Top 5 Square Alternatives & Competitors Review

Square provides point of sale systems for small to mid-sized restaurant and retail businesses. Their hardware and software are designed to help companies run more efficiently, with a focus on on-the-go payments via portable terminals. 

Square is known for their barebones pricing plans, mobile transactions, and employee ease of use. There are also some drawbacks to using Square, such as restricted choice of paid features. 

We uncover the top 5 Square competitors to help you decide which point of sale (POS) system is best for your business.

Note: All product features, pricing, and other details are accurate as of February 2022.

When to switch from Square

With the simplicity of Square's offering and the offer of affordable, minimalist setups, a lot of businesses opt for Square as a first POS system. But it isn't always the best for the future. As your operations become more complex, you may find yourself needing more flexibility, lower costs, or more functions. So when will you know it's time for a change?

• You need lower processing fees for high-volume transactions. Square’s flat-rate pricing is simple, but when you start processing more sales, even a small saving on every transaction can give your profits a huge boost, making interchange-plus or custom transaction fees the way to go.

• You want better inventory management. Some of Square's simpler setups provide little to no inventory tools. As your stock expands, you'll need more advanced features like purchase ordering, supplier management, stock history, and bulk update functions. Other POS systems can offer these tools as standard.

• You need multi-location features. Managing multiple stores or venues requires centralised reporting, shared inventory, and location-specific staff and permissions. If you’re expanding, you may benefit from a setup more ready to support multi-site operations.

• You want restaurant-specific features (table management, KDS). Hospitality businesses often need specialised tools such as table plans, course firing, kitchen display systems (KDS), and delivery integrations. Square covers some of these, but failing to accommodate any of these can compromise your operation in a big way.

• You’ve outgrown Square’s feature set. As your business scales, being adaptable is essential. These means you may require more customisation, integrations, and advanced workflows at any point. If you find yourself relying on multiple add-ons or workarounds, a more flexible POS ecosystem could be a better and more affordable fit.

• You need better reporting and analytics. Data-driven decisions rely on detailed insights. If you need advanced sales breakdowns, staff performance metrics, trend forecasting, or custom reports, other systems may offer more comprehensive analytics tools as part of the basic package.

#1: Epos Now

Best for:

• Businesses on a budget
• Multi-site businesses

Review score:
4.5/5 (Trustpilot)

Pricing

One great feature that both platforms offer is fixed rates on credit and debit card payments.^** Epos Now allow third-party processing alongside their own merchant services, (Epos Now Payments), whereas Square only allows their own payment processor (Square Payments). 

Square’s free software is limited. Most merchants who run a busy or growing business are required to upgrade to a larger, paid software bundle if they want to access more features. Both Epos Now and Square offer bundles on their hardware and software, with Square including some POS features for free on hardware-only purchases. However, since Square hardware is only compatible with Square software, purchasing their software is a prerequisite. 

Inventory management features such as bulk intake, inventory history and counting are missing from Square’s free software package, and only available with Square Retail Plus, which starts at $49/month. These features are available from $25 per month at Epos Now.

• Complete Solution: $649
• Software only: $25PM
• Premium 24/7 support package $79PM

Core features

Square and Epos Now are both hailed for their simple payment processing fees and versatility in accepting a range of payment types. Both brands accept chip-and-pin and contactless mobile payments, remote transactions, and online payments. 

Hardware-wise, Square POS software is available on Square devices, Android and Apple. Epos Now software is available on Epos Now devices, Apple, Android, Windows, and PC.

A clear advantage of Epos Now is that their hardware isn’t locked to their software, meaning if you wanted to take your Epos Now terminal or Pro+ and switch to a different POS provider, you can.

A key element in any point of sale system is the reporting feature. A good range of reports are available with Square Retail Plus software including sales reports, profit margin reports, COGS, and vendor sales. 

Epos Now offers the same reports, along with employee sales and entry reports, time-comparison reports, and item-specific performance reports. These are incredibly useful for spotting sales trends and identifying drains in your resources.

The integrations available at Epos Now are what truly sets them apart from Square. There are 100s of third-party integrations available for the purpose of giving merchants ultimate control over their POS experience. Epos Now believes that if a business works well with particular software, then the POS should be able to support it, allowing merchants to sync their data and access everything they need in one place.

Epos Now’s flexibility allows merchants to only pay for the services and integrations that they want and need. While it’s true that Square’s tiered payment plans provide access to a solid variety of services, they are pre-selected, meaning you might be paying for something that you didn’t pick and don’t need.

