Compare Lightspeed Restaurant vs Square for Restaurants: pricing, features, pros, cons, and which is right for your business.
Lightspeed Restaurant vs Square for Restaurants
Updated October 2026 · Restaurant POS Software software comparison
At a Glance
| Criteria | Lightspeed Restaurant | Square for Restaurants |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
★ 4.4
216 reviews |
★ 4.4
54 reviews |
| Starting Price | $69.00 /mo | $0.00 /mo |
| Pricing Model | Paid | Freemium |
| Free Trial | No | ✓ Yes |
| Deployment | cloud, mobile | cloud, mobile |
| Best For | Smb, Mid Market, Enterprise | Freelancer, Smb, Mid Market, Enterprise |
Strengths & Weaknesses
Who uses restaurant software — and what each person does with it
Watches sales, food cost, labor and prime cost across shifts and locations on one dashboard — sees which menu items and dayparts actually make money.
Builds the schedule against forecasted sales, approves shift swaps, seats the floor and clears the waitlist, and pulls the daily close from the POS.
Fires orders from the POS or a handheld, splits and adjusts checks, takes payment tableside, and the kitchen sees the ticket instantly on the KDS.
Works tickets on the kitchen display with station routing and timers, marks items 86'd, and depletes inventory automatically as dishes sell.
The flow the software runs end to end: guest orders (dine-in, online or delivery) → ticket fires to the KDS → items depleted from inventory → payment captured at the POS → sales, food and labor cost post to reporting and accounting → schedule and purchasing adjust to the numbers. Each stage hands off to the next without re-keying.
Who Should Choose Which?
- Your team fits the smb or mid market or enterprise profile
- Your preferred deployment is cloud or mobile
- Runs on off-the-shelf iPads, not proprietary terminals — no hardware lock-in
- Your team fits the freelancer or smb or mid market or enterprise profile
- You want to try before you buy — free trial available
- Budget matters — Square for Restaurants starts $69 cheaper per month
- Your preferred deployment is cloud or mobile
- Genuine $0/month Free plan — the lowest-risk way for a café, food truck, or new QSR to start taking orders
Our Verdict
Lightspeed Restaurant targets smb/mid_market/enterprise businesses with paid pricing starting at $69.00/mo. Its strongest selling points include runs on off-the-shelf ipads, not proprietary terminals — no hardware lock-in and transparent published software pricing in four tiers ($69/$189/$399/quote).
Square for Restaurants targets freelancer/smb/mid_market/enterprise businesses with freemium pricing starting at $0.00/mo. Its key advantages include genuine $0/month free plan — the lowest-risk way for a café, food truck, or new qsr to start taking orders and flat, published processing rates (2.6% + 15¢ down to 2.4% + 15¢) with no quote call required.
Both tools are reviewed independently — see the full reviews below to dig into integrations, implementation timelines, and user sentiment.
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