Best POS Systems for Small Business in Australia (2026)

For most Australian small businesses in 2026, the best POS system is Square if you want the widest free feature set, Zeller if you want the lowest card rate with no monthly fee, and Lightspeed if you run a busy venue or multi-store retailer that needs serious inventory and table management. Shopify POS is the pick if your online store already runs on Shopify, Tyro suits venues that want a bank-grade payments provider behind a specialist POS, and Hike is a solid mid-priced retail option with Xero and MYOB links. Here are the verified fees, hardware costs and trade-offs, including the surcharge ban that lands on 1 October 2026.

Picks by business type

Your situation	Pick this	Why
Market stall, mobile trade, first six months	Zeller Terminal 1x or Square Reader	No monthly fee, cheap hardware, rate under 2%
Cafe or small restaurant	Square for Restaurants or Lightspeed Restaurant	Table maps, kitchen printing, modifiers
Retail shop with real stock	Lightspeed Retail, Hike or Square for Retail Plus	Barcodes, purchase orders, stock counts
Online store that also sells in person	Shopify POS	One catalogue and stock count across web and counter
Bar, pub or high-volume venue	Lightspeed Restaurant or specialist POS with Tyro	Depth of features, venue integrations
Tradie taking payment on site	Square or Zeller app with Tap to Pay	Pay on your phone, invoice from the same account

What a POS system actually costs

Every POS bill has three layers, and the cheapest option on one layer is rarely cheapest on all three.

Hardware. A card reader that pairs with your phone runs $65 to $99. An all-in-one terminal with a screen and receipt printer is $99 to $419. A full countertop register is $1,000 or more.
Software. Free plans from Square and Zeller cover most micro-businesses. Paid retail and hospitality plans run roughly $79 to $359 a month per location (as at September 2026), and extra registers cost more.
Card processing. In-person rates range from 1.2% to 1.95% of each transaction. On $200,000 of annual card sales, the gap between 1.4% and 1.9% is $1,000 a year, so the rate matters more than the terminal price once turnover is steady.

There's also your time. A POS that pushes daily sales into your accounting software saves you or your bookkeeper hours a month. If you haven't picked your accounting platform yet, read best accounting software for Australian small business first, because the integration list should shape your POS choice.

The surcharge ban from 1 October 2026

This is the biggest change to card payments in a decade and it changes how you should compare POS pricing.

Right now, you can pass on a surcharge as long as it doesn't exceed your cost of acceptance for that payment type, and the ACCC polices excessive surcharging. From 1 October 2026, the Reserve Bank's reforms remove surcharging on eftpos, Visa and Mastercard debit, prepaid and credit cards entirely. The ban works through the card networks' rules, so your payment provider enforces it through your merchant agreement. American Express isn't covered by the RBA's reforms but has decided to drop surcharging from the same date, so only Diners Club, PayPal and buy now pay later are left outside, and the RBA has said it will consult separately on BNPL, mobile wallets and three-party schemes.

To offset the change, the RBA is cutting interchange caps, including lowering the domestic consumer credit cap to 0.3% from 1 October 2026 and capping foreign-issued credit cards at 1% from 1 April 2027, and it wants merchant fees published so you can compare providers. Most payment companies are repricing ahead of October, so ask what your provider will charge from 1 October before you sign anything.

Two practical steps: if you surcharge today, build those recoveries into your prices before October, because most terminals won't switch surcharging off by themselves. And ask whether the terminal uses least-cost routing, which sends contactless debit taps through the cheaper network. Tyro markets this as Tap & Save; Square and Zeller charge a flat rate, so routing doesn't change what you pay.

Square

Square remains the default recommendation for a business starting out because the free plan is genuinely usable: itemised sales, basic inventory, customer directory, invoicing, an online store, staff logins and reporting, with no monthly fee.

