The best iPad point-of-sale (POS) systems rely on mobility, efficiency, and affordability. iPad POS systems offer easy setup, simple training, and greater access to customers. The systems in this guide all speak to the dynamic advantages iPads bring to restaurants.
Review my top picks for the best iPad POS systems for 2025.
- Square for Restaurants: Best overall iPad restaurant POS
- Lightspeed Restaurant: Best for iPad POS analytics
- TouchBistro: Best for cafes, pubs & breweries
- Rezku: Best for small restaurants needing an affordable, all-in-one POS
- Lavu: Best for customer management tools
iPad POS systems compared
| My score | Minimum monthly fee | Contract length | Processing rates | |
 | 4.34/5 | $69/location | No long-term contract | From 2.6% + 10 cents |
| Visit Square for Restaurants | ||||
 | 4.21/5 | $189 | 1 year | From 2.6% + 10 cents |
| Visit Lightspeed Restaurant | ||||
 | 3.95/5 | $69 | 1 year | Custom-quoted |
| Visit TouchBistro | ||||
 | 3.95/5 | $49 | 2 years | From 1.99% + 25 cents |
| Visit Rezku | ||||
 | 3.84/5 | $59* | 1 year | Custom-quoted |
| Visit Lavu | ||||
*According to third-party sources
Square for Restaurants: Best overall iPad restaurant POS
Pros
Cons
My expert opinion
Who should use it:
Square for Restaurants is perfect for restaurant owners on a budget or with limited funds for technology. This iPad POS system is also great for those wanting quick, mobile payments or a cheap way to implement a self-service kiosk into their business.
Why I picked it:
Square for Restaurants is one of the most comprehensive yet easy-to-use POS systems for small businesses on the market. It offers a few things that most restaurant iPad POS systems don’t: a free baseline subscription, no long-term contracts, and no chargeback fees.
I’ve set up multiple Square for Restaurant POS systems, and it’s always a speedy process. This software offers a seamless transition for iPad users. If you have the following iPads in your restaurant arsenal, you can simply download and use Square:
- iPad (10th generation)
- iPad Pro 11-inch (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation)
- iPad Air (4th and 5th generation).
Consistent updates to kitchen management and other restaurant functions make this system much more efficient. The mobility of payments, including its card readers and intuitive mobile payment apps, makes Square fit right into restaurants that rely on iPads as their POS systems. With its robust features and accessible software, Square earned the top spot on my list.
Monthly subscription tiers:
- Free: $0
- Plus: $69 per location per month
- Premium: $165 per location per month
One-time installation fee: $0; Square is self-installed, but you can request on-site installation assistance for $600
Processing fees:
- In-person: 2.6% + 10 cents per transaction
- Online or invoice: 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction
- Manually keyed: 3.5% + 15 cents per transaction
- New restaurant features: Square revamped some back-of-house kitchen tools this year, offering critical new features for easier kitchen operations. You can now add images to your POS menu for your staff to find products, add customer profiles to orders for insights into past orders, and get faster POS actions from new button mapping in its software.
- Free baseline POS: Unlike the other systems on this list, Square for Restaurants offers free software for its entry-level iPad POS. You can use the iPads you own and use Square for free. With no long-term contracts, you can use the POS for as long as you need it, then move to a higher subscription tier or a whole different system if your restaurant’s needs change.
- Square small business suite: Square for Restaurants POS users also gain access to the full suite of Square’s small business tools. In addition to the Square Online store, you can get its easy-to-use marketing, payroll, and appointment booking.
- Flexible hardware: The Square Mount stand can convert your iPad into a freestanding or wall-mounted self-service kiosk.
Lightspeed Restaurant: Best for iPad POS analytics
Pros
Cons
My expert opinion
Who should use it:
Lightspeed Restaurant is perfect for operators who want in-depth analytics and robust tools to accompany their iPad POS systems. Additionally, this POS system is friendly to integrations like QuickBooks, making it easier for operators with existing tertiary tech to blend their different tools.
