Lightspeed Retail vs Square - Lightspeed Commerce

The complete retail POS comparison:
Lightspeed vs Square

We do inventory management like no one else. And that's not all. From free 24/7 support at your back to effortless eCommerce management, see why retailers pick Lightspeed over Square.

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Main features		Square	Quickbooks POS
Complete inventory system Sell serialized inventory, create assemblies out of your products and easily organize items with multiple variations using matrices. Run your inventory with one centralized database for your store and online shop.	•
Contactless, mobile payments Offer your customers a way to pay contactlessly, anywhere in store or for curbside pickup.	•	•	•
Item import tool Built-in item importing tool is included with the system, allowing you to import and update items in bulk.	•	•	•
Complete omnichannel solution on one platform Manage your eCom and physical stores from the same system for increased efficiency and customer experience consistency.	•	•
Custom reorder points Never run out of stock. Set your desired reorder points for all your products and see when it's time to restock without needing an extra app.	•		•
Purchase order management Order from any vendor and centralize purchasing for multi-store operations. Consolidate your purchase orders and special orders in one master order.	•	•	•
Complete multi-store management Reporting, gift cards, customer profiles and inventory management across all locations, from a single cloud-based platform on all plans.	•	•
Special orders and layaways Place special orders from the sales screen for products you don't have in stock or set items aside as a layaway order for your customers. Both features included in the POS for free.	•
Customer relationship management From our most basic plan to most advanced, get the tools to track relevant information about your customers to personalize your service.	•	•
Integrated omnichannel Loyalty program Integrate with an omnichannel loyalty platform with built-in email marketing, a rewards program and a customer insight dashboard.	•	•
Complete built-in interactive reporting Run comprehensive reports to track your sales, employees and overall performance over the last week, month, year or more.	•	•
Cloud-based across all devices Run your retail operation from your mobile device and access all your sales and customer data remotely.	•	•
Track service and work orders Create work orders, track repair status, accept deposits and create quotes for customers without paying extra for the tools.	•
Extensive network of integrations Build the perfect POS solution for your business with a huge selection of plug-and-play integrations built in-house or by our trusted partners.	•	•	•
1:1 onboarding and 24/7 support 24/7 phone, email and chat support included with every purchase.	•
Local multi-lingual support teams around the world The POS has been used and trusted by retailers globally for over 10 years, and is backed by experienced local retail experts who understand your reality.	•		•
Free trial accounts Take the POS for a free spin before you commit.	•	•	•

Complete inventory system
	•
Square
Quickbooks POS

Contactless, mobile payments
	•
Square	•
Quickbooks POS	•

Item import tool
	•
Square	•
Quickbooks POS	•

Complete omnichannel solution on one platform
	•
Square	•
Quickbooks POS

Custom reorder points
	•
Square
Quickbooks POS	•

Purchase order management
	•
Square	•
Quickbooks POS	•

Complete multi-store management
	•
Square	•
Quickbooks POS

Special orders and layaways
	•
Square
Quickbooks POS

Customer relationship management
	•
Square	•
Quickbooks POS

Integrated omnichannel Loyalty program
	•
Square	•
Quickbooks POS

Complete built-in interactive reporting
	•
Square	•
Quickbooks POS

Cloud-based across all devices
	•
Square	•
Quickbooks POS

Track service and work orders
	•
Square
Quickbooks POS

Extensive network of integrations
	•
Square	•
Quickbooks POS	•

1:1 onboarding and 24/7 support
	•
Square
Quickbooks POS

Local multi-lingual support teams around the world
	•
Square
Quickbooks POS	•

Free trial accounts
	•
Square	•
Quickbooks POS	•

Why ex-Square retailers are falling in love with Lightspeed

Our integrated eCom actually does it all

Don't settle for Square's third-party eCom. With our POS and eCom built to work with each other, run your entire store from one centralized interface - the way it should be.

Scale faster and sell more with Lightspeed

Growth with Square is very limited. Lightspeed lets you easily add locations, transfer inventory across multiple stores and centralize purchasing.

