Best POS Systems for Bars and Pubs
Best All-Round for Small Independent Bars: Square for Restaurants
We rate Square for Restaurants the most accessible full-featured POS for an independent bar. It runs on Square’s own hardware (handheld devices, countertop terminals, kitchen display screens) and includes tab management, split bills, floor plans, and course-based ordering as standard. Square for Restaurants starts from £0 a month on its genuinely free plan, with paid tiers adding deeper reporting and course management; card payments are 1.75% per transaction with no monthly fee for the payment processing side.
For a small bar taking under £20,000 per month, Square’s flat rate is competitive and easy to budget. There is no contract; cancel any time. Settlement is next business day. The system is cloud-based, so reporting and menu updates can be done remotely.
The weakness is that Square’s payment rate does not drop with volume in the way that acquirers like Dojo or TakePayments do. For busier venues, the flat percentage becomes expensive.
Best for High-Volume Venues with Complex Menus: Lightspeed Restaurant
Lightspeed Restaurant is a cloud-based POS built for operations where the menu is complex: multiple modifiers, allergen flags, course timing, and table management across a large floor. It is popular with cocktail bars and gastropubs where the food and drink menus are equally important.
Software starts at £79 per month for the basic plan. Integrated payments through Lightspeed Payments are available in the UK, with rates depending on volume. Third-party payment providers including Dojo and Stripe Terminal are also compatible. The system runs on iPads and supports kitchen display screens and customer-facing displays.
Lightspeed has strong reporting: revenue by category, table turn times, and average spend are all standard. The trade-off is that setup requires more configuration than Square, so we would use Lightspeed’s onboarding team rather than go it alone; the menu build is where you either save or lose your future service speed.
Best for Pubs with Retail and Food Components: Epos Now Hospitality
Epos Now Hospitality is a strong choice for pubs that sell a mix of drinks at the bar, food from a kitchen, and retail products (bottled beer, merchandise). The system handles all three product types within a single platform, with a large app marketplace covering loyalty programmes, accounting integrations, and cellar stock management.
Pricing starts at around £25 per month for the software, with hardware purchased or leased separately. Epos Now has its own payment processing through a partnership arrangement; rates vary. Third-party processors can also be used with compatible hardware.
The downside is that the interface is less intuitive than Square or Lightspeed, and customer support quality has been variable in recent years, so we would budget real time for staff training before your first busy session rather than learning it on the job.
Best for Fast Tableside Payments: Dojo Go with EPOS Integration
Dojo Go is not a POS system in itself; it is a fast 4G payment terminal that integrates with existing EPOS systems including Lightspeed, Epos Now, and several others. For bars and pubs where tableside card payment speed is the priority, Dojo’s sub-second processing time and reliable 4G connectivity make it the strongest standalone terminal choice.
Transaction rates start from around 1.2% for businesses processing £10,000 or more per month. Monthly terminal rental is around £20–£25. Settlement is next business day. Dojo’s dashboard provides real-time transaction data and chargeback management.
If you already run an EPOS system you are happy with, we rate adding Dojo terminals the most cost-effective upgrade path: you keep the system your staff know and just speed up the bit the customer waits on.
Best Enterprise System for Multi-Site Operators: Tevalis
Tevalis is a UK-headquartered EPOS vendor specialising in hospitality. Its system is built for operators with multiple sites (pub groups, bar chains, and managed houses) who need centralised menu management, inter-site reporting, and enterprise integrations (stock management, ERP, loyalty). Pricing is bespoke and typically negotiated per site.
Tevalis integrates with major UK payment providers and supports self-service kiosks, kitchen display screens, and customer-facing screens. Implementation is managed by a UK-based team. We would not point a single-site independent here; the setup cost and complexity are calibrated for operators running at least two or three sites, and below that you are paying for headroom you will not touch.
POS Systems for Bars and Pubs Compared
Square for Restaurants
Square’s hospitality software includes course management, open tabs, split bills by seat, and tip prompts as standard on the mid-tier plan. The hardware ecosystem covers countertop terminals, handheld devices, and kitchen display screens. Square’s stock management is adequate for a drinks-only venue; if you run a serious food operation, you may find it limiting next to Lightspeed, so we would size it to a drinks-led bar rather than a gastropub. 24/7 support is available on all paid plans. There is also a genuinely free tier: Square for Restaurants Free is £0 a month with unlimited devices and locations, so a small drinks-led bar can run on the 1.75% per-transaction fee alone and only move to a paid plan for deeper reporting and course management.
