Best POS Systems in Australia (2026): Fees and Hardware

A POS system in Australia costs $0 a month on a free plan or $56 to $575 on paid plans, $99 to about $3,100 for published counter hardware, and 1.2% to 1.85% of every in-person card sale (as at 18 October 2026). The card rate is usually the biggest cost. At $20,000 a month in card sales, published setups run from $240 a month (Zeller POS) to $479 (Lightspeed Restaurant).

POS costs at a glance

Standard published prices checked 18 October 2026, no promotions. Totals assume all sales are in person on Australian Visa, Mastercard and eftpos cards. Lightspeed's 1.5% appears on its retail pricing page; its restaurant and payments pages don't publish a rate. Tyro, Abacus, H&L and Impos quote individually.

Jump to: monthly cost at your turnover · hardware bundles · online, keyed and Amex rates · surcharging change · picks by business type

What a POS system costs at $5,000, $20,000 and $50,000 a month

Monthly cost = software fee + card turnover × card rate + any terminal rental. Hardware bought outright is shown separately, with a year-one total at $20,000 a month.

Assumptions (illustrative): all sales in person on Australian-issued Visa, Mastercard and eftpos cards; $40 average sale; one location and one register; no Amex surcharge differences, refunds, keyed or online sales; standard published prices as at 18 October 2026, no promotions. These match the assumptions in our EFTPOS machine comparison, so you can compare the two pages directly.

Percentages are the effective rate: total monthly cost ÷ card turnover. Hike uses annual billing ($89 on monthly billing). Shopify uses monthly billing; yearly billing saves $168 a year on Basic. Shopify POS Pro, which adds staff permissions and advanced inventory, costs another $129 a month per location billed yearly.

How the main rows are worked out

• Zeller: $20,000 × 1.2% = $240. Year one: $240 × 12 + $99 terminal = $2,979.
• Square Free: $20,000 × 1.6% = $320. Year one: $3,840 + $329 Terminal = $4,169.
• Hike Essential: $79 + ($20,000 × 1.5% = $300) = $379. Year one: $4,548 + $1,534 hardware = $6,082.
• Lightspeed Retail Basic: $129 + $300 = $429. Year one: $5,148 + $3,084 = $8,232.
• Shopify Basic: $56 + ($20,000 × 1.85% = $370) = $426. Year one: $5,112 + $1,418 = $6,530, before an iPad.

What the table shows

• Below about $5,000 a month, a monthly software fee costs more than the card fees. Hike's $79 is 1.58% of $5,000 on its own, so a free plan wins unless you need the features.
• At $20,000 a month, each 0.1% of card rate costs $20 a month or $240 a year. The 0.4-point gap between Zeller POS (1.2%) and Square (1.6%) is $960 a year.
• At $50,000 a month, software fees matter less and the rate matters more. Ask for custom pricing: Tyro quotes custom rates above $20,000 a month, and Square and Zeller above $250,000 a year.

POS hardware: what a counter setup costs

A counter setup needs a screen (tablet, register or terminal), a receipt printer, a cash drawer if you take cash, a barcode scanner if you sell stock, and a card terminal. These are the vendors' own published prices.

Vendor store prices checked 18 October 2026. Lightspeed's cash drawer listing shows its price includes GST; most other hardware pages don't say. Square's separate printer, drawer and scanner pages didn't show prices when we checked, so we've used its kit prices. Square's Register Retail Kit, with receipt and label printing, starts at $2,539.

Three ways to spend less on hardware:

1. Start with one device. A Zeller Terminal 1x ($99) or Square Terminal ($329) prints receipts and runs basic POS software. Add a tablet when you need a bigger screen.
2. Use the iPad you already have. Square's Stand needs a 10.9 or 11-inch iPad with USB-C, and Shopify and Lightspeed run on iPads too. Lightspeed's store lists an 11th-generation iPad at $749, which is the biggest single item in its kit.
3. Skip the scanner and cash drawer if you don't need them. A cafe rarely needs a scanner, and a card-only business doesn't need a drawer.

Kitchen hardware is extra for hospitality. Lightspeed's hospitality store lists an Epson TM-U220IIB kitchen printer at $744. Square sells kitchen display software at $25 a month per device on its free plan, and Zeller's kitchen display runs free on your own screen.

Card rates: online, keyed, Amex and settlement

The in-person rate is only part of the bill. Phone orders, invoices and online sales usually cost more, and Amex can be priced separately.