We give you full control of your inventory

Unlike Square, Lightspeed offers a complete inventory system. Sell serialized items, create bundles and organize products with many variations.

Process special orders / layaways for free

Square simply doesn't support this. Lightspeed lets you order products that aren't in stock and put them on hold for customers, all for free.

We help you get to know your customers

Square only provides half the equation. Lightspeed tracks in-store and online customer activity and information from a centralized interface.

All the support, all the time

You shouldn't have to pay for support. With Lightspeed, you get free 24/7 phone, email and chat support built-in.

Watch a demo

We brought Lightspeed in because to do inventory, to do losses, to do analytics, to make sure everything is crossed with each other. It’s the only way to keep track of everything, because doing it by paper, you never know what you’re making.

Logan Elliott, Bros Bike Shop

The complete POS comparison:
Lightspeed vs Square for Restaurant

See what you can do with the cloud. Offer delivery service with less hassle, update your menus from anywhere, speed up your back-end and more. See why restaurants are picking Lightspeed over Square

Watch a demo Try it for free

Main features		Square for Restaurant
Cloud-based Run your restaurant from your mobile device and access all your sales and customer data remotely.	•	•
Offline mode with full feature set If your internet goes down, even for extended periods of time, service is uninterrupted and every feature continues to function as usual. Once you regain connection, all your information is synced automatically with no data lost.	•
Free trial accounts Take the POS for a free spin before you commit. No credit card required.	•	•
Tablet & smartphone table-side ordering Bring the POS with you on an iPad or smartphone wherever you go: to the table, terrace, kitchen, market, etc.	•
Free 1:1 onboarding Get unlimited personalized training at no extra charge.	•
Free 24/7 support 24/7 phone, email and chat support included with every purchase.	•
Cloud product & menu control Create, customize and quickly update your menus—and do it all yourself, with no third-party assistance needed.	•	•
Fully customizable floor plan Build or change a floor plan to match the exact layout of all your individual service floors. Screen reader support enabled.	•	•
Built-in customizable reports Build and run reports to track your sales, employees and overall performance.	•	•
Multi-location capabilities that help you grow Reporting, gift cards and menu replication across all locations, from a single platform.	•	•
Advanced coursing and table service Fire orders to the kitchen or bar by assigning categories to specific printers, or use partial printing.	•	•
Multiple check-splitting options and single-seat checkout Split the bill however your customers choose—by seat, amount, or item—and seamlessly check out one guest at a time.	•
Built-in and add-on CRM and loyalty options Track relevant information about your customers to personalize your service and integrate with a loyalty platform with built-in email marketing.	•	•
Self-order menu with kiosk and table service options Let customers place orders themselves with a self-order menu that comes in both kiosk and table mode.	•
Flexible payment integrations Choose from multiple payment processing options, both integrated and non-integrated—the choice is yours.	•
PMS integration Integrate your PMS into your POS for a seamless customer experience everywhere in your hotel.	•
Extensive network of integrations Build the perfect POS solution for your business with a huge selection of plug-and-play integrations built in-house or by our trusted partners.	•	•
Ability to go fully paperless Use a digital kitchen display system instead of printing chits, check guests out tableside and send checks by email.	•
Minimal investment in hardware Getting started is cost-efficient with a use-the-hardware-you-have approach. You are not forced to purchase any specialized hardware.	•	•
Local multilingual support teams all over the world Our POS has been trusted by restaurateurs globally for over 10 years, and is backed by experienced local restaurant experts who understand your reality.	•
Supports partial payments Let customers pay however they want, in as many methods they choose.	•	•

Cloud-based
	•
Square for Restaurant	•

Offline mode with full feature set
	•
Square for Restaurant

Free trial accounts
	•
Square for Restaurant	•

Tablet & smartphone table-side ordering
	•
Square for Restaurant

Free 1:1 onboarding
	•
Square for Restaurant

Free 24/7 support
	•
Square for Restaurant

Cloud product & menu control
	•
Square for Restaurant	•

Fully customizable floor plan
	•
Square for Restaurant	•

Built-in customizable reports
	•
Square for Restaurant	•

Multi-location capabilities that help you grow
	•
Square for Restaurant	•

Advanced coursing and table service
	•
Square for Restaurant	•

Multiple check-splitting options and single-seat checkout
	•
Square for Restaurant

