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Lightspeed Retail POS Review 2024: Features and Pricing

With excellent features, integrations and customer service, the Lightspeed point-of-sale system is a good match for retail businesses with multiple locations.
By Hillary Crawford, Karrin Sehmbi
Last updated on January 2, 2024
Edited bySally Lauckner
Fact checked and reviewed

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Our Take

The bottom line:

Lightspeed Retail is a cloud-based POS system for retailers. It has strong inventory management capabilities and is a good match for more established small businesses with multiple locations. Newer small businesses with less complicated operations could be better served with a simpler, less expensive product.

Lightspeed Retail POS

Payment processing fees
2.6% + 10¢ in-person; 2.9% + 30¢ online.
Monthly fee
$89.00 for Lean plan, $149 for Standard plan, $269 for Advanced plan.
Learn more

on Lightspeed's website

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Includes detailed inventory management tools for creating product variants.
  • Free one-on-one onboarding session for all new merchants.
  • 24/7 phone and live chat support.
  • Generate unlimited barcode labels.

Cons

  • No free plan options.
  • Lowest-tier plan doesn’t include e-commerce features.
  • Charges termination fee and may require annual contract.
  • Does not include a virtual terminal or offline mode.

Full Review

Lightspeed Retail is a cloud-based for retailers. Its inventory management capabilities are excellent, letting business owners track items across multiple locations, add product variations and use integrated vendor catalogs to order inventory.
Lightspeed Retail POS offers a number of solid features for retail operations.
For information on the brand’s POS solution for bars, cafes and restaurants, read NerdWallet’s review of .

Lightspeed Retail POS is best for businesses that:

  • Are well-established and have multiple locations. Newer small businesses with less complicated operations could be better served with a simpler, less expensive product.
  • Prefer an all-in-one POS system provider and payment processor. Lightspeed only supports its own payment processing solution, Lightspeed Payments. If you prefer to use a third-party payment processor, you'll want to find a different POS solution. 
  • Will make use of Lightspeed’s POS capabilities and features. The monthly fees are some of the highest among its competitors, but Lightspeed’s long list of relevant retail features and competitive payment processing rates can make it a worthy investment, particularly for more firmly established retailers.

Deciding factors

Payment processing model
Flat rate.
Payment processing fees
  • 2.6% plus 10 cents per in-person transaction.
  • 2.9% plus 30 cents for online transactions.
Monthly fee
  • $89 for Lean plan ($69 if billed annually).
  • $149 for Standard plan ($119 if billed annually).
  • $269 for Advanced plan ($199 if billed annually).
Hardware cost
Pricing for Lightspeed's iPad and desktop hardware kits is quote-based. Individual hardware products are listed in Lightspeed's online store:
  • $99 for Chipper 2X BT card reader.
  • $199 for iPad stand or swivel stand.
  • $299 for WisePOS E countertop reader.
  • $429 for Lightspeed Lite Server for data backup and offline mode functionality.
Contract length
Annual contracts required for lower pricing.
Customer support
24/7 phone, chat and email support; one-on-one onboarding.

Where Lightspeed Retail stands out

Robust inventory management

Lightspeed Retail’s features offer an impressive level of functionality that lets business owners customize how they track items. This platform allows you to manage multiple locations, send notifications when it’s time to reorder an item and add customized fields for categorizing inventory. You can also create a purchase order for a single vendor or a master order for multiple vendors in the platform.

Customer service

Lightspeed offers exceptional customer service for all plan tiers. It includes a free onboarding session, 24/7 phone and chat support, guides and webinars. This type of support doesn’t come standard with all POS systems, and the fact that clients are matched with a dedicated account manager can help you get in touch with the right person sooner.

Integrations

Lightspeed Retail allows you to extend the functionality of your POS via a wide variety of applications available in the Lightspeed app marketplace. These include accounting, e-commerce, reporting, marketing, invoicing and payroll integrations among others.

Where Lightspeed Retail falls short

Price

The price you pay for Lightspeed Retail is tied to the fact that you have a broad range of features at your disposal. However, if you own a new small business, having all those extra bells and whistles probably isn’t necessary. In that case, you might be better off trying free or cheaper options.

Annual contracts required for lower pricing

Subscriptions to Lightspeed Retail are less expensive if you pay annually versus monthly.

Alternatives to Lightspeed Retail

Square for Retail

Why we like it: Square for Retail charges similar processing fees and offers free and paid plans. The Plus plan includes a handful of features you won't find in the Free plan, such as advanced inventory management tools, advanced reporting capabilities and Square Team Management. Loyalty programs are available as an add-on. For more information, read our .

Shopify POS

Why we like it: If you like Lightspeed Retail because of its e-commerce store integration, consider Shopify POS. You can get a Shopify e-commerce store and 24/7 support. The Basic plan is for businesses that do most of their sales online. Businesses that do in-store and online sales might consider one of the company’s other plans, which also include lower processing rates. For more information, read our .

Compare POS providers

To compare POS options, check out NerdWallet’s list of that are best for small-business owners. Our recommendations are based on the provider’s pricing and transparency, software and hardware options, system functionality, customer support, software integrations and contract requirements.

Learn more

on Lightspeed's website

Methodology

NerdWallet’s point-of-sale systems provider ratings reward companies whose products and services are priced well and work in a variety of payment scenarios, among other criteria. Ratings are based on weighted averages of scores in several categories, including cost, system capabilities, contract requirements, customer service and integrations and add-ons. Learn more about .
These ratings are a guide, but services, hardware and pricing can vary widely from business to business and provider to provider. We encourage you to shop around and compare several providers.
NerdWallet does not receive compensation for any reviews. Read our .

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