7 Best Restaurant Handheld POS Systems

Toast’s $0 upfront Quick Start Bundle plan looks like a good deal, but to get this deal, you have to pay much higher per-order fees, to the point where it could be worth it to purchase your POS equipment upfront and pay a monthly fee if you can afford it. If you can’t afford it, find a way to finance your purchase or switch to a paid plan as soon as you have the money to do so.

On the $69/month Core plan, you’ll have to pay an additional $75/month if you want to add digital ordering, which includes online orders to takeout and Toast delivery services. The $165/month Growth plan comes with digital ordering at no extra cost.

On the Quick Start Bundle plan, you can add the digital ordering and marketing suite (includes digital ordering, loyalty, gift cards, and email marketing) for no monthly cost, but Toast will increase your per-order payment processing fees again to a relatively high percentage.

You can purchase these popular Toast software add-ons at the following prices:

• Digital Ordering: $75/month
• Third-Party Ordering Platform Sync: $30/month for Grubhub, DoorDash, or Uber Eats; $75/month for all three
• Loyalty: $50/month
• Gift Cards: $50/month
• Kitchen Display Software: $25/month
• Self-Serve Kiosk Software: $90/month
• Email Marketing: $75/month
• Catering & Events: $100/month

Other popular add-ons, such as Toast Payroll and Toast Scheduling, require you to get a custom quote which will be determined based on factors like the number of employees and locations you own.

If you plan on purchasing multiple Toast products at once, make sure to ask about a discount for bundling products.

Toast’s best features related specifically to the Toast Go 2 handheld POS system are its connections to Toast Loyalty, Toast KDS (kitchen display system), and table/floor management.

The extensive Toast Loyalty program, one of the best rewards programs, automatically:

• Prompts customers and servers to ask about loyalty program signup
• Notifies servers on the Toast Go 2 handheld mobile POS system (and any other customer ordering touchpoint) when a customer has loyalty points available for use
• Connects a loyalty account to a credit card so customers can automatically earn points just by using their card
• Allows customers to sign up with a phone number or email and send a welcome gift or loyalty points

The Toast Go 2 handheld also links to Toast KDS, which is one of the best kitchen display systems available. With syncing between these two Toast products, servers can:

• Easily hold and fire orders to the kitchen and get notifications on their handheld device when an order item is ready to be picked up
• 86 menu items and modifiers from their handheld and kitchen staff will be notified on their screen (and vice versa)
• View online orders for pickup and delivery, which helps servers who are distributing takeout orders and orders from third-party ordering platforms

Loyalty program signup prompt on Toast Go 2 handheld device.

We also like all the things servers can do with tables and checks directly on the Toast Go 2. Servers can split checks up evenly or by order items, guest seat, and payment method (e.g. split by gift card and debit card payment.)  They can add guests to a table, send guests to another server’s section (great for moving people from the bar to a table), and change the dining option (great for guests who want to order something like a dessert to go.)

Plus, the hardware itself is heat and spill-resistant but still lightweight and easy to carry around in an apron or pocket. It has a long charge, fast processing speed, and good connectivity to the back of the house.

Toast software on PC, kitchen display screen, handheld mobile POS system, and countertop POS system.

Toast software only works with Toast’s proprietary Android-based hardware, which is more heat and spill-resistant than iPads, which every other POS system but Square and Clover relies on.

Toast hardware comes at the following prices:

• Toast Go 2 Handheld POS: $627
• Countertop POS: $875
• Outdoor Wi-Fi Access Point: $104
• Kitchen Printer: $269
• Cash Drawer: $134
• Kitchen Display System: $629
• Self-Serve Kiosk Terminal: $809

On the pay-as-you-go Quick Start Bundle plan, you can get the handheld POS for no upfront cost and no monthly fees, as long as you agree to pay higher per-transaction payment processing fees. If you pay upfront for your POS hardware, you’ll pay between $69/month and $165/month for your POS software.

In general, we do not recommend the pay-as-you-go plan because the higher per-order fees will cost you more than the original price of the hardware once you get in enough orders.

