Best POS Systems for Food Trucks of January 2026
The best food truck POS systems are created with mobile restaurants in mind. They offer industry-specific features like customer-facing screens, menu management and loyalty programs.
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| Product | Best for | NerdWallet rating | Payment processing fees | Monthly fee | Learn more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Square Restaurant POS | Free POS system | In-person: 2.6% + $0.15 Online: 3.3% + $0.30 | $0 Free plan; $49 Plus plan; $149 Premium plan. | on Square's website | |
 Toast POS | Startup food trucks | 2.49% + $0.15 if you buy hardware upfront; 3.09% + $0.15 for pay-as-you-go option. | $0 Starter Kit; $69 Point of Sale plan; custom Build Your Own plan. | on Toast's website | |
 Clover POS | Mobile POS hardware | In-person: 2.5% + $0.10 Online: 3.5% + $0.10 | $0 and up. | on Clover's website | |
 SpotOn Restaurant | Restaurant add-ons | 4.7
/5
| 1.99% + $0.25 For most cards in paid plans. | $0 and up. | on SpotOn's website |
Square Restaurant POS
Best for Free POS system
Payment processing fees
In-person: 2.6% + $0.15
Online: 3.3% + $0.30
Online: 3.3% + $0.30
Monthly fee
$0
Free plan; $49 Plus plan; $149 Premium plan.
on Square's website
Pros
- Free plan available.
- App and card readers are compatible with iOS and Android devices.
- Can pay for hardware in installments.
- No long-term contracts or installation fees.
- All plans include free online ordering.
Cons
- Free plan doesn’t include 24/7 support.
- Customer loyalty program is an add-on for all plans.
Toast POS
Best for Startup food trucks
Payment processing fees
2.49% + $0.15
if you buy hardware upfront; 3.09% + $0.15 for pay-as-you-go option.
Monthly fee
$0
Starter Kit; $69 Point of Sale plan; custom Build Your Own plan.
on Toast's website
Pros
- 24/7 customer support via web messaging.
- Free plan available with one POS terminal.
- Built specifically for restaurants.
- Flexible payment options.
Cons
- Contract required.
Clover POS
Best for Mobile POS hardware
Payment processing fees
In-person: 2.5% + $0.10
Online: 3.5% + $0.10
Online: 3.5% + $0.10
Monthly fee
$0
and up.
on Clover's website
Pros
- 24/7 customer support.
- Can pay for hardware in installments.
- Customer loyalty program available.
- Includes online ordering capabilities.
Cons
- Cannot use existing tablets that weren’t bought through Clover.
SpotOn Restaurant
Best for Restaurant add-ons
Payment processing fees
1.99% + $0.25
For most cards in paid plans.
Monthly fee
$0
and up.
on SpotOn's website
Pros
- Offers a free plan.
- Restaurants can customize plans by adding loyalty programs, reservation capabilities, online ordering or employee scheduling software.
- 24/7 phone support.
- No long-term contract or termination fees.
Cons
- Charges setup fee.
- Offline mode includes the hidden cost of a router.
Sort by:
Payment processing fees
In-person: 2.6% + $0.15
Online: 3.3% + $0.30
Online: 3.3% + $0.30
Monthly fee
$0
Free plan; $49 Plus plan; $149 Premium plan.
on Square's website
Pros
- Free plan available.
- App and card readers are compatible with iOS and Android devices.
- Can pay for hardware in installments.
- No long-term contracts or installation fees.
- All plans include free online ordering.
Cons
- Free plan doesn’t include 24/7 support.
- Customer loyalty program is an add-on for all plans.
Square Restaurant POS
Best for Free POS system
Best for Free POS system
Payment processing fees
In-person: 2.6% + $0.15
Online: 3.3% + $0.30
Online: 3.3% + $0.30
Monthly fee
$0
Free plan; $49 Plus plan; $149 Premium plan.
on Square's website
Pros
- Free plan available.
- App and card readers are compatible with iOS and Android devices.
- Can pay for hardware in installments.
- No long-term contracts or installation fees.
- All plans include free online ordering.