Lightspeed Restaurant
Lightspeed’s table management is among the most detailed available to UK bars: live floor plans, cover tracking, and service timing. The menu builder handles nested modifiers cleanly, which is useful for cocktail bars where drinks have multiple variants. The analytics show you what is selling and when (revenue by category, table turns, average spend), which is where you spot the dead lines on your menu. Hardware is iPad-based; Lightspeed sells compatible stands, cash drawers, and printers.
Epos Now Hospitality
Epos Now’s strength is breadth: the app marketplace has over 100 integrations covering accounting, loyalty, online ordering, and delivery platforms. The system is particularly well-suited to wet-led pubs with a small food offer, where the simplicity of a drinks-first POS matters more than fine dining table management. Epos Now sells its own touchscreen terminals and supports existing hardware in some configurations. One thing to budget for: its heavily discounted hardware bundles are tied to a mandatory payments, care and support subscription that starts at £54 a month on a 12-month term, so the headline hardware saving is partly offset by an ongoing fee.
Dojo Go with EPOS
Dojo integrates with EPOS systems via a semi-integrated API. The terminal displays the bill total, the customer taps or inserts their card, and the transaction result is passed back to the EPOS. This means you do not need to re-key amounts, reducing errors and speeding up payment. Dojo’s UK-based 24/7 support team and hardware replacement guarantee are useful for venues that cannot afford downtime on a busy night.
Tevalis
Tevalis operates a dedicated implementation and support model: there is a UK team for onboarding, training, and ongoing support. The system handles age verification prompts at the POS level, which is important for licensed premises. Multi-site stock management and inter-site loyalty programmes are available. Integration with cellar management systems is supported. Tevalis is accredited with all major UK payment providers.
Other Systems Worth Considering
These four sit outside our main tested lineup — we have not put them through the same venue-by-venue assessment as the five above — but each earns a mention for a specific bar or pub scenario, and the pricing below comes straight from the provider’s own UK site.
Loyverse — for a micro or pop-up bar on no budget. Loyverse’s core point-of-sale software is completely free, running on a phone or tablet with sales, inventory and a basic loyalty programme included. It is a lightweight till rather than a hospitality-grade system — do not expect Lightspeed’s table management — but if you are opening a single-server bar and want to spend nothing on software, it is the obvious place to start.
SumUp — for markets, pop-ups and mobile bars. SumUp runs pay-as-you-go with no monthly fee and a flat 1.69% per transaction on its card readers, paired with a free point-of-sale app. If your “venue” is a festival stand or a mobile bar and you are already tapping cards on a SumUp reader, it doubles as a no-cost till for low volumes; above a few thousand pounds a month, a system with proper tab and table handling will serve you better.
Shift4 — for a turnkey bundle with no upfront hardware cost. Shift4’s hospitality plans start from £39 a month and include the first set of hardware at no upfront cost. That is worth a quote if the capital outlay on tills is your barrier to switching, though you should model the monthly fee over the full term before you sign.
Toast — for a food-led venue willing to commit to one ecosystem. Toast is a hospitality-specialist POS with a £0-a-month Pay As You Go starter plan, but the free entry point comes with a catch: it runs only on Toast’s own proprietary hardware, so you are locking into a single supplier for terminals and support. For a busy kitchen-and-bar operation that values Toast’s restaurant features, that can be a fair trade; for a wet-led pub it is more commitment than you need.
How to Choose a POS System for Bars and Pubs
Size and complexity. For a single-site bar with a straightforward drinks menu, Square for Restaurants is the easiest starting point and the cheapest to operate at low volumes. For a venue with a full food menu and 80-plus covers, Lightspeed or Tevalis give you the table management depth you need.
Volume and transaction costs. At under £10,000 per month, Square’s flat rate is manageable. Above £15,000 per month, switching to an acquirer with volume pricing (Dojo, TakePayments) typically saves money, even after the monthly terminal rental.
Hardware strategy. If you already have EPOS hardware, adding Dojo terminals is the least disruptive upgrade. If you are setting up from scratch, Square or Lightspeed offer complete hardware ecosystems that are easier to configure and maintain.
Payment speed. At a busy bar, every second counts, and a queue three deep on a Friday is where a slow terminal costs you real money. Dojo’s processing speed is the fastest in this comparison; Square and Lightspeed are both reliable but slightly slower on contactless. If speed at the bar is your single biggest pain, we would weight it above everything else here.