If you can, pay for your POS hardware upfront. Otherwise, look into equipment financing to help you cover the costs of the restaurant hardware you need in your establishment.

Toast offers an in-house restaurant credit card processing system at the following payment processing rates, which are dependent on your subscription plan:

• Quick Start Bundle: 2.99% plus $0.15 per card-present transaction; 3.39% + 0.15 for all transactions if you choose to add the online ordering and marketing suite to your Quick Start Bundle
• Core: 2.49% plus $0.15 per card-present transaction; 3.50% plus $0.15 per card-not-present transaction
• Growth & Custom Plan: Quote-based

It’s important to note that while you don’t have to pay a monthly subscription fee on the Starter plan, the higher processing fees you end up paying on card-present transactions can easily exceed the $69/month Core plan subscription fee.

Translation: If you can pay for your POS hardware upfront, you should choose the Core plan or higher to get lower payment processing fees.

Toast subscriptions are typically long-term commitments ranging from 1-3 years, with automated renewals. If you cancel your contract, you may have to pay early termination fees. There are no refunds if you cancel your software subscription.

You may return your Toast hardware for up to 90 days after purchase. Toast also offers a limited lifetime warranty for up to three years on qualifying Toast products.

If you choose to get the pay-as-you-go plan and add the digital ordering and marketing software package to your plan, you will pay a 3.39% + $0.15 fee on all orders, not just online orders.

If you don’t use any integrations or add-ons, TouchBistro is $69/month for one register. The Dual plan includes two user licenses and costs $129/month. The Team plan includes five user licenses at $249/month, and the Unlimited plan includes unlimited user licenses at $399/month. Plans are billed annually.

The company also charges a nonrefundable setup fee that starts at $200 and includes your hardware setup plus software walkthrough.

The following add-on features are available:

• Online Ordering: $50/month
• Reservations: $229/month
• Loyalty Program: $99/month
• Gift Cards: $25/month
• Marketing: $99/month

While the add-ons seem expensive (especially Online Ordering and Reservations), you are not charged any cover fees, commissions, or service charges for orders or reservations placed through TouchBistro.

TouchBistro’s most unique features are its offline mode, waitlist/reservation system, server prompts, built-in table monitoring, and KDS connectivity.

This POS system has a complete offline mode because it is both a locally installed and cloud-based solution. This means that you can take orders and payments from handheld POS systems without WiFi. The POS will communicate with kitchen printers and display systems, payments can be at any time, and your restaurant will not need to slow down because of connectivity issues.

TouchBistro’s waitlist and reservations functions come from the TouchBistro Reservations app, an iPad-based app that integrates with the POS so you can:

• Automatically have a table’s status updated as order courses come in and estimate how long a wait it may be for the next party looking to be seated at that table or section
• Connect a customer’s reservation to their order history to get more insights on your patrons
• Update the waitlist and notify individuals by SMS text that their table is ready
• Preview the evening’s reservations on handheld POS systems so servers can plan for large parties
• Visually show how long a table has been stalled at a certain part of the meal to help prioritize tables and move guests along

TouchBistro Reservations iPad app synced to TouchBistro POS iPad app.

Servers can be notified about menu items, including nutrition facts and allergens, from handheld POS systems.

They also receive real-time upselling prompts based on what a customer is ordering at the moment. For example, if a customer is ordering wine, a server can provide them with information about the wine and appetizer, entrée, or dessert pairings. If a customer is a vegan, servers won’t need to go back and ask kitchen staff if an item contains any dairy products.

TouchBistro countertop iPad POS, iPad stand, handheld iPad POS, cash drawer, card reader, and receipt printer.

TouchBistro runs on iPads and iPad Minis, which you may source yourself or purchase from TouchBistro. Unfortunately, like many restaurant POS system providers, TouchBistro does not have an integrated card reader option. When it’s time to pay, you can bring a card reader to guests or send them to the front to pay at a register.

TouchBistro also supports hardware from third-party suppliers such as Chase Payments Solutions (formerly Chase Merchant Services), Square, Star Micronics, Verifone, and Epson.

Check with TouchBistro before purchasing any hardware to make sure the hardware models are compatible with TouchBistro software. Alternatively, you can contact TouchBistro for a quote on hardware and make your purchases through the POS company.

