6 Best POS Systems For Food Truck Success In 2023

Square Food Truck POS Systems Features

Square is cornering the POS market in all industries, providing great (and often free) in-person and online sales features. Food truck owners will be most interested in these features:

• Free Square online ordering menu and website builder
• Item modification settings and conversational item modifiers from POS
• Free in-person/curbside pickup options
• Free Square online menu QR code generator for contactless in-person ordering
• Free online gift card creation
• Split payments
• Offline mode (sales synced to the cloud when POS gets back online)
• Retail product sales functionalities, which are great for selling meal kits, cookbooks, etc.
• Loyalty program (paid add-on)
• Automated and manual discount settings (e.g. pre-scheduled happy hour, manually comping an item)
• Delivery via your own in-house system ($0.50/order) or on-demand delivery via DoorDash and Uber ($1.50/order)
• Delivery promotions, service charges, and loyalty program sync
• Online alcohol sales and delivery
• Order scheduling, which is great for catering and event prep
• Free appointment scheduling function for special event planning
• Square Marketing email campaigns (free and paid campaigns)
• Customer profile building for targeted marketing campaigns
• Kitchen display systems (KDS), which automatically sync to online, in-person, and third-party delivery app orders
• Custom time-based menus
• Automated menu item removals once stock runs out
• Preset item unavailable times and order fulfillment caps
• Item transfers across locations (starting at Plus plan)
• Employee time clock and payroll reporting
• Custom tipping settings
• Cash drawer management

Square Pricing

Square subscription plans are as follows:

• Free: $0/month, unlimited iPad terminals
• Plus: $60/month/location, includes on terminal; additional terminals cost $40/month/device
• Premium: Custom pricing for food truck businesses processing over $250,000/year
• Loyalty Program Subscription: $45/month
• Square Marketing: Ranges from $15/month to $425/month depending on the number of email contacts you have

Square has recently announced the addition of a new Square mobile POS system software/hardware offering. The software works on Square Terminals and Square mobile POS kits (more on this later).

You can add Square mobile POS software to an unlimited number of mobile POS devices until 1/25/23. After that, Square will charge a mobile POS software fee of $50/location.

Hardware Cost

Square runs on smartphones and tablets, so you can turn hardware you already own into a POS terminal. You will also need at least a $49 Square Contactless Card + Chip Reader to accept payments.

Other Square hardware offerings that are great for food trucks include:

• Square Terminal: $299; take orders and payments on a handheld device
• Square Mobile POS Kit: $299; includes compact smartphone and built-in Square card reader
• Square Kitchen Display Systems (KDS): $20/month/device on the Square free plan; $60/month for unlimited KDS on Square Plus plan
• Square POS Register Bundles: Ranges from $646 to $1,329; includes things like card readers, POS stands, cash registers, printers, customer-facing displays, and barcode scanners

Read more about it in our guide to Square POS hardware options and bundles before purchasing any equipment.

Note: Square mobile POS kits are available for pre-order, but won’t be shipped out until Fall 2022.

Payment Processing

Square has its own in-house payment processor, which you must use on every subscription plan. Square charges the following fees per transaction on the free plan:

• Card-Present Payments: 2.6% plus $0.10
• Manual Card Entry Payments: 3.5% plus $0.15
• Online Payments: 2.9% plus $0.30

On the Pro plan, card-present payments (i.e. in-person payments) have a processing fee of 2.5% plus $0.10 per transaction. If you have high sales volumes, upgrading to the $60/month Plus plan could end up saving you money.

Contract Requirements/Warnings

Square is a refreshingly straightforward, transparent POS software and hardware provider. Contracts are month-to-month and you may cancel at any time.

Square also has a fantastic hardware replacement warranty and applies whether you get your devices from Square or from a hardware reseller.

Where Square Really Shines For Food Trucks

Square is a POS provider that understands what it’s like to start a business with a very limited budget. That’s why this food truck POS system has a free plan with an extensive number of features built specifically for restaurants. While other low-cost POS providers charge an extra monthly fee for features such as online ordering and delivery, Square provides these things for free or at a very low cost.

Also, Square’s extensive POS hardware options are affordable and intuitive, which is why Square also makes our list of best mobile POS systems.

