Retail POS 4.0/5
Shopify POS is the best choice for retailers who sell online and in-store and want one system for both. POS Lite is included with every Shopify plan (from $20/mo annual), and the omnichannel features — synced inventory, buy-online-pick-up-in-store, unified customer profiles — are best-in-class. Budget for POS Pro ($89/mo per location) once you need staff permissions, purchase orders, or cross-location returns.
Shopify POS at a Glance
| Best for | Omnichannel retail (online + physical stores) |
| Starting cost | $20/mo (Basic, annual billing); $27/mo monthly billing — POS Lite included |
| POS Pro add-on | $89/mo per location (3-month free promo seen on official page) |
| In-person processing | ~2.4–2.7% with Shopify Payments (by plan) |
| Hardware | From $49 (Tap & Chip reader); BYOD tablet/smartphone supported |
| Free trial | 3 days free, then $1/mo for 3 months |
Score Breakdown
Weighted total: 4.0 / 5 — see our methodology for how scores are set.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- One inventory and customer database for online + in-store, synced automatically
- POS Lite included on every plan — no separate POS subscription to start
- BOPIS, local delivery, ship-to-customer and endless aisle (Pro)
- Familiar, fast checkout; staff typically train in under an hour
- App ecosystem of 8,000+ apps for anything the core lacks
Cons
- Serious retail tools (permissions, POs, counts, cross-location returns) require $89/mo POS Pro per location
- Extra transaction fee (up to 2% on Basic) if you don't use Shopify Payments
- 100-variant-per-product cap (2,048 rollout still limited)
- No card payments while offline
- Card readers must be Shopify-approved
Pricing and Plans
Shopify POS isn't priced like a traditional POS. You subscribe to a Shopify ecommerce plan, and POS access comes with it — POS Lite on all plans, POS Pro as a per-location add-on (prices checked 2026-08-08):
| Plan | Monthly billing | Annual billing | POS included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $27/mo | $20/mo | POS Lite |
| Grow | $65/mo | $49/mo | POS Lite |
| Advanced | $399/mo | $299/mo | POS Lite |
| Plus | from $2,300/mo | — | POS Pro for 20 locations |
| POS Pro add-on | $89/mo per location (on Basic/Grow/Advanced) | Full retail feature set | |
Read the full cost breakdown — including what the first year actually costs with hardware and processing — in our Shopify POS pricing guide.
POS Lite vs POS Pro: what's actually gated
This is the most important table in this review, because most “Shopify POS is cheap” takes ignore it (source: Shopify's official POS pricing comparison, checked 2026-08-08):
| Capability | POS Lite (included) | POS Pro ($89/mo/location) |
|---|---|---|
| Staff | Limited staff accounts | Unlimited staff |
| Roles & permissions | No | Yes |
| Returns & exchanges | Original purchase location only | At any location |
| Inventory tools | Basic stock levels | Counts, purchase orders, low-stock alerts |
| Customer profiles | Simple | Rich profiles + loyalty insights |
| Reports | Basic | Professional retail reports |
| BOPIS / endless aisle | Limited | Yes |
Payment Processing
With Shopify Payments (US card rates, checked 2026-08-08):
| Plan | Online | In-person | Third-party gateway fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | 2.9% + 30¢ | ~2.6–2.7% | 2.0% |
| Grow | 2.7% + 30¢ | ~2.5% | 1.0% |
| Advanced | 2.5% + 30¢ | ~2.4% | 0.6% |
Online rates are from Shopify's official pricing page (checked 2026-08-08). In-person percentages are compiled from multiple independent 2026 sources — Shopify does not publish them on a crawler-readable page; confirm your exact rate at signup.
You're not forced onto Shopify Payments, but declining costs 0.6–2% of every sale depending on plan — at retail volumes that's almost always more than the savings from shopping processors. Offline, the POS keeps selling via cash and custom payment methods and syncs later, but card payments need a connection.