Why I picked it:
Lightspeed Restaurant fell to second place due to a steep price increase to its base plan, which went from $69 to $189 per month. While this is a big jump, the core product is still outstanding and delivers a robust experience for those using an iPad as their hardware for POS functions. Lightspeed Restaurant is a cloud-based, all-in-one iPad POS that regularly lands among the best restaurant POS systems.
Lightspeed aims to serve all restaurant types, offering features such as complex menu modifiers and ingredient-level inventory. Its reporting capabilities for iPad POS systems are the best on this list, and its overall ecosystem delivers a fluid workspace where you can build your business. Some key features have extra fees, and its base price hike lowers its score to 4.21.
Monthly subscription plans*:
- Essentials: $189
- Premium: $399
- Enterprise: Custom quote
* Prices are lower for users who pay fees annually and enroll in Lightspeed Payments.
One-time installation fee: None
Payment processing: Lightspeed Payments starts at 2.6% + 10 cents for in-person payments
- Order ahead: You design your order-ahead online ordering site from the Lightspeed Restaurant back-office dashboard. The site fully integrates with your POS, so online orders appear automatically in your order stream. You can accept orders for in-house pickup, curbside pickup, or delivery. You can rely on third-party delivery drivers or use an in-house team (though you’ll need an integration to manage delivery routes).
- Customer self-ordering tools: Lightspeed Restaurant users have several options for customer self-ordering. You can use QR codes to receive orders and payments from customers’ smartphones.
- Quick-service mode: Lightspeed Restaurant includes a quick-service ordering mode for bars and counter-service restaurants. This mode keeps ordering and payment buttons on a single screen for efficient ordering.
- Advanced reporting: Lightspeed’s reporting features surpass the other options on this list. Customer history syncs with Lightspeed Payments, offering spending history even if you use different cards. Lightspeed’s reporting tools offer other key features, such as tracking top-performing staff, customer return rate, and menu item revenue analysis.
TouchBistro: Best for cafes, pubs & breweries
Pros
Cons
My expert opinion
Who should use it:
TouchBistro’s new customer-facing screen makes this POS ideal for marketing new items while ensuring order accuracy and speed in quicker food business settings. Cafes, food trucks, breweries, and QSR business types should all look into TouchBistro.
Why I picked it:
TouchBistro is a native iPad POS designed specifically for the food and beverage industry. It includes a food ordering system and other great features for all types of restaurants. What makes it especially good for cafes, pubs, and breweries is its quick-order screens and the ability to organize tabs efficiently. These capabilities and affordable hardware options make it an accessible system for small yet busy food businesses.
TouchBistro doesn’t offer a free plan but is still very affordable with its $69 per month offering. Its lack of a native kiosk mode dropped its overall score, but it still offers plenty of solid features.
- Software subscription fee: $69 per terminal monthly
- One-time installation fee: $0; this system is self-installed
- Processing fees: Custom-quoted for new clients
- Customer-facing screens: TouchBistro offers the option to have a second iPad attached to your iPad terminal, offering customers a screen to see orders in real time. Two screens can allow for better accuracy, especially for cafes that have drinks with many modification options. These screens can be used to market new menu items or current deals when not in use.
- Integrated online ordering: For an additional $50 per month, TouchBistro users can add integrated online ordering. You can accept online orders for pickup, curbside pickup, or delivery. Like Square for Restaurants, TouchBistro includes map-based delivery tools to help you manage a team of on-staff drivers.
If you prefer to use one of the best food delivery software solutions, you can integrate it into your TouchBistro POS via connector apps like Deliverect or Ordermark. - Flexible hardware: TouchBistro includes restaurant technology like customer-facing displays, kitchen display system (KDS) screens, and tableside ordering tablets. You can manage all of these peripherals from your TouchBistro management dashboard. TouchBistro offers software for these tools with transparent monthly pricing.
- Bar features: Like Lightspeed Restaurant, TouchBistro offers a condensed quick-order screen to help your bartenders speed through orders. With TouchBistro, you can pre-authorize bar tabs with a card swipe, customize tab names, and quickly transfer bar tabs to tables.
