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The real question for a restaurant operator is not which POS is cheapest to licence. It is which system handles the complexity of a live service — modifiers, split bills, table turns, kitchen tickets — without becoming a bottleneck. Everything in this guide works backwards from that problem.
Best restaurant POS systems compared
All figures verified against provider websites, May 2026. Processor-agnostic providers (TouchBistro, YumaPOS) use their own acquirer relationships — card rates are not set by the POS vendor.
Best restaurant POS picks by type
These picks are organised by the operational context most likely to drive the decision. Each comes with an explicit condition for when it is the wrong choice.
Best restaurant POS overall
Square POS. The free plan includes table management, open tabs, modifiers, split bills, and a kitchen display option without a monthly software fee. Most independent restaurants taking fewer than £8,000/month in card sales will pay less on Square’s 1.75% flat rate than on any plan-based alternative, once the subscription is factored back in.
Not right if: you run more than 80 covers or need native delivery app integration without third-party middleware. At that point, Lightspeed or TouchBistro’s deeper hospitality feature set starts to matter.
Visit SquareBest restaurant POS for multi-site operators
Lightspeed Restaurant K-Series. The Lite plan at £49/month gives a full floor plan, integrated kitchen display, and native connections to Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat. The 1.49% + 20p transaction rate on Lightspeed Payments is lower than Square’s flat 1.75% above around £6,000/month in card volume.
Not right if: you are a single-site independent with straightforward service flow. The licencing cost and onboarding complexity are justified by multi-terminal operations, not a café with four tables.
Visit LightspeedBest restaurant POS for payment flexibility
TouchBistro. The processor-agnostic model means you bring your own acquirer — Barclaycard, Worldpay, Stripe, whoever already gives you the best card rate. At £59/month per iPad licence, it is the only system in this guide where the POS cost and the payment cost are genuinely independent. Useful for operators who already have a negotiated rate.
Not right if: you are starting from scratch with no existing acquirer relationship. You will spend time shopping for card rates before the POS is even live.
Visit TouchBistroBest restaurant POS for delivery-first operations
YumaPOS. Native integrations with Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat, plus a kitchen display and self-service kiosk option, at a starting price of £40/month. The processor-agnostic model applies here too: YumaPOS charges 0% commission on transactions, so your payment costs are entirely down to the acquirer you choose. The strongest fit for dark kitchens and delivery-heavy independents.
Not right if: you need a table-service floor plan as your primary workflow. YumaPOS is built around counter service and delivery, not a full sit-down restaurant floor layout.
Visit YumaPOSBest budget restaurant POS
SumUp POS Lite. £0/month, 1.69% per transaction, and basic order management for a counter-service operation that needs to track sales without paying for hospitality features it will not use. The ceiling is low — no table layout, no kitchen display, no delivery integration — but for a small café or food stall, that ceiling is not the problem.
Not right if: you have table service, split bills, or modifiers. SumUp POS Lite is not designed for sit-down hospitality.
Visit SumUpBest restaurant POS providers
Square Reader
What a restaurant POS needs that a card reader does not
A card reader processes the payment. A restaurant POS manages the order before it ever reaches a card terminal. The gap between the two is where most operational problems in hospitality actually live.
Table management
A table plan lets front-of-house staff assign orders to seats, track table status (occupied, reserved, needs clearing), and split a bill by seat or item. Square, Lightspeed, TouchBistro, Epos Now, and YumaPOS all include it. SumUp POS Lite does not.
Modifiers and course management
Modifiers allow a diner to specify “no sauce” or “add extra cheese” at the point of ordering. Without modifier support baked into the POS, the instruction has to travel by word of mouth to the kitchen, which is where errors begin. All table-service systems in this guide handle modifiers at order entry.
Kitchen display system
A kitchen display system (KDS) replaces paper tickets with a screen that shows each order, flags time elapsed, and allows kitchen staff to mark courses complete. Lightspeed and TouchBistro include it (or offer it as an add-on); Square and Epos Now offer optional KDS hardware. SumUp does not support KDS.