Hardware
Shopify's lineup covers the normal retail spread (prices checked 2026-08-08): Tap & Chip reader $49, WisePad 3 $49, POS Go handheld $399, POS Terminal $349 ($459 full kit), Retail Stand Kit $219, plus Epson/Star-class printers (~$299–399), scanners (~$119–299) and cash drawers (~$119–159). You can use your own tablet or smartphone, and mainstream printers/scanners/drawers are supported — but card readers must be Shopify-approved, so don't plan on reusing another system's reader.
Inventory Management
This is where Shopify POS splits into two products. On Lite, you get basic stock levels with online sync — enough for a simple boutique. On Pro, you gain inventory counts, purchase orders, low-stock alerts, cross-location transfers and professional reports.
Workflow-level detail for apparel-style catalogs: product variants top out at 100 per product (3 option types) on standard plans, with Shopify rolling out 2,048 variants to eligible stores — fine for most clothing boutiques, tight for deep size/color matrices. Barcode label printing is supported, and receiving against purchase orders works as expected on Pro. If your catalog runs to tens of thousands of SKUs with heavy receiving workflows, compare Lightspeed Retail before committing.
Ecommerce and Omnichannel
This is Shopify POS's home turf and no one in this price range matches it: one product pool across channels with automatic stock sync, buy-online-pick-up-in-store, local delivery, ship-to-customer, emailed carts, and unified customer profiles. Returns of online purchases happen in-store on Pro (any location) — a real differentiator versus Lite's original-location restriction. If online is even 20% of your business, this integration is worth more than any hardware bundle.
Customers, Staff and Reporting
Customer profiles merge online and in-store purchase history (rich profiles on Pro). Staff sign in with POS PINs; granular role permissions are Pro-only — the most common reason single-store owners upgrade. Reporting is solid on Pro with professional retail reports; Basic plan dashboards cover sales fundamentals but you'll feel the ceiling quickly if you live in data.
Ease of Use and Support
Setup is genuinely quick: install the app, pair hardware, import products — merchants commonly report staff training in about 30 minutes for basic selling. Support runs 24/7 via chat/email on all plans, with callback-style phone help; Plus adds priority support. The App Store fills gaps (advanced labels, reporting, loyalty), but mind your app stack — monthly spend creeps up.
Alternatives
- Budget-first: Square — free plan, simpler everything. See Shopify POS vs Square.
- Inventory-first: Lightspeed Retail — deeper POs, receiving, serials.
- Hardware-first: Clover — buy-once devices, reseller pricing.
Who Should Use It — and Who Shouldn't
You sell online and in-store (or will), you want returns and inventory unified across channels, and you can budget $89/mo per location for Pro once you grow into it.
Shopify POS earns our top omnichannel recommendation: the online-to-store integration is simply the best available at these prices. Score it against your own workflow — if you're offline-only and cost-led, Square will serve you better for less; if inventory ops dominate, Lightspeed justifies its premium. Everyone else: start on POS Lite and upgrade to Pro when a specific gated feature becomes your bottleneck.
FAQ
Is Shopify POS free?
POS Lite is included with every Shopify plan — the cheapest is Basic at $20/mo with annual billing. There's no $0 plan; the “free” part is that POS itself doesn't add a separate subscription until you choose POS Pro ($89/mo per location).
What does POS Pro actually add?
Unlimited staff with role permissions, returns/exchanges at any location, inventory counts, purchase orders, low-stock alerts, rich customer profiles, professional reports, and full BOPIS/endless-aisle features.
Can I use my own card reader?
No — card readers must be Shopify-approved models (Tap & Chip $49, WisePad 3 $49, POS Go $399, or the Terminal). Your own tablet/smartphone, and mainstream printers/scanners/drawers, are fine.
Does Shopify POS work offline?
Partially. Cash and custom payments keep working and sync when you reconnect; card payments require a connection, and you can't create products/customers or use live multi-location inventory while offline.