Restaurant POS system
Bar & Pub POS
Retail Point of sale
iPad based POS
Delivery platform integration
Payment processing terminal
Ecommerce website
Small & medium business
Hospitality POS system
Retail EPOS system
Pizza POS system
Online ordering & delivery
Ecommerce store integrations
Multi store capability
Hospitality POS focus
iPad based
Stadium / Sportsclub POS
Event & festival
Simple retail
Sumup acquisition
Simple Restaurant POS
Simple retail store pos
Simplistic system
Cart reader integrations
Point of sale & payments platform
Fashion & accesoiries
Health & beauty
Quick service restaurants
Coffee shop
Leisure & entertainment
Restaurants
Sports and entertainment
Hotel, casino's
Retail
More expensive
Choosing the right EPOS system can make or break your day-to-day operations — whether you’re running a busy café, managing a retail store, or scaling a multi-site hospitality business. The right setup keeps queues short, stock levels accurate, and your team focused on customers instead of admin.
But with so many options on the market, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. That’s why we’ve done the research for you — comparing real user reviews, features, pricing, and support from the UK’s top providers.
In this guide, you’ll find our top 10 EPOS systems in thek UK, from simple, budget-friendly options for small shops to powerful, data-driven platforms used by restaurants and hotel groups across the country.
With tons of options to choose from, we have researched and narrowed down to our top 10 picks:
Lightspeed offers two main POS products in the UK — Lightspeed Restaurant and Lightspeed Retail (formerly Vend) and— each crafted for very different needs. While both share Lightspeed’s signature polish, they shine in different ways.
For restaurants, pubs, and cafés, Lightspeed Restaurant focuses on speed, teamwork, and customer flow. The system’s design helps front-of-house and kitchen staff stay in sync, from taking orders to splitting bills. They are considered best for casual and fine dining restaurant, but also do well in pubs and cafes where speed is needed.
“We switched from an old till system and haven’t looked back — it’s faster, more reliable, and the handhelds make table service smoother.”
— Jason D., restaurant owner, Leeds
💷 Pricing: Typically starts around £69/month, with optional add-ons for kitchen displays, loyalty, or multi-site management.
If you run a boutique, bike shop, or multi-branch retail store, Lightspeed Retail gives you a powerful mix of usability and insight. It’s the evolution of the beloved Vend POS, now fully integrated under Lightspeed’s platform — so you get Vend’s simplicity with Lightspeed’s advanced tools and analytics.
“Vend was always great for our small chain, but Lightspeed Retail took it to another level — reporting, stock transfers, everything is just cleaner.”
— Ella M., independent retailer, Bristol
💷 Pricing: Starts around £59/month, depending on your setup. Users often say the analytics alone justify the cost, especially for growing retailers.
Founded in Norwich and proudly UK-based, Epos Now is one of the most recognised names in the point-of-sale world — especially among independent shops, pubs, and cafés. It’s known for its easy setup, flexible pricing, and ability to grow with your business.
While some POS systems can feel overly technical or locked into one sector, Epos Now offers an impressive balance: it’s simple enough for small shops, but powerful enough for multi-site operations. They have solutions for a whole lot of different business types in retail, hospitality and service.
“We set up Epos Now in our café with no tech background. The support team guided us step by step — within a day, we were taking card payments and tracking stock.”
— Sophie W., café owner, Nottingham
💷 Pricing: Plans typically start around £25/month for software, with hardware bundles available.
Many small businesses highlight that the modular approach — paying only for what you need — helps keep costs manageable.
“For a small retail shop like ours, Epos Now hits the sweet spot between simplicity and power. The reporting dashboard is clear and the app’s great when I’m not in-store.”
— John P., gift shop owner, Bath
“Support can be hit or miss at busy times, but overall it’s been reliable and easy to train new staff on.”
— Verified user, Trustpilot review
If you’re a small business owner in the UK — running a café, coffee shop, boutique, or food truck — SumUp POS (formerly The Good Till) hits a rare sweet spot: simple, stylish, and surprisingly powerful for the price.
After acquiring Goodtill, SumUp combined its easy, affordable payment tools with Goodtill’s richer POS features. The result is a modern, cloud-based system built specifically for independent businesses that want something flexible and affordable without losing functionality. Sumup is best suited for smaller cafés, food trucks, pop-ups and boutique retailers. They have UK Headquarters in London.
“We used to take payments on a simple SumUp reader, but adding the POS turned everything around — we can track sales, manage staff, and print kitchen tickets, all from one app.”
— Liam R., café owner, Brighton
💷 Pricing: Plans typically start around £49/month, with SumUp readers costing from £39 (no contracts).
Processing fees are quite high in the UK, around 1.69% per transaction
“It’s straightforward and affordable. For a small coffee shop like ours, it’s everything we need without feeling overcomplicated.”
— Saira K., café owner, Manchester
“The Goodtill side of the system gives us real hospitality features — table service, item modifiers, even reports by time of day. That’s hard to find at this price.”
