3 best free POS software for small businesses

It might seem like setting up the best POS system for your small business will take a big bite out of your budget, but with certain systems you can actually get up and running free of charge. Free POS platforms aren’t just a great way to keep your overall costs low; they’re a great opportunity to trial a system with minimal risk before investing any money.

In May 2025, our dedicated testing team analysed a range of no-cost options, and found that Square is the best free POS software. This is thanks to its user-friendly software, impressive range of features, and reliable user support options.

Compare free POS software at a glance

In the table below, we draw out some of the key features to consider, so you can quickly compare between providers:

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BEST OVERALL
Square	SumUp	Zettle
Overall Score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 4.8	Overall Score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 4.2	Overall Score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 3.6
Pricing from Software: free Hardware: from £19 plus VAT	Pricing from Software: free Hardware: from £34 plus VAT	Pricing from Software: free   Hardware: from £49 plus VAT
Key benefits Easy to use, and quick to setup Real time in-depth reports A great range of hardware if it’s required	Key benefits Includes features like discounts and sales tracking Mobile and QR code ordering Free Business Account	Key benefits Simple, and intuitive to use Customer engagement tools Customisable gift cards

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1. Square: best overall free POS platform

Square provides an excellent range of hardware if you need it, including its handheld POS device the Square Terminal. Source: Startups.co.uk

Square

4.8

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Square Review

• Starting software price: Free plan
• Transaction fees from: From 1.75%

• Great range of hardware as well as a free iOS app
• Quick to set up and easy to use
• Wide range of help and support options

Summary Square is headed up by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. Specifically designed for small to medium sized businesses, it leads the US market for POS systems, currently serving four million clients.

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What do I need to know about Square’s free plan?

As a result of our independent analysis, conducted in May 2025, we can recommend Square as our favourite option for a free POS system.  The free software is quick and easy to use, and is particularly well suited to small shops, cafes and food trucks.

Since we last tested it in 2024, Square has made further improvements to its usability, making it even more intuitive. You can download the free app directly to a smartphone or tablet, and if this is your first time using a POS system, you should be able to get up to speed in no less than an hour.

We were left impressed by the range of support options that Square provides. Source: Startups.co.uk

While we would say that the free app is great for small, single location businesses and solopreneurs, just be aware that you’ll be missing out on more advanced tools like inventory management and barcode label printing. So a business with more sophisticated needs might need to look at Square’s paid plans instead – Square for Retail Plus and Square for Restaurants Plus, depending on your industry.

What do I need to pay for?

You can run Square’s free app from a tablet or smartphone, which cuts out the need to buy any dedicated POS hardware (usually the largest upfront cost of a POS system). While you can accept Tap to Pay contactless payments using a smartphone, Square does provide the handheld Square Reader for an extremely cheap £19 + VAT, so you may want to seriously consider this so you can accept chip and PIN too.

With the hardware sorted out, the main costs you’ll be worrying about next are transaction fees, which you can read about extensively in our dedicated guide to credit card processing fees. The important thing to know: there are no set-up fees or monthly costs with Square’s free plan, and it charges an average (but very reasonable), 1.75% transaction fee for chip and PIN and contactless payments. This is the exact same as Zettle’s rate, but fractionally higher than SumUp’s.

What are the limitations?

Don’t choose Square’s free plan if…

1. You need 24/7 support

With the free plan, you get access to help and support from Square, Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm GMT. So if you’ve hit a technical issue outside of normal working hours, or at the weekend, you’re out of luck. The Plus plans come with 24/7 phone support, so you’ll get a helping hand at all hours.

2. You have a high volume of retail sales

Square for Retail Plus comes with a discounted 1.6% transaction fee. So if your business is already taking in a high volume of sales, it might be worth going for the paid tier to save you money in the long run.