TouchBistro offers its own in-house payment processing solution, TouchBistro Payments (powered by Chase), which uses an interchange-plus pricing model. You have to contact TouchBistro for a custom quote.

Interchange-plus pricing can help you get the lowest payment processing rates, depending on your business size, model, and merchant account terms.

You may use third-party payment processors such as Square, TSYS, Worldpay (which we don’t typically recommend), Barclaycard, or Chase to process payments.

TouchBistro charges an early termination fee if you cancel your plan early, and the fee depends on how long you have between your cancellation date and the end of your contract.

If you do end up canceling your plan, you must send a written notice to TouchBistro at least 30 days before the end of your subscription term, or you’ll be automatically charged for another term.

On the free plan, you may use an unlimited number of POS devices with no monthly fee. Square KDS (kitchen display system) costs $20/device/month on the free plan.

On the Plus plan, you get one countertop POS device per location and must pay $40/device/month for added countertop POS devices. You get an unlimited number of KDS device licenses.

The Square mobile POS kit is only available on the Plus plan, and you must pay $50/month/location for using Square mobile kits.

Popular Square For Restaurants add-ons include:

• Square Loyalty: $45+/month/location
• Square Payroll: $35/month plus $6/month/employee
• Square Team Plus: $35/month/location

Square Team Plus includes features such as unlimited user access levels and team member badges.

Like Toast, Square offers Android-based handheld POS hardware that allows you to view menus, manage guest seats and checks, take orders, add order modifiers, and check on the status of both online and tableside orders.

Unlike Toast, you can create your own online ordering website for free with Square. Takeout and delivery orders are funneled directly to Square handheld POS systems and kitchen display screens. If you don’t have the manpower for a delivery system, Square On Demand charges a small fee to pull a driver from a network of DoorDash delivery drivers to get an order to a customer.

Square POS online ordering site setup.

On the Square Terminal and mobile POS kit, customers can add a custom tip, or you may set an automatic gratuity charge. They can also add their phone number to sign up for your loyalty program, sign up for different tiers in your loyalty program, and redeem their points at the POS.

Servers may 86 an item when needed from their handheld POS, but Square has good automated inventory tracking and will automatically 86 items and modifiers when stock runs out. In the event of damage, spoilage, or incorrect stock counts, being able to 86 an item yourself is useful.

Like Toast, you can see all ordering types on Square handheld POS systems, including curbside, takeout, delivery, and third-party delivery platform orders. KDS software runs both kitchen and expo screens, so staff have even more control over sending the correct takeout orders out the door.

Read our Toast vs Square comparison if you’re trying to decide between the two systems.

Square For Restaurants iPad KDS, online ordering menu on iPad and smartphone, QR code menu stand, Square iPad stand, and Square Terminal handheld POS system.

The Square For Restaurants and Square KDS apps run exclusively on iPads. You can configure your iPads as registers, KDS, customer-facing displays, and self-ordering terminals. You can use any iPad and a $49 Square card reader to take orders. This is a very cost-effective way to let servers take orders from any on or off your property.

Square POS hardware options include the $299 Square Terminal and the $259 Square mobile POS kit. Both handheld POS systems come with a built-in card reader, but only the slightly bulkier Square Terminal has a built-in receipt printer. The Square mobile POS kit is a new hardware offering and is designed to rival the Toast Go 2.

Square has an in-house payment processor, which every merchant must use. On the free plan, you will be charged the following payment processing fees:

• Card-Present Payments: 2.6% plus $0.10
• Card-Not-Present Payments: 3.5% plus $0.15
• Online Order Payments: 2.9% plus $0.30

On the Plus plan ($60/location/month), your payment processing rates are:

• Card-Present Payments: 2.5% plus $0.10
• Card-Not-Present Payments: 3.5% plus $0.15
• Online Order Payments: 2.6% plus $0.30

If you have higher sales volumes, consider enrolling in the Plus plan. The reduced payment processing fees may cover the paid subscription fee and then some.