- Ease of use: TouchBistro’s user interface resembles an iPhone more than any other system on this list. This design makes TouchBistro easy to learn for both you and your staff. Anyone who has used an iPhone can navigate TouchBistro in no time. Many user reviews mention how quickly new staff learn the system.
Rezku: Best for small restaurants needing an affordable, all-in-one POS
Pros
Cons
My expert opinion
Who should use it:
Rezku is great for users looking for key POS functionality for an iPad at an affordable rate. Even Rezku’s higher-priced tier is affordable and offers users many different tools.
Why I picked it:
Rezku is an iPad POS that, like TouchBistro, is built specifically to support food and beverage businesses. However, unlike the other systems on this list, Rezku aims to include every function an independent restaurant needs in its baseline POS. And when I say everything, I mean it. It offers everything from gift cards to online ordering, delivery management, and marketing tools for $0 for one terminal.
A very big positive for Rezku is that its middle-tiered price dropped to $49 a month (it was previously $99). However, this now means only one terminal is included with the free plan. While losing a terminal in the free plan is a downgrade, the lower price tier on the Growth plan is an advantage for Rezku users.
Monthly subscription tiers*:
- Essential: $0
- Growth: $49
- Custom: Custom-quoted
*One terminal is included with the subscription; extra terminals require additional fees.
Processing fees: From 1.99% + 25 cents in the Growth tier
One-time installation fee: $0
- Free baseline POS: Rezku has moved to a free baseline POS tier. This tier gives you free access to all its great features, furthering the quality and resources available to smaller restaurants. Note that for the Essential (free) subscription, the payment processing fee is higher at 3.09% + 15 cents for card-present transactions.
- Comprehensive all-in-one POS: Rezku’s baseline POS includes an exhaustive list of software tools. You get ingredient-level inventory tracking with low stock alerts, online ordering with delivery management, points or dollar-based loyalty and rewards, gift cards, and more.
- Cash discount setting: Rezku includes a setting that automatically calculates a discount for customers who pay in cash. The discount amount will be the same as your credit card processing fees. So, if customers pay with a credit or debit card, your processing fees are covered.
This workaround can sidestep laws in 10 states prohibiting small businesses from passing card processing fees onto customers. If the prospect of credit card processing fees has kept you from getting a POS, Rezku might be your perfect fit. - Employee management: Rezku’s employee management tools include an integrated time card system, clock in/out, photo clock-in to prevent buddy punching, and more. The reports include labor cost analysis, payroll exports, and shift management applications. It even calculates your payroll based on employee position, pay rate, and hours.
Lavu: Best for customer management tools
Pros
Cons
My expert opinion
Who should use it:
This iPad POS system is great for businesses that want to focus on customer management and creating loyalty with their customer base. Robust customer tools make it a highlight for businesses that rely on customer loyalty and positive online customer reviews.
Why I picked it:
Lavu is a downloadable POS app that is self-installable and easy to use. Its functionality on the iPad makes it a great pick for different restaurant types, and its features make offering great customer experiences easy. While Lavu misses some key features, like unreliable offline modes and poor customer support, it’s a solid choice for those looking for an affordable POS system for their restaurant.
Customer management is an extra focus for Lavu. It allows you to create detailed customer profiles that track key information for each customer. Its loyalty tools build on this, offering customers birthday deals and other recommendations before issuing a final check.
- Subscription fee: Custom-quoted, though third-party sources report a monthly starting cost of $59.
- One-time installation fee: $0
- Processing fees: Custom-quoted through Lavu Pay, varies by other processors
- Customer management: Lavu creates detailed customer profiles that track contact information, birthdays, and how customers learned about your restaurant.
You can add custom fields to track additional information and set your Lavu POS to prompt servers to add a customer before beginning a check to ensure you never miss the chance to track a transaction. Customer profiles also sync with Lavu’s built-in loyalty tools. - Dual pricing: Lavu offers dual pricing, setting pricing lower for cash payments and higher for credit card payments, offering a way to cover processing fees for your business, similar to what Rezku offers.
