Cafés need EPOS systems that balance speed with simplicity. During a morning rush, every second at the counter matters – your system needs to process a flat white, a pastry, and a loyalty stamp in under 10 seconds, not navigate through nested menus.
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The best café EPOS systems combine fast drink ordering, kitchen or barista display integration, and loyalty programmes. Most modern options work on an iPad with a card reader, keeping costs low and counter space clear.
We’ve compared the best EPOS systems for UK cafés and coffee shops in 2026, from independent single-site cafés to multi-location chains.
- Square for Restaurants (free plan) is the best choice for most independent cafés - fast ordering, modifiers, kitchen tickets, and card payments at 1.75% per transaction
- Lightspeed Restaurant suits growing café chains - from ~£69/month with multi-site management, advanced inventory, and supplier ordering
- SumUp POS offers the cheapest hardware entry point - card reader at £29 + free app, ideal for coffee shops with simple menus
- Budget £0–£69/month for software plus £29–£599 for hardware - a tablet-based setup with card reader is all most cafés need
- Loyalty integration is the one gap in free plans - add a third-party loyalty app (£20–£50/month) or upgrade to a paid tier to retain regulars
Best EPOS Systems for Cafés Compared
The best café EPOS depends on your size: Square for Restaurants (free) suits independent cafés, SumUp POS Plus (£29/month) for budget-conscious shops, and Lightspeed Restaurant (from ~£69/month) for multi-site café chains with complex menus.
| Provider | Monthly Fee | Transaction Fee | Loyalty Programme | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Square for Restaurants | £0 (Free plan) | 1.75% | ✓ Square Loyalty (paid add-on) | Independent cafés |
| SumUp POS Plus | £29/month | 1.69% | ✗ No native loyalty | Budget-conscious coffee shops |
| Epos Now | £25-39/month | 1.7% | ✓ Via integration | Growing cafés with food menus |
| Lightspeed Restaurant | From ~£69/month | Custom quote | ✓ Built-in | Multi-site café chains |
| Clover | Quote only | From 1.49% | ✓ Built-in | Cafés wanting all-in-one hardware |
What Cafés Actually Need From an EPOS
Café EPOS must handle rapid drink ordering with minimal taps, modifier management for milk/size/extras, kitchen or barista display routing, and loyalty tracking – all while keeping the queue moving during peak hours.
Generic retail EPOS works for scanning products off shelves, but cafés have specific workflow requirements:
Speed of ordering. A customer ordering a large oat milk latte with an extra shot needs to be rung up in 3-4 taps. Your EPOS needs customisable quick-access buttons for your top drinks, not a search-through-categories approach. During an 8am rush processing 2-3 orders per minute, every extra tap costs you queue time and customers.
Modifier management. Milk type (oat, soy, almond, whole, skimmed), size (small, regular, large), extras (extra shot, syrup, decaf), and temperature (hot, iced). Your EPOS needs to handle these cleanly – both for accurate pricing (extra shot +50p, alternative milk +40p) and for the barista display. Square, Epos Now, and Lightspeed all support multi-level modifiers.
Barista/kitchen display. Orders should route from the till to a screen behind the espresso machine. Paper tickets get lost in the steam. A display shows the queue, highlights modifications, and lets the barista mark drinks as complete. For cafés serving food alongside coffee, orders need to split – hot drinks to the bar, sandwiches to the kitchen.
Loyalty programmes. Coffee shops live on repeat customers. A digital loyalty stamp (buy 9, get 10th free) drives return visits. Square Loyalty costs £20-45/month as an add-on. Lightspeed includes loyalty in higher-tier plans. Third-party options like Stamp Me integrate with most EPOS systems.
Best Free Option: Square for Restaurants
Square for Restaurants offers a free plan with modifier management, kitchen display tickets, and table service – making it the best no-cost EPOS for independent UK cafés that want to avoid monthly software fees.
Square’s restaurant-specific app handles café workflows better than the standard Square POS. The free plan includes unlimited devices, modifier groups, kitchen ticket printing, and floor plan management (useful if you have table service alongside counter orders).
For a typical independent café, the setup is straightforward: an iPad on the counter running Square for Restaurants, a Square Reader (£19) for contactless payments, and a kitchen printer or display for food orders. Total hardware cost: under £350 including the iPad.
Monthly cost: £0 for software, 1.75% per card transaction. For a café processing £5,000/month in card payments, that’s £87.50 in fees. No contract, cancel anytime.
The main limitation is loyalty – Square Loyalty is a paid add-on (from ~£20/month). If loyalty is critical to your business, factor this into the total cost comparison against paid systems that include it.