Check out a full breakdown of the differences in our blog, Epos Now vs Square.

Where Epos Now shines

Epos Now are market leaders in POS software and hardware. Like Square, Epos Now split their software into two main categories. Square caters their POS software to the retail and restaurant industries, while Epos Now caters to retail and the wider hospitality sector. 

Epos Now is one of the more popular alternatives to Square because of the sector-specific offerings. Epos Now have dedicated software modules for restaurants, pubs and bars, takeaways, and hotels. The same goes for retail POS, with separate technology available for clothing shops, electronics stores, convenience stores, and more.

Where Epos Now can improve

Pricing clarity and transparency remain a common issue; many merchants report difficulty understanding total cost and feature pricing unless they speak with sales. However, they have recently launched a bundle-builder that offers merchants the opportunity to build their package and see pricing on their website, showing that Epos Now are committed to addressing problems their customers raise with them!

Reviews:

5 Stars "I had my first pop-up sale for my business on Jan 31 and had decided to get a new POS system about a 9 days before that since mine was 10 years old. The sales team put together a great package for me at a great price, and put a rush on the shipment so I'd have time to learn the system."

3 Stars " The software is powerful, but often glitches and lags, and it could be made much more user-friendly in the back office using automation and even macros, etc. Right now it's very clunky and challenging to use."

#2: Toast

Best for: Full-service & fast-casual restaurants

4.0/5 G2 & Capterra

Pricing breakdown

• Starter: ~$69–$99/month* (basic POS)

• Essentials: ~$150–$200/month* (ordering, reporting)

• Premium / Custom: ~$250+ / bespoke (*quote required)

• Note: Australia pricing is usually bespoke after talking with Toast sales.

Upfront hardware costs and processing fees apply based on hardware choices.

Core features

• Restaurant-grade ordering & menu management
• Kitchen display system (KDS) support
• Delivery & online ordering integrations
• Inventory tracking & menu analytics
• Reporting & sales analytics

Some features Toast has ahead of Square include food delivery management, and a dedicated takeout and delivery app. These are optional add-ons that are part of Toast’s Essentials package, which starts at a punchy monthly fee of $165 USD. 

Connectivity-wise, Toast and Square are neck and neck. Like Epos Now, both systems offer offline mode, which lets merchants accept payments without internet connection. They are both cloud based POS systems, meaning data is securely saved online, and business owners can check in on their business remotely.

Where Toast shines

Toast was built for restaurants: tableside ordering, KDS, delivery tools and real-time kitchen integration make it powerful for busy kitchens. This makes Toast a fantastic Squareup alternative if you own a restaurant, as they specialise in the hospitality industry. Square takes the upper hand for retailers.

Where Toast can improve

Costs can escalate quickly, especially when adding custom hardware or premium modules. Some restaurants report occasional connectivity issues with external systems.

Plus, since Square offers POS systems for a variety of businesses, including retail businesses, some of their features are more versatile. For example, Square can process refunds by the item, refunds by specific amounts, and send digital/email receipts, which Toast does not currently offer. 

Real customer reviews

“I love the customization options!!! It’s so easy to add and publish new items on the go from the handheld devices or POS Stations.”

“You cannot process voids or refunds properly through the system, and every single time they do an update on their system, it almost always crashes, freezes, or goes offline, causing our employees to freak out.”  - Capterra

#3: Tevalis

Best for: Enterprise hospitality & multi-site operations

Review score:
7.5/10 (POS software)

Australia-focused pricing

• Custom quotes required: One of Tevalis's shortcomings is the lack of transparency around pricing.

• Estimated enterprise costs: UserPOS cite Tevalis systems as costing between $150 - $300 per device with extra subscriptions for features like loyalty and analytics.

Core features

Tevalis’ features are firmly focused on growth. Their reporting is synced with their business suite add-on for an additional price. Here, managers can read reports on daily profit vs revenue, revenue vs visits, best sellers by quantity, and even top sites by revenue since there is a focus on omnichannel selling.

Square software is customer-centric, which many businesses will prefer. Tevalis offers incredibly advanced services that are useful for businesses aiming for large-scale growth. 

• Enterprise-level reporting & analytics
• Advanced hospitality workflows
• Centralised multi-site control
• CRM and loyalty integrations
• Kitchen & table management

Where Tevalis shines

Tevalis targets businesses that are focused on expanding and generating large profits, and Square is more suitable for small and mid-sized businesses, which makes it perfect for multi-venue hospitality groups needing deep reporting and custom workflows to help build efficiency into the foundations of the business, and information they can use to make good decisions. 