Square’s contracts are month-to-month with no cancellation penalties. Square also offers a generous hardware warranty, which even covers any devices you purchase from a third-party seller.

Clover sells subscriptions for quick-serve restaurants and full-service restaurants. You may also purchase your Clover hardware and software subscription from a Clover reseller (more on this later.)

Note that the options above are for restaurant owners who purchase their Clover hardware outright from Clover.com. Lease options are also available.

With the Clover Flex, Clover’s proprietary handheld POS system, servers can accept orders, hold and fire items, modify floor plans, transfer guests and servers to new or existing tables, add tips and service charges, pre-authorize cards for large parties and bar tabs, and view the status of the entire restaurant’s tables.

Clover also includes an Order With Google integration and online ordering page with every Clover restaurant plan. Customers can easily order online for curbside pickup, carry-out, dine-in, or delivery from their own platform or Google Business profile.

Clover Dining app on Clover Flex handheld POS system.

Note: Clover’s online credit card processing is much higher than the standard 2.9%. Consider finding a different merchant account with different payment processing fees when purchasing Clover hardware and software.

We also appreciate that Clover offers a points-based customer loyalty and feedback program to help you with your restaurant’s marketing efforts.

Clover’s best feature is the Clover app market, which includes hundreds of restaurant apps made by Clover and third-party providers to help your restaurant succeed. You can add apps for things like kitchen displays, kiosk ordering, digital menu boards, and time clocks.

Clover countertop POS system, handheld POS system, barcode scanner, cash drawer, and card reader.

Your Clover hardware and software subscription are linked, which means that the company you get your Clover hardware from is the same company that you get your Clover software subscription and payment processing from. Read our Clover POS pricing guide for an in-depth explanation of why Clover hardware and software are bundled.

Clover’s handheld POS system is the Clover Flex, which costs $599 if you purchase it directly from Clover.com. It includes a built-in card reader and a receipt printer.

Clover also offers the Clover Mini ($799), a compact countertop POS system, and the Clover Station ($1,699 or $1,799, depending on your model), a full POS register with a cash drawer and receipt printer.

If you purchase your Clover hardware directly from Clover, you will pay payment processing rates starting at 2.3% plus $0.10 per card-present transaction, and 3.5% plus $0.10 per card-not-present transaction, which includes online orders.

If you purchase your Clover hardware from a reseller, you will get a custom payment processing rate. Many resellers use an interchange-plus pricing model, so you may get a better payment processing deal if you buy from one of these best Clover POS resellers.

Clover’s payment processor, Fiserv, is not a highly rated merchant services provider, namely because of lengthy contracts and hidden fees. To avoid this, find a reputable Clover reseller and work with them.

Also, you must use Clover hardware no matter who you sign a merchant agreement with. You cannot bring any of your own hardware or repurpose Clover equipment in any way.

Make sure you really like Clover devices and software before signing any merchant agreement since it can be really hard to switch later on.

These plans are for one register license. Additional registers cost $59/register/month.

We recommend the Starter plan for small counter or full-service restaurants. The plan includes extensive menu item setup and pricing management, the ability to completely customize your iPad POS screens, floor planning, card pre-authorizations, and a basic loyalty program builder.

The Essential plan includes online ordering, tableside ordering, QR code ordering, and advanced inventory management, making this plan much more suited for larger restaurants with more ordering option requirements. Multi-location management is included in this plan.

The Premium plan includes hotel revenue management, API (application program interface) access to build custom integrations, and custom payment processing rates to help you lower credit card processing fees.

Lightspeed Delivery, an online portal that automatically syncs all your in-house and third-party app orders within your POS, is available as an add-on subscription. Several third-party software apps are also available for an additional monthly fee as well.

Lightspeed Restaurant offers a sleek user interface that allows you to switch between a single-screen quick-serve mode for fast-paced but straightforward restaurants like sports bars and a full-service mode for more formal table service restaurants. With either setup, servers can accept orders, split checks by item or seat, split a single item (such as a bottle of wine) across several seats if the table is sharing, hold and fire items, add custom discounts and service fees, and more.

Lightspeed Restaurant handheld iPad POS system split items across guest seats.

