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. Card fees are usually the biggest number by far.
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.
1. Software: what each POS charges per month
| POS | Monthly software price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Square | Free plan $0. Plus from $35 (“$35+”). Premium is custom. | Square pricing |
| Helcim | $0. POS, virtual terminal and invoicing included. | Helcim pricing |
| Moneris Go Retail POS | From $10, plus $34.95 per terminal rental | Moneris order page |
| Shopify | Basic $49 ($37 paid yearly), Grow $132 ($99 yearly), Advanced $517 ($389 yearly). POS Lite included. POS Pro adds $119 per location, billed yearly. | Shopify pricing |
| Lightspeed Retail | Basic $139, Core $239, Plus $399 billed monthly. $119, $199, $329 billed yearly. | Lightspeed retail pricing |
| Lightspeed Restaurant | Starter $89, Essential $239, Premium $499. Billing term not stated. | Lightspeed restaurant pricing |
| TouchBistro | “Starting at $89 /month,” currency not stated. Essentials bundle with hardware and payments “starting at $99 /month.” | TouchBistro pricing |
| Clover | Starter, Standard and Advanced plans. Prices by quote only. | Clover pricing |
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
Some providers sell hardware outright. Others rent it monthly. Published Canadian prices:
| 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 / $429, or $39 a month for 1 year (Helcim’s page doesn’t label the currency) |
| 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 says its Canadian hardware prices “will vary.” Lightspeed, TouchBistro and Clover don’t publish Canadian hardware prices on the pricing pages we checked.
Rental adds up. Moneris’s $34.95 a month is $419.40 a year per terminal. 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. Published in-person rates:
- 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
- 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
- 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)
- HelcimVisit Helcim
Interchange-plus
- In person
- Interchange + 0.4% + 8¢
- Online
- Interchange + 0.5% + 25¢
- Monthly
- $0 · No monthly fee
- Contract
- Month to month, no cancellation fee
- TouchBistroVisit TouchBistro
Quote
- In person
- By quote
- Online
- By quote
- Monthly
- By quote
- Contract
- Fixed term, renews unless 30 days notice; no early exit
- CloverVisit Clover
Quote
- In person
- By quote
- Online
- By quote
- Monthly
- By quote
- Contract
- Set by the reseller; termination fees vary
Prices checked Oct 19, 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.
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.
Interchange-plus pricing, like Helcim’s, shows only the markup. Your total also includes interchange. See interchange-plus vs flat rate for how that works.
4. Add-ons and extras
These are the costs that don’t show up in the headline price:
- Extra screens. Lightspeed Restaurant lists $40 per screen per month.
- Retail features. Shopify POS Pro is $119 a month per location, billed yearly. Shopify recommends it 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 a month (currency not labelled).
What the first year costs: four examples
Here’s one small business priced four ways. These are our estimates, using each provider’s published prices. We assume $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, billed monthly | $588 | Not published | $3,120 (2.6%) | $3,708 + hardware |
| 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 is $3,000. You’ll need your own phone or tablet to run the reader.
- Shopify: $49 × 12 is $588. Add POS Pro and it’s another $1,428 a year. Billed yearly, Basic drops to $37 a month.
- Moneris: $10 software + $34.95 terminal + the $5 Moneris Go software fee is $49.95 a month. Moneris doesn’t say how often the $5 is billed, so we counted it monthly. Card fees are 2.65% of $120,000 ($3,180) plus 10¢ on 4,800 sales ($480).
- Lightspeed: $139 × 12 is $1,668, or $1,428 billed yearly. Card fees are 2.6% of $120,000 ($3,120) plus 10¢ on 4,800 sales ($480). Lightspeed says “custom rates available” on restaurant plans and that prices “can vary.”
Notice the pattern. 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
Paying for a bigger plan makes sense 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. Moneris rents its Go terminal from $34.95 a month. Shopify, 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.