Where Tevalis can improve

Cost and complexity can be high for smaller businesses; pricing transparency is limited.

Reviews

"Tevalis is brilliant really user-friendly and does it all, from POS to ordering, reporting, and stock management." - (POS software)
“I signed a 3-year contract, was told the monthly charge would be £128 a year, and that it would be free for the first year. Now, they’re charging £490 a month!” – (POS software)

#4: Clover

Best for: Small to mid-sized retail & restaurants

3.8/5 (Getapp)

Pricing

Clover are a good choice if your business needs affordable hardware. However, Square take the lead for better device flexibility. People often look to Clover for a cheaper Square register alternative.

• Starter: ~$95 AUD/month* (for 36 months)

• Mid: ~$150–$200 AUD/month*

• Premium: $293 AUD/month*
  (Pricing tied to hardware and merchant account; exact fees vary by partner agreement. Figures from Forbes)

Core features

Both Square and Clover offer terminals with a main touchscreen and a user-facing screen. They have similar designs and have unique features for optimal user experience. Square also offer a Square reader, stand, terminal, and register.

Clover and Square both provide their own payment terminals for credit card processing, Apple Pay and Google Pay. Square also supports Samsung Pay, which Clover does not. 

• Integrated hardware + POS software
• Employee permissions & management
• Customisable tip screens
• Sales reporting
• Loyalty & rewards modules

Where Clover shines

Strong out-of-the-box hardware/software bundles and retail-friendly features. A great advantage of Clover is that they offer employee-focused features, such as customisable tip screens and performance measuring tools. Clover also allows managers to set varying levels of permissions and access for different employees, which is extremely useful for a small business or a business with high employee turnover.

Where Clover can improve

Hardware lock-in to Clover ecosystem and merchant account limitations. Since Clover software is only compatible with Clover devices, the pricing plan is relevant to the hardware you select. There’s the Register Lite and Register Plans, which respectively cost UDS $9.95/month and USD $39.95/month. Alternatively, for restaurants, there’s the Table Service Restaurant for USD $69.95/month.

Reviews

“Great dashboard and reports building. The online interface is easy to navigate and complete with all information needed.”
“Reports are always missing key details. If you want a complete system, you will have to purchase many upgrade apps with high monthly fees.” - Capterra

For more information, read Epos Now vs Clover next.

#5: Lightspeed

Best for: Retailers needing advanced inventory & multi-location tools
3.8/5 (Techradar)

Pricing

• Basic: ~AUD $75/month*

• Core: ~AUD $149/month*

• Plus / Premium: ~AUD $189/month*
  (Prices can vary. Source: Lightspeed website)

• Hardware: Additional costs typical for terminals/tablets and accessories (~AUD $200–$850+).

Core features

Lightspeed are favourable due to their advanced CRM features. However, Square offer a much better hardware line.

Interestingly, and to Square’s advantage, Lightspeed doesn’t offer their own till. Instead, they offer integration with Apple products, the Apple Mac PC or iPad. They do note on their website that you can mix and match different hardware brands if they are compatible with their EPOS software, so it’s possible to use your existing devices instead of paying for nominated hardware. 

• Advanced inventory & product variants
• Multi-location support
• CRM & customer database
• Reporting & analytics
• eCommerce integrations

Where Lightspeed shines

Excellent for medium-to-large retailers with complex inventory and multi-store needs. Lightspeed’s customer relationship management (CRM) services are very impressive. With Lightspeed POS, you can receive an estimate of a customer’s lifetime value based on purchase history, and make relevant purchasing recommendations based on customer shopping behaviour. 

A nice feature that Lightspeed offers is the ability to customise the colour palette of your POS to show off your business’ branding. 

Where Lightspeed can improve

Subscription costs can be higher than simpler systems; processing fees may add up if not using Lightspeed Payments. So despite the flexibility Lightspeed offers by using third-party hardware, that flexibility does not extend to card payments, as they charge more for customers not using their in-house payment processing.

Reviews

“I like the inventory tracking and categorising your products. It helps to give you a better view and analysis of your sales reports.”
“I am no longer able to refund a customers purchase and put it back into inventory. A basic function of any POS system” - Capterra

Read Epos Now vs Lightspeed for more information next.

What to Consider When Choosing a New POS System

Switching POS providers is a huge decision that impacts your business long into the future. And it isn’t just about finding a lower monthly subscription (although that can be part of it). A point of sale system touches every part of your operation, from payments and inventory to staff management and analytic insights, so you don't want to make the wrong choice. So what should you consider bfore making the move?

