Compare POS systems · Australia
Compare POS systems in Australia without handing your details to three salespeople
A seven-question scorecard you can take to any vendor, a side-by-side table with the competitors named, what a POS actually costs, and a written quote from us within one business day. We are a vendor, so read it with that in mind. We have kept the ticks honest.
HOW PEOPLE COMPARE
Three ways to compare a POS, and what each one costs you
You fill in a form; the site sells your details to up to three vendors, who then call you. It is free because the vendors pay a referral fee, which is priced into the quotes. You still have to judge the quotes yourself, and you have not been given the criteria to do it.
Every vendor's table awards itself green ticks, including ours if we let it. Useful for finding out what a vendor thinks matters. Useless for deciding between two vendors.
Seven questions, ordered by how much damage a wrong answer does, asked of every vendor in the same words. Below, with our own answers filled in so you can see what a straight answer looks like. Take it to the other demos too.
THE SCORECARD
Seven questions that decide whether a POS survives an Australian business
Ask each one in exactly these words. A vendor that answers all seven well is worth buying from, whoever they are.
- Is the sale amount sent from the POS to the EFTPOS terminal, or typed in?Re-keyed totals are the biggest source of end-of-day discrepancies and disputed charges. Ask which Australian providers integrate directly.Pratham: 18+ direct integrations including Tyro, ANZ Worldline and Nuvei. The POS sends the total; nothing is re-keyed. You keep your merchant agreement.
- What exactly keeps working when the internet drops?Can you take orders, print, sell stock and settle, or does the till stop with the connection?Pratham: cloud-based with a built-in offline mode. Sales, printing and stock continue locally and sync when the connection returns. Card processing depends on your terminal, and we tell you what yours does before go-live.
- What is the yearly all-in cost, not the sticker?Software, add-ons, hardware, the EFTPOS merchant fee your provider charges, and the exit cost if it goes wrong.Pratham: $0/month software with an eligible EFTPOS plan, published pricing, no lock-in contract. Merchant fees are set by the provider you choose, not by us.
- Do online, QR and counter orders land in one queue and one stock count?Separate tablets for separate channels mean a kitchen or a stockroom reconciling four screens.Pratham: QR table ordering and commission-free online ordering share the same order flow and the same stock figure as counter sales.
- When I open site two, is it a new node or a migration?Separate product files and separate reports are how a second location breaks a single-site system.Pratham: the Franchise Suite runs every location from one product and pricing source with per-site and consolidated reporting.
- Who answers the phone at 9pm on a Saturday?Support that opens Monday morning is priced into your risk.Pratham: 24/7 support from Melbourne on 1300 941 886, from your first shift.
- Does the hardware arrive configured, or as boxes of parts?A printer that will not fire the cash drawer costs more in lost trade than it saved.Pratham: hardware ships configured against your licence. The printer fires the drawer and the scanner reads your product file on day one.
The hospitality-specific version of this scorecard, with the "ask every vendor" wording for each question, is on the hospitality POS buyer's scorecard.
SIDE BY SIDE
Pratham vs Square vs Lightspeed vs the Oolio brands vs Idealpos
Public information only, checked on 19 August 2026. Prices change often, so treat each cell as the shape of the offer and confirm on the vendor's own site. If a cell is wrong or out of date, tell us and we will fix it.
| Pratham POS | Square | Lightspeed | Oolio brands (Impos, OrderMate, SwiftPOS) | Idealpos | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software price model | $0/month with an eligible EFTPOS plan; published pricing | $0/month tier; paid tiers for more features | Restaurant plans from $79/month; most features are paid add-ons | Quote only | Quote only |
| EFTPOS choice | Tyro, ANZ Worldline, Nuvei and 18+ providers; keep your merchant agreement | Square payments only | Lightspeed Payments preferred; some merchants have reported extra fees for third-party EFTPOS | Oolio Pay is the house option | Multiple providers |
| Trading offline | Built-in offline mode: orders, printing and stock continue, then sync | Offline payments capped by default and must sync within a window | Limited; check the plan | Varies by brand | Local install; strong offline |
| Online ordering | Commission-free, same order flow as the counter | Included on paid tiers | Paid add-on | Varies by brand | Via partners |
| Lock-in contract | None | None | Plan terms apply; per-module cancellation | Contract, quoted | Contract, quoted |
| Support | 24/7, Melbourne | Business hours on the free tier; extended on paid | 24/7 on most plans | Varies by brand | Dealer network |
| Strongest fit | Australian hospitality, retail and salon venues that want EFTPOS choice and a real offline mode | Market stalls, pop-ups, simple counters | Multi-site operations with complex inventory | Fine dining, large venues, clubs and stadiums | Pubs and clubs needing gaming integration |
| Honest trade-off | Younger brand; smaller third-party integration marketplace; no gaming-machine integration | No EFTPOS choice; reviewers have reported held funds | Real monthly cost lands well above the sticker once add-ons are counted | No published pricing; roll-up consolidation questions | No published pricing; setup complexity noted by reviewers |
Fuller notes on each system, including the public record on payments steering and the add-on pricing, are in our named restaurant POS comparison.
BY BUSINESS TYPE
Compare for your kind of business
The scorecard is the same; what a wrong answer costs is not. Each page below applies it to one type of venue.
WHAT IT COSTS
The five lines on a POS bill, and which ones a quote usually hides
Two systems with the same sticker price can differ by thousands a year. Compare the yearly all-in, never the monthly headline.
Monthly or yearly licence. Ask what is in the base plan and what is an add-on: online ordering, inventory, reservations, kitchen screens and extra registers are often priced separately.
Terminals, printers, scanners, drawers. Bought or rented, configured or boxed. Amortise it over three to five years to compare fairly.
Set by your payment provider, not the POS vendor, and different for every provider and plan. From 1 October 2026 it can no longer be surcharged. How that fee is built.
Menu or product programming, staff training, installation. Often bundled; ask specifically.
Lock-in terms and per-module cancellation. A no-lock-in system prices this at zero, which is the honest number to compare against.
Our own pricing structure is published, and the buyer's guide walks through each line with the questions to ask.
GET A WRITTEN QUOTE
One vendor, one written quote, no referral fee built in
- 1Tell us about the business2 minutes
Type of venue, sites and terminals, the EFTPOS provider you have or want, and roughly how much goes through cards.
- 2We quote in writingWithin one business day
Software, hardware, setup and the EFTPOS options for your volume, each on its own line so it can be compared.
- 3Take it to anyoneYour call
Put it beside the other quotes with the scorecard above. If someone answers all seven better, buy from them.
Call 1300 941 886. Melbourne team, no call centre, and we will say so if we are not the right fit.