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Clover serves as a one-stop shop for all the POS hardware and software that small and midsize retailers, restaurants and service businesses need. The company’s POS solutions aren’t the least expensive of the services we reviewed, nor do they offer the widest range of POS hardware options, but they’re full-featured and reasonably affordable — if your business can do without Clover’s pricey add-ons.

Clover offers its customers four different POS software plans designed to meet the needs of startups and small merchants that don’t require POS hardware (Essentials), retailers that do need POS hardware (Register), fast casual and quick-serve restaurants (Counter Service) and full-service restaurants (Table Service).

Each software plan except Essentials is matched with Clover POS hardware, such as the Mini touchscreen tablet, Flex handheld POS terminal or Station Duo complete POS system with both a 14-inch monitor for staff and an 8-inch customer-facing touchscreen display. Mobile vendors have their POS needs met by Clover’s Go packages, which can be used as standalone systems or integrated with an existing online store.

Clover POS is the best because it puts all the POS pieces together in a way that meets your business needs, though it isn’t likely to be your business’s least expensive POS option. The site’s signup wizard steps you through the available features to match you with appropriate software and hardware. Whether you sell in person, online, mobile or a combination of the three, Clover supports whatever POS functions your operation requires.

Value

Clover’s greatest value is to businesses that aren’t too small — more than a handful of employees — but aren’t too big either, such as those with headcounts into the hundreds, multiple departments to manage, and a growing number of locations to support. Many Clover POS plans are priced for three years at monthly fees ranging from $14.95 for a no-hardware solution to $325 for the Advanced full-service restaurant system.

The only free trial Clover provides is for its Virtual Terminal software, which is free to use for 90 days after applying for a Clover Account experience without hardware. After the free trial, you’ll be charged $14.95 a month if you haven’t purchased any other software from the company.

Businesses don’t save much on credit card transaction fees with Clover’s rates of 2.6% plus $0.10 for in-person sales and 3.5% plus $0.10 for keyed-in sales (restaurant packages and advanced retail plans reduce the in-person fee to 2.3% plus $0.10).

Functionality

Our number one item on Clover’s POS features list is the ability to accept all the payment options your customers prefer. Clover supports credit cards and debit cards with EuroPay, MasterCard, Visa (EMV) chips, swipe cards and contactless Near Field Communication (NFC) cards.

Customers can pay with mobile wallets and even have a check scanned securely. The company’s hardware and software let you sell while offline and sync the transaction data when your network connection is restored.

Clover’s POS systems let your customers place orders, open tabs, split bills, combine orders and add tips with a single touch. You can easily find out what your customers like and dislike and use the built-in customer engagement app to promote your business’ loyalty program with rewards for repeat business. You can also manage your teams by creating and monitoring schedules, setting permissions and tracking employee sales, tips and refunds to reward top performers.

Features of the Standard and Advanced retail POS packages let you track sales in real-time, report taxes and track costs by item. The plans for full-service restaurants come with no-fee online ordering, omnichannel menu management, third-party menu integrations and stock tracking, including sold-out notifications.

Support

Clover POS gives customers four ways to contact its support staff: by clicking the Help button found at the top of their Clover account page; by choosing Help on any Clover POS device’s home screen; by opening the menu in the Clover Go mobile app and pressing Help; and by calling the direct support number that appears on your statement.

Support phone numbers are available for Clover customers in the 91Ӱ��, U.K., Canada, Austria, Argentina, Germany and Ireland.

Clover recommends that, before contacting the company directly, POS customers visit Clover Help to search for a solution in the resources it provides. Topics covered by help articles include setting up, logging in and using a Clover device. Clover also offers its small business customers a series of guides and resources.

Full-service installation support is available from SMB CompuCom, which provides a certified installer to assist with setting up your company’s POS system and training staff. Lastly, the Clover Care add-on protection plan replaces defective or damaged POS equipment as soon as the next business day.

Learn more: Read our full Clover POS review.

Our editorial team created our expert opinion scores. The expert score contributes to 10% of the data-focused methodology, which underpins our Blueprint rating for each company. The expert score combines first-person experience, subject matter expertise and extensive research to develop these metrics as another source of truth for readers during their decision-making process.

Square’s innovative credit card reader that plugs into smartphones and tablets changed the POS landscape upon its introduction in 2009, allowing anyone to accept payments by credit or debit card from any location using only an app running on a mobile device. Today, Square sells a full range of POS solutions for retailers, restaurants and professional services, but the company’s strength remains its offerings for individuals, startups and very small businesses.

In addition to the company’s POS software and hardware, Square provides management tools for small and midsize businesses, including marketing, shift scheduling, payroll and financial services.

One aspect of Square’s POS service that might give larger companies pause is its reliance on its own payment processing service. Companies that want to use an alternative payment gateway will have to rely on Square’s APIs and software development kits (SDK) to create custom links to their internal systems.