Below are the key factors to weigh up when comparing Square alternatives or any new POS solution.

Total cost of ownership (not just monthly fees)

Your monthly subscriptions may be the first thing a POS provider shows you, but when you consider the financial implication of switching, you need to factor in every expense. This includes:

• Monthly subscriptions
• Upfront hardware costs
• Payment processing fees
• App fees

Each of these expenses can sometimes give you a shock if you're not fully prepared and informed. You may make a purchase thinking your monthly subscription is covering the hardware, only to face an $800 bill for your terminal. Or even worse, you start selling and realise you stand to lose an extra 1% off every sale because your transaction fees are now higher.

Consider, too, any installation fees, training costs, or long-term contracts with early exit penalties. Businesses planning to scale should also look at how pricing changes as you add locations or terminals. For growing retailers and hospitality venues, predictable, transparent costs often matter more than the lowest entry price.

Processing fees and transaction costs

Transaction fees can have a bigger impact on your bottom line than subscription costs and are worth special attention, especially for high-volume businesses. Flat-rate processors like Square are simple, but they may not be the most cost-effective option once your turnover increases as any rental fee, which may put you off to begin with, is quickly compensated for by a better transaction rate.

Look at the full fee structure: card-present vs card-not-present rates, online ordering fees, chargebacks, refunds, and payout timing, as well as different rates on different types of card. Some providers offer interchange-plus or custom rates, which can reduce costs for larger operations. If you already have a preferred merchant services provider, check whether the POS allows third-party processing or locks you into its own payments ecosystem. On the other hand, many card providers will buy out a contract you have with their competition if it means getting your custom, so don't let any prior obligations put you off changing!

Industry-specific features (retail vs restaurant)

Not all POS systems are built with the same industries in mind. A retail store and a full-service restaurant have very different operational needs, and choosing a system that aligns with your workflow can save hours every week.

Retailers may prioritise advanced inventory, brand and supplier management, barcode scanning, and customer loyalty tools and will definitely need a good online store option! Meanwhile, restaurants typically need table management, kitchen display systems (KDS), course firing, split bills, and online ordering or delivery integrations. If you’re using workarounds or non-integrated third-party apps to fill gaps, it’s often a sign you’ve outgrown your current setup!

Hardware compatibility and costs

Hardware can be one of the biggest upfront expenses when switching systems. Some providers lock you into proprietary terminals, while others allow you to use iPads, Android tablets, or existing devices, which can save on initial costs. Greater flexibility can significantly reduce switching costs and make future upgrades easier. However, where possible, it's worth looking to get an ideal hardware setup that will pay for itself with increased efficiency.

Think about what you already own and whether it can be reused. Also consider durability, portability, compatibility, and ease of replacement, particularly in busy hospitality environments. For multi-site businesses, standardising hardware across locations can simplify training and support, and create brand consistency.

Integration with existing tools

Your POS shouldn’t operate in isolation. It should connect seamlessly with accounting software, payroll, eCommerce platforms, loyalty programs, and ideally these should be your preferred programs (like Sage, Xero, or Quickbooks for your accounting). Strong integrations reduce manual data entry, minimise errors, and put time back into your workday.

Make a list of the tools you already rely on, such as Xero, Shopify, or delivery apps, and check whether the POS you're considering offers native integrations or requires paid connectors, or if they haven't even partnered with your app provider. Open ecosystems with app marketplaces typically provide more flexibility as your tech stack evolves, letting you run your business the way you want to, rather than having to work around the limitations of your POS system.

Customer support quality

When your POS goes down, your business can’t trade, so reliable support is essential and helps protect your profits and reputation. Fast, knowledgeable help can make the difference between a minor hiccup and hours of lost sales and disgruntled customers.

Look for providers that offer local Australian support hours, have multiple contact options (phone, livechat, email, online guides etc), and onboarding assistance. It’s also worth reading reviews to see how issues are handled in practice. Businesses operating evenings or weekends, like restaurants and bars, may benefit from 24/7 support coverage, so look at its availability and cost prior to making the switch!

Making the switch? Know what you need and do your research!

Ultimately, the best POS system for your business depends on your priorities. A small café might focus on affordability and simplicity, while a growing retailer will value a strong ecommerce integration and advanced reporting and inventory tools. Defining your must-haves before you shop will help you choose a system that supports your business long term, not just today; longevity is essential when making a decision that will impact your business for years to come!