Best Restaurant EPOS Systems in the UK (2026)

A restaurant asks more of its EPOS than a coffee counter does. Orders come from tables, not a queue. Starters and mains need to reach the kitchen at the right time. Drinks go to the bar, food goes to the pass, and at the end of the night a table of six wants to split the bill three ways with a service charge on top.

This guide compares the main EPOS systems UK restaurants use, on what a sit-down restaurant needs: the floor plan, handhelds, kitchen screens by station, bookings, card payments and the contract. Prices come from each provider's own published UK pages, last checked on 6 November 2026. Where a provider doesn't publish a price, we say so rather than guess. We make one of the systems below, Café QR, so we say where it fits and where it doesn't.

The short answer

• Lowest starting cost: Square for Restaurants, with a £0 plan. The kitchen display costs £15 a device on that plan.
• Restaurant-first system with handhelds and support: Toast, from £80 a month, or £150 on Essentials with handhelds and the kitchen display included.
• Larger restaurants and groups: Lightspeed Restaurant, from £79 a month for the first terminal, with more on higher plans.
• Dedicated hardware and a support relationship: Epos Now, quote-based.
• Already on SumUp card readers: SumUp POS Pro, £49 a month plus VAT, with £19 modules.
• Floor plan, waiter app, kitchen screens and bookings in one published price, no contract: Café QR POS, £39 a month per venue.

What a restaurant needs from an EPOS system

Before you compare prices, check that each system does the restaurant jobs well:

• A floor plan that shows which tables are free, ordering or waiting to pay, and lets you move a party to another table.
• Handhelds or a waiter app, so staff take orders at the table instead of walking back to a till.
• Courses. Starters go to the kitchen first, and mains are held until the waiter sends them.
• Kitchen screens or printers by station, so the bar only sees drinks and the grill only sees grill items.
• Modifiers and allergens that reach the kitchen clearly: "medium rare", "no nuts", "sauce on the side".
• Split bills and service charge, by item, by seat or evenly, without a calculator.
• Table bookings that tie into the floor plan, so a walk-in isn't sat at a table booked for 8pm.
• Card payments linked to the till, so nobody types the amount twice and cash-up matches.
• Reports and exports you will use: sales by hour, dish margins and a daily journal for your accountant.

Stock and recipe costing, loyalty and online ordering matter too, but most restaurants can add them later.

The main restaurant EPOS systems compared

Prices were last checked on 6 November 2026. They change, and quote-based providers vary by negotiation, so check each provider's current price before you sign. For one-to-one comparisons, see our pages on Square, Lightspeed, Epos Now and SumUp, or the full UK EPOS comparison.

Square for Restaurants

Best for: a new or small restaurant that wants to start with no monthly fee.

Square's free plan costs £0 a month, and you pay 1.75% on in-person card payments. It runs on an iPad or Square's own hardware. As you add the kitchen, the costs grow: the kitchen display is £15 a device a month on the free plan, and QR Scan to Pay comes with Plus at £69 per location. Because the card fee is a percentage, what you pay grows with your takings. A restaurant taking £40,000 a month by card pays £700 a month in card fees at 1.75%.

Toast

Best for: a busy full-service restaurant that wants a restaurant-only system and handhelds.

Toast is built for restaurants rather than for shops or cafés. Starter is £80 a month, and Essentials, at £150 a month for the first terminal, includes the POS, handheld software and the kitchen display. Extra devices, bookings and Toast's own hardware add to that. Toast's card rates aren't published, so ask for them in writing, along with the contract length and what happens to the hardware if you leave.

Lightspeed Restaurant

Best for: larger restaurants and groups that want a sales-led setup with support.

Lightspeed starts from £79 a month for the first terminal. QR ordering and the kitchen display licence sit on the Core and Pro plans, and table bookings (Lightspeed Reservations) are an add-on on every plan. It handles complex menus and several sites well, which suits a bigger operation more than a 30-cover bistro. Lightspeed Payments rates aren't published, so ask for a written quote.

