The short answer
A POS system has four costs: the software plan, the hardware, the card fees on every sale, and add-ons. For a small Canadian shop, software can be $0 and hardware under $100.
In our estimate, a business taking $10,000 a month in credit cards spends about $3,100 to $5,300 in its first year at the published prices below, depending on the provider and before some hardware. Most of that is card fees.
Get told when these prices change
Providers change fees with little notice. We email you what changed when a price here does, and nothing else.
1. Software: what each POS charges per month
We may earn a fee if you sign up with some providers in this table. It never changes the prices we show or what we recommend.
| POS | Monthly software price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Square Visit Square | Free plan $0. Plus from $35 (“$35+”). Premium is custom. | Square pricing |
| Helcim Visit Helcim | $0. POS, virtual terminal and invoicing included. | Helcim pricing |
| Moneris Go Retail POS Visit Moneris | From $10, plus $34.95 per terminal rental | Moneris order page |
| Shopify Visit Shopify | Basic $49, Grow $132, Advanced $517 a month. Billed yearly: $37 / $99 / $389 or $44 / $120 / $465 a month, depending on the price Shopify shows you. POS Lite included. POS Pro adds $119 per location, billed yearly. | Shopify pricing |
| Lightspeed Retail Visit Lightspeed | Basic $139, Core $239, Plus $399 billed monthly. $119, $199, $329 billed yearly. | Lightspeed retail pricing |
| Lightspeed Restaurant Visit Lightspeed | Starter $89, Essential $239, Premium $499. Billing term not stated. | Lightspeed restaurant pricing |
| TouchBistro Visit TouchBistro | “Starting at $89 /month,” in CAD for visitors in Canada (confirmed by TouchBistro). Essentials bundle with hardware and payments “starting at $99 /month.” | TouchBistro pricing |
| Clover Visit Clover | Starter, Standard and Advanced plans. Prices by quote only. | Clover pricing |
We may earn a fee if you sign up with some providers in this table. It never changes the prices we show or what we recommend.
Watch for “starting at.” Square’s Plus price varies by restaurant, retail or appointments package. TouchBistro says “hardware, payment processing, and additional fees apply.”
2. Hardware: buy it or rent it
| Provider | Hardware | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Square | Contactless and chip reader | $69 (as shown on Square’s Canadian site) |
| Square | Stand / Handheld / Register | $249 / $449 / $999 |
| Stripe | BBPOS WisePad 3 / Reader S700 / Reader T600 | $79 / $419 / $469 |
| Helcim | Card Reader / Smart Terminal | $239 CAD / $429 CAD, or $39 CAD a month for 12 months |
| Moneris | Moneris Go terminal | Rental from $34.95 a month per terminal. No purchase price published. |
| Clearly Payments | Payment terminal | Rented. Clearly says “terminal rental is additional where needed,” price not published. |
Shopify’s Canadian hardware store lists a WisePad 3 reader at $69, a POS Terminal at $459 and a Victa Mobile at $499, shown with a ”$” sign only. Lightspeed, TouchBistro and Clover don’t publish Canadian hardware prices on the pricing pages we checked.
Rental adds up: Moneris’s terminal is $419.40 a year. And hardware doesn’t always move with you. Clover says its devices “cannot be used with other payment processors.”
3. Card fees: usually the biggest line
You pay a fee on every card sale, on top of the software:
We may earn a fee if you sign up with some providers in this table. It never changes the prices we show or what we recommend.
- SquareVisit Square
Flat rate
- In person
- 2.5%
- Online
- 2.8% + 30¢
- Monthly
- $0 · Free plan
- Contract
- Month to month
- Shopify POSVisit Shopify POS
Flat, by plan
- In person
- 2.6%
- Online
- 2.8% + 30¢
- Monthly
- $49 · Basic plan
- Contract
- Monthly or yearly billing
- MonerisVisit Moneris
Flat or custom
- In person
- 2.65% + 10¢
- Online
- 2.85% + 30¢
- Monthly
- $39.95 · Terminal rental + software fee
- Contract
- 3 years, then 6-month renewals (45 days notice)
- CloverVisit Clover
Quote
- In person
- By quote
- Online
- By quote
- Monthly
- By quote
- Contract
- Set by the reseller; termination fees vary
- HelcimVisit Helcim
Interchange-plus
- In person
- Interchange + 0.4% + 8¢
- Online
- Interchange + 0.5% + 25¢
- Monthly
- Not published
- Contract
- Month to month, no cancellation fee
- LightspeedVisit Lightspeed
Flat rate
- In person
- 2.6% + 10¢
- Online
- By quote
- Monthly
- $139 · Retail Basic plan
- Contract
- Fixed term; early exit fee covers the rest of the term
- TouchBistroVisit TouchBistro
Quote
- In person
- By quote
- Online
- By quote
- Monthly
- From $89 · POS plan
- Contract
- Fixed term, renews unless 30 days notice; no early exit
Prices checked Oct 22 to Oct 26, 2026 on each provider's own pricing page (how we check). "Interchange +" means the provider publishes only its markup. You also pay the card networks' interchange fee on top.Order: providers we can price in full come first, lowest first-year cost for a business taking $10,000 a month across 400 in-person payments; the rest follow alphabetically. Payout never affects the order.