Cons
- Free plan doesn’t include 24/7 support.
- Customer loyalty program is an add-on for all plans.
Payment processing fees
2.49% + $0.15
if you buy hardware upfront; 3.09% + $0.15 for pay-as-you-go option.
Monthly fee
$0
Starter Kit; $69 Point of Sale plan; custom Build Your Own plan.
on Toast's website
Pros
- 24/7 customer support via web messaging.
- Free plan available with one POS terminal.
- Built specifically for restaurants.
- Flexible payment options.
Cons
- Contract required.
Toast POS
Best for Startup food trucks
Best for Startup food trucks
Payment processing fees
2.49% + $0.15
if you buy hardware upfront; 3.09% + $0.15 for pay-as-you-go option.
Monthly fee
$0
Starter Kit; $69 Point of Sale plan; custom Build Your Own plan.
on Toast's website
Pros
- 24/7 customer support via web messaging.
- Free plan available with one POS terminal.
- Built specifically for restaurants.
- Flexible payment options.
Cons
- Contract required.
Payment processing fees
In-person: 2.5% + $0.10
Online: 3.5% + $0.10
Online: 3.5% + $0.10
Monthly fee
$0
and up.
on Clover's website
Pros
- 24/7 customer support.
- Can pay for hardware in installments.
- Customer loyalty program available.
- Includes online ordering capabilities.
Cons
- Cannot use existing tablets that weren’t bought through Clover.
Clover POS
Best for Mobile POS hardware
Best for Mobile POS hardware
Payment processing fees
In-person: 2.5% + $0.10
Online: 3.5% + $0.10
Online: 3.5% + $0.10
Monthly fee
$0
and up.
on Clover's website
Pros
- 24/7 customer support.
- Can pay for hardware in installments.
- Customer loyalty program available.
- Includes online ordering capabilities.
Cons
- Cannot use existing tablets that weren’t bought through Clover.
Payment processing fees
1.99% + $0.25
For most cards in paid plans.
Monthly fee
$0
and up.
on SpotOn's website
Pros
- Offers a free plan.
- Restaurants can customize plans by adding loyalty programs, reservation capabilities, online ordering or employee scheduling software.
- 24/7 phone support.
- No long-term contract or termination fees.
Cons
- Charges setup fee.
- Offline mode includes the hidden cost of a router.
SpotOn Restaurant
Best for Restaurant add-ons
Best for Restaurant add-ons
Payment processing fees
1.99% + $0.25
For most cards in paid plans.
Monthly fee
$0
and up.
on SpotOn's website
Pros
- Offers a free plan.
- Restaurants can customize plans by adding loyalty programs, reservation capabilities, online ordering or employee scheduling software.
- 24/7 phone support.
- No long-term contract or termination fees.
Cons
- Charges setup fee.
- Offline mode includes the hidden cost of a router.
Jump to
Best food truck POS systems: additional details
Square Restaurant
Best free POS system
- $0 for Square Restaurant’s free plan.
- $49 for Plus plan.
- $149 for Premium plan.
- $0 for Square magstripe-only card reader ($10 for each additional reader) or if using Tap to Pay for iPhone (iPhone not included).
- $59 for Square Reader contactless and chip card reader.
- $149 for Square Stand iPad POS or Square Stand Mount (iPad not included; monthly financing available).
- $149 for Square Kiosk for self-serve ordering.
- $299 for Square Terminal mobile card reader with built-in printer (monthly financing available).
- $399 for Square Handheld portable POS system with built-in barcode scanner (monthly financing available).
- $799 for Square Register two-screen system (monthly financing available).
- 2.6% plus 15 cents for in-person transactions with Free plan.
- 3.3% plus 30 cents for online transactions with Free plan.
- 2.5% plus 15 cents for in-person transactions with Plus plan.
- 2.4% plus 15 cents for in-person transaction with Premium plan.
- 2.9% plus 30 cents for online transactions with Plus and Premium plans.
- 3.5% plus 15 cents for manually keyed transactions.
- Orders: Square for Restaurants POS allows you to customize your menus from anywhere and take orders with QR codes.
