Best Mobile and Pop-Up POS Systems

What separates the best mobile POS picks?

Three systems made this page, and the gap between them is mostly about what you sell and how you take cards. Square scores 8.9 and costs nothing for the software — no monthly fee, no contract. Shopify POS scores 8.2 at $39 a month. Stripe Terminal scores 8.0 with no monthly fee.

Cost is where they split first. On our $25,000 a month basket, Square ran $785 a month in flat-rate processing, Stripe Terminal $720 with no monthly fee. Shopify POS adds a penalty fee per transaction if you use a processor other than Shopify Payments.

Reliability separates them too. Square kept taking cards through our simulated outage and settled afterwards. Shopify POS stopped taking card payments entirely in our internet-outage test. Stripe Terminal has no offline card acceptance at all.

What should you check before buying a mobile POS?

Processing fees and total cost carry the most weight in our scoring, at 30 points, so run your own monthly volume through each rate before anything else. Hardware and reliability is next at 20, which is why the outage results matter more than the spec sheet.

Then look at what each one asks of you:

• Square — free software, but Square can hold funds on unusual activity with little warning.
• Shopify POS — one stock count across store, website and marketplaces, but card payments stopped in our internet-outage test.
• Stripe Terminal — one account and one dashboard for online and in-person, but there is no ready-made till; somebody has to build the interface.

Features for the trade (20 points), reporting and integrations (15) and support and terms (15) round out the score. Check the terms on fund holds and processor penalties before you commit.

Square

For most small businesses that want to start taking cards without a monthly fee or a contract. Payroll, invoicing, online store, appointments and loyalty sit in one account.

Shopify POS

For sellers moving the same stock through a shop floor and a website. Staff, customer profiles and loyalty are shared between channels, and Shopify's online store is the best in the business.

Stripe Terminal

For developers who want card-present payments on the same Stripe account and API as their online business. The best payments API and documentation there is, but you build the till yourself.

Square suits most small businesses that want free software and no contract. Shopify POS suits anyone selling the same stock in a shop and online. Stripe Terminal suits developers who will build their own till on the Stripe API.