3. You run a restaurant

If you’re running a restaurant (anything more advanced than a basic coffee shop or bakery), then you’ll most likely struggle with the free plan. By paying for Square for Restaurants Plus, or SumUp Plus, you’ll get access to key features like floor planning.

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2. SumUp: best free POS for a fast-paced environment

SumUp

4.2

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SumUp Review

• Starting software price: Free
• Transaction fees from: 1.69%

• Superb range of hardware and accessories
• Mobile and QR code ordering
• Inventory management tools with stock alerts and cost management

Summary In 2020, London-based payment service provider SumUp acquired GoodTill, an iPad-based POS software provider.

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If you need a card reader, then the SumUp Air is quick and easy to setup. Source: Startups.co.uk

What do I need to know about SumUp’s free plan?

Since we last tested it out in 2024, SumUp has made some improvements to its frontend. Its interface is simple and responsive, and we really liked the “park order” function so we could adjust items quickly during a transaction. We think SumUp’s speed and efficiency would make a great fit for small, fast-paced environments, like a coffee shop.

SumUp offers some really solid software features for a free plan. You’ll get access to sales tracking, discount tools, and you can manage your catalogue of products. You can also take payments with your phone using Tap to Pay. However, we did find its help and support wasn’t quite as extensive as Square’s. Unlike Square, it doesn’t provide any assistance through social media, and we would’ve liked to have seen SumUp include a forum.

With SumUp’s POS, you also get a free Business Account, so you can track payments, manage your expenses, and upload receipts. If you do need to upgrade in the future, SumUp’s paid tiers and range of card readers, terminals and accessories offer some impressive options for scalability. This was a big reason the provider came out as the overall victor when we put SumUp head to head with Zettle.

What do I need to pay for?

With SumUp’s pay-as-you-go plan, there are no monthly charges and you won’t be locked into a contract – you’ll only have to pay the transaction fees. SumUp only charges 1.69% for in-person payments, which is cheaper than Square and Zettle’s 1.75%. In the grand scheme of things, this is roughly about average, but considering it’s a completely free plan, you’re getting a pretty good deal.

Much like Square’s POS, you can use SumUp’s free POS app on just a tablet or smartphone. If you do want a dedicated card machine to take chip and PIN payments with, you can pick up the SumUp Air for a very reasonable upfront price of £34.

What are the limitations?

SumUp’s free plan won’t work for you if…

1. You want to give your customers the option to split the bill

Being able to bill split has become a common expectation from customers. Just be aware, you can only do this when you pay for SumUp Pro, the most expensive tier. However, you can do this with Square’s free POS (just not item splits, or split by seats).

2. You run multiple locations

It might seem like an obvious one, but it’s worth highlighting that the free POS can only support single location businesses. If you need multilocation management, you’ll need to pay for SumUp Pro.

3. You want to offer online ordering and delivery

If your business model relies on providing your patrons with online delivery/ordering as well as in-person sales, you’ll need to keep in mind that this is locked behind the SumUp Pro paywall. However, with Square you can get Square Online Ordering included with a free tier.

3. Zettle by PayPal: best POS for simplicity

Zettle

3.6

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Zettle Review

• Pricing from Free
• Transaction fees from 1.75%

• Free POS app
• Easy-to-read sales reports
• Zettle reader easily integrates with other POS systems

Summary Swedish financial technology company Zettle (formerly known as iZettle) launched its first app in 2011, and in 2018 was acquired by PayPal. It now provides a range of tools for merchants to take payments, including card readers and POS systems.

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The small and lightweight Zettle Reader 2 has great haptic feedback. Source: Startups.co.uk

What do I need to know about Zettle’s free plan?

Our sentiment towards Zettle has remained largely the same since our last testing in 2024: it provides a no-cost option that’s highly intuitive and exceptionally user-friendly. Almost everything is based around the till screen, including adding new products and discounts (you can also pre-set up the discounts, to really speed things up).