- Payments: Square serves as your payment processor with its POS system. You can accept credit and debit cards, cash, checks and gift cards — both online and offline.
- Inventory: Square POS allows you to manage and track your inventory from anywhere. You can edit items, update quantities, receive low stock alerts and import or export inventory items.
- Dashboard: The Square Dashboard gives you the ability to manage your back-office operations in one place, with tools for inventory, managing customer profiles and viewing sales data.
- Team management: Set employee permissions, track employee time and optimize labor costs and staffing with employee reports and analytics.
- Directory: This free feature lets you add customer profiles with contact information, view purchase history and save credit cards on file.
- Analytics: Real-time analytics and sales reporting — giving you the ability to track sales, compare data based on timeframes and see what customers spend and return — at no additional cost.
- Square tools: In addition to the third-party integration options Square offers in its marketplace, you can also buy add-on tools such as Square payroll, marketing and customer loyalty.
- Support: Square provides customer assistance for its free plan Monday to Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. If you upgrade to the Plus plan, you’ll have support 24/7. Help articles, videos and FAQ are also offered.
Toast
Best for startup food trucks
- $0 for Starter Kit plan.
- $69 Point of Sale plan.
- Custom plans available.
- $494.10 for Handheld Starter Kit (but $0 if you agree to a higher processing fee).
- $1,123.20 for Countertop Starter Kit (but $0 if you agree to a higher processing fee).
- $1,438.20 for Guest Self-Service Starter Kit (but $0 if you agree to a higher processing fee).
- 3.09-3.69% plus 15 cents per transaction, if you choose a pay-as-you-go plan.
- 2.49% plus 15 cents for card-present transactions, if you pay for hardware upfront.
- 3.50% plus 15 cents for card-not-present transactions, if you pay for hardware upfront.
- Menu management: This cloud-based system lets you access and update your menus from any device and manage availability of menu items.
- Inventory management: This add-on lets you monitor inventory, determine recipe costs, schedule recurring orders and send orders directly to your suppliers.
- Payments: Toast handles credit and debit card processing in-house, but doesn’t provide rates. Instead, processing rates are quote-based for each business.
- Reporting and analytics: The system lets access key reports and sales performance through a cloud-based system. You can view net sales, labor costs and monitor performance over a set period of time.
- Training: Toast has online lessons, videos and articles that can be used for training, plus live Toast classroom sessions and a test mode that can be used to become familiar with the system.
- Add-ons: For an additional fee, you can get features such as mobile ordering with QR code scanning capabilities, scheduling and team communication, marketing, customer loyalty programs and gift cards.
» MORE: Best POS systems for bars
Clover
Best mobile POS hardware
- $0 for Clover Go Starter, Retail Basic and Personal Services Basic plans.
- $29.95 for Clover Go Essentials, Professional Services Basic, Home and Field Services Starter and Standard plans.
- $84.95 for Retail Standard and Professional, Personal Services Standard and Advanced, and Home & Field Services Advanced plans.
- $89.95 for Full-Service Dining Starter and Quick-Service Dining Starter and Standard plans.
- $104.90 for Retail Advanced plan.
- $109.90 for Full-Service Dining Standard and Quick-Service Dining Advanced plans.
- $129.85 for Full-Service Dining Advanced plan.
- $199 for chip, swipe and contactless Clover Go card reader.
- $349 for countertop card reader.
- $749 for Clover Flex mobile POS with receipt printer.
- $699 for slimmer Flex Pocket with no printer.
- $849 for Clover Mini POS.
- $799-$899 + $25 per month for kitchen display system.
- $1,799 for Clover Station Solo.
- $1,899 for Clover Station Duo.
- $3,499 + $34.95 per month for self-ordering kiosk.
- 2.3% plus 10 cents for in-person transactions on Full-Service and Quick-Service Restaurant plans.
- 2.5% plus 10 cents for in-person transactions on all Retail plans, Professional Services Standard and Advanced plans, all Personal Services plans and the Home and Field Services Advanced plan.