- Offline payment processing: While some of its offline features may not be the best, Lavu does offer a Payment Card Industry (PCI) standard payment processor that will accept payments even if the Wi-Fi goes out.
- Efficient customer-facing menus: You can create time-restricted menus, such as a happy hour menu, for your customers to experience at different times throughout service. For pizzerias, it has a pizza customization module, which extends to online delivery.
How to choose an iPad restaurant POS
Choosing an iPad POS for your restaurant is like selecting any restaurant software. The process is straightforward, but it’s important to give yourself enough time to consider several options before making a final selection.
iPad POS software offers specific advantages, so it’s important to ensure they align with your business needs.
Step 1: Assess your needs
Before you can select the best iPad POS for your restaurant, you need to know what you’re looking for. An iPad restaurant POS system can perform just about any restaurant function you can think of, including menu, check, table, and tab management, among other features.
- Menu management: Most can create and edit menus for different parts of the day, add modifiers, build combos, and create timed menus for events like brunch and happy hour.
- Check management: You should be able to start checks, split them, hold them for later, and accept multiple payment types.
- Table management: Most iPad restaurant POS systems include a copy of your floor plan so you can assign orders to tables if needed.
- Tab management: Many allow you to pre-authorize credit cards on tabs for bar operations or simply manage multiple open tabs in a quick-service restaurant setting.
- Payment processing: The best iPad POS systems for restaurants have integrated or built-in payment processing for cards, digital wallets, and gift cards.
- Online ordering: Built-in online ordering ensures your online orders appear in your POS order stream without double entry from a third-party tablet.
- Custom user permissions: This is a baseline function that ensures your employees only have access to the information they need to do their jobs.
- Employee timekeeping: Most iPad POS systems can also act as a time clock to record your employees’ hours.
- Kitchen display systems: Built-in or integrated KDS screens can help streamline kitchen operations, especially in quick-service restaurants.
- Sales reporting: Your iPad POS should show you reports of the products you sold, and this information can typically be filtered to show daily, weekly, monthly, and annual figures.
- Customer management: Your POS should have basic customer profiles to help you track customers who visit frequently. Advanced iPad restaurant POS systems may also have full-blown reservation and waitlist software.
- Loyalty: Simple points-based loyalty is becoming an expected part of independent restaurant operations, and your iPad POS should make it easy to track and redeem points.
- Email and text marketing: Usually syncing with your customer management system, email, and text message marketing allow you to send custom promotions to a filtered customer list to turn first-time customers into regulars.
Some iPad restaurant POS systems will also support reservations, self-service kiosks, menu displays, ingredient-level inventory tracking, delivery management, and cash discounting. So, the sky might be the limit.
List everything you want to run your restaurant. And don’t forget about your staff’s needs. Your employees will use this system every day, so if there is a feature (like KDS screens or tip pool management) that will make their lives easier, add it to your list.
Step 2: Set a budget
You can find iPad POS systems for restaurants at virtually every price point, from $0 per month to more than $100 per tablet. Most iPad POS systems require monthly software fees. You’ll also need to budget for hardware. Even if you have your iPads already, you may need printers, card readers, Wi-Fi boosters, and routers.
Finally, you’ll need to determine what payment processing fees you can afford. If your menu is priced low, you may prefer a POS that supports cash discounting or surcharging so you can pass credit card fees on to your customers (where legally permitted).
Look at your sales and profitability and determine how much you can afford per month. There is no use looking at a system you ultimately can’t afford. So, know your limits before you test-drive any systems.
Step 3: Sign up for demos & free trials
Every restaurant iPad POS offers a demo, during which a live agent walks you through the system on a video call. Some (like Square) also offer a free trial. Search for systems that fit your budget, then schedule demos or free trials with three to five POS providers.
Most POS brands ask for your restaurant style and sometimes your location before scheduling a demo to ensure they show you the most relevant features. They’ll also want an email address and phone number.
Have your list of desired features on hand for any demo you attend. It’s also useful to write down any questions you might have about granular functionality or additional costs. Most demos take around 30 minutes, but I’ve seen them go 45 minutes to an hour if I have a lot of questions.