For full pricing details, see our Square UK review.
Best Budget Paid Option: SumUp POS Plus
SumUp POS Plus at £29/month offers the lowest transaction fee (1.69%) among café EPOS options, with a touchscreen terminal included in the subscription – ideal for high-volume coffee shops where lower per-transaction costs matter.
SumUp POS Plus includes a touchscreen terminal in the monthly subscription, so you don’t need to supply your own iPad. The 1.69% transaction fee is the lowest among the main café EPOS options – saving 0.06% per transaction compared to Square.
For a café doing £8,000/month in card payments, that’s a saving of £4.80/month on transaction fees, but you’re paying £29/month for the software. The break-even point versus Square’s free plan is roughly £31,600/month in card turnover – well above what most independent cafés process.
SumUp POS Plus works well for cafés that want simple, reliable hardware without the complexity of a full restaurant EPOS. The main trade-off is no native loyalty programme and limited reporting compared to Square for Restaurants.
Best for Multi-Site Chains: Lightspeed Restaurant
Lightspeed Restaurant suits café chains with its multi-location management, advanced inventory tracking for food and drink ingredients, and built-in loyalty programme – though the ~£69/month starting price reflects this enterprise-grade feature set.
Lightspeed Restaurant is overkill for a single-site coffee shop, but becomes the practical choice once you operate 2+ locations. Centralised menu management, cross-location reporting, ingredient-level inventory tracking, and built-in loyalty make it a complete café management platform.
Ingredient tracking is particularly useful for cafés with food menus. When you sell a ham and cheese toastie, the system deducts the bread, ham, cheese, and butter from inventory – not just “1 x toastie.” This gives accurate food cost calculations and waste tracking.
Pricing starts at approximately £69/month for the restaurant plan. Multi-site pricing is customised, so request a quote for your specific setup. For detailed pricing, see our Lightspeed EPOS review.
Café EPOS Costs Breakdown
A basic café EPOS setup costs £19-225 for hardware plus £0-39/month for software. Most independent cafés spend under £30/month total when using a free EPOS plan with a basic card reader.
Budget setup (counter-service café): Square Reader (£19) + free Square for Restaurants app on your own iPad or phone. Total startup: under £30 (excluding iPad). Monthly: £0 software + 1.75% per transaction.
Mid-range setup (café with food service): Epos Now Complete Solution (£225+VAT) with kitchen printer (~£100). Monthly: £25-39 + 1.7% per transaction. First-year total: approximately £625-770.
Premium setup (multi-site chain): Lightspeed Restaurant from ~£69/month per location with centralised management. Budget £300-500 for hardware per site. First-year total per location: approximately £1,100-1,400.
For detailed pricing across all providers, see our EPOS costs guide.
Choosing by Café Type
Counter-service coffee shops need speed and simplicity (Square free plan). Brunch cafés with table service need floor plans and coursing. Café-bakeries need ingredient-level inventory. Mobile coffee carts need portable, battery-powered setups.
Counter-service coffee shop: Speed is everything. Square for Restaurants free plan with customised quick buttons for your top 15 drinks. Add a barista display if you have more than one person making drinks. Total monthly cost: under £5 (just transaction fees on a quiet day).
Brunch café / café-restaurant: You need table management, coursing (starters before mains), and split bills alongside your coffee counter. Square for Restaurants or Epos Now handle both counter and table workflows. Kitchen display essential for food orders. If your venue serves alcohol or operates as a café-bar, see our guide to hospitality EPOS for pubs and bars for tab management and offline payment features.
Café-bakery: Inventory tracking for baked goods (track ingredients, not just finished products) plus waste reporting for unsold items. Lightspeed’s ingredient-level tracking or Epos Now with inventory add-on. A display case counter needs fast product buttons, not barcode scanning.
Mobile coffee cart / pop-up: Portable setup with mobile data (no Wi-Fi reliance). Square Reader or SumUp Air (£29) with your phone. Battery-powered, connects via Bluetooth. Total setup: under £30. Perfect for markets, events, and festivals.
Multi-site chain: Centralised menu pushes, cross-location reporting, and consistent setup across every branch. Lightspeed Restaurant or Epos Now for mid-market chains. Staff can work at any location with the same system.
- For most independent UK cafés — Square for Restaurants (free plan) delivers everything needed: fast ordering, modifiers, kitchen tickets, and card payments at 1.75% per transaction
- The only missing piece is loyalty
- Growing chains should consider — Lightspeed Restaurant (from ~£69/month) for multi-site management
- See our 7 best EPOS systems for — the full comparison, or free EPOS systems if cost is the priority