As published, checked 18 October 2026. Zeller and Tyro say their rates include GST. Tyro figures come from Tyro's indexed pricing pages because its site didn't load for us; confirm them with Tyro. Shopify adds a third-party provider fee of 2%, 1% or 0.6% if you use another payment provider.

If you take many phone orders or invoices, run your own mix through the rates above. On $5,000 a month of invoices, Square's 2.2% is $110, and Zeller's 1.7% plus 25 cents on 50 invoices of $100 is $97.50. To check your real cost after a month, use the merchant statement worksheet, and compare flat rates against itemised pricing once you have a few months of data.

Settlement timing matters if you pay suppliers or wages weekly. A sale on Saturday reaches a Square seller's bank on Sunday (if the account takes NPP payments), a Zeller account overnight, and a Shopify seller's bank no sooner than two business days later. If a payout looks short, build a settlement bridge and check reserves and payout holds.

Card surcharging after 1 October 2026

From 1 October 2026 you can't add a surcharge to eftpos, Visa, Mastercard, American Express or UnionPay card payments, because the card networks introduced no-surcharge rules after the Reserve Bank removed its ban on them. PayPal's rule started on 5 October 2026. The RBA's FAQs list the details.

What this means for your POS:

• Card costs now come out of your margin. A business that surcharged 1.6% used to recover most of its card cost. Now $20,000 a month at 1.6% is $320 a month you either absorb or build into prices. See pricing strategy for small business.
• Check every channel. The POS, the terminal, your online checkout and invoice links can each have a surcharge setting. Zeller says it switched surcharging off across its products, but some vendor pages and old quotes still assume surcharging. For example, Impos's $0-upfront bundle page still lists passing on card surcharges as a condition. Work through the surcharge change checklist.
• Wholesale costs fell. The same reforms cut domestic interchange caps on 1 October 2026: consumer credit from 0.8% to 0.3%, and debit from 10 cents or 0.2% to 8 cents or 0.16%. A flat-rate provider only passes that on if it cuts its rate, so ask. Our EFTPOS comparison shows which providers changed their rates.
• Other fees are separate. Weekend and public holiday surcharges and booking or service fees are outside the card changes, but the ACCC says consumer-law pricing rules still apply. Renaming a card surcharge doesn't make it allowed.

If you pay your own tax bill by card, the ATO's rules are separate: see the ATO credit card change.

Best POS system by business type

We picked against four stated criteria: total monthly cost at the turnover typical for that business, the features that business type needs, the hardware cost to get started, and settlement and exit terms. We did not test the systems. No provider paid to be included, and there are no affiliate links.

Market stall or mobile trader

Choose a device with no monthly fee, a long battery life and a built-in printer if customers want receipts. Zeller's Terminal 1x is $99 with a printer, and you can add a Zeller SIM for $15 a month if you don't want to tether to your phone. Zeller's support centre says the terminal has no offline mode. If your market has weak coverage, Square supports offline payments on most devices, though you carry the risk of a later decline. Read offline card payments before switching it on.

Cafe or takeaway

Cafes need modifiers, kitchen dockets and fast checkout more than stock control. Zeller POS is free, adds kitchen dockets and a free kitchen display, and drops Zeller's rate to 1.2%. Square for Restaurants adds online ordering, table maps and a handheld for table service, with KDS at $25 a month per device on the free plan or included on Plus. Our guide to starting a cafe shows where POS sits in the fit-out budget.

Retail shop

Retailers need barcodes, stock counts, purchase orders and supplier records. Square for Retail Plus ($109) adds these to Square's free plan, with a 30-day trial. Hike ($79 a month on annual billing) is a mid-priced option with HikePay at 1.5%. Lightspeed Retail ($129 to $329) has the deepest inventory tools here but the highest hardware bill. If most of your sales are online, Shopify POS keeps one catalogue and one stock count across both channels; see how to start an online store.

Hospitality venue

A venue with several registers, table service, kitchen screens or gaming needs a specialist system and usually a quote. Lightspeed Restaurant publishes prices ($79 to $359 a month plus $39 per extra register). H&L, Impos and Abacus quote per venue. Ask each for a written total of software, hardware, installation, support, card rates and contract length, and check which EFTPOS providers integrate. Our EFTPOS comparison shows the bank and Tyro terminals that integrate with venue POS systems.

Square

Square's free plan includes itemised sales, basic inventory, a customer directory, invoices, an online store, staff logins and reporting with no monthly fee.