Bar and Pub POS Fees and Costs to Watch
Software vs hardware vs payment costs. These are three separate cost lines. A low monthly software fee does not mean low total cost; payment processing can dwarf the software fee at higher volumes.
Contract length. Square has no contract. Lightspeed typically requires an annual commitment. Epos Now and Dojo have minimum terms. Tevalis is negotiated per site.
Hardware purchase vs lease. Purchasing hardware outright is cheaper over three or more years. Leasing spreads cost but locks you into a provider. Always model both scenarios over a realistic timeline before signing.
Integration costs. Some EPOS providers charge for third-party integrations or payment terminal connectivity. Check whether the integrations you need are included in the quoted software fee.
Support tiers. Out-of-hours support is critical for licensed premises. Square and Dojo include 24/7 support on standard plans. We would confirm exactly what Lightspeed and Epos Now include at your price point before committing; out-of-hours cover is not something you want to discover you lack at 11pm on a Saturday.
Our Verdict
For most independent UK bars, Square for Restaurants is the place to start. A genuinely free plan, tabs, split-by-seat and floor plans as standard, 1.75% card payments and no contract make it the easiest full POS to run on a low budget. Below about £15,000 a month in card takings, the flat rate is competitive and you can be live the same week.
Match the rest to your venue. Lightspeed earns its £79+/month once the menu gets complex — cocktail bars and gastropubs with nested modifiers and a big floor to manage. Epos Now suits wet-led pubs that also sell food and retail and want one platform across all three. If tableside speed is your single biggest pain and you already run an EPOS you like, adding Dojo Go terminals is the cheapest, least disruptive upgrade.
Go enterprise only when the estate justifies it. Tevalis is built for multi-site operators needing centralised menus, inter-site reporting and age-verification at the POS — overkill, and over-budget, for a single site. And remember the three cost lines that decide the real bill: software, hardware, and payment processing. Above roughly £15,000 a month, a volume-priced acquirer (Dojo or TakePayments) usually beats a flat rate — model your own takings before you sign.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on the POS and the terminal. Dojo, SumUp, and some TakePayments terminals support semi-integration with popular EPOS systems. Square and Lightspeed both have their own payment processing built in. If you want to use a third-party card machine with Square or Lightspeed, check compatibility before purchasing; not all combinations work cleanly.
Yes. Tab management and split billing are standard features in all the systems listed here. Square for Restaurants and Lightspeed both support tabs, split-by-seat, and partial payments. Epos Now supports tabs on its Hospitality plan. If tab management is critical to your operation, test the tab workflow during any trial period before committing.
No. A POS system is not a legal requirement for a licensed premises, but it is strongly advisable. HMRC increasingly expects digital records from hospitality businesses, and a POS system with integrated card processing provides a complete audit trail. Age verification prompts at the POS (available in Tevalis and some Epos Now configurations) can also support responsible service compliance.
A reliable broadband connection is essential for cloud-based systems like Square, Lightspeed, and Epos Now. Most systems support offline mode for short outages; payments made offline sync when the connection is restored. Dojo terminals use 4G as a backup if the venue Wi-Fi drops. For venues in areas with poor broadband, a 4G router as a backup is worth the investment.
Methodology & Disclosure
How we reviewed these systems. We assessed each POS on what actually decides service quality and cost behind a busy bar: card speed at the terminal, tab and open-table handling, split bills and tipping, hardware ecosystem, EPOS integration, and the hospitality extras that matter to licensed premises (age-verification prompts, allergen flags, cellar and stock management). We weighed those against the three cost lines that make up the real bill — software subscription, hardware, and payment-processing rate — because a low headline software fee can hide a high total. Figures were checked against each provider’s published UK pricing in June 2026; Lightspeed’s integrated payment rate and Tevalis’s pricing are negotiated on volume or per site, so we flag those as quote-based and recommend getting it in writing. We do not run a live Friday-night service on every system first-hand; this is a desk review of published pricing, specifications, and how each system fits a defined type of venue.
Disclosure. BusinessExpert is reader-supported and editorially independent. Square and Epos Now are affiliate partners, and the links to them are affiliate links that may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. Lightspeed is a tracked partner link. Dojo and Tevalis are not affiliate partners — those are standard outbound links that earn us nothing. Commissions never affect which systems we recommend or how we rank them; our recommendations are based on verified pricing, features, and total cost of ownership, not on commercial relationships.