TouchBistro Food Truck POS Systems Features

TouchBistro is built for a number of different restaurant types, and some of the best features for servers and business owners alike, including:

• Offline ordering and payments via local server and cloud backup
• Online ordering for pickup and delivery (ASAP or scheduled orders)
• In-house delivery and third-party delivery integration options
• Payments online or on-location
• Custom menus for in-person and online ordering
• Pre-scheduled menus and promotions (great for breakfast/lunch/dinner menus and time-sensitive discounts)
• Popup prompts for upselling on the spot
• KDS has features like tracking individual items based on cook time, ticket history, ticket priority, etc.
• Ingredient-level inventory tracking
• Customizable loyalty rewards program
• Marketing automation and campaign monitoring
• Customer information storage for targeted promotional campaigns
• Employee permissions, time clock, and scheduling
• Customizable color-coded POS interface, which reduces order errors
• Easy-to-navigate reports on high-performing menu items, food costs, sales, etc.

TouchBistro Pricing

If you don’t use any integrations or add-ons, TouchBistro is $69/month for one register, billed annually. If you need more registers than this, contact TouchBistro for a custom quote.

Optional add-ons include:

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

Hardware Cost

TouchBistro software runs on iPads, and you can configure iPads as POS terminals, customer-facing displays, kitchen display screens, and self-serve kiosks.

You must contact TouchBistro for a quote on hardware such as card readers, iPad stands, and cash drawers.

Payment Processing

You can use TouchBistro Payments in-house payment processing (powered by Chase), or you can choose from several third-party processors, including Square.

TouchBistro Payments uses an interchange-plus pricing model, and TouchBistro will give you a custom payment processing rate quote.

Contract Requirements/Warnings

Contracts are month-to-month, but some users report getting roped into a yearly contract when signing up for a custom plan. Be sure to read your contract before using TouchBistro as your food truck POS.

Where TouchBistro Really Shines For Food Trucks

TouchBistro was made by and for individuals in the food service industry. Specifically, this POS provider understands that food truck business owners need quickly build menus, take orders, and analyze their sales performance. TouchBistro is extremely easy to use, as the app is built on server-specific concepts such as monitoring tickets by history, priority, and cook times.

The best food truck POS systems should have a really strong offline mode. Since TouchBistro is a hybrid POS system, you can take online orders and payments using a local network, and data is automatically saved in the cloud on a daily basis. This setup makes TouchBistro one of the strongest POS systems on this list in terms of offline POS capabilities.

Plus, Gordon Ramsey backs TouchBistro, so you know it’s a high-quality POS!

Toast Food Truck POS Systems Features

Toast is a popular, scaleable food truck POS system that is built exclusively on the Android operating system, which is rare among POS providers.

Toast software has an entire suite of products available. These are the most notable product features:

• Branded online ordering website (part of paid add-on)
• Commission-free order delivery by Toast (part of paid add-on)
• Integrations with third-party delivery apps
• Menu pricing rules
• Tailor menus across locations
• Kitchen workflow rules and templates (to duplicate across locations)
• Highly customizable tipping options
• Text customers when orders are ready
• Extensive customer data collection
• Loyalty program points are awarded to customers with every payment (no more digging around for loyalty cards or phone number lookups)
• eGift cards
• Employee performance reports, time tracking, and in-depth scheduling features
• Integrated payroll and HR (only on higher-level plans)
• POS terminals can double as customer-facing displays
• Comprehensive custom KDS to increase order speed
• Detailed reports on sales, labor, product mixes, order turnaround time, and more

Toast Pricing

Monthly subscription plans are as follows:

• Starter: $0/month
• Standard: $69/month (must buy hardware upfront)
• Essentials: $165/month
• Custom: Call for a quote

Optional add-ons include:

• Toast Now: $75/month, includes Online Ordering, Toast TakeOut, contactless delivery, delivery services
• Toast Now Plus: $100/month, includes Toast Now plus eGift cards
• Toast Now Premium: $175/month, includes Toast Now Plus as well as email marketing

There are other add-ons, but Toast does not list pricing on the company website.

Hardware Cost

Toast offers a starter kit for new customers. You can choose from a handheld or countertop starter kit, which includes a handheld or tablet POS terminal, payment device, and router.

You can either pay $799 for your equipment upfront or put $0 down and Toast charges an additional percentage of your sales to cover the cost of the hardware.

You must contact Toast for a price quote on other hardware.

Payment Processing

On the $69/month Standard plan, you will pay 2.49% plus $0.15 per card-present transaction and 3.50% plus $0.15 per card-not-present transaction. Toast includes online orders as “card-not-present” transactions, so you will pay a higher processing fee for online orders.

On the Starter plan, you will pay a 2.99% plus $0.15 fee per transaction, whether the card is present or not.

On higher plans, you must get a custom payment processing quote.

Contract Requirements/Warnings

Toast reserves the right to increase fees without prior notice. You’ll also be locked into a contract, which could be as long as three years, so make sure you fully understand what you’re signing up for if you opt to use Toast as your POS provider.

