How Much Does a POS System Cost? (2024 Updated Price Guide)
Costly Conundrum: Understanding POS system costs helps businesses budget effectively, with prices ranging from $0 to $300/month and additional hardware expenses that can add up quickly.
Feature-rich Choices: The price of POS systems vary greatly due to its features, with higher-priced options providing more functionalities for an added fee, so be sure about what you need.
System Selection 101: Different types of POS systems cater to various business needs, from legacy systems for traditional settings to cloud-based options for e-commerce flexibility.
Budgeting Basics: Knowing the essential components—like terminals, card readers, and printers—can guide you in budgeting for your POS system and its setup costs.
Unless your pockets are lined with gold, Point-of-Sale (POS) system costs are likely important for your business. So, let's get right to it.
Here's what you need to know to answer the golden question:
How Much Does a POS System Cost?
POS system costs are usually subscription-based models, ranging from zero dollars to $300/month, with additional costs for different types of hardware, licensing and payment processing, and add-ons like tablet stands or touchscreens.
Understanding your business needs is the first step in budgeting effectively and ensuring that the chosen system aligns with your operational needs and financial capabilities. The POS pricing structure will depend on the components you need, such as point-of-sale system hardware, software, maintenance, and more.
Why such a wide range of costs? Simple: features.
Higher-priced plans typically offer optional features for an added monthly fee.
Best POS Systems of 2024
If you’re looking for POS options, you’ll want to check these out. My team and I have looked into the top POS systems, and these are our current leaders:
Types of POS Systems
Depending on your company’s needs, there are a few key types of POS systems that you could be using (or plan to use), including:
- Legacy POS system: For companies that prefer a traditional on-premises POS system.
- Cloud-based POS system: Good for e-commerce businesses that need to access POS data from anywhere.
- Tablet-based POS App: For businesses with limited budgets that want a flexible and portable POS for sales teams.
- Mobile POS system: For businesses that process transactions on the sales floor.
Average Cost of a POS System
Most POS system options can cost between a few hundred and several thousand dollars, depending on size and complexity.
Most small retail business POS systems cost between $0 – $99 per month for software, and $60 – $800 for mobile readers or tablet-run registers (with variable card fees based on sales volume).
I know, ranges like this suck. But POS pricing structures can vary significantly depending on several factors, including:
POS System Price Components
POS system components can be categorized into several key areas, each contributing to the overall cost structure. I’ve narrowed down some of the top POS systems to help you budget and negotiate pricing terms that align with your budget constraints and operational needs.
Here’s what you should budget for typical POS hardware costs:
- Terminal: $200 – $6,500+
- Cash drawer: $200
- Card reader: $50 for one reader
- Barcode scanner: $200 – $400
- Receipt printer: $300+
- Digital customer-facing display: $200 – $800+
Software Subscription Cost
Often, POS providers offer cloud-based POS systems, and one of the primary cost components is the subscription fee, which is an annual or monthly fee to access and utilize the POS software.
The top POS systems offer monthly subscriptions ranging from a free plan to $100/month.
These are some of the features that are most often included in base-level POS software costs:
- Inventory management
- Reporting analytics
- Employee management
- E-commerce
- Customer relationship management (CRM)
If you have a small business, your business needs to assess its short- and mid-term needs to determine software requirements and select a POS provider that offers a tailored POS pricing plan that ensures scalability for future growth.
Hardware and Terminal Costs
Hardware and terminal costs represent another significant expense associated with implementing a POS system. This includes purchasing POS terminals, contactless payments, touch-screen displays, barcode scanners, receipt printers, cash drawers, and other necessary hardware components.
Typical one-time, up-front hardware costs for top-rated POS systems:
- Mobile debit or credit card readers - $0 – $50 for one reader, and up to $500 for more readers.
- Cash registers or terminals - $150 to almost $4,000, depending on the register or terminal.
Credit Card Transaction Processing and Interchange Fees
Even the best credit card processing companies will charge you a fee on each transaction, each time a customer makes a purchase via credit card payments. These are fees required by every payment processor.