The company that put mobile payments on the map a decade-and-a-half ago is still the go-to POS solution for mom-and-pop operations, low-budget startups and individuals looking to cash in on their million-dollar idea, one credit card payment at a time. While mobile POS remains a mainstay for Square, the company’s offerings have expanded over the years to serve other business-management needs of small businesses.

However, despite its broadened product offerings, Square’s credit card transaction fees can’t compare with the savings available for high-volume sellers from vendors that use interchange-plus pricing models, such as Helcim.

Value

Merchants that can do without a lot of bells and whistles and want to save on their payment processing overhead will appreciate Square’s lowest-cost POS plan, which charges only per-transaction fees and includes the Square Reader that converts mobile devices into POS terminals.

As they grow, the businesses can add payroll processing, email and text marketing, loyalty programs and other options. At some point, however, growing merchants will likely find more affordable plans that include many of these features sold by Square competitors.

Functionality

Square’s POS services support all the payment scenarios a small business is likely to encounter. The company’s solutions let businesses accept payment by credit card and debit card, as well as contactless payment using Apple Pay, Google Pay, Cash App Pay and Tap to Pay.

Customer payment information can be stored securely to speed up future transactions, and the Square Checking service delivers the funds to your account in one to two business days for free (or immediately for an added fee).

All Square plans come with everything a small sales operation needs to get off the ground: an online store, digital invoices, virtual terminal software, online checkout (payment links) and a customer directory. Businesses that need to give employees different levels of access and permissions can sign up for Square’s Advanced Access add-on service, which provides an unlimited number of permission sets as well as team activity logs and sales reports.

The POS hardware sold by Square lacks the breadth of options available from vendors such as Lightspeed, but it does include the Square Register complete POS system, handheld Square Terminal, Square Stand iPad POS, Square Mount wall-mounted POS tablet and the second-generation Square Readerfor contactless payments and reading magnetic strips.

Even though Square has ventured into the realms of marketing support, banking services and staff management, we think the company’s bread and butter remains straightforward POS solutions designed specifically for small businesses. Square is a POS vendor that your business can start and grow with.

Support

Square customers can contact the company for direct support by telephone, live chat or email from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT Monday through Friday. Square’s support center features descriptions of its platforms and products as well as articles on topics that include fees, refunds and tax reporting. The company also supports a seller community where customers can post questions and browse payment-related discussions.

Learn more: Read our full Square review.

Our editorial team created our expert opinion scores. The expert score contributes to 10% of the data-focused methodology, which underpins our Blueprint rating for each company. The expert score combines first-person experience, subject matter expertise and extensive research to develop these metrics as another source of truth for readers during their decision-making process.

There’s no doubt that modern POS systems are more powerful and functional than their predecessors from a few years back. With that added oomph comes added complexity, which can send the productivity of a merchant’s sales staff plummeting. eHopper distinguishes itself from the POS competition by offering small-business POS solutions that are easy to learn and intuitive to use.

The company’s free POS plan requires that merchants sign up for the company’s credit card processing service, and its entry-level Essentials Plus limits your monthly transactions to 1,000. That means nearly all businesses will choose either eHopper’s Freedom, Restaurant or Omnichannel packages.

Freedom is targeted at retailers, professional services and quick service restaurants; Restaurant is for full-service restaurants; and Omnichannel is for any merchant that wants to integrate an e-commerce site and social media selling with its in-house POS.

eHopper claims that you can start taking payments with its POS system “in minutes” and complete payment transactions quickly using cash, credit cards and debit cards, and electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards. Businesses can use their current payment processor or have eHopper handle their payment processing.

Few small business owners have the time to spare to train employees on how to use the tools of their trade or troubleshoot the technology the company relies on when things go south. In our opinion, eHopper’s greatest benefit to companies is that it’s as near to plug-and-play as POS technology gets.

The Freedom, Restaurant and Omnichannel packages sold by eHopper also come with a self-service kiosk, low stock alerts and a boatload of other time-saving features.

Value

You’ll find less expensive small business POS systems for sale at vendors such as Square and Stripe, but much of the value a merchant realizes by choosing eHopper’s POS packages is in the time it saves in implementing the system and the productivity boost it can deliver for your staff. For instance, business owners can manage their inventory, track employee time and schedules and access QuickBooks Online from the same portal they use to monitor their sales.

eHopper offers customers a free trial of indeterminate length as well as a 30-day money-back guarantee. The company lets businesses give their customers cash discounts and apply surcharges to recoup some of the cost of accepting credit cards.

By including inventory management, time tracking and employee scheduling, eHopper POS packages reduce a merchant’s software overhead. In addition, eHopper’s POS plans are discounted 30% to 40% when you commit to a year rather than paying month to month.

Functionality

Small business owners benefit from any opportunity to consolidate operations, and eHopper allows for this. We think eHopper’s best feature is that it puts the information and controls you need to manage sales, employees and inventory inside a single POS-focused platform.

The company’s POS software runs on Android and iOS devices and Microsoft Windows PCs and devices, as well as on the Poynt handheld POS terminals that eHopper sells. You can customize the footers of receipts and bills, and add line items or order notes to receipts. The software lets you mark items as tax-exempt or apply discounts and loyalty options.