Where Toast Really Shines For Food Trucks

Most POS systems on the market are iOS-based, but what makes Toast stand out is that it runs on Android operating systems. Toast hardware is restaurant-grade. You can drop, spill liquid on, or forget to charge any piece of Toast equipment (within reason) and it will still perform well.

Toast has also considered ways to streamline the checkout, food prep, and restaurant configuration process, so midsize/large food truck employees can spend less time navigating the software and more time fulfilling orders.

Revel Food Truck POS Systems Features

Revel’s hybrid restaurant/retail POS system has all the features midsize and large food truck businesses need, including (but not limited to):

• Offline payment capabilities
• Age verification functions (great for wine trucks/event catering)
• Split tenders by item, dollar amount, or evenly between payors
• Scan-to-pay/text-to-pay
• Preordering and order holds
• Catering order management and reporting
• Digital menu board
• Automated digital menu updates as ingredients run out or menus change
• Custom menu building for different locations
• Custom loyalty program setup
• Gift card/certificate program
• Customer tracking for marketing campaigns and cross-selling items
• Email marketing setup
• Built-in delivery app
• Integrations with the best third-party delivery services
• Custom and template menu item modifier keys
• Till management
• Tip customization (tip pooling, auto-gratuity, etc.)
• Employee time clock, scheduling, and reporting
• Raw ingredient tracking and food costing reports
• Inventory customizations and matrixing
• Purchase order creation and vendor management
• Unified multilocation inventory tracking, employee management, and business performance reports

Revel Pricing

Revel lists one subscription plan on the company website:

• $99/month/terminal, billed annually
• $674 one-time implementation fee

Merchants on this Revel subscription must use at least two terminals, and sign a minimum three-year commitment.

You can contact Revel for information on getting a different subscription plan, but Revel advertises this long-term plan as the most cost-effective.

Hardware Cost

Revel software runs on iPads.

You may get a quote for Revel proprietary iPads, iPad stands, self-serve ordering kiosks, card readers, printers, and auxiliary hardware. You also have the option to purchase compatible hardware on your own.

Payment Processing

You can opt to work with Revel’s in-house payment processor, Revel Advantage, or choose from one of its supported third-party options. If you choose to work with a third-party payment provider like Adyen or USAePay, you will pay an additional monthly fee.

Revel Advantage charges a payment processing fee of 2.49% plus $0.15 per transaction, which is lower than what many other POS industry leaders charge.

Contract Requirements/Warnings

You will sign a three-year contract when you decide to use Revel Systems as your food truck POS system. There’s also a huge early termination fee.

There’s also a two-terminal minimum for Revel’s advertised subscription plan, so you won’t actually pay $99/month but a minimum of $198/month.

You are billed annually for the advertised subscription. Strongly consider getting a custom quote for a monthly subscription to test out the software. A short-term subscription will have a higher monthly fee but starting small is worth it to decide whether you should really invest in Revel or not.

Where Revel Really Shines For Food Trucks

Revel’s strong inventory and multilocation management make Revel an excellent POS system for food truck business owners that have multiple food trucks or have food trucks and one or more physical locations.

It’s easy to create different menus and pricing depending on location, ordering type (online, food truck, catering, restaurant, and event orders), ingredient availability, or any other custom identifiers. Menu and inventory updates can be synced across locations automatically. Plus, Revel’s built-in online ordering and delivery functions are hard to beat.

Clover Food Truck POS Systems Features

Clover is a flexible POS system that can be used for a range of business types. These are only some of the features Clover offers:

• Offline payments mode (payments processed when you’re back online)
• Online ordering page built by Clover
• Online order curbside pickup and delivery
• Third-party delivery integrations
• Scan-to-order and scan-to-pay QR codes
• Apply service charges for events and large orders
• In-app item modifiers
• ID verification, which is great for food trucks selling alcohol
• Retail sales functionalities
• Customer engagement tools like location sharing and email marketing
• Built-in loyalty program
• Custom physical and digital gift cards
• Email invoicing
• Employee time-clock, scheduling, and payroll integrations
• Huge app marketplace

Clover’s 450+ free and paid apps available will give you any additional features you need to run your food truck business.

Clover Pricing

The best food truck POS plan for Clover merchants is the Counter Service Restaurant plan. This plan costs $44.95 to $54.90 per month if you purchase your hardware outright. If you opt to lease your equipment, plans for your hardware and software package range from $90 to $175 per month.

The above pricing is for merchants who purchase their software/hardware package directly from Clover. There are a number of Clover-authorized resellers out there who may charge a different monthly subscription, but more on this later.

