Square Vs Lightspeed: Which POS Fits Your Retail Store Best?

TL;DR: Square has the lower starting cost and covers the checkout and inventory work needed by many small retailers. Lightspeed costs more but gives stores deeper control over variants, suppliers, landed costs, serial numbers, and purchasing. Comparing Square vs Lightspeed is about comparing the plan that best suits the needs of your store, rather than just choosing the cheapest option available.

At the counter, Square and Lightspeed can look similar. Both can scan an item, take payment, and update stock. If you are also comparing POS systems with different hardware, contract, and provider setups, read the Square vs. Clover comparison as well.

The gap opens in the stockroom. A catalog that starts with a few sizes can quickly become a tangle of supplier codes, purchase orders, serial numbers, and inventory split across locations.

For a small store with a straightforward catalog, Square may cover the work without a large monthly software bill. Lightspeed starts to justify its price when ordering, tracking, and analyzing stock has become a larger part of running the business.

This Square vs Lightspeed comparison uses current US plans, and prices checked on August 03, 2026.

Square Vs Lightspeed Main Difference

Square combines payments, POS software, online selling, and hardware in one system. Lightspeed puts more of its retail depth into inventory, purchasing, and product data.

Area	Square	Lightspeed
Starting software cost	$0 per location	$89 per month with annual billing
Main advantage	Lower entry cost and simpler setup	Deeper inventory and purchasing tools
Product management	Items, variants, bundles, vendors, and stock counts	Variants, composite products, serial numbers, suppliers, and landed costs
Mobile support	Main POS app on iOS and Android	Retail POS on supported iPads, Mac, and Windows; Scanner app on iOS and Android
Hardware	Square devices with published prices	Configurable iPad and desktop setups
Shopify	Requires an integration	Native integration on Core and Plus
Best suited to	Stores with straightforward sales and stock work	Stores with larger or more complicated catalogs

Square can handle much more than basic stock counts. Lightspeed goes further when a retailer needs to manage several suppliers, product combinations, imported costs, serialized stock, or detailed reordering. If you are also comparing Square with a lighter payment-first option, the Square vs PayPal guide covers POS, online checkout, hardware, payment choice, and seller workflow.

Pricing And Payment Processing

The monthly plan is only one part of the cost. Card rates, location fees, hardware, and processor rules can change which system is cheaper for your store.

Software And Card Fees

Square has Free, Plus, and Premium plans. Lightspeed has Basic, Core, and Plus. For a deeper breakdown of Square plans, hardware, and payment fees, read this Square POS system cost guide.

Plan	Advertised Software Cost	Advertised In-Person Rate
Square Free	$0 per location	2.6% + 15¢
Square Plus	$49 per location	2.5% + 15¢
Square Premium	$149 per location	2.4% + 15¢
Lightspeed Basic	$89 per month	1.5% with Lightspeed Payments
Lightspeed Core	$149 per month	1.5% with Lightspeed Payments
Lightspeed Plus	$289 per month	1.5% with Lightspeed Payments

Square Plus and Premium are billed for each active location. Online payments cost 3.3% + 30¢ on Free and 2.9% + 30¢ on Plus and Premium. Square also allows sellers to cancel or switch plans.

Lightspeed’s displayed prices use annual billing, which its pricing page says can save up to 18%. Each plan includes one register. Extra locations, registers, hardware, and services can increase the total.

The 1.5% card-present rate is the rate advertised on Lightspeed’s US retail pricing page. Prices and additional service fees can vary, so the rate should be confirmed in the written quote.

Square’s fixed 15-cent charge matters more when the average sale is small. A store selling low-priced items will feel that fixed fee more often than a retailer processing fewer, larger purchases.

Lightspeed starts with a larger software bill. Any saving on card processing has to cover that subscription, along with the hardware and location costs in the quote.

Processor Choice

Square uses Square Payments for integrated card processing. Payments, deposits, refunds, disputes, and transaction records stay under the same provider.

That keeps the payment setup simple, but another processor cannot be connected as the integrated processor for Square POS.

Lightspeed promotes Lightspeed Payments and supports other payment methods in some countries and setups. Merchants using a non-Lightspeed payment solution may also be charged a monthly third-party processing fee. Lightspeed does not publish one standard amount.

If you already have a payment processor, you should compare: card rates, the Lightspeed fee, terminal costs, payout timing, and contract terms.

Inventory And Purchasing

Inventory and purchasing are important for retailers. Both Square and Lightspeed can help you keep track of your products and stock. However, when it comes to buying things, they are different. Square can handle the tasks, but Lightspeed gives you more control over complicated things like catalogs, suppliers, and product costs.

Square Covers Common Retail Stock Work

Square Free includes standard inventory tracking and low-stock alerts.

Square Plus and Premium subscribers can see full and cycle counts. To use purchase orders and barcode labels, you need to have Plus or Premium and have the advanced inventory thing enabled. Formal transfer orders require Premium under Square’s current plan structure.

This helps people who work in stores like boutiques, gift stores, and specialty shops. The staff can get stock counts, make labels, write down how much things cost from the supplier, and make purchase orders without adding a separate inventory system.

Some tasks are tied to a particular device or screen.