You might really love the first system you demo. But I always like to look at least two more. By considering multiple systems, you can feel more confident in your final choice.
Step 4: Compare systems
After getting several demos or free trials, compare each system to your list of must-have features and your budget. The comparison should be based on features specific to your business.
For example, one POS system may offer more total features, while another has stronger niche features for your specific business type. Comparing in relation to your business needs is the best way to decide which iPad POS is best for you.
Step 5: Make a decision
The best iPad restaurant POS system for your restaurant is the one that has most of your desired features at a price you can afford. The best POS may be different for different restaurant types. Get input from your managers and chefs to help you make your selection. Then, follow up with the brands you demoed to let them know you’ve made a decision.
Following up is an important step because the sales representatives from the POS brands you contacted will continue following up with you via phone or email until you either sign up or tell them you’ve selected a different POS provider. The constant messages can be pretty annoying, so save yourself the back and forth by letting the sales teams know that you’ve made your choice.
It’s OK if you choose a different system than neighboring restaurants, or if you take a risk and try a new system you’ve never heard of before. One of the bonuses of an iPad POS is that most of these systems’ contracts only last a year or less, so you have some flexibility if your initial POS provider proves lackluster.
Step 6: Schedule installation
With iPad POS systems, installation is frequently as simple as creating an account with the POS provider’s sales team, then downloading an app from the Apple App Store and installing the app on the hardware you already own.
However, some iPad restaurant POS systems only operate on iPads purchased directly from the brand itself. In that case, there will be some lead time waiting for your hardware to ship. Though typically purchased hardware will come with at least some pre-configuration already done for you.
Once you’ve created your POS account and received your hardware, most iPad restaurant POS companies provide you with remote installation assistance. A customer support representative will walk you through connecting receipt printers, kitchen printers, cash drawers, and other hardware.
The rep will also usually help install your card readers and ensure your payment process works. Once you and your rep configure your hardware, you can enter your menu and start ringing in orders.
How I evaluated iPad restaurant POS systems
Evaluating iPad POS systems is a unique process due to the specific nature of their use. Mobile, efficient, and customer-friendly, iPads offer a unique and great way to take orders and manage restaurant functions in almost all food businesses.
That said, I chose five key points to help guide my decision-making process for the best iPad POS systems on the market.
Pricing: 20%
Pricing is a huge part of what makes an iPad POS system great. We looked at free plan offerings, subscription price points, contract lengths, and whether bringing your own iPad was an option. Cost is a major factor in iPad POS systems and was a key pillar in how I evaluated all of the ones featured in this guide.
Mobility & payment processing: 20%
Mobile payment processing is a big strength the iPad brings to POS software. My ratings focused on integrated credit card processing, offline payment functionality, card processing options, and contactless payments. We also looked into the ability to offer gift cards and whether an extra cost was associated with them.
Front-of-house tools: 20%
Engaging your customers is an advantage with iPad POS systems, and you can see that with the relatively high scores, all of my featured options are enjoyed. Table mapping, order taking, pre-authorized bar tabs, kiosk modes, and loyalty programs were all considered in this section.
Back-of-house & office tools: 20%
This section focuses on tracking inventory on an ingredient level and offering KDS options or integrations. Additionally, online ordering, workforce management, vendor and purchase order management, and reporting on menu success were considered factors.
Expert score: 20%
Last on my list of factors considered was a final expert score on the product offering. Features, value for money, relative industry popularity, and how easy each system is to use were all considered for this part of my grading process.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
These are some of the most common questions I get about the best iPad restaurant POS systems.
Last bite
When it comes to iPad POS systems, you want an affordable choice that is functional and delivers a great employee/customer experience. Square for Restaurants offers all of the key features you would expect in a modern iPad POS system at a highly affordable cost, which is why it’s my top pick.
With excellent payment processing options, a slew of restaurant management tools, and an unbeatable price, it features everything a food business owner needs to run their restaurant through an iPad.