Delivery app integration
Delivery aggregator orders (Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Just Eat) arriving separately from the POS create two order queues that kitchen staff have to reconcile manually. Native integrations — available on Lightspeed, TouchBistro, and YumaPOS — route aggregator orders directly into the POS kitchen queue, removing the manual merge step.
Split billing and open tabs
Splitting a bill by item, by seat, or equally is a standard hospitality requirement that a basic card reader cannot support. Square handles it in the free POS app. All table-service systems in this guide do.
Restaurant POS cost comparison
The honest cost comparison for a restaurant POS has three layers: software fee, transaction rate (if integrated payments), and hardware. They need to be read together, not as three separate decisions.
Software fee
Square and SumUp charge nothing at the free tier. Lightspeed starts at £49/month, TouchBistro at £59/month, Epos Now at £54/month, YumaPOS at £40/month. For a business doing £10,000/month in card sales, a £49/month software fee is a 0.49% effective overhead — it only makes financial sense if the feature set justifies it.
Transaction fee
Square and SumUp charge a flat rate on every sale. Lightspeed and Epos Now offer integrated processing with published rates. TouchBistro and YumaPOS are processor-agnostic, which means your transaction rate is whatever your chosen acquirer charges — potentially lower if you have volume, potentially higher if you accept it from a provider who bundles a worse rate into the pitch.
Hardware
Square sells a Reader for £19 and a Terminal (standalone touchscreen) for £149. SumUp’s Air reader is £15. Lightspeed and Epos Now typically require a tablet, stand, and receipt printer — hardware bundles from £300 to £1,000+. TouchBistro runs on iPad; you supply the hardware. YumaPOS supports a range of Android terminals.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free restaurant POS system in the UK?
Square POS on the free plan is the strongest option at no monthly cost. It handles tables, modifiers, open tabs, and split bills without a subscription. SumUp POS Lite is also free but lacks table management and is better suited to counter service than sit-down restaurants.
Do I need a separate card reader if I have a restaurant POS?
It depends on the POS. Square’s POS uses a Square Reader (£19) connected via Bluetooth. Lightspeed Payments uses integrated terminal hardware. TouchBistro and YumaPOS require a separate card terminal from your chosen acquirer. Epos Now offers its own payments integration or accepts third-party terminals.
What does a restaurant POS cost per month in the UK?
Between £0 (Square free plan, SumUp Lite) and £199/month (Lightspeed Restaurant Pro). The midpoint for a single-site independent is roughly £49–£59/month for a hospitality-grade system with table management and kitchen display. Hardware is an additional upfront cost.
Can I use my own payment processor with a restaurant POS?
Yes — if you choose a processor-agnostic system. TouchBistro and YumaPOS both allow you to bring your own acquirer. Square and SumUp require you to use their own payment processing. Lightspeed and Epos Now offer proprietary integrated payments but can sometimes accommodate third-party processors at enterprise tier.
Does a restaurant POS handle Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat orders?
Lightspeed, TouchBistro, and YumaPOS all offer native delivery aggregator integrations. Square supports third-party middleware (e.g., Deliverect, Uber Eats Manager) but does not have a native aggregator integration at the free plan tier. SumUp POS Lite has no delivery integration.
What about the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023?
The Act, in force from October 2024, requires employers to pass 100% of tips to workers and maintain a written tips policy. Your POS system does not enforce compliance, but a system with tip reporting — Square, Lightspeed, TouchBistro — will give you the audit trail you need. Keep the POS report as evidence of how tips were collected and distributed. We checked tip-reporting functionality across all providers in this roundup.
We compiled this guide by researching providers in the restaurant POS market, checking current fees and features from each provider’s primary website. Selection reflects pricing, hospitality feature depth, delivery integration, and overall fit for typical UK restaurant operations. Verified May 2026.
All product and pricing claims are sourced from providers’ primary websites. Processor-agnostic provider rates are indicative only — actual card fees depend on the acquirer you negotiate with. Confirm current terms before signing.
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