Full-service restaurants can use the software to plan a table layout, process table orders, print receipts and orders for the kitchen and split tickets by table, item or amount. The Restaurant and Omnichannel packages include a kitchen display system that shows online orders and includes a preparation timer and dark mode to reduce glare.

Support

Only eHopper’s high-end Omnichannel plan comes with 24/7 support by telephone, email and chat. The company’s Freedom and Restaurant packages do include email support. A web form on eHopper’s Contact Us page lets you reach tech support, sales or billing, and it provides a telephone number to call for questions about its products and services.

To determine the best POS configuration for your business, eHopper offers a virtual assistant that steps you through the process of selecting the features you need. Three quick-start guides help get you up to speed on eHopper for Android, Windows and Poynt terminals. eHopper also provides a knowledge base and a video library covering inventory setup, account settings and other aspects of the product.

Our editorial team created our expert opinion scores. The expert score contributes to 10% of the data-focused methodology, which underpins our Blueprint rating for each company. The expert score combines first-person experience, subject matter expertise and extensive research to develop these metrics as another source of truth for readers during their decision-making process.

Most modern businesses have an online presence, but often their e-commerce activities are disjointed. Shopify’s omnichannel POS solutions tie all facets of your business’s sales operations together: in-person, mobile, online and social media.

The products give you a single view of your inventory and order management, including local pickups, deliveries, returns and exchanges. You can also track your customers’ shopping across online platforms and in your store.

Shopify’s entry-level Basic plan is intended for solo practitioners, and the Shopify package is limited to five staff accounts, which means firms requiring more than five additional accounts have to opt for the more expensive Advanced plan, which supports up to 15 additional accounts and costs $299 a month, billed annually. That’s a big investment to make for some SMBs, even with Shopify’s offer of three days free and your first month of service for only $1.

The sweet spot for Shopify POS customers is an organization that needs no more than six accounts, which is the limit with the Shopify package that starts at $105 a month. Taking that big leap up to the Advanced plan gives you custom reports and analytics, added checkout capacity and lower transaction processing fees, but you still have to do without telephone support and pay an extra 0.6% in transaction fees for using a third-party payment processor.

Businesses that haven’t yet created a social media sales operation can risk falling behind their competitors, but they also don’t want to add complexity to their sales management or alienate potential social media customers with poor implementation.

Shopify helps you make the most of your online presence by integrating inventory and order management for in-person operations and e-commerce sales. The relatively high monthly prices for the company’s Shopify and Advanced plans are mitigated by their support for five and 15 additional accounts, respectively.

Value

Shopify eschews per-user monthly pricing in favor of POS plans that support multiple accounts. The company’s Advanced plan features lower per-transaction fees but charges an additional 0.6% for using a third-party payment processor. Shopify also charges $89 a month per location to upgrade from its POS Lite software to POS Pro, which offers faster workflows, added staff permission options and advanced inventory reporting.

Another example of Shopify’s give-and-take on costs is its offer of shipping discounts as high as 88% on DHL Express, UPS and 91Ӱ�� Postal Service rates while adding a 1% transaction fee for Shopify-synced orders above 50 a month, up to a maximum of $99 per month. Shopify also scrimps on telephone support, which is available only to businesses that sign up for the high-end Plus plan that starts at $2,300 a month.

Functionality

Shopify products cover four key groups that can really leverage its tools to start and run a successful small business:

Startups get help building their brand, creating an online store and sourcing products to sell. They can also register a domain and have their site hosted by Shopify.

Merchants receive an integrated POS system with built-in links to back office operations, one-click checkouts and support for all popular payment methods, including credit cards and debit cards, digital wallets and cash.

Marketers can use Shopify services to boost their brand through content marketing, SEO, targeted ads and social media. Other marketing tools include email, live chat and lead-capture web forms.

Managers benefit from the products’ centralized order and inventory management, processing of returns and refunds, and integrated fulfillment through the Shopify Fulfillment Network. Other management tools include customizable workflow automations using Shopify Flow, prebuilt reports and live metrics that track traffic, reach, orders and revenue in real time.

Support

Shopify’s Basic, Shopify and Advanced plans are supported 24/7 by live chat (“enhanced live chat” with Advanced), while the company’s Plus package adds 24/7 telephone support. The Shopify Help Center features getting-started guides, information on migrating a store to Shopify, B2B sales advice and tips for managing payments and products.

Help is also available from the Shopify Community in the form of discussions, groups, events and a blog. The company lets you view the current status of its servers and lists maintenance, degraded service and outages for various service areas. Lastly, Shopify offers several free tools for businesses, including a logo maker, business name and domain name generators, a QR code generator and a purchase order template.

Learn more: Read our full Shopify review.

Our editorial team created our expert opinion scores. The expert score contributes to 10% of the data-focused methodology, which underpins our Blueprint rating for each company. The e