Find the best iPad POS Systems
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Clover is a powerful all-in-one POS system designed to help small businesses streamline their operations. The system offers a range of features, including payment processing, inventory management, employee tracking, and more. Clover's hardware devices, suc...Read more about Clover
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Epos Now POS systems are an effective business management, sales, and payment solution for single-site, multi-site, and online businesses. Popular with retailers and hospitality businesses in many industries, Epos Now POS systems are perfect for cafes, bar...Read more about Epos Now
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Toast POS is a comprehensive point-of-sale system designed specifically for the restaurant industry. It is more than just a tool to accept payments; it is the central nervous system of a restaurant's operations, integrating a suite of functionalities to ma...Read more about Toast POS
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LINGA is an enterprise-ready cloud-based business platform with 20+ applications in addition to Point of Sale (POS). With over 17 years in the restaurant markets, LINGA POS offers businesses hardware and software for restaurant industries. LINGA's Platform...Read more about Linga rOS System
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Rezku is the premier POS, used by successful restaurants, bars and pizzerias to compete at a higher level, earn new business and eliminate headaches. Rezku comes complete with everything modern food and beverage concepts need for amazing service, optimize...Read more about Rezku POS
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For over 40 years, Paladin Data Corp. has been helping independent retail businesses run better. Paladin point of sale (POS) and inventory management software automates time-consuming inventory chores and provides business owners with the data they need to...Read more about Paladin Point of Sale and Inventory Management
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iVend Retail by CitiXsys is an integrated POS software application delivered on cloud. Our SaaS platform empowers retailers to provide exceptional customer experiences throughout the entire shopper journey. iVend Retail includes complete infrastructure and...Read more about iVend Retail
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Loyverse POS is a cloud-based, mobile point-of-sale solution aimed at small retail, restaurant and salon establishments. With this software, users can manage inventory, visualize sales analytics and manage customer relationships. Loyverse POS allows u...Read more about Loyverse POS
Square Point of Sale is a mobile POS system available for iOS and Android devices. Key capabilities of the Square POS system include online payment processing, sales reports, inventory tracking, digital receipts, email and SMS marketing campaigns, eCommerc...Read more about Square Point of Sale
Square for Retail is a cloud-based point of sale (POS) and retail solution for all retailers. Key features include inventory management, customer relationship management, reporting and employee management. The solution comes with built-in payment processin...Read more about Square for Retail
PHP POS is a hybrid point of sale (POS) solution that helps small and startup retail businesses across various industries to manage their day to day business operations, interact with customers and process financial transactions. PHP POS can be accessed v...Read more about PHP Point of Sale
CleanCloud is a cloud-based retail solution that helps dry cleaning and laundry businesses manage customer orders and streamline point-of-sale operations. The centralized platform enables users to review revenue statistics using charts and generate perform...Read more about CleanCloud
Poster is a cloud-based mobile point of sale (POS) and inventory management solution for food service industry. The inventory management application can alert users when they are running low on a menu item. It allows users build their menus by organizing t...Read more about Poster POS
Flipdish is an all-in-one POS and restaurant management system powering thousands of restaurants and takeaways around the world. Make life easier by streamlining operations with an intuitive kitchen display system, inventory management, powerful reporting...Read more about Flipdish
Authorize.net helps makes it simple to accept electronic and credit card payments in person, online or over the phone. Get solutions that go to work for your business and let you focus on what you love best. Nearly 500,000 merchants. That's a lot of passi...Read more about authorize.net
Shopify POS is a point of sale solution that helps retail businesses streamline operations related to marketing, inventory management, payment processing, product reporting and more on a centralized platform. The omnichannel selling module enables staff me...Read more about Shopify POS
Arryved is an all-in-one POS and hospitality management system. Built for dynamic bars, taprooms and restaurants, Arryved is remarkably easy to use. With online ordering, human-readable real-time reporting, QR code ordering & payments and loyalty program...Read more about Arryved
STORIS is the leading provider of modern technology solutions for home furnishings, bedding, and appliance retailers. From your showrooms and eCommerce website to your distribution centers, STORIS will enhance the customer experience, increasing revenue ac...Read more about STORIS
Magestore POS is specifically designed for retailers who use the Magento platform. It syncs data in real-time, so you receive an up-to-the-minute view of your business’ performance across all sales channels. Magestore POS leads to better in-store efficienc...Read more about Magestore
MYR POS is a cloud-based point of sale solution and was created specifically for the quick-serve and fast-casual restaurant segments. Customers typically include coffee shops, salad bars, pizza stands, ice cream shops, food trucks, multi-location franchise...Read more about MYR POS
RunIt RealTime is a cloud-based point of sale (POS) and inventory management solution that caters to businesses in industries like multi-store apparel, footwear, sports and gift and merchandizes. Key features include business intelligence, eReceipts, eComm...Read more about RunIt RealTime Cloud
Tillpoint is a cloud-based business management and electronic point of sale (EPOS) solution for retail stores, restaurants and the hospitality industry. The solution provides modules for inventory management, accounting, table management, reporting and mor...Read more about tillpoint
SmartSwipe is a cloud-based POS system designed for restaurant and retail businesses of any size. This solution helps businesses manage inventory, track customers, process payments, access real-time business analytics, provide loyalty incentives, plus more...Read more about SmartSwipe
Sapaad is a cloud-based point of sale (POS) and restaurant management system designed for food businesses, such as cafes, fast food and full-service, walk-in, dine-in, take-out and home delivery. It offers point-of-sale (POS), customer relationship managem...Read more about Sapaad
eHopper is a cross-platform point-of-sale software designed for retail and restaurants and available for Windows and Android devices. It also offers a suite of applications like online ordering website, KDS, self-serve kiosk, order management, inventory ma...Read more about eHopper
Popular Comparisons
Your Guide to Top iPad POS Software, March 2023
Software Advice uses reviews from real software users to highlight the top-rated iPad POS products in North America.
