5 best free POS software for small businesses

Setting up the best POS system for your small business might seem like it could take a big bite out of your budget, but you can actually get up and running completely free of charge. Free POS platforms aren’t just a great way to keep your overall costs low, either; they’re a great opportunity for a low-risk trial of a system before you start investing time and money.

Our dedicated testing team analysed a range of no-cost POS platforms and found that Square provides the best free POS software for small businesses, thanks to its user-friendly software, impressive range of features, and reliable user support options.

Does a free POS system sound too good to be true? Well, you can read our in-depth breakdowns of our top choices below to find out what the software can offer you, whether you’ll need to spend money on hardware, and whether there are any hidden costs.

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 3.9
Pricing from Software: free Hardware: from £19 plus VAT	Pricing from Software: free Hardware: from £34 plus VAT	Pricing from Software: free   Hardware: from £29 plus VAT
Key benefits Easy to use, and quick to setup Real time in-depth reports A great range of hardware if its 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

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

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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?

Whether you’re working in retail or food and beverages, Square offers a fantastic no-cost POS solution. Its free software is quick and easy to use, which is ideal for operations like small shops, cafes and food trucks. While the free app is great for small, single location businesses, just be aware that you’ll be missing out on tools like inventory management and barcode label printing, so a business with more advanced needs might need to look at Square’s paid plans instead.

What we particularly liked about Square is its simple interface, which we found reassuringly intuitive. 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 (though we did find setting up the front end marginally fiddlier than the back office). While it is missing a dedicated training mode, you do get a wide range of help and support from Square, from live chat to a knowledge centre. When we tested both of these functions, the answers we got were helpful and accurate.

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

Being free, app-based and user-friendly, Square POS is a solid choice for those starting out, but if you plan on scaling up your business in the future, you also have some excellent options to futureproof your business. Square offers feature-rich, paid software plans for different industries — Square for Retail and Square for Restaurants — as well as an excellent range of hardware, including the palm-sized Square Reader and the more advanced Square Terminal, a handheld POS device.

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 consider this so you can accept chip and PIN too.

With the hardware sorted out, the main cost you’ll be worrying about next are transaction fees, which you can read about extensively in our dedicated guide to credit card processing fees. There are no set up fees or monthly costs with Square’s free plan, and the company charges a reasonable, but squarely average, 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.

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

SumUp

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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?

Speed and efficiency are the watchwords for SumUp’s free POS offering. You can download the app completely free, and be ready to take payments in just minutes. We think this speediness makes SumUp a great fit for a small, fast-paced environment, like a coffee shop. Just be warned, though, that it doesn’t work offline, which could be a big drawback if you’ve got connectivity issues or your business is mobile. We’d recommend going with Square instead if you need to be able to operate offline.

That said, SumUp does offer 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 using your phone using Tap to Pay, and you can send payment links and QR codes, and get paid at any time. Though 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 scale up in the future, SumUp’s paid tiers and decent range of hardware offers 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. Just be aware that it’s the only platform on this list that doesn’t offer a handheld POS device, like the Square Terminal or Zettle Terminal.

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 £25.

3. Zettle by PayPal: best POS for simplicity

Zettle

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Zettle Review

• Pricing from Free

• 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 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 also great haptic feedback. Source: Startups.co.uk

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

Zettle provides a solid no-cost option that’s no-nonsense and exceptionally user-friendly, even more so than Square’s. We think the straightforward usability of the platform makes it a particularly great fit newer and smaller businesses, like pop-up retail stores. It was an incredibly slick user experience, with almost everything based around the till screen, including adding new products and discounts (you can also pre-set up the discounts, to really speed things up).This is really great for businesses that need to prioritise simplicity and ease-of-use.

The easy to use front-end was a real highlight for us and we also liked 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 (though, 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.

Similar to SumUp, we did note the absence of a community forum, the likes of which Square provides. Also like SumUp, Zettle unfortunately doesn’t work offline, which could be a big issue for those operating in areas with no signal.

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 only £29 + VAT.

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

If you have a large number of employees or sell in multiple locations, and so need multiple card machines, you’ll need to invest in low-cost models, like Square’s or Zettle’s. You’ll also 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 if your business starts to take off and you need to expand your inventory, 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 One 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

To find our rankings for the top free POS systems, our research team tested a range of different POS systems and evaluated them across the six categories we felt were most important for a no-cost POS option.

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

The six judging categories were:

Usability: we determined this as the most important category for a free POS system. We judged how easy it is to use the system based on extensive hands-on testing.

Software: this was the second most important category. We evaluated the systems based on the range of features and capabilities it provides.

Pricing: this was the third most crucial: how much you’ll be paying in transaction fees, and the cost of crucial hardware such as card machines.

Help and support: the next most important factor. We investigated the range of support options the platform provides for users, and then tested the accuracy and responsiveness of the live chat and knowledge centres.

The final two categories were deemed the least impactful when choosing a free POS, and were given equal weighting, but were still considered important in the overall decision:

Hardware: what range of POS hardware, such as card readers and terminals, does the platform offer, if it is needed?

Customer score: this is an overall user satisfaction score comprising both third-party reviews and our own user testing experience.