Built-in and add-on CRM and loyalty options
	•
Square for Restaurant	•

Self-order menu with kiosk and table service options
	•
Square for Restaurant

Flexible payment integrations
	•
Square for Restaurant

PMS integration
	•
Square for Restaurant

Extensive network of integrations
	•
Square for Restaurant	•

Ability to go fully paperless
	•
Square for Restaurant

Minimal investment in hardware
	•
Square for Restaurant	•

Local multilingual support teams all over the world
	•
Square for Restaurant

Supports partial payments
	•
Square for Restaurant	•

Why ex-Square restaurateurs are falling in love with Lightspeed

Hit the ground running with personalized onboarding

Your success is our success. Unlike Square, Lightspeed Restaurant gives you unlimited personalised onboarding sessions included with any purchase.

Get full control of your floor plan

Don't settle for Square's limited options. Customize your floor plan to match your dining room, and make changes in seconds.

Make better decisions with Lightspeed Restaurant

Square only provides half the equation. With Lightspeed, you automatically unlock insights from guest profiles, menu items and staff performance to give you confidence in your choices.

Intuitive coursing and bill splitting

Square for restaurants is a basic starter product. Lightspeed is built for restaurants and lets break up your menu by course and split the bill however your customers choose.

Round-the-clock support

Unlike Square, Lightspeed sticks with you every step of the way. Get free, 24/7 support over phone, email and chat included with any purchase.

A full suite of restaurant software

With Square, you pay for each add on. Our one-stop platform comes in packages built for every level of operation.

Watch a demo

“When I open up Lightspeed, my main focus is the reports. The more data I can get about what customers ate and what they spent their money on, the better an experience I can create.“

Kabir Kapoor, Owner, Pastel

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Square integrate with Lightspeed POS?

Square is not one of Lightspeed’s supported integrated payment processors. Merchants may use Square’s payment processing for unintegrated payments if they so choose, but integrated payments are more secure and less prone to human error.

Lightspeed Payments is our preferred integrated payment processing solution for Lightspeed Retail merchants in Canada and the United States. We offer a favorable flat rate so you always know exactly what fees you’ll be paying, unlike interchange and interchange plus fees.

You can review the options for integrated payment processors for Lightspeed Retail here. You can also learn more about Lightspeed Payments for Retail here.

You can review the options for integrated payment processors for Lightspeed Restaurant here.

You cannot integrate Square’s POS systems with Lightspeed’s POS systems.

What is the difference between Square and Lightspeed?

Lightspeed Retail was designed with the realities of running a small or medium retail business in mind. Square for Retail is more bare bones. Square for Retail doesn’t have its own natively integrated eCom platform; Lightspeed Retail and Lightspeed eCom were built to work with each other seamlessly. Square for Retail has clunky, simple inventory management and purchasing tools, while Lightspeed Retail has features that save you time⁠—such as being able to automatically add all items under their reorder points to your purchase orders.

Lightspeed Restaurant also meets more SMB growth needs than Square for restaurants. There are no options to facilitate self ordering with Square for restaurants, while there are with Lightspeed Restaurant. Square for restaurants cannot serve restaurants that require PMS integrations, while Lightspeed Restaurant can.

In addition, Lightspeed’s support is more available⁠—we’re here for your 24/7 over the phone. Square isn’t.

Will Lightspeed teach me how to use Lightspeed POS?

Yes!

Switching to Lightspeed means getting personalized, one-on-one onboarding where we answer your questions and help you get to know Lightspeed. We’ll also supply you with webinars about Lightspeed to review whenever you’d like.

If you still have questions after your personal training sessions, Lightspeed support is available 24/7 over the phone for free.

The complete retail POS comparison: Lightspeed vs Square