Card rate: 1.6% for tap, insert or swipe on Square Terminal or Register, and 1.6% on the Reader, Stand and Tap to Pay for new accounts (some older accounts still pay 1.9% on those devices). Online, invoiced and keyed payments are 2.2%.
Hardware: Reader $65, Stand $149, Terminal $329, Handheld $349, Register $1,099, with interest-free instalment plans (as at September 2026).
Paid plans: Square for Retail Plus is $109 a month per location and Square for Restaurants Plus is $129 a month per location. Custom pricing opens up above about $250,000 a year in card sales.
Integrations: Xero and MYOB through Square's app marketplace, plus Afterpay built in at 6% + 30c excluding GST.

The catch: 1.6% is at the higher end for in-person payments and there's no negotiating on the standard plan.

Zeller

Zeller is the Australian challenger that has pushed everyone else's prices down. Its pitch is one device, one flat rate, no subscriptions.

Card rate: 1.4% on all cards in person including GST, dropping to 1.2% when you process through Zeller's own POS on the terminal. Phone (MOTO) payments are 1.7%.
Hardware: Zeller Terminal 1x and Terminal 2 are both on promotional pricing at $99 including GST, against a regular price of $199 (as at September 2026).
Software: Zeller POS comes free with the terminal and handles items, carts and kitchen ticket printing. A free transaction account and debit card are included.
Integrations: Zeller connects to Xero. The app marketplace is far smaller than Square's, so confirm anything else you rely on (bookings, loyalty, online ordering) is supported.

Zeller is the value pick for cafes, salons, market stalls and trades that mainly sell in person. If you want a mature online store, bookings or gift cards in the same system, Square still has the edge.

Tyro

Tyro is a bank as well as a payments provider, built for businesses that already have a specialist POS and want reliable, integrated EFTPOS behind it.

Card rate: the advertised standard rate is 1.3% per transaction including GST, with loadings for foreign cards and keyed-in payments, and custom pricing above $20,000 a month in processing (as at September 2026).
Hardware: terminals are rented at $19 a month for the Pro Lite and $29 a month for the Pro and Pro Key. The BYO app on your own phone has no rental.
Contracts: no lock-in and no cancellation fees.
Integrations: Tyro plugs into hundreds of third-party POS systems across hospitality, retail and health, so the accounting link comes from the POS you pair it with.

Tyro's "No Cost EFTPOS" plan relied on surcharging, so expect that product to change from 1 October 2026. Confirm which plan you'd be on after that date.

Lightspeed (Restaurant and Retail)

Lightspeed absorbed Kounta and Vend, two platforms many Australian venues and shops already run. It's the depth option: more features, more reports, more integrations, and a monthly bill to match.

Lightspeed Restaurant: Starter $79, Essential $179 and Premium $359 a month, plus $39 a month per extra register (as at September 2026). Floor plans, kitchen display screens and menu modifiers are where it earns its keep.
Lightspeed Retail: Basic $129, Core $229 and Plus $329 a month. Purchase orders, supplier catalogues, stock transfers between stores and size-and-colour variants are far stronger than on any free plan.
Payments: Lightspeed Payments advertises a 1.5% card-present rate, or pair it with Tyro.
Integrations: Xero is native, and the marketplace covers online ordering, reservations and loyalty.

If you're opening a venue with 40-plus seats or a shop with thousands of SKUs, Lightspeed pays for itself in stock control and speed at the till. Our guide to starting a cafe in Australia covers where POS sits in the wider fit-out budget.

Shopify POS

If your online store runs on Shopify, Shopify POS is the obvious counter system because your products, prices, customers and stock are already there.

Plans: Basic $56 a month with a 1.95% in-person card rate, Grow $149 a month at 1.85%, Advanced $575 a month at 1.75% (as at September 2026). Every plan includes basic in-person selling; POS Pro adds staff permissions and advanced inventory for $129 a month per location.
Hardware: POS Terminal $419, the WisePad 3 card reader, or Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android with no hardware at all.
Integrations: Xero through the Shopify App Store, plus the whole Shopify ecosystem.

