Most POS comparisons are written by a POS vendor, or by a site paid by one. This one is not. HospoSure does not sell a point of sale and is not on the list. It covers five systems Australian cafes commonly choose between, and it sticks to what each vendor states on its own Australian site.
Prices, card fees and features below were checked on each vendor's own page on 6 November 2026. Where a vendor does not publish a figure, the page says so rather than guessing. Prices change, so confirm them with the vendor before you sign.
Cafe POS systems in Australia compared
The five systems are listed from the simplest to cost before you sign to the most quote driven. The order is not a score. The right system is the one that fits your service.
| System | Software, per month | In person card rate | Hardware | Offline |
| 1. Square for Restaurants | Free $0, Plus $129 per location, Premium custom | 1.6% per tap or insert | Published: Stand $149, Terminal $329, Handheld $349, Register $1,099 | Offline payments, declined if not back online within 24 hours |
| 2. Lightspeed Restaurant | Starter $79, Essential $179, Premium $359 | Not published | Sold separately, prices on quote | Stores data until back online |
| 3. Abacus | No monthly fee for cafes, no price list published | Depends on your payment provider | iPad or Abacus Android terminal, prices not published | Works offline |
| 4. SwiftPOS | Not published | Depends on your payment provider | Terminals and handhelds, prices not published | Up to 30 days without internet |
| 5. OrderMate | Not published | Depends on your payment provider | Terminals, tablets and handhelds, prices not published | On premise database for up time |
Square and Lightspeed list their plans without saying whether the prices include GST, so ask before you compare them with a quote that does.
1. Square for Restaurants: the easiest to cost before you start
Who it suits: a new independent cafe that wants payments, the till and the menu in one system, with every price published up front.
- Software: a Free plan at $0 a month, Plus at $129 a month per location, and Premium on custom pricing, each plus processing fees. Mobile POS on Plus adds $50 a month per location.
- Card fees: 1.6% per tap or insert in person, for sellers who signed up on or after 30 May 2024. Square says businesses processing $250,000 or more a year may be eligible for custom pricing.
- Hardware: not included in the subscription. Square Stand for iPad $149 (iPad not included), Square Terminal $329, Square Handheld $349, Square Register $1,099, and a 21.5 inch kitchen display at $999.
- Menu and stock: menu management, fast order entry with modifiers, and item availability and counts on every plan. Fuller stock control is Square Restaurant Inventory by Marketman, at $149 a month per location on Plus or Premium.
- Integrations: Square Online Ordering has a free tier on Plus and Premium, and Square Shifts is free for up to five team members.
The catch is that the Free plan is the basics. Menu reports and course management come with Plus, so cost the plan you will actually need once trading, not the one that gets you open.
2. Lightspeed Restaurant: stock and recipes inside the POS
Who it suits: a cafe that wants to track stock to the ingredient level from the till, or a group that plans a second site. Lightspeed has a page built for cafes and says it manages every location from one place.
- Software: Starter $79, Essential $179 and Premium $359 a month. Lightspeed notes that prices may vary with the nature of the business and the industry.
- Card fees: not published. Lightspeed says its rates are competitive and the same whichever card the customer pays with.
- Hardware: an extra cost, sold separately and priced on quote. The range covers Lightspeed Smart Terminals, iPad stands, receipt and kitchen printers, cash drawers and kitchen display screens, and Lightspeed says it runs on a range of devices, new and old.
- Menu and stock: modifiers, coursing and stock management, cost of goods reporting, and saved recipes. Lightspeed says it tracks inventory to the ingredient level, and its Lightspeed Inventory add on is $99 a month.
- Integrations: its integrations page lists Xero and MYOB for accounting, Deputy and Tanda for rostering, and Doshii among its ordering and delivery partners. Third party delivery integrations need an add on.
Lightspeed is the only system here that publishes both its plan prices and an inventory add on price, which makes it the easiest to compare if stock control matters to you from day one.
3. Abacus: no monthly fee for cafes, and your choice of payments
Who it suits: a cafe that wants to avoid a monthly software fee, choose its own payment provider, and take delivery orders. Abacus says it suits a small business through to a multi site company.
- Software: its cafe page offers "No Monthly Fee and Low Hardware Cost to start your business". No price list is published, so get the full terms in writing.
- Card fees: set by your provider. Abacus works with several payment providers, including Tyro, Square, Stripe, NAB, Westpac and Smart Pay.
- Hardware: runs on iPad or on Abacus's own Android terminal. Prices are not published.
- Menu and stock: stock levels, preparation lists, purchase orders and delivery control.
- Integrations: delivery and pick up orders through partners including Uber Eats, DoorDash, Deliveroo and Menulog.
"No monthly fee" is the reason to look. Ask what the hardware, payments and online ordering cost instead, because that is where the money is.
4. SwiftPOS: built to keep trading offline
Who it suits: a cafe where a lost hour of trade is the bigger risk, or one that plans to grow. SwiftPOS says its customers range from the local cafe to 50,000 seat stadiums.
- Software: not published. SwiftPOS lets you opt in to the features you need.
- Card fees: set by your provider, with its integrations page listing options including Tyro and Westpac.
- Hardware: handheld terminals for faster, more accurate ordering, and more than 20,000 terminals installed over 25 years. Prices are not published.
- Offline: SwiftPOS says it can trade continuously for 30 days without internet access, the longest stated offline period here.
- Integrations: Xero and MYOB for accounting, Tanda and Deputy for rostering, and Uber Eats and DoorDash for delivery.
5. OrderMate: table service, stock and multi site reporting
Who it suits: a larger cafe with table service, or a group of venues. OrderMate is built for hospitality, with table management, phone and online orders, and at table ordering.
- Software: not published. OrderMate quotes through its hospitality consultants.
- Card fees: set by your provider, pushed from the POS to integrated EFTPOS terminals.
- Hardware: touch terminals, tablets and handheld devices. Prices are not published.
- Menu and stock: menu items updated on the fly, minimum and maximum stock levels, and reports on wastage, item gross profit, stock on hand and cost of goods, tracked from pre production to the sale.
- Integrations: its integrations page shows Xero and MYOB, Tanda and Deputy, and Uber Eats, DoorDash and Menulog.
How to choose between them
A comparison table gets you to a shortlist. These four checks get you to a decision. Our guide to choosing a cafe point of sale covers the features that matter in more depth.
- Cost a full year, not a month. Add the software plan you will need once trading, the add ons, the hardware, and card fees on your forecast sales. At 1.6%, every $100,000 of card sales costs $1,600 in fees.
- Ask for quotes in writing. Three of the five do not publish prices. Ask each for software, payments and hardware on one page, with GST shown.
- Test it offline. Ask how card payments behave when the internet drops, and for how long, not only whether orders are saved.
- Check it connects. Confirm the accounting, rostering and delivery apps you use are on the vendor's own list. If you take delivery orders, Doshii connects delivery and ordering apps to all five systems here, from $89 a month per venue, excluding GST.
A POS records what you sell. It does not tell you what a dish should cost or what to charge for it. Stock and recipe add ons track usage after you open. Settle your menu costs and prices first, using our cafe food cost calculator guide, so the prices you load into the till carry a margin you decided on.
If you choose Square, a costed menu can move into it in one step, covered in our guide to Square POS cafe integration. For where the POS sits in the wider setup, see how to open a cafe in Australia.