— Verified Trustpilot Review
Square POS has become the go-to system for small businesses in the UK who want a professional setup without complicated contracts or hidden costs. Whether you’re running a coffee stall, salon, or neighbourhood restaurant, Square’s flexibility and transparent pricing make it an easy win.
Originally known for its little white card readers, Square has evolved into a full suite of tools — POS software, payments, invoices, online stores, and even staff management — all in one clean ecosystem.
“Square made us feel like a ‘real’ business overnight. We started with just the card reader and upgraded to the full POS when we opened our first café.”
— Kerry M., café owner, Bristol
Square is mostly used for smaller business in service (Salon, Garage, etc), retail and hospitality. They have quite the extensive offering in POS hardware and software and cover lots of business types. They are just good if you want a quick solution for accepting payments instore.
💷 Pricing: While there is a free, basic version, the Square paid plans start at £69/mo. With the free plan you would have to take the Square payment processing devices which cost like 1.75% per transaction. They are pretty transparent about how much their hardware costs on the website.
“The card reader is super reliable — and the next-day payouts help our cash flow more than we expected.”
“We started with Zettle but switched to Square because of the reporting. The daily summaries make it easy to see what’s working.”
— James T., retail owner, Manchester
“Square has that Apple-like polish — it just works, and it makes small businesses feel big.”
Square POS is one of the most user-friendly, cost-effective systems for small UK businesses that want to get started quickly with no setup headaches and everything under one roof. It’s not built for highly complex multi-site operations, but for solo traders, cafés, salons, and pop-ups.
If you’re looking for a straightforward POS that’s easy to set up, affordable to run, and backed by a trusted name, Zettle by PayPal is a brilliant choice. Formerly known as iZettle, this system has become a UK favourite among small retailers, baristas, and market traders who want no-fuss payment processing with solid POS functionality.
The best part? It integrates seamlessly with PayPal, meaning you can take in-person, online, and PayPal payments all through one connected ecosystem — ideal for small businesses selling across channels.
“We’re a tiny team and Zettle just makes sense — the card reader, app, and reports are simple but reliable. And we love the PayPal payouts.”
— Amy S., boutique owner, Glasgow
💷 Price: Zettle POS has a one-time cost of £149 and a 1.75% processing fee
Even more than Sumup and Square, Zettle by PayPal is ideal for small and mobile UK businesses that want simplicity, reliability, and transparent pricing. It may not have the deep features of Lightspeed or Epos Now, but for those who just want to take payments, track sales, and grow confidently, it’s hard to beat for the price.
“Zettle is perfect for our weekend market stall. The setup took ten minutes, and the app has everything we need.”
— Fiona L., artisan baker, Bristol
“We love how it connects to PayPal — payments are quick, reports are clear, and there’s no subscription to worry about.”
— Small Boutique, London
“Zettle feels designed for small business owners — simple, affordable, and genuinely stress-free.”
— Market stand, London
Clover POS is the choice for UK businesses that want a polished, all-in-one system — hardware, software, and payments that just works together. Owned by Fiserv, Clover is popular among mid-sized retailers, cafés, and salons that are outgrowing entry-level setups like Square or Zettle but don’t want the complexity of enterprise systems like Lightspeed. It has offices in London and other parts of the United Kingdom.
Clover stands out for its plug-and-play hardware, modern design, and flexible app-based approach: you start with the basics and add tools as your business grows — from staff scheduling to loyalty programs and gift cards. They are best used for retail shops, restaurants and salons where they use countertop POS systems. You can scale quite a bit with Clover.
“We upgraded to Clover after outgrowing Zettle, and it’s been a game-changer. The reporting and customisable apps make a big difference day-to-day.”
— Rachel P., restaurant owner, London
💷 Price: Clover POS pricing start at £100/mo depending on plan and hardware. Hardware typically starts at £499 for countertop setup. Transaction fees are around 1.5%-1.75% per card payment.
“It looks smart on the counter, and our staff love how simple it is to use. Reports are detailed but easy to understand.”
— Darren T., salon owner, Leeds
“It’s a great middle ground — not as basic as SumUp or Zettle, but not overly complex like some restaurant systems.”
— Quick service restaurant, London
Tevalis POS stands in a league of its own. Headquartered in Hull, Tevalis powers everything from fine dining restaurants and hotels to national food chains and leisure venues. Unlike off-the-shelf systems, Tevalis builds tailored setups — meaning every feature, workflow, and integration is configured around how your business actually runs. It’s a system designed not just to take payments, but to give operators complete visibility and control over every aspect of their operation. That is why they are mostly used for bigger restaurants, hotels, hospitality chai and multi-site groups. Also very popular for vacation parks, zoo’s, theaters and other organisation with multiple POS points.
💷 Price: To give an indication, Tevalis POS pricing starts at £100/mo. But usually the offering is tailored and more expensive what you would expect.
“Tevalis is easily the most robust system we’ve used — fast, flexible, and the support team are fantastic.”
— Operations Director, London hotel group
“The reporting alone has changed how we make decisions. It’s like having a control centre for the business.”