• Card rates: 1.6% in person for accounts opened from 30 May 2024 (some older accounts pay 1.9% on Reader, Stand and Tap to Pay); 2.2% online, keyed, Virtual Terminal and invoices. Amex costs the same.
• Plans: Retail Plus $109 and Restaurants Plus $129 a month per location, each with a 30-day trial. Restaurants add-ons include Mobile POS ($50 a month per location), KDS ($25 per device) and Kiosk Lite ($45 per device).
• Hardware: Reader $65, Stand $149 (your iPad), Terminal $329, Handheld $349, Register $1,099; Stand Kit from $799; Register Kit from $1,749.
• Payouts: next day including weekends at no charge, or instant for 1.95%.
• Integrations: Xero is listed in Square's App Marketplace for Australia and imports daily transactions as a summary. Afterpay is built in at 6% + 30 cents per transaction, excluding GST.
• Watch for: Square doesn't return its processing fee on refunds, and there's no negotiation on the standard plan below $250,000 a year.

Zeller

Zeller is an Australian payments provider with free POS software and no monthly fees.

• Card rates: 1.4% in person on all cards including Amex, including GST; 1.2% through Zeller POS on a Zeller terminal; MOTO 1.7%; Virtual Terminal 1.75% + 25 cents.
• Hardware: Terminal 1x (with receipt printer) and Terminal 2 at $99 each, struck through from $199 (as at 18 October 2026). Zeller POS runs on your own iPad, Android tablet or phone and prints to LAN receipt printers.
• Software: Zeller POS is free, with no subscription, licence fee or lock-in. Table maps and inventory tracking were marked "coming soon" in Zeller's materials when we last compared it with Square.
• Settlement: nightly into a free Zeller account; next business day to other banks.
• Integrations: Xero and more than 600 third-party POS platforms.
• Watch for: no offline mode and no online store. Zeller's own POS Lite FAQ still mentions surcharging, which no longer applies to major cards.

For a full head-to-head, read Zeller vs Square.

Tyro

Tyro is an Australian bank and payments provider that plugs into hundreds of third-party POS systems. You pair it with a POS rather than using it as one.

• Card rate: 1.3% including GST below $20,000 a month, custom pricing above. Amex processed through Tyro costs 1.4%.
• Terminals: rented at $19 a month (Pro Lite) or $29 (Pro Touch and Pro Key); the BYO app on your phone has no rental.
• Offer: 1% and free rental to 31 March 2027 for eligible new merchants over $20,000 a month who join by 24 November 2026.
• Settlement: same day, seven days a week, into a Tyro Bank Account if you meet the conditions.
• Contracts: no lock-in and no break fees.

Tyro's website didn't load for our checker on 18 October 2026, so these figures come from its indexed pricing pages. Confirm them with Tyro before you sign.

Lightspeed

Lightspeed absorbed Kounta and Vend, two platforms many Australian venues and shops already ran. It's the depth option, with a monthly bill and hardware cost to match.

• Lightspeed Restaurant: Starter $79, Essential $179 and Premium $359 a month, plus $39 per extra register, with hardware extra. A second Lightspeed restaurant pricing page showed different plans ($40, $120, $220 and $340 a month plus $40 per register) when we checked, so confirm which applies to you.
• Lightspeed Retail: Basic $129, Core $229 and Plus $329 a month, one register included.
• Payments: Lightspeed Payments shows a 1.5% card-present rate on the retail pricing page, the same rate for every card, deposits within two business days and a $15 chargeback fee.
• Hardware: the retail kit above costs $3,084 with an iPad and payment terminal. Lightspeed's kit page says the iPad and payment terminal aren't included in its kits.
• Integrations: Xero is listed among Lightspeed Retail's accounting integrations; MYOB wasn't on the list we checked.

Lightspeed earns its price for venues with 40-plus seats or shops with thousands of SKUs, where stock control and speed at the till matter most.

Shopify POS

If your online store runs on Shopify, Shopify POS keeps your products, prices, customers and stock in one place.

• Plans: Basic $56 a month ($42 billed yearly), Grow $149 ($114), Advanced $575 ($431). POS Pro adds staff permissions and advanced inventory for $129 a month per location, billed yearly.
• Card rates: in person 1.85%, 1.75% or 1.65% by plan; online 1.7%, 1.55% or 1.35% plus 30 cents.
• Hardware: POS Terminal $419, WisePad 3 reader $79, plus stands, printers, drawers and scanners from Shopify's AU hardware store.
• Payouts: at least two business days in Australia.
• Accounting: Xero's own Shopify app showed as not currently available on the Shopify App Store when we checked, so confirm a current Xero or MYOB connector first.

