By the UltimatePOS team, who have built and supported UltimatePOS for 10+ years. Prices checked on the vendors’ own pricing pages on November 5, 2026. We make UltimatePOS, one of the options compared here, so every price links to its source for you to check.
Short answer: A POS system costs $0 to $149 a month per location for the software on Square’s plans and $109 to $339 a month on Lightspeed Retail (billed monthly). On top of that you pay card fees on every sale, 1.5% to 2.6% of the payment on the plans we checked (Square adds 15¢ per payment), and hardware. A one-time, self-hosted POS such as UltimatePOS costs $79 once, plus hosting from about $7 a month.
Over 5 years, one shop pays $2,940 for Square Plus, $5,340 for Lightspeed Basic billed annually and about $536 for self-hosted UltimatePOS.
If you’re working out how much a POS system is for your shop, below are the actual plan prices, the fees that come with them, and what each option adds up to over five years. Want to see the one-time option first? Try the UltimatePOS live demo.
What makes up the cost of a POS system
Every POS system has the same three costs. Vendors bill them in different ways.
- Software. A monthly subscription per location, or a one-time licence. Extra registers, kitchen screens and add-ons can cost more.
- Card processing. A percentage of each card payment plus a fixed fee per payment. This grows with your sales and is often the biggest cost over time.
- Hardware. A computer or tablet, card reader, receipt printer, barcode scanner and cash drawer. You buy most of it once.
Some systems also charge for setup, training or premium support. A self-hosted POS also needs hosting, the server it runs on.
What popular POS systems cost in 2026
Prices below come from each vendor’s own pricing page, checked on November 5, 2026. Prices are in US dollars and can change, so check the links before you buy.
| System and plan | Software price | In-person card fee |
|---|---|---|
| Square Free | $0/month | 2.6% + 15¢ |
| Square Plus | $49/month per location | 2.5% + 15¢ |
| Square Premium | $149/month per location | 2.4% + 15¢ |
| Lightspeed Retail Basic | $109/month, or $89/month billed annually | 1.5% |
| Lightspeed Retail Core | $179/month, or $149/month billed annually | 1.5% |
| Lightspeed Retail Plus | $339/month, or $289/month billed annually | 1.5% |
| UltimatePOS (self-hosted) | $79 once (Regular License) + hosting | Set by the card processor you choose |
Square POS cost
Square has three plans: Free ($0), Plus ($49 a month per location) and Premium ($149 a month per location). The monthly fee applies to each location you run, and the paid plans have a 30-day free trial. Card fees drop as the plan price goes up, from 2.6% + 15¢ on Free to 2.4% + 15¢ on Premium. Kitchen display and kiosk software cost extra per device. Square’s own hardware starts at $59.
Lightspeed POS cost
Lightspeed Retail costs $109, $179 or $339 a month on monthly billing, or $89, $149 or $289 a month if you pay yearly. Each plan includes one register, and Lightspeed lists a 1.5% card-present rate on all three. For several locations, Lightspeed asks you to contact sales for a custom plan.
UltimatePOS cost
UltimatePOS is a POS and inventory system you buy once and run on your own server. The Regular License is $79 on CodeCanyon and includes future updates and 6 months of support, which you can extend for a small fee. One licence covers one domain for your live system plus one for testing, and you can add several shops and warehouses inside that one install. You pay for hosting separately, and you can install it yourself with the installation guide or use our $25 installation service.
UltimatePOS doesn’t process card payments itself. You take cards on a terminal from your bank or a processor you pick, and record the sale in the POS, so the card rate is whatever you negotiate.
One-time vs monthly: the 5-year cost for one shop
Here’s what the software side adds up to over five years (60 months) for one location with one register. Hardware and card fees are left out because you pay them with any system.
| Option | Upfront | Monthly | 5-year total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Square Free | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Square Plus | $0 | $49/month | $2,940 |
| Square Premium | $0 | $149/month | $8,940 |
| Lightspeed Retail Basic (billed annually) | $0 | $89/month | $5,340 |
| Lightspeed Retail Basic (billed monthly) | $0 | $109/month | $6,540 |
| UltimatePOS, self-hosted | $104 | $7.20/month | $536 |
What the self-hosted total includes: the licence, the optional installation, and DigitalOcean’s $6-a-month Basic Droplet (1 GiB memory, 1 vCPU, 25 GiB SSD) with weekly backups. You can move to a larger plan later if you add shops or staff. Support after the first 6 months is optional: you can extend it for a small fee when you buy or later, and the software keeps working without it.
“I’ve been using to manage my business for several years now. My support service already expired but I still can rely on the script due to the stability…”
Terranos74, UltimatePOS buyer review on CodeCanyon
Where to host a self-hosted POS
UltimatePOS needs a server with PHP 8.1 or newer and MySQL. These are the hosts we recommend:
- DigitalOcean (cloud server). The $6-a-month Basic Droplet (1 GiB memory) is the plan used in our 5-year total. You set up the server yourself, or use our installation service.
- Cloudways (managed cloud). Runs your server on providers such as DigitalOcean, AWS or Google Cloud and looks after the server for you.
- InMotion Hosting and Namecheap (shared hosting). Low-cost plans with no server to manage. Check that the plan offers PHP 8.1 or newer.
See our recommended hosting providers for more on each.
See the one-time option for yourself
Open the live UltimatePOS demo in your browser, ring up a sale and check the stock report. Nothing to install.
