Best Shopify POS alternatives for retail
Shopify POS publishes plan prices, in-person rates and the price of using an outside payment provider — more than most competitors in this comparison. Retailers still shop alternatives over the currency-localisation caveat, the third-party fee, and the fact that the top tier's own card rate is not published. Here is what four alternatives publish instead, and what actually changes if you switch.
Why retailers shop for a Shopify POS alternative
Shopify's POS pricing page, checked 17 September 2026, publishes plan prices from CA$49, CA$132 and CA$517 by plan, an in-person rate of 2.6%, 2.5% or 2.4% plus 0¢ by plan, and an additional third-party payment provider fee of 2%, 1% or 0.6% by plan. That is unusually transparent for this market — but three published details still send retailers comparison-shopping.
- Prices localise by country. The published figures render in the currency of the visitor's connection. The reading above was taken from a Canadian connection; a US retailer has to reconfirm the actual US-dollar price on Shopify's own page rather than rely on a figure seen from elsewhere.
- The top tier's card rate is not published. Plus is described qualitatively as offering "its best rates for high-volume merchants," with no percentage published — the opposite of the transparency on the lower three plans.
- The third-party fee narrows the case for shopping the processing. Using an outside payment provider is permitted and priced, but the extra 2%, 1% or 0.6% has to be beaten by the outside rate before it is worth doing, and on the lower plans that gap is wide enough that the fee — not the processing rate — tends to decide the answer.
- Hardware prices and detailed cancellation terms are not on the pricing page. Only the top tier's one- or three-year term is stated; nothing below that is described, and hardware is priced elsewhere on the site.
Four Shopify POS alternatives compared
Figures below come from each provider's own published pricing or terms pages, checked 17 September 2026. Where a provider withholds a figure, the cell says "not published."
| Provider | Monthly software | Processing rate | Hardware | Contract | Own processor allowed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Square | Free plan $0; paid-plan prices load dynamically, not in page source | Published in full: in person 2.6% + 15¢ (free) to 2.4% + 15¢ (top plan); online 3.3% + 30¢ or 2.9% + 30¢; keyed 3.5% + 15¢ | Sold outright, prices published in Square's shop | No locked-in contract stated; cancel or switch any time | No — Square processes its own payments |
| Lightspeed (vs Shopify POS) | $89, $149, $289/mo (US retail), each with one register; annual billing saves up to 18% | Not published | Not published on pricing page | 90 days' notice not to renew; early termination equals remainder of term plus repayment of discounts received | No in eligible jurisdictions — Lightspeed Payments mandatory, extra fee if a third-party processor is used |
| Clover (vs Square) | Retail from $16/mo over 36 months or $349 up front; higher tiers to $2,648 + $104.90/mo | Not published | Priced, up front or over 36 months | 36-month framing published; cancellation and early termination not published | No — sold with Clover's processing; online prices only |
| Heartland Retail | Promoted $0 start; standard price outside the offer not published | Not published | $0 under the promoted offer (no setup, hardware or shipping fee) | 3-year contract required for the $0 offer; early termination fee "may apply," amount not published | No — processing through Heartland required as a condition of the offer, plus a mandatory 4% cash-discounting programme |
What switching from Shopify POS actually involves
- Contract end. Shopify's lower plans are described as month to month; the Plus tier states a one- or three-year term. Confirm which applies to your account and read the actual notice requirement in your agreement, since detailed cancellation terms are not on the pricing page.
- Hardware compatibility. Shopify's own card readers are not described as portable to another platform on its pricing page, and none of the four alternatives here publish a way to accept Shopify hardware. New hardware should be budgeted regardless of which alternative is chosen — Square's is bought outright, Clover's is priced up front or over 36 months, Heartland's is $0 under its promoted offer's specific conditions.
- Data export. None of the five providers reviewed here — Shopify included — publish a data-export policy on their pricing pages. For a retailer, that typically means product catalogue, inventory counts and customer records; confirm the export format before committing to a move.
- Re-underwriting the processing. Square, Clover and Heartland all require or bundle their own processing, meaning new underwriting on a new merchant account. Heartland's published offer additionally requires a minimum $250,000 annual processing volume and a mandatory 4% cash-discounting programme as conditions of its $0 start — read those conditions closely against your own volume before choosing it for the headline price alone.
The independent-agent angle
Shopify POS is worth pausing on here, because it is the alternative-shopping case where the POS decision and the processing decision do not have to move together. Its published third-party payment provider fee — 2%, 1% or 0.6% by plan — means a retailer can keep Shopify POS and still shop the underlying processing rate, provided the outside rate beats Shopify's blended rate by more than that fee. That comparison is arithmetic and can be checked on the page. Square, Clover and Heartland, by contrast, all bundle or require their own processing on the pages reviewed, so switching to any of them recouples the two decisions.
Either way, the honest comparison runs on your own numbers, not a vendor's headline rate. The free statement analysis reads three months of your actual card statements and prices an itemised quote against whatever blended or bundled rate is on the table.
Related reading
- Shopify POS pricing: what Shopify publishes
- Lightspeed vs Shopify POS
- POS pricing compared: what ten providers publish
- Payment gateway vs processor: who does what
- Shopify payment processing options
- Retail payment processing and POS
Sources
- Shopify, POS pricing, checked 2026-09-17 (rendered in Canadian dollars from this connection): shopify.com
- Square, payment processing fees (US) and pricing, checked 2026-09-17: squareup.com
- Lightspeed, US retail pricing and service agreement, checked 2026-09-17: lightspeedhq.com
- Clover, retail systems pricing, checked 2026-09-17: clover.com
- Heartland, point-of-sale pricing, checked 2026-09-17: heartland.us
Shopify, Square, Lightspeed, Clover and Heartland are trademarks of their respective owners and are used here for identification only. CELER Merchants is independent and is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, any of these companies. Prices and terms change; confirm current pricing with each provider before deciding.
Related questions
It depends on what is driving the switch. Lightspeed publishes more retail-specific contract detail — a notice period and a termination formula — than Shopify's pricing page does. Square publishes its full processing rate schedule. Clover packages hardware and software over a published 36-month price. Heartland promotes a $0 start with published conditions attached. None is automatically cheaper; price the shortlist against your own card volume.
The most commonly cited published reasons are the third-party payment provider fee — an extra 2%, 1% or 0.6% on top of whatever an outside processor charges, which narrows the case for shopping the processing separately — and the fact that pricing renders in the visitor's local currency, so a figure read outside the US is not automatically a US price and has to be reconfirmed.
Not published. Shopify's pricing page does not describe a path to running its card readers on a competitor's software, and none of the alternatives below publish a way to accept Shopify hardware either. Budget for new hardware on any switch.
Generally no, or not published. Square, Clover and Heartland all sell processing bundled with the system on the pages reviewed. Shopify POS is actually the more open of the group on this specific point — it is the one that publishes both the option and the price of an outside processor, which is worth weighing before assuming a switch improves processing flexibility.
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