Lightspeed’s loyalty program is highly customizable with different customer groups, reward types, and the ability to set one-time discounts for things like birthdays and recurring discounts for VIP customers.

Servers can sign customers up while customers are ordering or paying and, with a customer’s consent, customers can automatically be signed up for your loyalty program with the existing information on a takeout or delivery order. You can use text and email marketing along with your loyalty program to retain your customer base.

We love Lightspeed’s additional products as well, including the excellent delivery app that helps restaurants manage in-house and third-party delivery orders and the comprehensive yet intuitive KDS system.

There are also several third-party add-ons such as StayNTouch for hotels to manage rooms, reservations, and restaurants from a single handheld device.

Lightspeed Restaurant integration with hotel management software.

Lightspeed Restaurant receipt printer, iPad with iPad stand, cash drawer, and kitchen printer.

Lightspeed Restaurant hardware is all iPad-based, which means that you’ll need to bring a separate card terminal to the table for tableside payments or take a card up to the front for payment.

You may purchase your own iPads or through Lightspeed at $329 per device. The iPad stand costs $199, the kitchen bump bar costs $199, the cash drawer costs $129, and the kitchen printer costs $299.

It’s important to purchase your card reader (Lightspeed supports Verifone products) from Lightspeed to make sure your Lightspeed Payments account is configured correctly with the hardware.

Lightspeed has its own in-house payment processor, Lightspeed Payments, which all merchants in the US and Canada are required to use. The company charges the following payment processing fee for individuals on the Starter and Essential plans:

• Card-Present Payments: 2.6% + $0.10
• Online Payments: 2.9% + $0.30
• AMEX Card Payments: 3.5% + $0.10

Those on the Premium plan will get a custom payment processing rate, which should be lower than the above rates.

Lightspeed lists monthly pricing, but you must get a custom quote and sign a service contract. Your service contract will tell you whether you’re expected to pay monthly or annually. If you do not pay your fees on time, Lightspeed will charge a late fee. There are no returns on software subscriptions.

If you purchase your hardware from Lightspeed, you must verify that your hardware purchase is accurate. Lightspeed’s 30-day limited warranty will not apply to your purchase if you don’t. There is a restocking fee if you return a Lightspeed hardware purchase.

If you cancel your Lightspeed account, Lightspeed will charge an early termination fee, which can get pretty steep depending on the length of your contract and whether you got any discounts on your initial purchase.

Our advice: Start with a month-to-month subscription before committing to Lightspeed for the long term.

Revel used to list the following pricing information online:

• $99/month/terminal, with a two-terminal minimum requirement, meaning that the minimum monthly payment is $198/month
• $674 one-time implementation fee

However, all business owners must contact Revel for a quote on a custom plan that includes any add-ons such as online ordering and kitchen displays.

Similar to other POS systems, servers can use Revel to hold and fire orders to KDS screens, view orders from all ordering touchpoints including third-party delivery integrations, add order modifiers, and manage guest checks.

Some of Revel’s unique handheld POS capabilities include:

• Set custom discounts and allow employees to create custom discounts during orders
• Create highly detailed color coding for items and modifiers based on any feature or description you want (temperature, course, portions, add-on items, etc.)
• Allow employees to clock in and out on iPads
• Accept detailed catering and delivery orders along with regular orders
• Pre-authorize cards and charge orders to house accounts (which makes Revel one of the best POS systems for bars)

Other unique restaurant management features that are very useful to midsize and large/multi-location business owners include detailed business reporting, EMS (enterprise management system) offering, and open API (application program interface), which allows you to create a custom software integration with original or third-party software.

With Revel, you can create any type of business report you want using raw sales data, or use one of several Revel report templates. Using Revel, you can get business reports such as the number of patrons and table turnover in relation to employees working the floors to optimize your scheduling needs and find your highest-earning employees.

Revel’s multi-location reports allow you to view profits and loss per location, as well as menu and employee performance, the success of loyalty programs and marketing efforts, and the royalty fees owed to your parent restaurant.