We may earn a fee if you sign up with some providers in this table. It never changes the prices we show or what we recommend.
Debit is priced separately. Helcim charges 9¢ per Interac payment (12¢ for tap), Moneris 12¢ and Shopify 15¢ on Basic. Square charges 0.75% + 7¢, which costs more on big debit tickets.
Helcim’s rate shows only the markup; your total also includes interchange. See interchange-plus vs flat rate.
4. Add-ons and extras
- Extra screens. Lightspeed Restaurant lists $40 per screen per month.
- Retail features. Shopify POS Pro, billed yearly, which Shopify recommends for businesses with “a lot of foot traffic, multiple tiers of staff, or a large inventory catalog.”
- Using your own processor. Shopify adds 2% per sale on Basic if you don’t use Shopify Payments (1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced, 0.2% on Plus).
- Faster payouts. Square charges 1.95% per instant transfer.
- Small Moneris fees. A $5 Moneris Go software fee, a $5 minimum merchant discount rate and a $2 paper statement fee. Moneris doesn’t say how often the first two are billed.
- Mobile data. Helcim lists optional 4G wireless data at $9 CAD a month.
What the first year costs: four examples
These are our estimates from published prices, for $10,000 a month in in-person credit card sales, 400 sales a month, one terminal or reader, and no debit, online sales, chargebacks or taxes.
| Setup | Software (12 months) | Hardware | Card fees (12 months) | First-year total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Square Free + contactless reader | $0 | $69 | $3,000 (2.5%) | $3,069 |
| Shopify Basic + WisePad 3 reader, billed monthly | $588 | $69 | $3,120 (2.6%) | $3,777 |
| Moneris Go Retail POS + rented terminal | $599.40 | Included in rental | $3,660 (2.65% + 10¢) | $4,259.40 |
| Lightspeed Retail Basic, billed monthly | $1,668 | Not published | $3,600 (2.6% + 10¢) | $5,268 + hardware |
How we got there:
- Square: 2.5% of $120,000. You’ll need your own phone or tablet to run the reader.
- Shopify: $49 × 12, plus the $69 WisePad 3 from Shopify’s hardware store. POS Pro adds another $1,428 a year.
- Moneris: $10 software + $34.95 terminal + the $5 Moneris Go software fee is $49.95 a month, counting the $5 monthly. Card fees are 2.65% of $120,000 ($3,180) plus 10¢ on 4,800 sales ($480).
- Lightspeed: $139 × 12, or $1,428 billed yearly. Card fees are 2.6% of $120,000 ($3,120) plus 10¢ on 4,800 sales ($480). Lightspeed’s restaurant page lists custom payment rates on its Essential and Premium plans, and its retail page says prices “can vary.”
Card fees are $3,000 or more in every row, and the gap between providers is mostly software. If you don’t need deep inventory or restaurant tools, the extra software cost buys you very little.
Who should pay more for software
When it saves you time or sales you’d otherwise lose:
- Online and in-store together: Shopify keeps one product list and one stock count.
- Big inventory, staff roles, several registers: Lightspeed Retail or Shopify POS Pro.
- Table service and kitchen screens: Lightspeed Restaurant, TouchBistro or Clover. TouchBistro and Clover need a quote, so get the full price in writing.
Small shop, cafe or market stall? Start with a free plan and upgrade when it holds you back. Square says you can “upgrade when you want to, cancel anytime.”
Keep reading
- Best POS systems in Canada: every option compared.
- Restaurant POS systems and retail POS systems.
- The fee calculator: see your real card rate.
- Credit card processing fees, explained.
Common questions
How much does a POS system cost per month in Canada?
The software runs from $0 to several hundred dollars a month at the providers that publish prices. Square and Helcim have $0 options. Shopify Basic is $49. Lightspeed Retail starts at $139 billed monthly, and Lightspeed Restaurant at $89. Moneris Go Retail POS starts at $10 plus $34.95 a month per terminal. Card fees come on top.
What does POS hardware cost?
It depends on the setup. On its Canadian site, Square lists a contactless reader at $69, a Stand at $249, a Handheld at $449 and a Register at $999. Stripe lists readers from $79 to $469. Shopify's hardware store lists a WisePad 3 reader at $69 and a POS Terminal at $459. Moneris rents its Go terminal from $34.95 a month. Lightspeed and Clover don't publish Canadian hardware prices on the pages we checked.
What's the biggest cost of a POS system?
For most small businesses, it's card fees, not software. In our estimate, a shop taking $10,000 a month in credit cards pays $3,000 a year in card fees on Square's 2.5% rate. That's more than a year of Lightspeed's Retail Basic plan at $139 a month, which comes to $1,668.
Is there a free POS system in Canada?
The software can be free. Square's Free plan is $0 a month, and Helcim includes its POS tools with no monthly fee. You still pay card fees on every sale and buy your own hardware. Free means no subscription, not no cost.