Best Mobile POS Systems

Square is best for businesses that need a mobile POS they can use at the counter, on the sales floor, at events, or on the go.

Square combines mobile payment processing with POS tools for retail, quick-serve, service, and mobile businesses. Sellers can take payments, manage items, view sales, sell online, and choose from simple card readers or sturdier Square hardware as their setup grows.

Clover stands out for mobile hardware that feels more like a full POS system than a simple card reader.

With devices such as Clover Flex, businesses can take payments, print receipts, scan items, view reports, and run sales from the floor, counter, or curbside. Clover can work well for retail and restaurant sellers, but pricing and support depend heavily on the provider you choose.

Lightspeed is built for businesses that need more than basic mobile checkout, especially retailers with larger inventories or multiple locations.

Employees can use Lightspeed’s iPad POS to take payments, look up product details, manage inventory, issue store credit, access customer profiles, and keep lines moving from the sales floor. It’s more expensive than simpler mobile POS options, but it offers more advanced retail tools.

Helcim gives growing businesses a mobile POS option that can get more cost-effective as sales volume increases.

Instead of flat-rate pricing, Helcim uses interchange-plus processing with automatic volume discounts. Businesses also get built-in tools for mobile payments, invoicing, recurring billing, inventory, customer management, reporting, and online sales without paying a monthly POS software fee.

Toast is built around restaurant mobility, from handheld ordering at the table to digital ordering and kitchen display tools.

Servers can use Toast handhelds to take orders and payments from the floor, while restaurants can add online ordering, delivery, QR code payments, gift cards, loyalty, marketing, and KDS support. Toast is a strong mobile POS for restaurants, but it requires Toast’s in-house payment processing and a long-term agreement.

Vend by Lightspeed is built for retailers that want an intuitive iPad POS with stronger inventory tools than a basic mobile checkout app.

Retailers can use it to take payments from the sales floor, manage inventory, process returns and store credit, view customer purchase history, print barcode labels, issue gift cards, and support multi-location selling. Pricing and contract terms should be confirmed directly with Lightspeed.

Shopify POS makes the most sense for businesses already selling online with Shopify or planning to build around Shopify’s eCommerce platform.

Its mobile POS lets sellers take in-person payments, manage inventory, sync online and in-person sales, access customer data, and sell across multiple channels from one system. It's a natural fit for multichannel sellers.

Revel is built for larger or more complex businesses that need mobile POS tools without giving up advanced reporting, offline mode, multi-store management, or integrations.

It’s a powerful option for established businesses that want iPad-based selling, online ordering, loyalty, customer displays, open API access, and deep operational tools. However, Revel is expensive and may require a longer contract.