Restaurant POS system & payments

A restaurant POS system is the hardware and software restaurants use to take orders, track inventory, take payments and manage operations in the front and back of house. There are a lot of different POS systems on the market, but the two main categories are legacy systems—which store data locally, usually on proprietary hardware—and cloud-based systems, which store data in the cloud. The latter gives restaurant owners and managers a lot more flexibility and accessibility, which is why cloud-based systems are quickly gaining in popularity.

Lightspeed Restaurant POS is built for speed and helps restaurants optimize their operations with an easy-to-use cloud-based solution that's 40% faster on average than other leading restaurant POS systems in North America.*

With Lightspeed, restaurants get a customizable, user-friendly interface, access to in-depth data and reports, and 24/7 phone and chat support from our in-house support teams. They also get built-in tools and integrations designed to simplify operations, maximize revenue, reach new customers and improve the customer experience.

- Take payments in-person and online with an embedded payment processor
- Give customers a seamless experience with shared customer data across locations
- Build the perfect restaurant system for your needs with our vast partner network and integrations
- Built-in sales and marketing tools to connect directly with your desired audience
- A deep set of reporting and business intelligence tools that enable you to optimize your menu and staff performance
- A complete set of inventory management tools

Compare Lightspeed's features with those of our competitors and check out our reviews to choose the best POS for your restaurant.

Yes, Lightspeed's restaurant software will continue to work offline if you're having connectivity issues. All data entered while offline is stored locally on the device and automatically uploaded to the cloud as soon as the connection is re-established.

NOTE: This does not apply to master data maintenance and ecloud evaluations that can only be used with an existing Internet connection.

Yes, Lightspeed lets you manage as many locations as you want, all from one restaurant POS system. Easily keep track of guest data and reports across locations and change all menus in a few clicks within a single unified platform.

Learn more about Lightspeed's multi-location restaurant POS.

Yes, Lightspeed's customizable solution lets you plug in your hotel PMS to your restaurant POS system and seamlessly manage multiple revenue centers. With Lightspeed, hotels can fully customize their floor plans to accurately reflect their hotel restaurant, monitor their entire business and offer guests charge-to-room options.

Learn more about using Lightspeed for your hotel POS system.

Restaurant POS systems process credit and debit card transactions via a payment processor, which works as an intermediary between the customer’s and the restaurant’s bank. Payments can be integrated, non-integrated or embedded. An embedded payment processor is natively built into a restaurant POS system to create a seamless checkout workflow.

Restaurants that operate using the embedded model own every part of the customer journey, ensuring a streamlined experience from ordering to the pos system to checkout. Lightspeed Payments is an embedded payment processor. Learn more about the difference between integrated, non-integrated and embedded payments here.

The processing rates charged by payment processors vary widely depending on the provider, transaction volume and sometimes the average transaction amount. Generally, these rates are structured as a percentage of the transaction amount plus a fixed fee per transaction. When choosing a payment processor, be sure to ask about any additional fees or markups.

With Lightspeed Payments, restaurants save money with flat-rate pricing and no hidden fees. Since switching to Lightspeed Payments, Wander the Resort in Prince Edward County saves hundreds of dollars a month in processing fees. Learn more about Lightspeed Restaurant payment processing.

Lightspeed has a vast network of partners offering best-in-class tools that seamlessly integrate with Lightspeed's POS system, enabling you to run your restaurant at full capacity. From optimizing your schedule and controlling labor costs with 7shifts to managing reservations and expanding your market reach with OpenTable, there's a partner integration for just about any challenge you have in your restaurant.

Think of integrations as à la carte options—as your business grows and your needs become more complex, you can connect the third-party tools you want to use to your Lightspeed Restaurant POS. This way, you have an integrated system and one tech stack to manage, rather than a bunch of disconnected systems to juggle. Learn more about Lightspeed Restaurant integrations.

Lightspeed Restaurant's pricing varies relative to the subscription you want to use. If you're looking for a restaurant POS system for a single location with straightforward operations, we have a Starter plan that could be the perfect fit for you. If you have multiple locations or omni-channel needs, our Essential or Premium plans will give you the features and benefits you need to streamline and simplify your operations.

Learn more about Lightspeed Restaurant pricing tiers.