Running a restaurant is no easy feat—every day is different. Juggling orders, managing staff, keeping track of inventory, and ensuring every customer walks away with satisfaction demand a well-organized system. Hence, we go for POS.

A reliable POS system is essential to ensure smooth operations in your food business, especially when you’re attracting large crowds. To simplify your task, we have listed the top industry leaders for POS systems with years of experience. Go ahead. The list below is all yours!

1. Toast

Toast is an American cloud-based company that provides POS systems for restaurants or food businesses. Founded in 2012 by three entrepreneurs, Steve, Aman, and Jonathan, Toast initially came up as an app that can integrate with the store’s existing POS system.

Now, the company is providing its services to many restaurant types, including bars, cafes, food trucks, events, and a lot more. So far, they have gained significant trust from businesses worldwide and have helped more than 120,000 restaurants. Their system is easy to manage and implement, which led to their recent award of Fastest Implementation by G2 in 2024.

The POS system can seamlessly integrate with digital signage software, such as Pickcel, that supports POS integration. This allows automatic updates, such as changes in the menu or item availability, to be displayed instantly on the digital menu board.

Features

• Automatic real-time sales and inventory update

• Alerts for low-stock

• Cloud-based POS system

• Support custom hardware configuration

2. Square POS

One of the leading POS systems in America, Square jump-started its services in 2009. This company started as a financial services provider, offering a secure way to process payments using any payment card through a mobile phone and a card-reading dongle.

Along with food and bars, Square is extending its services to many business types, such as retail, franchises, salons, etc. At this point, the company has served businesses in more than 8 countries and processed payments of more than $200 billion in 2023 . Square’s brilliant performance and improvement brought awards and recognition; in 2022, the U.S.-based weekly trade publication Adweek voted the company for best POS system.

Features

• Automatic real-time sales and inventory update

• Provide free chip and PIN card reader

• Allow to execute auto discounts and offers on specific products

3. Aloha POS

Aloha Cloud is a POS system service presently owned by the American software company NCR Voyix Corporation. The United States serves as the central hub for Aloha Cloud, with thousands of restaurants and food businesses relying on Aloha POS systems. The all-in-one POS and management platform Aloha has a long history of 30 years with top-notch service and a great client base.

Over the years, the company gained the trust of global brands like Urban Eatz, Leo Pizzeria, Taco Heads, and countless others. Additionally, Aloha received a 4.1 out of 5 from Forbes Advisor’s list of best restaurant POS systems in 2024 , considering almost every aspect, like cost, features, ease, services, and support.

Features

• Simple and comfortable user interface

• Built-in loyalty and email marketing tools

4. Clover POS

Clover POS was founded in 2010 by entrepreneurs John Beatty, Leonard Speiser, and Kelvin Zheng. By September 2020, Clover processed $133 billion in global card transactions, making it the largest cloud-based POS company in the U.S.

In the restaurant POS, both software and hardware play important roles, and Clover is considered to provide the best hardware options. The POS system of Clover will store and analyze the purchase pattern to trigger specific promotions on digital screens in the restaurant. Additionally, if orders are placed and recorded on POS, it is possible to display the order status on the digital menu board or video wall for quick-service restaurants.

Features

• Cloud-based services

• Real-time sales data to track performance

• Offer a wide range of payment options, including credit/debit cards and mobile wallet

5. SpotOn

A restaurant POS platform emerged in 2017 as Emagine POS, later acquired by the payment process company SpotOn to extend its reach. With time, the firm grew and gained the trust of big food industry players like Mesero, Asalina, the Bungalow Kitchen, and significant others.

The sleek and beautiful hardware design combined with powerful software support is something that is always retained in the mouths of SpotOn’s users. The California-based firm has extended its reach through its social media presence and has nearly 130,000 followers on LinkedIn.

Features

• Table layout generator to manage restaurant and customer flow

• Tools like QR ordering, bill, and tip management

How to choose the best restaurant POS system?

Not every food business requires a POS system, and not all POS systems are the same. While the line between what we need and what we want can be subtle, it’s essential to understand some key points that can help you decide which POS system is best for your business.

Assess your restaurant’s specific needs

Every restaurant is unique and has different needs. Know your type, whether you are a fine dining or a quick service restaurant, whether you run a food truck or a fast-casual. This will help you determine your operation’s size and decide on your setup.

If you are a small business, simple terminals with a less complex system are required. If you are a big business with a high growth rate, go for a POS capable of inventory management and necessary alerts. So, starting by defining your business and its needs is important.

Required features

Based on the business requirements, you must select a POS system that comes with similar features. The most important and basic is it needs to be easy to use with a user-friendly UI. Then, you can subscribe to a platform for all the features that a standard POS must include, such as:

POS Hardware Features

• Touchscreen monitor

• Barcode scanner

• Receipt printer

• Credit card terminal

• Mobile POS

POS Software Features

• Inventory management

• Sales reporting

• Customer relationship management (CRM)

• Payment processing

Check for integration capabilities

A POS system alone can’t handle everything; it must support integration with other software, tools, or third-party services. Even if it is connected with other hardware components of the POS system, it must be able to provide an effortless connection. Ensure the POS platform must be able to connect with accounting software, inventory management, payment processors, etc.

Additionally, the POS system must seamlessly integrate with digital menus and kitchen display systems, allowing for the direct display of menu items and orders in the kitchen. To achieve this, choosing software like Pickcel that supports POS integration is essential. This way, you can manage all the displays in your restaurant directly from your dashboard, streamlining operations and enhancing efficiency.

Look at pricing and fees

Finally, all the POS platforms, including all the required features, must align with your budget. You can explore different platforms and ensure the pricing must sustainably support long-term.

Summing up!

We have discussed all the most important and required information to select a POS—No extra mess to make things look complicated. So, we believe you must have decided on one name from the above list as a POS companion for your business.

To ensure you don’t miss out, the POS system is connected to a vital component: a digital screen that serves multiple purposes, including displaying menus, advertising, and managing kitchen operations. If this aligns with your needs, trust me—visit Pickcel.