Other multi-location management features allow you to transfer inventory and employees between locations and create custom user permissions so that franchise owners and location managers can alter only as much as you want them to. For example, if you want the menu to be the same across all locations, you can remove menu editing for franchise owners.

Revel POS system multi-establishment hierarchy settings.

Also, Revel has handheld POS apps for a loyalty program, customer order status screen, and delivery assignment/monitoring, which makes Revel one of the best pizza POS systems.

Revel iPad POS system with built-in swipe card reader.

Like TouchBistro, Revel offers only iPad-based POS systems. However, Revel does offer a mobile POS iPad case with a built-in swipe card reader.

Patrons who want to use digital wallets or chip/tap cards will not be able to pay this way with a swipe card reader. Alternatively, you can carry a separate credit card terminal to the table for tableside payments or send customers to a countertop POS for payment.

You may use hardware from providers such as Ingenico, Honeywell,  Infinite Peripherals, Epson, Linksys, Brecknell, and Zebra to meet your card reader, barcode scanner, cash drawer, ID card swiper, scale, and router needs.

You can source this third-party hardware yourself with express written permission from Revel or contact Revel for a quote on equipment.

Revel provides its own in-house payment processing solution, Revel Advantage, which is powered by Worldpay. You must fill out a merchant account application and typically sign a long-term merchant agreement.

You may also use third-party payment processors such as First Data (now known as Fiserv), Heartland, TSYS, Elavon, and Chase to process payments, but you will pay an additional monthly fee to do so.

You will be charged an early termination fee if you decide to cancel your contract.

You are billed annually for your subscription. Consider negotiating with Revel for a short-term monthly contract to try out the software before signing onto a lengthy contract.

Revel covers hardware for the first year of the manufacturer’s warranty. After that, you must contact the manufacturer to find out about equipment replacement options.

talech subscriptions range from $0/month to $99/month for one device. Additional devices cost $29/month.

Small cafe owners may find most of the features they need with the $69/month Standard plan or even the $29/month Starter plan.

However, most restaurant owners will find the $99/month Premium plan is worth the money. The Premium plan includes a branded website, loyalty program, and digital/physical gift card program at no extra cost.

There’s also a $200 one-time installation fee for business owners that is mandatory for users on the Standard and Premium plans. The fee includes remote POS software installation and training.

talech offers standard handheld POS functions as well as special features like the ability to generate manager and employee ID swipe cards with varying permission levels, automated customer profile generation when customers order, and order holds/recalls within the handheld POS.

Servers also get notifications when customers arrive for curbside and takeout orders, which is also why talech is one of the best drive-thru POS systems.

talech manager override swipe card settings on iPad.

talech offers excellent inventory management settings for its affordable price point, and includes these best features:

• iPad camera scanner app to take stock manually and cross-reference it with automated inventory numbers
• Inventory tracking by category (menu ingredients, retail sales, catering, etc.)
• Item bundling (great for selling meal kits, combos, prepackaged goods, etc.)
• Wholesale item breakdowns (e.g. breaking down cases of beer and wine for individual sale)
• Purchase order and invoice generator

Like Toast, you can enroll customers in a loyalty program and servers will see when a customer has loyalty points to redeem. talech’s loyalty program and general POS offering are less comprehensive but also more affordable than Toast.

talech on countertop POS and Poynt mobile POS.

talech runs on the iPad and Android platforms. You may use an iPad, iPad Mini, Ingenio, or Poynt device for your POS.

You may use Ingenio or Magtek, card readers. Epson, Socket, and Brecknell provide compatible printers, scanners, cash drawers, and weight scales.

You can either contact talech for a hardware quote or find compatible equipment on your own.

You may use payment processors such as Elavon, Global Payments, Bank of America Merchant Services, Deejavoo with Worldpay, and Chase to fulfill your payment processing needs.

talech contracts are month-to-month or annual, and there are no refunds. You may upgrade or downgrade your plan with no penalties.

You are required to pay a $15 late payment fee if your payment is late or talech cannot process a subscription payment. The company will continue charging a late fee every month until you pay your balance in full.

If you deactivate your account and then decide to reactivate it, you will be charged a reactivation fee.

Try talech out for a month or so before deciding to commit to the software.