Advanced retail and restaurant POS for established and multi-location US businesses, with deep inventory and built-in payments.
Best for
Established or multi-location US retailers and full-service restaurants wanting advanced inventory and reporting.
Every fee we track, grouped by where it applies.
In-person terminal and tap-to-pay transactions.
Online checkout and keyed-in card transactions.
Lightspeed is a cloud POS for established and multi-location US businesses, with separate Retail and Restaurant products on a shared platform. Retail (the former Vend) is strong on advanced inventory (purchase orders, matrix and variant stock), multi-store management, and reporting; Restaurant adds table management, floor plans, and delivery integrations. Lightspeed Payments gives integrated card processing, and offline mode keeps service running during outages. Retail plans run from around $89/mo (Lean) to $269/mo (Advanced) on an annual term, with Restaurant from around $69/mo, so it is pricier than free entry systems but far more capable for stock-heavy or multi-location operators.
Lightspeed was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.
Side-by-side with the closest alternatives by estimated cost.
Based on $20,000/mo card volume (software plus processing; hardware excluded).
Lightspeed
$646/mo est.
Square
$577/mo est.
Shopify
$540/mo est.
The same questions US merchants ask before signing up.
Lightspeed software starts at $69-269/mo (Restaurant from $69, Retail $89-269), with in-person card payments processed through Lightspeed Payments at ~2.6% + 10c. The Retail product runs across Lean, Standard, and Advanced tiers, and the Restaurant product has its own entry tier; both are typically billed on an annual term. It is pricier than free entry systems but far more capable for stock-heavy or multi-location operators. See the comparison table on this page for current figures.
Both. Lightspeed has separate Retail and Restaurant products on a shared platform. Lightspeed Retail (the former Vend) is strong on advanced inventory, purchase orders, and multi-store management for established stores. Lightspeed Restaurant adds table management, floor plans, coursing, and delivery integrations for full-service venues. You choose the product that matches your business; both include integrated Lightspeed Payments.
Yes. Lightspeed includes an offline mode so the POS keeps taking orders and payments during an internet outage, syncing the data once the connection returns. For busy retail floors and full-service restaurants where downtime means lost sales, this resilience is a meaningful advantage over lighter systems that stop working when the connection drops.
Lightspeed includes native AI tools for analytics and demand forecasting, helping predict reorder points and surface sales trends across locations. The AI is built into the platform. Lightspeed does not publish an official MCP server, so connecting it to AI agents is done through third-party automation tools such as Zapier rather than a vendor MCP.
Lightspeed plans are typically sold on an annual term, which is the trade-off for its lower effective monthly pricing and advanced feature set. There is a free trial so you can evaluate it first, and onboarding fees can apply depending on your setup. If you want month-to-month flexibility instead, Square or Shopify POS are no-lock-in alternatives, though with shallower inventory tooling.
Yes. Lightspeed is built for multi-location retail and hospitality, with centralized inventory, purchase orders, transfers between stores, and consolidated reporting across sites. Each additional location is a further subscription, but the depth of stock control and multi-store management is class-leading, which is why established and growing US operators choose it over simpler systems.
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Compare Lightspeed against every other US provider on price, contract terms, and features.
