or Braintree, to process payments. Your rates will likely vary from what Shopify Payments charges if you work with a third-party processor, nevertheless, and Shopify will charge you an extra deal charge for not utilizing its internal product.
Choosing factors
Clover provides solutions for e-commerce services and in-person shops to let services choose the combination they need. features differ by monthly strategy. More pricey monthly plans consist of advanced stock and reporting capabilities.