Full and cycle counts work on supported iOS and Android devices, including Square Register, Terminal, and Handheld. Purchase orders can be created in Square Dashboard or through the retail app on iOS. Barcode labels can be created through Dashboard, a compatible iOS device, or Square Register, but not Square Terminal.

An Android-based store can still use Square for checkout and stock counts. Some purchasing and label work may need to be done from Dashboard.

Lightspeed Handles More Product Detail

Lightspeed supports standard products, variants, composite products, supplier information, purchase orders, and stock across outlets.

A variant product can have up to three attributes and 200 combinations. Each combination has its own SKU and inventory. Composite products act as bundles and draw stock from the products inside them.

For example, an apparel store can keep size, color, and material under one parent product instead of building a separate product record for every combination.

Lightspeed can also record serial numbers against individual units. That gives a bike, electronics, or specialist retailer a record of which unit was attached to a sale.

The higher plans add more back-office control:

• Core includes landed costs, loyalty, advanced reports, and accounting, ecommerce, and marketing integrations.
• Plus adds forecasting, order recommendations, custom reports, API access, workflows, custom user roles, and single sign-on.

Landed costs let the retailer add shipping and import duty to the cost of received stock. The feature is available on Core and Plus

These tools are useful when someone regularly compares supplier prices, plans reorders, or manages a large catalog. A store with a smaller product range may pay for more control than it uses.

Hardware And App Support

Square has the clearer phone-based checkout path because its main POS app works on supported iOS and Android devices. Tap to Pay is also available on compatible iPhones and Android phones. Android devices need Android 9 or later for Tap to Pay.

The prices for Square hardware may include:

• Square Reader for contactless and chip: $59
• Square Stand: $149, excluding the iPad
• Square Terminal: $299
• Square Handheld: $399
• Square Register: $899

Square Terminal comes with a built-in receipt printer. Square Handheld includes a barcode scanner. Square Register has separate staff and customer displays.

Lightspeed Retail POS runs on supported iPads and on Mac or Windows computers through a supported browser. Its separate Scanner app is available on iOS and Android for product management, counts, receiving, transfers, and fulfillment. It is not the same register experience as the iPad or desktop POS.

Lightspeed setups can include an iPad or computer, scanner, printer, cash drawer, and payment terminal. Hardware compatibility depends on the operating system and connection type, so the full setup should be included in the sales quote.

Managing A Growing Retail Operation

As your retail business grows, it can get harder to manage. You need a system that can help you keep track of everything without making work for you. This includes managing locations, transferring stock, and reporting sales.

Multiple Locations

Square can help you keep track of inventory by location. If you want to make transfer orders, you need to have the Premium plan, which has advanced inventory capabilities. You can move transfers through stages like draft, pending, partially received, and completed.

Lightspeed manages products, suppliers, purchasing, pricing, customers, and reports across outlets. Extra locations and registers affect the quote, and Lightspeed asks multi-location retailers to contact its sales team for a custom plan.

Two stores with a small shared catalog may run comfortably on Square. One specialist store with thousands of variants, several suppliers, serial numbers, and imported stock may have more reason to use Lightspeed.

The store count is only part of the decision. The amount of stock work matters more.

Reporting

Square’s paid retail tools include reports for cost of goods sold, aging inventory, sell-through, projected profit, inventory history, and vendor sales. Access depends on the plan and inventory capabilities enabled.

Lightspeed Basic includes standard reporting. Core adds advanced sales, staff, and inventory reports. Plus adds forecasting, order recommendations, and custom reporting tools.

The extra reports are useful when someone acts on them. A buyer may use the data to reduce slow stock, adjust purchase orders, or change how products are split between stores.

A small shop that mainly checks current quantities and daily sales may not need the higher plan.

Shopify And Online Selling

Square includes its own online selling tools. Shopify sellers need an integration to connect the two systems.

DPL’s Shopify Square Integration can import, export, and link products, sync inventory between selected locations, pull eligible Square orders into Shopify, sync new customers and Square gift cards, and let the seller choose whether Shopify or Square controls titles, descriptions, prices, and images.

Lightspeed Basic includes a limited version of Lightspeed eCommerce. Core and Plus include the broader ecommerce platform and integrations.

The native Lightspeed Shopify integration is available on Core and Plus. Lightspeed recommends managing synced product data in Retail POS because edits made in Shopify may be overwritten or cause sync problems. Publishing individual variants separately is also not supported.

A Shopify-led retailer should decide where product data will be edited before choosing the POS. Otherwise, staff can change a price or description in one system and lose that change during a later sync.

If the website builder is part of the decision, the Square vs Squarespace guide explains when Square’s website tools are enough and when a dedicated website platform makes more sense.

Which Retail Stores Suit Each POS?

FAQs About Square Vs Lightspeed:

Final Thoughts

If your team just needs to handle checkout, count inventory, make labels, and create purchase orders, and you want to know how much the hardware and software will cost, then Square might be the better choice.

If you need to handle complicated tasks, like different product variants, supplier costs, serial numbers, stock that you imported, and reorder policies, for multiple stores, then you should compare the Lightspeed Core and Plus plans.

Test both platforms with a slice of your catalog. Throw in a few variants. Put in a purchase order, cycle count, return, location transfer, and online order. See what steps need a separate device/push to a higher plan/another app.

Quote your client based on the setup utilized during that test, not the trimmed-down version used to open your sales presentation.