What a second shop does to the cost
Square’s paid plans are priced per location. With Square Plus, a second shop doubles the software cost to $5,880 over five years. Lightspeed quotes multi-location plans on request. With UltimatePOS, extra locations and warehouses are part of the same install, so the 5-year total stays at about $536 unless you move to a bigger server.
Card fees: the cost that grows with your sales
Say your shop takes $10,000 a month in card payments across 500 sales. On Square Free that’s 2.6% of $10,000 ($260) plus 500 × 15¢ ($75), so $335 a month, or about $4,020 a year. On Square Premium it’s $240 + $75 = $315 a month, more than twice the $149 software fee.
You pay card fees with any POS, including a self-hosted one. With an all-in-one system you take its rate. With a self-hosted POS you can compare card processors and switch.
Hidden costs to check before you sign up
- Per-location fees. Square’s paid plans charge the monthly fee for each location.
- Per-device add-ons. Square charges kitchen display and kiosk software per device, on top of the plan.
- Hardware lock-in. Toast’s pricing FAQ says its service works only on approved Toast hardware, so you can’t reuse devices you already own.
- Annual billing. The lower Lightspeed prices need a yearly commitment.
- Your data. Ask how you export customers, products and sales history if you leave. With a self-hosted POS the database is already on your server.
- Your time. A self-hosted POS needs someone to keep backups and install updates. Pay for help if you don’t have that person.
When a subscription POS makes more sense
A monthly plan is the better choice if you want nothing to install or maintain, need built-in card processing on day one, or run a business you expect to change soon, such as a pop-up. If your card volume is small, Square Free’s $0 software fee is the cheapest option in this guide. For the wider trade-off, see our guide to desktop vs cloud-based POS systems.
When a one-time POS saves money
A one-time POS pays off when you plan to run the business for years, have more than one location, want to keep your data on your own server, or need features for a specific trade. UltimatePOS covers retail shops, wholesalers, restaurants and salons, and adds modules for hotels, gyms, repair shops and manufacturers. See UltimatePOS by industry.
“This is the best you can get without all the bloat and unnecessary subscriptions of larger enterprise systems.”
dustin2, UltimatePOS buyer review on CodeCanyon
How to estimate your own POS cost
- Count your locations and registers.
- Write down each plan’s monthly price per location and multiply by 60 for five years.
- Estimate monthly card sales and number of payments, then apply each plan’s card rate.
- List the hardware you need and check whether you can use devices you already have.
- For a self-hosted POS, add the licence, hosting and any setup help.
POS cost questions
How much does a POS system cost per month?
On the plans we checked, POS software costs $0 to $149 a month per location with Square and $109 to $339 a month with Lightspeed Retail when billed monthly. A self-hosted POS has no software subscription; you pay for hosting instead, from about $7 a month ($6 server + $1.20 backups) in our example.
Can you get a free POS system?
Yes. Square Free has no monthly software fee. You pay for it through card fees: 2.6% + 15¢ per in-person payment, the highest of Square’s three plans. You also need hardware or a phone to take payments.
What POS systems have the lowest card fees?
Of the systems we checked, Lightspeed lists a 1.5% card-present rate on all retail plans, and Square Premium charges 2.4% + 15¢. Square offers custom rates to businesses that process over $250,000 a year. With a self-hosted POS you choose your own card processor, so you can shop around.
How much does Square POS cost?
Square Free is $0 a month, Square Plus is $49 a month per location and Square Premium is $149 a month per location. In-person card fees are 2.6%, 2.5% and 2.4% + 15¢ per payment on those plans.
How much does a POS system cost for a small business?
For one shop with one register, software over 5 years ranges from $0 (Square Free, with higher card fees) to $8,940 (Square Premium). A one-time, self-hosted POS like UltimatePOS comes to about $536 over 5 years including hosting. Hardware and card fees come on top in every case.
How much does POS hardware cost?
Square’s own hardware starts at $59. UltimatePOS runs in a web browser on a computer or tablet you may already own, and works with a standard barcode scanner and receipt printer.
Is a one-time POS really cheaper than a subscription?
Over five years it was cheaper than every paid plan we compared, because the licence is paid once and hosting costs less than those subscriptions. The trade-off is that you look after hosting and updates yourself, or pay someone to do it.
What do I need to run a self-hosted POS?
A server with PHP 8.1 or newer and MySQL. That can be a cloud server such as a $6-a-month DigitalOcean Droplet, managed cloud hosting, shared hosting, or a computer in your shop if you only need it locally. If you don’t want to set it up yourself, an installation service costs $25.
Own your POS instead of renting it
UltimatePOS is used by 10,000+ businesses and rated 4.2+/5 from 700+ ratings. Pay once and keep your data on your own server.
About the authors
This guide was written by the team at Ultimate Fosters, who build and support UltimatePOS. We have sold and maintained it for 10+ years, and it is used by 10,000+ businesses. We compared plan prices only, using each vendor’s public pricing page.
Sources and how we checked
We read each pricing page on November 5, 2026 and used the US price shown. We left out vendors whose US prices we couldn’t confirm that day. Totals are simple sums over 60 months without discounts, taxes or price rises.
- Square, Point of Sale Pricing & Plans: squareup.com
- Lightspeed, Retail POS pricing (X-Series): lightspeedhq.com
- Toast, pricing FAQ: pos.toasttab.com
- UltimatePOS on CodeCanyon: codecanyon.net
- DigitalOcean, Droplet pricing: digitalocean.com
- UltimatePOS server requirements: installation guide
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