— Fun park centre, Liverpool
Syrve POS (formerly known as iiko) is one of the more innovative hospitality POS platforms in the UK, built for operators who want real-time insights and automation, not just a till. It’s widely used by restaurants, bars, takeaways, and even franchises that want to bring together sales, inventory, and staff management in one intelligent platform. They promote themselves as data-driven with loads of insights. Their UK offices are at Innovation Centre, Gallows Hill, Warwick, CV34 6UW, United Kingdom.
Syrve is mostly used by for busy kitchens, quick-service restaurants, and multi-site operators that want to scale efficiently and stay in control of every moving part.
💷 Price: Syrve POS pricing starts at £49/mo
“Syrve gives us live data — I can see sales, staff costs, and stock in real time, which helps us make fast decisions.”
— Emma L., restaurant manager, Birmingham
“Syrve feels like having a restaurant command centre. It’s not just POS — it runs everything from inventory to payroll.”
— Raj P., franchise owner, London
When you see a sleek POS running in a busy hotel, a stadium bar, or a global restaurant chain — there’s a good chance it’s Oracle Micros. This system is one of the most established and trusted enterprise POS solutions in the world, with decades of hospitality experience behind it.
In the UK, Micros is widely used by large restaurants, hotel groups, leisure venues, and quick-service franchises that demand reliability, speed, and multi-location control. It’s not built for microbusinesses — it’s for operations where uptime, consistency, and data accuracy are mission-critical.
“Micros is the backbone of our restaurant group — fast, stable, and fully integrated with our hotel PMS. It just works, even on our busiest nights.”
— Richard H., hotel F&B director, London
💷 Price: Micros POS does not publish the pricing plans on the website
“We’ve tried other systems, but nothing matches Micros for stability. It’s built for serious volume.”
— Hospitality IT Manager, London
| ePOS system provider | Pricing p/m starting | Best suited businesstype |
| Lightspeed POS | £59.00 | Retail, Hospitality, Golf |
| Squareup POS | £69.00 | Counterservice retail and hospitality |
| Eposnow | £25.00 | Bakery, Pizza, Retail, restaurant |
| Sumup POS | £49.00 | Small restaurant, cafe |
| Clover POS | £100.00 | Hair, Repair services, personal services |
| ICRTouch | na | Convenient store, pubs, events |
| NCR (Aloha) | £175.00 | Supermarket, Large stores |
| Sunmi POS | £29.00 | Small shops |
| Zettle POS | £149 + 1.75% | Small retail, foodtrucks |
| Syvre | £49.00 | Hospitality |
We created a recommendation table with different business types, key features, recommendations and estimated costs + the one time hardware cost. Note that these are estimated costs and are not tailored.
| Business Type | Key Features Prioritized | Recommended POS Systems (UK-Specific) | Estimated Costs (Per Month) |
| Retail (Small) | – Basic inventory management – Low-cost hardware – Multi-channel sales (online & in-store) – Payment flexibility |
Square, SumUp, Epos Now | £20-£50 (software) + transaction fees (~1.75%-2%) |
| Retail (Medium/Large) | – Advanced inventory tracking – Multi-location support – Customer loyalty programs – Detailed reporting & analytics |
ExtendaGO, Lightspeed Retail, Epos Now | £80-£250 (software) + hardware (~£200-£1,500) |
| Hospitality (Cafes/Small) | – Table management – Easy tipping options – Simple menu management – Affordable subscription plans |
SumUp, Square, Epos Now | £20-£50 (software) + transaction fees (~1.75%-2%) |
| Hospitality (Restaurants) | – Advanced table/guest management – Kitchen display systems (KDS) – Integration with delivery platforms (Uber Eats, Deliveroo) – Split billing options |
Lightspeed Restaurant, Epos Now, Tevalis | £100-£300 (software) + hardware (~£300-£2,000) |
| Takeout and Delivery | – Integration with delivery platforms (Just Eat, Deliveroo, Uber Eats) – Quick order processing – Real-time order tracking |
Lightspeed Restaurant, Mealzo, Deliverect | £80-£200 (software) + transaction fees (~1.5%-2%) |
| Bars & Pubs | – Tab management – Happy hour pricing options – Real-time sales tracking – Integration with bar stock systems |
Lightspeed Restaurant, Epos Now | £100-£250 (software) + hardware (~£300-£2,000) |
| Health & Beauty | – Appointment scheduling – Customer profiles and loyalty – Inventory for retail items (e.g., products sold in salons) |
Fresha, Square, Epos Now, Sumup | £20-£100 (software) + hardware (~£100-£1,000) |
| Services and Repair | – Appointment scheduling – Customer and job management – Custom invoicing – Inventory tracking for parts and tools |
Epos Now, RepairDesk, Square | £30-£150 (software) + hardware (~£200-£1,500) |
| Mobile/Pop-Up Vendors | – Portability – Low hardware requirements – Quick setup and takedown – Contactless payment support |
SumUp, Zettle by PayPal, Square | £10-£30 (software) + transaction fees (~1.75%-2%) |
| Large Enterprises | – Multi-location support – ERP integration – Customizable workflows – Advanced security |
Oracle Micros, NCR Silver, Tevalis | £300-£1,000+ (software) + hardware (~£2,000-£5,000) |