The easy to use front-end was a real highlight for us and we also liked the fact that you can add products for sale directly on your tablet or smartphone, so you can adapt on the fly. For a free platform Zettle comes equipped with some decent inventory management (although if you’re a more established shop, you’ll need a more advanced inventory system). Features like the customer engagement tools and gift card creation also left us impressed.

We found that adding new products was a breeze with Zettle’s POS software. Source: Startups.co.uk

One thing to be aware of is that Zettle’s free plan is the only version of its software. This is fine if basic, user-friendly POS software is all you need, but if you think you will be rapidly expanding, you might want to look at a more scalable platform like Square instead.

What do I need to pay for?

With Zettle, all you’ll need to pay for is the transaction fee on each payment you take. It charges a flat 1.75% fee on all card transactions; the exact same as Square’s rate and marginally higher than SumUp’s.

As with Square and SumUp, all you need to take contactless payments is the Zettle by PayPal app on a smartphone or tablet; no additional hardware is needed. But if you do also want to take chip and PIN payments, Zettle’s cheapest card machine is the Zettle Reader 2, which starts from £49 + VAT (so quite a bit more than the Square Reader or SumUp Air).

What are the limitations?

Don’t go with Zettle’s free plan if…

1. You need to be able to create floor plans

You won’t be able to create a floor plan with Zettle’s free POS. As this is the only plan it provides, most restaurants will most likely need to look at either SumUp Plus or Square for Restaurants Plus. For more recommendations you can check out the full roundup of the best POS systems for restaurants.

2. You want to offer your customers mobile and QR code ordering

Zettle doesn’t support any form of mobile or QR code ordering, so if this is an option you’ll want for your customers, you should check out Square or SumUp instead. This will be most relevant for those looking for the best takeaway POS.

3. You want to set up a reservation system

Eateries that want to be able to control the flow of guests won’t be supported by Zettle’s free POS. Zettle can’t support any reservation capabilities, whereas both Square and SumUp can do this by integrating with a third-party system.

How to choose free POS software

When choosing the right free POS software, remember to think hard about the three ‘S’s: scale, sector, and sales.

Scale

You’ll need a platform that can scale up with your business as it expands. Square offers different paid tiers, and a range of hardware, to accommodate for this. You might run a small pop-up shop or cafe now, and you can get by using simple free software. But what if your business starts to take off and you need to expand your inventory?

If you develop a detailed sales strategy, introduce new payment options, and possibly launch online, you may need to start thinking about a more advanced software package that can help you manage these things, along with more expensive hardware, like a full till system.

Sector

Many POS systems provide tailored packages based on industry. For example, retail SMEs won’t need a table booking system in the same way that hospitality businesses do. Just keep in mind that sector-specific features will predominantly be found on paid tiers, as free POS software tends to present a more basic, one-size-fits-all approach.

Consider whether the free POS software will be able to accommodate your needs. For example, if you’re running a larger restaurant, you may need the ingredient tracking or complex inventory management tools of a paid tier.

Sales

We recommend you think about the functions you carry out around your sales strategy. Do you want monthly, annual, or quarterly sales reports? Have these answers ready before you sign any contracts.

Also consider the amount you’ll be paying in card fees. For example, SumUp’s Payments Plus costs £19 per month, but it will unlock much cheaper transaction fees than on the free plan. So, if you’ll be taking in a high number of sales, a free plan might end up costing you more money in the long run.

Methodology: how we ranked the best free POS software

In May 2025, our dedicated Senior Research Executive led a new round of POS system testing so we can be sure that our recommendations are both helpful and up to date.

To find our rankings for the top free POS systems, our research team analysed providers that offer a free plan, and tested them across the six categories we felt were most important for a no-cost POS.

This was based on a framework devised by our Head of Research, and involved our Reviews Writer and group of users conducting hours of hands-on testing in the Startups offices in London.

Each of these separate categories was given a weighting based on importance, which then informed our overall scores to ensure that we were giving you the most relevant ranking possible.