POS systems for restaurants: table management, kitchen display, split checks and online ordering by plan

*Four of the eight POS systems we rank state at least two of these four restaurant features on their entry plan: Toast, SpotOn, Loyverse and Helcim. Only Loyverse includes a kitchen display at no cost.*

A restaurant needs more from a POS than a shop does: a way to manage tables, a screen in the kitchen, checks that split, and orders coming in online. Here is what each system in our POS ranking says about each, and on which plan. All were read on Sep 27, 2026.

Table and floor-plan management

• Toast: "Table and order management" is marked Included for the $0 Starter Kit.
• SpotOn: "Table layouts" are on the $0 All-In Plan.
• Loyverse: "Assign tickets to tables in one click with the predefined tickets functionality." Tables are named tickets; no floor-plan view is described. Free.
• Square: custom floor plans start at Square Plus, $49 a month; seat and course management are Premium only.
• Clover: table mapping is on Restaurant Growth, $89.95 a month plus hardware, not Starter.
• Helcim, Shopify POS and Lightspeed Retail don't say. Lightspeed sells table management in a separate restaurant product.

A kitchen display system

• Loyverse: "Send orders to the kitchen in real time." Free.
• Square: the Square KDS app isn't available on Square Free; it is $30 a month per device on Plus and $20 on Premium.
• Toast: a 14-inch Toast Flex for Kitchen is $749 plus $35 a month.
• Clover: $799 (14-inch) or $899 (24-inch) plus $25 a month per device.
• SpotOn: $20 a month per station, plus $500 hardware per device and $100 installation.
• Helcim, Shopify POS and Lightspeed Retail don't say.

Split checks

• Toast: its full-service page names "split bills" among the capabilities Toast supports, not tied to a plan.
• SpotOn: check splitting, on its casual dining page.
• Loyverse: "Manage open tickets by splitting, merging, and moving items between tickets."
• Helcim: split payments in the POS, with the free account.
• Square: "Split or reopen checks" starts at Square Plus.
• Clover: bill splitting is on Restaurant Growth.
• Shopify POS and Lightspeed Retail don't say.

Online ordering

• Square: Square Free includes a branded online ordering page with pickup and local delivery. Online card payments cost 3.3% + 30¢ on Square Free.
• Helcim: its Online Checkout store takes orders for shipping or pick-up, at no extra charge. It is a general online store, not a restaurant ordering product.
• Toast: online ordering and delivery are in the Core pack, which has no monthly fee but raises the card rate from 3.09% + 15¢ to 3.39% + 15¢.
• SpotOn: SpotOn Order is in the Core Bundle, $50 a month plus 0.20% of card volume (the 0.20% part capped at $200).
• Clover: an online store is an optional add-on on Starter; no-fee online ordering is listed for Restaurant Growth.
• Loyverse: only through third-party integrations.
• Shopify POS and Lightspeed Retail include an online store, built for retail rather than restaurant orders.

Menus

Three systems name menu tools on their entry plan: Square Free lists "Item and menu management" (restaurant pricing), Toast's Starter Kit includes digital menus (pricing), and SpotOn's All-In Plan lists menu management (pricing).

Which systems make our list

Shopify POS and Lightspeed Retail state only an online store. Our list for restaurants ranks the systems whose entry plan states at least two of the four: Toast, SpotOn, Loyverse and Helcim.