Epos Now

Best for: restaurants that want dedicated terminals 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 needs a 12-month payments and support subscription, starting at £25 a month. Card processing is one flat rate on Visa and Mastercard, with rates from 0.8% advertised for higher card volumes, so ask for the rate on your own takings in writing. Ask the quote to spell out the contract length and the cost of leaving early.

SumUp Point of Sale Pro

Best for: restaurants already using SumUp card readers that want an iPad till.

SumUp POS Pro is £49 a month plus VAT, and extra modules, such as the kitchen display, are £19 each. There's no long-term contract. Table ordering is through SumUp's Goodeats add-on at 1.7% + 12p per order, so a busy dining room pays more the more guests order that way. For a small restaurant already on SumUp readers, it is a simple step up.

Café QR

Best for: an independent restaurant that wants the floor plan, waiter app, kitchen screens and bookings in one published price, without a contract.

The Café QR POS plan is £39 per venue per month. It includes the till, a waiter app on staff phones, a floor plan with open tabs, courses and seats, kitchen screens by station, split bills, an optional service charge, QR ordering at the table, your own table booking page and cash-up. It runs in a browser on an iPad, Android tablet, laptop or phone you already own, and the first month is free with no card needed.

Card payments go to your own Stripe account, with a Stripe Terminal reader linked to the till, or you can keep a card machine you already have and record card sales on the till. Café QR adds no fee on orders. Stock and recipe costing is a £12 a month add-on, or included in Multi-site (£59 a month, plus £29 for each extra venue).

It isn't right for every restaurant. If you need to take card payments while the internet is down, Café QR's till keeps selling for cash and your own payment types offline, but card payments wait for the connection to come back. A restaurant that can't accept that should choose a provider with offline card payments. Groups that want a long-standing enterprise provider with on-site installation may also prefer Toast or Lightspeed.

Worked example: a 45-cover restaurant

Take a restaurant with one till, waiters ordering at the table, two kitchen stations (the pass and the bar) and online table bookings. Here is the published software price before card fees and hardware:

• Toast Essentials: £150 a month for the first terminal, including handhelds and the kitchen display, plus extra devices, the bookings add-on and Toast hardware.
• Lightspeed Core or Pro: from £79 a month for the first terminal, plus the Lightspeed Reservations add-on.
• Square Plus: £69 a month per location, with the kitchen display included. Ask how bookings would be added.
• Café QR POS: £39 a month, with the waiter app, both kitchen stations and the booking page included.

Then add card fees on your own takings. On £40,000 a month of card payments, a 0.5% difference in card rate is £200 a month, which can matter more than the software price. Our UK EPOS price list works through more bills by venue type.

Questions to ask before you sign

1. How long is the contract, and what does it cost to leave early?
2. Which card readers does it work with, and at what rate? Get the rate in writing for your average bill size.
3. What is in the monthly price? Price the kitchen screens, handhelds and bookings you will actually run.
4. Is there a fee per order on QR or online orders?
5. What keeps working when the internet drops? Ask about card payments specifically.
6. Can you export your sales, menu and guest list if you leave?
7. Who answers the phone on a Saturday night?

Our hospitality EPOS buyer's guide goes through these questions for every type of venue.

Which one is right for your restaurant?

• Opening on a tight budget: Square's free plan, adding the kitchen display when you need it.
• A busy full-service restaurant that wants a restaurant-only system with handhelds: Toast.
• A large restaurant or group with complex menus: Lightspeed or Epos Now.
• Already on SumUp readers: SumUp POS Pro.
• An independent restaurant that wants the floor, the kitchen and bookings in one published price, with no contract: Café QR.

The best test is a real service. Most providers offer a demo, and some a free trial. Put your own menu in, take a few orders on a quiet lunch, and see how the kitchen copes.

See how Café QR works in a dining room on the restaurant POS page, compare plans on pricing, or start a free month.

Related reading

• EPOS Systems for Hospitality: A UK Buyer's Guide
• UK EPOS System Price List (2026)
• Kitchen Screen or Printed Tickets?
• Restaurant Inventory Management Software