The short answer
- Cafe, food truck or counter service: Square. The Free plan is $0 a month and credit cards cost a flat 2.5% with no fixed fee. Square says its Plus plan, from $35 a month, is “designed specifically for restaurants, retailers or appointment-based businesses.”
- Busy full-service restaurant: Lightspeed Restaurant. Plans are $89, $239 or $499 a month, and cards cost 2.6% + 10¢. Lightspeed says custom rates are available.
- Want restaurant-only software and willing to get quotes: TouchBistro or Clover. Neither publishes its card rates, so you can’t compare them until you ask.
Visit Square or read our Square breakdown first.
Restaurant POS options side by side
- SquareVisit Square
Flat rate
- In person
- 2.5%
- Online
- 2.8% + 30¢
- Monthly
- $0 · Free plan
- Contract
- Month to month
- LightspeedVisit Lightspeed
Flat rate
- In person
- 2.6% + 10¢
- Online
- By quote
- Monthly
- $139 · Retail Basic plan
- Contract
- Not published
- TouchBistroVisit TouchBistro
Quote
- In person
- By quote
- Online
- By quote
- Monthly
- By quote
- Contract
- Not published
- 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).
| POS | Software price per month | What’s extra |
|---|---|---|
| Square | Free $0. Plus from $35. Premium custom. | Hardware. Square lists its Register at $999, Stand at $249 and Handheld at $449. |
| Lightspeed Restaurant | Starter $89, Essential $239, Premium $499 | Lightspeed lists a $40 per screen monthly add-on. Billing term isn’t stated. |
| TouchBistro | “Starting at $89 /month” (currency not stated). An Essentials bundle with software, hardware and payments starts at $99. | TouchBistro says “hardware, payment processing, and additional fees apply.” |
| Clover | Starter, Standard and Advanced. Quote only. | Clover says fees “vary depending on your business type.” |
Sources: Square, Lightspeed, TouchBistro, Clover.
Who each one is for, and who should skip it
Square. For cafes, bakeries, food trucks and quick-service spots that want to start cheap. There’s no monthly fee on the Free plan, and Square is month to month. Skip it if you get a lot of tourists. Square adds 1.5% on cards issued outside Canada. Also check your debit mix (more on that below).
Lightspeed Restaurant. For established restaurants that need more from their POS. Lightspeed’s restaurant page says it’s “powering the world’s best restaurants.” That’s their pitch, not our test. Skip it if you’re new or small. Starter is $89 a month, or $1,068 a year, before any card fees. Lightspeed doesn’t publish its Interac or online rates, so ask.
TouchBistro. For restaurants that want software “built just for restaurants,” in TouchBistro’s words. It offers hardware financing “for venues with two or more terminals.” Skip it if you want to compare prices before talking to sales. TouchBistro publishes no card rates and no contract terms.
Clover. For owners who want a demo and a custom quote from a Canadian consultant, which Clover offers in person or by phone. Skip it if you might switch later. Clover’s devices can’t move to another processor, and its termination fees depend on who sold it to you. Clover’s page does say “no PCI charge” and “no batch close fees.”
What about Shopify? Shopify POS is built around products and inventory. Shopify recommends POS Pro for businesses with “a large inventory catalog.” If you need table maps or kitchen tickets, start with the restaurant-built options above. If you run a cafe that also sells beans and mugs online, see our retail POS page.
Cafes: small tickets change the maths
A cafe takes lots of small payments. On a small sale, the fixed cents per payment can cost more than the percentage. Here’s what one $8 coffee-and-pastry sale costs at each published rate:
| Provider | Published in-person credit rate | Fee on an $8 sale |
|---|---|---|
| Square | 2.5% | 20¢ |
| Lightspeed | 2.6% + 10¢ | about 31¢ |
| Moneris | 2.65% + 10¢ | about 31¢ |
These are our calculations from each provider’s published rate, rounded to the nearest cent. They don’t include monthly fees.
Debit flips it around. Square charges 0.75% + 7¢ per debit payment, which is about 13¢ on an $8 sale. Moneris charges a flat 12¢. Helcim charges 9¢, or 12¢ for tap. On bigger debit tickets Square gets more expensive. A $150 dinner bill paid by debit costs about $1.20 at Square, versus a flat 12¢ at Moneris. So small cafe tickets suit Square’s pricing. A dinner room where many guests pay by debit should run the numbers.
Want to see your own mix? Use the fee calculator with your real monthly sales and number of payments.
The catch: fees to ask about before you sign
- Chargebacks. Lightspeed charges $15 per chargeback (currency not stated). Square doesn’t publish a chargeback fee on its Canadian pricing page.
- Contract. Square is month to month. Lightspeed, TouchBistro and Clover don’t publish contract terms on their pricing pages. Get the cancellation fee in writing.
- Hardware lock-in. Clover hardware works only with Clover processing.
- Extra screens and terminals. Lightspeed lists $40 per screen per month. Count every screen you’ll need before comparing plans.
Not a cafe? Compare Lightspeed, TouchBistro and Clover, or go back to all POS systems.
Common questions
How much does a restaurant POS system cost in Canada?
Software runs from $0 to $499 a month at the providers that publish prices. Square's Free plan is $0 and Plus starts at $35. Lightspeed Restaurant is $89, $239 or $499 a month. TouchBistro says it starts at $89 a month but doesn't name the currency. Clover quotes by business. Card fees come on top of all of these.
What is the best POS for a small cafe?
For a small cafe, the fixed fee on each payment matters more than the percentage. Square charges 2.5% with no fixed fee, so an $8 credit sale costs 20¢. At Lightspeed's 2.6% + 10¢ it's about 31¢. Square's Free plan also has no monthly fee, which helps while you're building up regulars.
Is TouchBistro or Lightspeed better for a restaurant?
We can't compare their full cost, because TouchBistro doesn't publish its card rates. Lightspeed lists 2.6% + 10¢ per card payment and plans from $89 a month. TouchBistro lists plans from $89 a month, with processing and hardware extra. Get a written quote from TouchBistro and compare its total to Lightspeed's published numbers.
Can I keep my Clover hardware if I switch processors?
No. Clover's Canadian pricing page says its devices "cannot be used with other payment processors," even if you bought or leased them from someone else. Leaving Clover means buying new hardware. Clover also says termination fees vary by the company that sold you the service, so ask for that number in writing first.