Search for a café POS system in the UK and most of what you find is written for restaurants, retail shops or everyone at once. An independent café has different needs: a fast counter, milk and size options, a barista screen, a queue that builds at 8:30am, and an owner who is often also behind the machine.
This guide compares the main UK options for a café, using each provider's own published UK pricing, checked on 12 October 2026. We make one of the systems below, so we say where we think it fits and where it doesn't. Where a provider doesn't publish a price, we say so rather than guess.
What a café needs from a POS system
Before comparing logos, decide what you actually need. Most independent cafés need:
- A quick counter till with modifiers (oat milk, extra shot, size) and open tabs for tables.
- A kitchen or barista screen or a printer, so orders don't live on shouted slips of paper.
- Table or counter ordering by QR code, if a queue costs you sales.
- Card payments that match your till, so cash-up isn't a guessing game.
- Reports you will really open: sales by hour, best sellers, takings by day.
- A contract you can leave. A café that changes in a year shouldn't be locked in for three.
Everything else is a bonus: stock, bookings, multi-site, loyalty.
The main options compared
| Café QR | Square for Restaurants | Lightspeed Restaurant | Epos Now | SumUp POS Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Published monthly software price | From £9.99 per venue; full POS £39 | Free £0; Plus £69 per location | From £79 for the first terminal | Quote-based | £49 + VAT, plus £19 modules |
| Card processing | Your own Stripe account at Stripe's rates; 0% Café QR fee | 1.75% in person | Lightspeed Payments; rates not published | From 0.8%, with a rate match | 1.69% pay-as-you-go |
| Kitchen display | Included in every plan | £15 per device on Free | Included on Core and Pro | £49 a month, or £19 software-only | £19 per terminal |
| QR table ordering | Included in every plan | Scan to Pay on Plus and Premium | Included on Core and Pro | Order & Pay, powered by Yoello | Goodeats add-on: 1.7% + 12p per order |
| Contract | No contract | No long-term contract | Not stated | 12 months for the discounted hardware bundle | No long-term contract |
Prices are from each provider's UK pages on 12 October 2026 and will change. Check the provider before you buy. For one-to-one comparisons, see our pages on Square, Epos Now, Lightspeed and SumUp, or the full UK EPOS comparison.
Square for Restaurants
Best for: a café starting on the lowest possible budget.
Square's free plan costs nothing a month, which is hard to beat when you are opening. The trade-offs show up as you grow: the kitchen display is £15 per device a month on the free plan, and QR Scan to Pay arrives on Plus (£69 per location) and Premium. Card fees are charged per transaction, so what you pay scales with your takings rather than staying flat.
Lightspeed Restaurant
Best for: busier venues and groups that want a sales-led setup with support.
Lightspeed starts from £79 a month for the first terminal, and its QR ordering and kitchen display licences sit on the Core and Pro plans. It does a lot, and that is the point: it suits a larger operation more than a six-table café. Card processing rates aren't published, so ask for them in writing.
Epos Now
Best for: venues that want dedicated hardware and a support relationship.
Epos Now is quote-based, so you can't see the full price without speaking to sales. The kitchen display is listed at £49 a month, or £19 software-only, and the discounted hardware bundle is tied to a 12-month subscription. Card processing is listed from 0.8% with a rate match, which is worth a conversation. Make sure the quote spells out the contract and the exit terms.
SumUp Point of Sale Pro
Best for: cafés already using SumUp card readers who want an iPad till.
SumUp POS Pro is £49 a month plus VAT, with modules at £19 each (the kitchen display is one). It is iPad-based, with no long-term contract. Table ordering is through the Goodeats add-on at 1.7% + 12p per order, so QR ordering costs more the busier you get. If you are weighing it up specifically, read our guide to SumUp alternatives for UK cafés.
Café QR
Best for: an independent café that wants the till, the kitchen screen and QR ordering in one published price, without a contract.
Café QR starts at £9.99 per venue per month for table and counter QR ordering, the kitchen screen, your menu and allergens, reports and loyalty contacts. The full POS, with the counter till, waiter app, tabs, split bills, cash-up and an online booking page, is £39 per venue per month. The first month is free with no card needed, and there is no contract.
Card payments go to your own Stripe account at Stripe's rates (1.4% + 10p on standard UK cards in person), and Café QR adds a 0% platform fee. It runs in a browser on an iPad, Android tablet or laptop you may already own, so there's no hardware bundle to buy.
It isn't right for everyone. If you need to take card payments through an internet outage, Café QR's till keeps selling for cash and your own payment types offline, but card payments wait for the connection. Venues that can't accept that should look at a provider with offline card payments.
What the monthly price leaves out
Two systems with the same headline price can end up far apart once you add:
- Card processing. Whatever the software costs, you pay a fee on every card payment.
- Add-ons. Kitchen displays, QR ordering and stock are sometimes extra per device or per month.
- Hardware. A bundle can come with a 12-month contract.
- Per-order fees. Some table-ordering add-ons charge on every order, which adds up on a busy Saturday.
- Your time. Setting up the menu and training staff.
Our guide to what a café POS system costs in the UK walks through these cost lines, and how much an EPOS system costs covers the whole market.
How to choose
- Work out your must-haves. If you need a till and a barista screen, price those two first.
- Add up the real monthly cost for one till, one kitchen screen and QR ordering, plus card fees on your typical month's takings.
- Ask about the contract and the cost of leaving.
- Ask what happens when the internet drops.
- Ask who owns your customer data and whether you can export it.
- Try before you commit. A free month on a few tables tells you more than any comparison table.
Which one is right for your café?
- Opening on a tiny budget: Square's free plan is the cheapest start.
- Already on SumUp readers and want an iPad till: SumUp POS Pro.
- A bigger site that wants a sales-led setup: Lightspeed or Epos Now.
- An independent café that wants a till, kitchen screen and QR ordering in one published price, with no contract: Café QR.
See the café POS system page for how it works in a café, compare plans on the pricing page, or start a free month.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best POS system for a small café in the UK?
The one whose total monthly cost and features fit your café. Square's free plan suits a café starting on nothing, while Café QR suits one that wants the till, kitchen screen and QR table ordering together at a published price.
How much does a café POS system cost per month?
Published software prices for the systems above range from £0 to £79 a month, before card fees, add-ons and hardware. Café QR's full POS plan is £39 per venue per month.
Do I need a contract for a café EPOS system?
Not always. Square, SumUp and Café QR state no long-term contract; Epos Now ties its discounted hardware bundle to a 12-month subscription. Always read the terms.
What's the difference between EPOS and POS?
In the UK they mean the same thing. See EPOS, till or POS: what's the difference.