Best POS Systems · head-to-head
Shopify POS vs Lightspeed Restaurant
A sourced, side-by-side comparison for pos systems. Shopify POS has the lower entry price. Every figure links to the vendor's own page and the date we captured it.
At a glance
- Price: Shopify POS $29/mo vs Lightspeed Restaurant $69/mo — Shopify POS is cheaper to start.
- Free tier: Shopify POS No; Lightspeed Restaurant No.
- HIPAA: Shopify POS —; Lightspeed Restaurant —.
Side by side
| Shopify POS | Lightspeed Restaurant | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $29/mo (Basic (with POS Lite)) | $69/mo (Starter) |
| Free tier | No | No |
| HIPAA (BAA) | — | — |
| SOC 2 | Yes | Yes |
| GDPR | Yes | Yes |
| Best for | DTC brands scaling from ecommerce into physical retail | Full-service and multi-location restaurants needing offline resilience and floor management |
Sources — Shopify POS: nerdwallet.com (verified 2026-06-14). Lightspeed Restaurant: lightspeedhq.com (verified 2026-06-14).
Key features
Shopify POS: Unified online + in-store inventory synced in real time across all channels; Buy online / return in-store, local delivery, and ship-from-store out of the box; SOC 2 Type II and SOC 3 certified; GDPR DPA available (last updated July 2025); Shopify Payments built in — no additional gateway fees when used
Lightspeed Restaurant: Offline mode keeps operations running without internet; iPad-based tableside ordering and card pre-authorizations at Starter tier; Centralized gift cards valid across all locations; SOC 2 audited yearly; ISO 27001 and EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework certified