- 2.6% plus 10 cents for in-person transactions on the Home and Field Services Standard plan.
- 3.5% plus 10 cents for online or keyed-in transactions.
- Menus: The POS system lets you create menu items, select categories and add color-coding to help with order accuracy.
- Ordering: The system accepts all major payment types including contactless and allows you to preset tip amounts.
- Inventory management: To keep inventory current, you can assign categories, labels, modifiers and variants.
- Team performance: The system lets you manage schedules and timesheets, set permissions and run reports to see how employees are performing.
- Analytics: You can track sales from any computer or mobile device and filter reports to show your busiest times and best-selling items.
SpotOn Restaurant
Best for restaurant add-ons
- $0 for Quick Start plan.
- $99 for Counter-service plan, plus $3 per employee.
- $135 for Full-service plan, plus $3 per employee.
- Custom pricing available as well.
- $600 for the KDS.
- $750 for the Station POS.
- $850 for the Counter POS.
- Other hardware devices, like the handheld option, are custom.
- 1.99% plus 25 cents for most cards in the Counter-service, Full-service and Customizable plans.
- 2.89% plus 25 cents for Quick Start plan subscribers (this processing rate includes hardware and software costs).
- 2.99% plus 25 cents for reward, international, corporate and keyed-in cards.
- Menu management: SpotOn lets you add and edit items on your restaurant's menu screen. You can also import menu items.
- Payment processing: Credit card processing fees decrease as you level up from a free to paid plan and, in addition to cards, you can accept Google Pay, Apple Pay, Venmo and PayPal.
- Table layout: Select from a variety of table types and add new tables to your dining room as needed.
- Reporting: You can generate reports on daily sales, hourly sales, payroll, profit and more.
- 24/7 support: Representatives are available around the clock by phone and email.
- Review management tools: SpotOn aggregates online reviews about your restaurant so you can read and respond to them all from one place.
» MORE: Best restaurant POS systems
How to choose a food truck POS system
As a mobile, fast-paced business, you’ll want a food truck POS system that’s made for the restaurant industry, affordable, flexible and easy to use.
Here are some main factors to consider before reaching a decision.
Payment processing
A good POS system will give you the ability to accept multiple payment methods including credit and debit cards, digital payments, cash and gift cards. Also, consider whether you want a system that doubles as an in-house payment processing company or if you want the option to integrate with a third-party processor. Integrations can be ideal if they save you money, but using an in-house option is usually more convenient.
Menu and inventory management
Your POS system will need to have menu management capabilities, including the ability to customize your menu — accommodating different item types, categories, modifications and other useful options. The ability to track and manage your inventory as well as out-of-stock notifications are important, also.
Customer orders
The POS system should be able to take orders quickly and easily, communicate with any peripheral devices (like receipt or ticket printers) and allow for modifications, split payments, taxes, gratuity, promotions and discounts.
Mobility
An offline mode, so you can take orders and accept payments without an internet connection, as well as multiple mobile hardware options, like tablets and smartphones, is important.
In addition, consider how the POS system handles peripheral connections — can you connect to a Bluetooth printer, for example — as well as how and where you have access to your POS account. NerdWallet’s picks for the best mobile POS systems include options for restaurants, too.
Additional sales tools
In addition to basic business operations, you can benefit from a POS system that includes features such as employee management, customer relationship management and loyalty programs, analytics and reporting and third-party integration options.
Customer support
Look at systems that offer customer support in a variety of ways. This includes direct support via phone, live chat and email, as well as self-service resources such as tutorials, FAQ and community forums on its website. Some POS systems will also provide hands-on assistance with setup and training.
Hardware options
You’ll need hardware to operate your POS system, which can be your largest upfront investment. When looking at different POS systems for your food truck, you’ll want to determine what kind of mobile hardware is offered (tablets, smartphones or hand-held devices), where you can purchase the hardware, if you can use hardware you already own, what types of other devices are compatible with the core terminals and overall cost.
A version of this article was first published on Fundera, a subsidiary of NerdWallet.
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 how we rate point-of-sale (POS) systems providers.
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.
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