The card rates are the highest in this list, so a business doing most of its revenue over the counter will pay more. It only makes sense when online is your main channel. If you're weighing that up, read how to start an online store in Australia.

Hike

Hike is a Melbourne-built retail POS that sits between Square's free plan and Lightspeed's price tag.

Plans: Essential $79 a month billed annually ($89 monthly) for one outlet with unlimited registers and users, Plus $109 a month annually ($129 monthly) for multiple outlets, and a custom Enterprise tier (as at September 2026). There's a 14-day free trial.
Integrations: Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks Online, but only on Plus and above and only as a paid add-on since 1 July 2026, so budget for the higher plan plus the integration fee if you want automatic sales posting.
Hardware and payments: runs on iPads, Android tablets and PCs, with all-in-one bundles from around $1,100. Hike doesn't process cards itself; you pair it with a provider such as Tyro.

Hike suits independent retailers with real stock who find Square's inventory too thin but don't need Lightspeed's full toolkit.

Fee comparison at a glance

System	Monthly software	In-person card rate	Entry hardware	Xero	MYOB
Square	$0 (Plus $109-129)	1.6%	$65 Reader	Yes	Yes
Zeller	$0	1.4% (1.2% via Zeller POS)	$99 Terminal 1x	Yes	Check
Tyro	$0; $19-29/mth terminal rental, $0 on the BYO app	1.3% advertised	Rental or your own phone	Via POS	Via POS
Lightspeed Restaurant	$79-359	1.5% (Lightspeed Payments)	Own iPad	Yes	Check
Lightspeed Retail	$129-329	1.5% (Lightspeed Payments)	Own iPad	Yes	Check
Shopify POS	$56-575 (+$129 POS Pro)	1.75-1.95%	WisePad 3 or $419 Terminal	App	App
Hike	$79-129	Depends on provider	Own tablet	Plus plan, add-on	Plus plan, add-on

All figures as at September 2026 and subject to change, especially ahead of the October surcharge ban. Confirm on the provider's Australian pricing page before you buy.

What to check before you sign

Settlement speed. Next-day is standard; some providers settle same day into their own account. Timing affects your cash flow, so check weekends and public holidays.
Offline mode. Can you keep trading when the internet drops? Some terminals queue payments; others stop dead.
Records. You must keep records of all sales for five years, and digital records are fine. Make sure you can export transaction history if you ever leave.
Refunds and staff controls. Check whether processing fees are returned on refunds, and whether you get PINs per staff member, discount limits and void tracking.
Exit terms. Owned hardware is yours; rented terminals go back. Confirm there's no lock-in and no fee to close the account.
What else it replaces. Built-in invoicing, bookings or an online store can remove two other subscriptions from your software stack.

Key takeaways

Start free: Square or Zeller covers most businesses without a monthly fee.
Zeller's 1.2% through its own POS is the lowest headline in-person rate here (1.4% otherwise, against Tyro's 1.3% plus terminal rental); Square's 1.6% buys a far bigger feature set.
Pay for Lightspeed, Hike or Square Plus when stock control or table management, not payments, is your real problem.
Choose Shopify POS only if Shopify already runs your online store; its card rates are the highest here.
Surcharging ends on eftpos, Visa, Mastercard and American Express from 1 October 2026. Reprice now and check what your provider will charge after that date.
Pick the POS that feeds your accounting software cleanly; the hours saved are worth more than a 0.2% rate difference.

Where to get help

Reserve Bank of Australia for the surcharging reforms and implementation dates.
ACCC payment surcharges for the cost-of-acceptance rules that apply until 30 September 2026.
business.gov.au record keeping for what sales records you must keep and for how long.
Your accountant or bookkeeper can tell you which POS integrates cleanly with your accounting file and how to handle the end of surcharge income in your books.
Your lawyer can review any merchant agreement with a term, exit fee or personal guarantee.