Shopify's in-person rates are the highest here, so it makes sense when online is your main channel.

Hike

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

• Plans: Essential $79 a month billed annually or $89 monthly (one outlet), Plus $109 annually or $129 monthly (multiple outlets), Enterprise by quote. 14-day free trial.
• Payments: HikePay at 1.5% per in-person transaction, with no monthly fee or lock-in.
• Accounting: Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks Online on Plus and Enterprise only, as an add-on with a monthly fee since 1 July 2026. Hike doesn't publish the fee, so ask before you budget.
• Hardware: CounterTop $1,109, Register $1,508, Handheld $625, HikePay Terminal $366, scanner $59, or bring your own Android device.

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

Alternatives: Abacus, H&L, Impos and Loyverse

Checked 18 October 2026 on each vendor's site. Third-party sites quote prices for Abacus and H&L, but the vendors don't publish them, so we haven't used them.

What to check before you sign

• Settlement speed. Next-day is common; some providers settle the 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. Write an outage procedure.
• Refund and chargeback fees. Square keeps its fee on refunds; Zeller charges no refund or chargeback fees; Lightspeed charges $15 per chargeback. Check your statement with refund fees.
• Least-cost routing. On flat rates the percentage stays the same; on itemised pricing it can lower debit costs. Use the least-cost routing check.
• Records. Keep sales records for five years, and make sure you can export transaction history if you leave. Check product tax codes before the first BAS.
• Staff controls. Look for PINs per staff member, discount limits and void tracking.
• Exit terms. Owned hardware is yours; rented terminals go back. Impos's $0 EFTPOS option runs on a 36-month term, so read the break costs.
• What else it replaces. Built-in invoicing, bookings or an online store can remove two other subscriptions from your software stack.

Check the system against a real trading day

Before choosing, compare integrated and separate terminals, run the trial scorecard and prepare the data migration. If you run several sites, map them with the terminal and location register. The payments and POS hub puts the fee checks and closing routines beside those decisions.

During a POS trial, check how staff identify authorised, captured and settled payments, handle a declined payment that appears in the customer's account and trace an online sale refunded in store. Those exceptions show whether the system will leave a useful record when something goes wrong.

How we compared

• Sources: each vendor's own Australian pricing, hardware and help pages, checked on 18 October 2026, and the RBA's FAQs and conclusions paper on the card reforms. Tyro's site didn't load for our checker, so its figures come from its indexed pricing pages and our 17 October EFTPOS research.
• What we compared: software price, in-person, online and keyed card rates, Amex, settlement, published hardware prices for a counter setup, accounting integrations and contract terms.
• Costs: calculated from standard published prices with the assumptions stated above the cost table. Promotions are mentioned but not used.
• What we didn't do: we didn't test systems, request quotes or open accounts, and no provider paid for inclusion. Picks follow the stated criteria; there are no scores.
• Benchmarks reviewed: Finder's and Canstar's merchant-services guides, StackPick, Tille, Microtrade, Cash Register Warehouse and Charge's POS comparisons. GetApp and Forbes Advisor AU blocked access.

Key takeaways

• At $20,000 a month in card sales, published POS setups cost $240 (Zeller POS) to $479 (Lightspeed Restaurant Essential) a month, as at 18 October 2026.
• The card rate is usually the biggest cost. Each 0.1% is $20 a month at $20,000 of card sales, and surcharging on major cards ended on 1 October 2026.
• Published counter hardware runs from $99 (Zeller Terminal 1x with a built-in printer) to about $3,100 (Lightspeed retail kit with iPad and payment terminal).
• Online and keyed payments cost more than tap: Square charges 2.2%, Zeller 1.7% to 1.75% plus 25 cents, and Shopify 1.7% plus 30 cents on Basic.
• Settlement ranges from same day (Tyro, into a Tyro account) to at least two business days (Shopify Payments and Lightspeed Payments).
• Abacus, H&L and Impos quote per venue, so get written quotes that list software, hardware, card rates, contract length and exit fees.

Where to get help

• Reserve Bank of Australia for the surcharging reforms and interchange caps.
• ACCC card-surcharge guidance for current pricing obligations.
• business.gov.au record keeping for what sales records you must keep and for how long.
• Australian Financial Complaints Authority if a dispute with a bank or payment provider isn't resolved.
• 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.

Related tasks

Browse the payments and POS hub for fee checks, reconciliation and outage guides.