- Acquirer Processing Fee (APF): This is a charge on all U.S. business Visa credit card transactions.
- Fixed Acquirer Network Fee (FANF): This charge is common to all card brands and is based on the card's presence or nonexistence at the time of the transaction, the number of locations, and the volume.
- Kilobyte Access (KB) Fee: This is a per-transaction charge for settlement upon authorization.
- Network Access and Brand Usage (NABU) Fee: Mastercard charges this fee for all settled or refunded credit and debit card transactions.
Here are typical credit card transaction processing fees you can expect to pay in North America. They vary depending on your chosen POS system, card type, or method of purchase.
| Credit Card Type | In-Person Transaction | Online or Keyed in Manually |
|---|---|---|
| Visa | 1.79% + $0.08 | 2.43% + $0.25 |
| Mastercard | 1.98% + $0.08 | 2.51% + $0.25 |
| American Express | 2.68% + $0.08 | 3.18% + $0.25 |
As a rule, small businesses with $10,000 to $250,000 in annual credit card transactions average processing costs of 2.87% to 4.35%. Check with any potential POS system provider about their fee structure.
Per-Location or Per-Register Licenses
As an add-on, POS system providers may charge your business a fee based on different locations. If you have multi-location sales, you might be able to negotiate discounts and lower card processing fees.
- Per-location fees range from $5 to over $100/location for platforms like Shopify.
- Per-register fees for Square Plus and Lightspeed, for instance, are $40/register/month and $70/register/month, respectively.
Additional POS Features
With most top POS systems, you could incur additional fees beyond what I’ve mentioned — especially if you need customizations for internal controls and the segregation of duties, customer loyalty programs, or gift card integration.
Pay attention to the costs that may not be spelled out, such as:
- Onboarding
- Training
- Support
- Software updates
- Compliance and data security
And, I'll reiterate: Get it in writing — if it’s not on paper, it didn’t happen.
Integrations
Whether yours is a small retail business or a part of a large chain, your POS system has to integrate with other systems to handle inventory management, customer management, accounting and financial reporting, banking, employee management, and e-commerce.
So, what types of integrations will increase your costs?
Complex, advanced functionality: Functionality likely needs to be much more advanced if your business is larger or more complex. Larger businesses will likely need more advanced inventory and reporting, and multi-location e-commerce and multi-entity integrations, which will increase your costs.
High-volume transactions: Transaction fees are likely to be based on a percentage of the transaction value or volume, a flat fee per transaction, or a combination of both. Businesses in either category should carefully evaluate the terms and rates different payment processors offer to minimize processing costs and maximize revenue margins.
Custom features and special programs: Custom features can include:
- Loyalty programs
- Gift card integration
- Ecommerce capabilities
- Special kiosks
- Mobile POS support for iPads or other mobile devices
Your business should weigh the benefits of customizations against the additional costs, prioritizing essential features that align with business objectives and customer preferences.
POS Prices By Industry
POS systems aren’t one-size-fits-all. The cost of a POS system can vary significantly across industries, even among the best provider’s POS systems. Here are just a few industry-specific POS cost examples.
Retail
In the retail industry, POS system costs can add up quickly.
- Average hardware cost: $750–$6,000
- Average overall retail POS cost: $750–$9,000
Restaurants and Hospitality
Average hardware cost: $2,000–$8,000
Average overall restaurant POS cost: $2,000–$12,000
Health and Wellness
Average hardware cost: $800–$3,000
Average overall health and wellness POS cost: $800–$4,000
It’s important to note that even within the same industry, your company may have a POS system with a totally different cost structure than another business. This is due to these or other factors:
- Staffing levels
- Products or services offered
- Compliance requirements
- Customer incentive programs
- Location
- Business complexity
- Business model
- Business maturity
Understanding your company’s goals and POS system cost factors and evaluating the various price components can help your business make informed decisions that align with its financial objectives and operational requirements.
Leveraging your POS technology to optimize efficiency, boost profitability, and stay ahead of the competition means understanding POS pricing models, carefully analyzing all-in one-time and monthly costs, and negotiating pricing terms.
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