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“Usability” includes user ratings for Functionality and Ease of Use.
“Customer Satisfaction” includes user ratings for Customer Support, Likelihood to Recommend and Value for Money.
Reviews analysis period: The reviews analysis period spans two years and ends the 15th of the month prior to publication.
Buyers Guide
This detailed guide will help you find and buy the right ipad pos software for you and your business.
Last Updated on January 27, 2025In this guide we'll cover:
Note: This guide covers POS systems specifically with respect to Apple's iPad. For POS solutions that may work for other tablets, see our tablet POS guide; and for systems that can run on any mobile device (including smartphones), see our mobile POS (mPOS) guide.
What is an iPad POS system?
An iPad point-of-sale (POS) system is POS software specifically designed for use on Apple's iPad. The iPad's attractive design, user-friendly interface, and relatively affordable setup and maintenance costs make iPad POS systems an appealing choice for retail operations. As a result, more and more point-of-sale vendors are releasing iPad applications for their POS systems. However, no iPad POS solution is perfect. Each type of deployment has its benefits and drawbacks.
Deployment Options
Web-based systems. With this deployment option, users access a vendor's point-of-sale application by logging into the system via a Web browser (e.g., Chrome, Firefox etc.). The benefit of this type of application is that retailers don't have to worry about software updates and backups. While many Web-based point-of-sale applications are responsive-developed to be viewable on a variety of devices at different resolutions—they may not be developed specifically for iPad, so the experience may not be flawless.
Remote access. In a remote access point-of-sale environment, the system is hosted in a central location and is accessed remotely via a virtual private network (VPN). It's important to note that remote managed applications are prone to "back door" attacks and should comply with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards, more commonly referred to as PCI compliance. This deployment option is becoming less commonplace.
Native iPad apps. Native iPad point of sale applications are developed specifically for iOS powered devices and deliver the best possible user experience. Native applications are installed directly to the iPad or other Apple device. The benefit is these applications are typically fast and reliable. The downside is they may require fees to upgrade and manual updating.
Benefits and Potential Issues
iPad POS systems are often great solutions for retail start-ups, small retail operations and mobile retailers (e.g., food truck vendors) because they're easy to implement, scalable and affordable compared to traditional POS systems.
Product grid view in Lightspeed
However, reporting and inventory management for some point-of-sale solutions, Square for example, are limited or non-existent. Retailers who handle large amounts of cash, require detailed reporting capabilities or use many external devices, such as signature pads, bar code readers and displays, may prefer a traditional POS system for handling transactions. Fortunately, many traditional providers now offer iPad applications or support via one of the deployment models mentioned above.
Retailers that adopt the right types of iPad POS software for their operations stand to benefit in many ways, such as:
Low upfront costs. Equipment and software for a single user iPad POS system can cost between $1,000 and $3,500, depending on hardware requirements and number of terminals.
Increased mobility. Because iPad devices are portable, retailers are free to move the checkout to the customer to provide faster service. This is especially important in restaurant operations and non-traditional storefronts, such as food trucks and pop-up markets, where a traditional POS system that lacks portability is inconvenient.
Improved data management. With an iPad POS system, retailers can efficiently manage receipts, credit card information and customer data. Additionally, these types of systems often include real-time tracking of sales data, so managers always have up-to-date information for making operational decisions.
Retailers that fail to realize some of these core benefits often do so because they:
Do not have the right infrastructure in place to support integration of software systems from different vendors.
Do not adequately prepare staff for adoption of new software.
Fail to properly train staff on how to leverage the software's full scope of features and functionality.
Markets Trends to Understand
E-payments and mobile wallet. In a Hospitality Technology report on POS software trends, 62.5 percent of respondents said enabling new payment options was a key motivator for pursuing a POS upgrade. At the same time, 35.6 percent of respondents said mobile wallet integration is a top feature they will look for when purchasing new point-of-sale software. There are many iPad POS systems available on the market which include electronic payment options.
Cloud software. From the same report, 40.7 percent of respondents said they want to centralize their POS data and will look at cloud and hosted software solutions to meet that need. Cloud-based point of sale software makes it easier for retailers to operate using new and secure technology, have instant access to sales data and scale up by way of integrating value add modules, such gift cards and loyalty reward programs. With a cloud-based system, there's no need to manage a secure server, schedule data backups or depend on administrators for upgrades.
Hardware
When calculating the cost of iPad point-of-sale software, it's important to include hardware equipment costs. Make sure hardware choices are compatible by contacting the vendor. Common POS hardware components include:
Tablets | iPad POS software typically supports iPad, iPad Mini and iPad Touch. Apple's tablets are often considered pricy compared to others, with costs ranging from $229 for an iPad Mini to $499 and more for iPads. |
Stands and mounts | iPad stands and mounts position and protect the devices. Costs typically range between $49 and $349, with high-end models reaching price points from $500 to $1,000 range. |
Card reader | Most iPad POS software packages include a credit card reader. When purchased separately, card readers typically have price tags between $10 and $100. |
Barcode scanner | iPads have a built-in camera that can serve as a barcode scanner. Retailers who scan barcodes frequently may prefer a handheld or mounted scanner, however. Costs typically range from $170 to $529 per device. |
Receipt printer | iPad compatible receipt and label printer costs range from $299 to $479. |
Cash drawer | Depending on your security requirements, cash drawer prices typically range between $100 and $299. |