Hardware Cost

Clover has a unique software/hardware offering. Your hardware and software are tied together. This means that the reseller you purchase your Clover hardware from also provides the Clover software and the merchant account (which you need for payment processing.)

This is almost the opposite of a POS provider like Square, where you can bring your own hardware but the software comes from Square, and you don’t have your own merchant account.

If you purchase your hardware from Clover, you’ll pay anywhere from $49 for the Clover Go card reader to $1,799 for the Clover Station Duo.

Read our Clover pricing guide for an in-depth explanation of how Clover pricing works.

Payment Processing

If you purchase your hardware directly from Clover (backed by Fiserv merchant services provider) you will pay a payment processing fee of 2.3% or 2.6% per transaction, plus a $0.10 fee, depending on your subscription level.

However, many Clover resellers use custom interchange-plus pricing, so depending on your sales volume, you can get better payment processing rates.

Contract Requirements/Warnings

Fiserv, Clover’s built-in merchant services provider, does not get high ratings, mostly due to high fees and lengthy contracts. Instead, use one of these best Clover resellers for your payment processing needs.

As always, read your merchant agreement carefully before signing any contracts.

Where Clover Really Shines For Food Trucks

While Clover doesn’t have as many niche restaurant POS features as a provider like TouchBistro or Toast, it still has a strong feature set for food truck owners, especially when you take into account Clover’s extensive app market. There are even food truck-specific apps like Food Truck Pub and OrderUp. With Clover’s built-in and add-on features, you can build a custom solution that includes food truck features and more.

Also, Clover offers a range of hardware options, so no matter the size of your food truck, you can find equipment that fits your needs and your workspace.

Rezku Food Truck POS Systems Features

Rezku has an almost unbeatable price tag for such an impressive number of features. These are just some of the best features:

• Offline ordering and payments mode using Wi-Fi-enabled LTE router
• QR code orders and payments
• Accept orders from Google Business Profile
• Real-time inventory syncing
• Ingredient tracking
• POS automatically makes dishes unavailable when a necessary ingredient runs out
• Menu costing
• Free customizable loyalty program and loyalty cards
• Free gift card program
• Free custom online ordering URL
• Free email and text marketing campaigns
• Free KDS software setup
• Curbside pickup and delivery options
• In-house delivery customization
• Extensive number of third-party delivery app integrations (via Chowly, a middleman sort of app)
• Employee permissions, timecards, automated payroll calculations, and labor costing

Rezku Pricing

• Starter: $0/month, includes two terminal software licenses
• Established: $99/month, unlimited software licenses
• Enterprise: Custom quote

The company also offers a free cash discount program plan, but more on this later.

Hardware Cost

Rezku software runs on iPads/iPad Minis.

Rezku POS stations range from $588 to $1,016. Card readers are built into all POS hardware offerings. The company also sells cash drawers, printers, customer-facing displays, and KDS hardware.

Payment Processing

Rezku has its own in-house payment processor, which you are required to use. The website lists a payment processing rate of 1.99% plus $0.15 per transaction on the Starter plan but also states (in the fine print) that other tiers apply.

Merchants on the Established and Enterprise plans must contact Rezku for a custom payment processing quote. Your quoted rate will be based on your sales volume, among other factors.

A second, less conventional option, is to enroll in the company’s cash discount program. With a cash discount program, your payment processing fees are passed down to your customer.

Really ask yourself if a cash discount program is right for you before deciding which Rezku plan you should sign up for. While having someone else pay your payment processing fees saves you money, some customers may not appreciate the extra charge.

Contract Requirements/Warnings

Rezku charges cards automatically and does not provide refunds. Accounts are charged on a yearly basis.

If you use Rezku’s offline mode, you must reconnect to the internet within 48 hours to receive payments. You are solely responsible for making sure offline transactions will be valid.

You have 30 days after purchasing hardware to return it. You will be charged a reshelving fee if you do return any equipment. Defective hardware may be sent for replacement, but you have to pay shipping and postage for returned packages.

The company may change your credit card processing rate at its sole discretion.

Read your contract before dedicating yourself to Rezku, as there may be additional unique terms and conditions.

Where Rezku Really Shines For Food Trucks

Like Square, Rezku is an iPad-based all-in-one food truck POS system with a free starter plan. However, Rezku also includes a free loyalty program, free marketing, free gift card printing, free KDS software, free branded online ordering URL, and completely free delivery features.

While Square offers more third-party integrations, more transparency, and more features in general, Rezku does pack a very strong punch for its price point. Rezku could be the best food truck POS for business owners who want a straightforward POS and to work with as little third-party software as possible.