Lightspeed Restaurant vs Square for Restaurants

Lightspeed Restaurant is a cloud point of sale for restaurants, bars, cafes and hotel restaurants, run mainly on iPads. Square for Restaurants is a cloud point of sale and payments system for food businesses, from food trucks and coffee shops to full-service restaurants, bars and multi-location groups. Both are listed under Restaurant POS. The main differences are in price, audience and platforms.

Key differences

  • price

    On price, Square for Restaurants lists USD 49 per location per month. Lightspeed Restaurant does not publish a starting price.

  • audience

    The audiences they list differ. Listed for one product only, for example: Lightspeed Restaurant: Single-location restaurants; Square for Restaurants: Small and single-location restaurants, cafes and bars.

  • platforms

    Platform support differs. Lightspeed Restaurant: iOS; Square for Restaurants: Web, iOS, Android.

  • countries covered

    Country coverage differs. Lightspeed Restaurant names 12 countries and Square for Restaurants names 8 countries. 6 countries appear in every list.

  • integrations

    The integration lists differ. Lightspeed Restaurant names 19 integrations and Square for Restaurants names 3 integrations. 2 partners appear in every list.

Side by side

Lightspeed Restaurant vs Square for Restaurants: side-by-side comparison from published vendor information
FieldLightspeed RestaurantSquare for Restaurants
What it isLightspeed Restaurant is a cloud point of sale for restaurants, bars, cafes and hotel restaurants, run mainly on iPads.Square for Restaurants is a cloud point of sale and payments system for food businesses, from food trucks and coffee shops to full-service restaurants, bars and multi-location groups.
Best forSingle-location restaurants; Multi-location restaurant groups; Hotel restaurants; Bars, cafes, breweries and fine diningSmall and single-location restaurants, cafes and bars; Quick-service and coffee shops; Full-service restaurants and bars; Franchises and multi-location groups
Pricing modelSubscription (tiered plans) plus quote-based EnterpriseSubscription per location plus percentage of sales
Starting priceNot publishedUSD 49 per location per month
Free planNot publishedYes
Free trialNot publishedYes
ContractNot publishedNone stated (the vendor says no locked-in contracts; cancel or switch anytime)
PlatformsiOSWeb, iOS, Android
CountriesAustralia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico and 6 moreAustralia, Canada, France, Ireland, Japan, Spain and 2 more
LanguagesDutch, English, French, German, Norwegian, SpanishNot published
Number of integrations193
CertificationsPCI compliantPCI compliant
Security practicesNot publishedNot published
FoundedNot published2009
HeadquartersMontreal, CanadaNot published
OwnerNot publishedBlock, Inc. (Square, Inc. changed its name to Block, Inc. in 2021)
Last reviewed29 September 202629 September 2026

Integrations

Named by both

  • MarketMan
  • Uber Eats

Named only by Lightspeed Restaurant

  • 7shifts
  • Cloudbeds
  • Craftable
  • Fresh
  • Lightspeed Delivery by Deliverect
  • MarginEdge
  • MEWS
  • OpenTable
  • Oracle Opera Cloud Hospitality
  • Otter
  • Planday
  • QuickBooks
and 5 more
  • Restaurant365
  • Resy
  • Seven Rooms
  • Uber Direct
  • Xero

Named only by Square for Restaurants

  • DoorDash

Which to choose

Lightspeed Restaurant

Choose Lightspeed Restaurant if you are in one of these groups: Single-location restaurants; Multi-location restaurant groups; Hotel restaurants.

Square for Restaurants

Choose Square for Restaurants if your business matches one of the audiences it is listed for: Small and single-location restaurants, cafes and bars; Quick-service and coffee shops; Full-service restaurants and bars.

What we could not confirm

Lightspeed Restaurant

  • Billing period of the Starter, Essential and Premium prices, and which features each plan includes (the comparison ticks are not in the page text)
  • Contract length and cancellation terms
  • Payment processing rates
  • Full integration list for L Series and U Series editions
  • Legal entity, founding year, funding and employee count
  • Security certifications beyond PCI compliance
  • Whether an Android or web POS client exists

Square for Restaurants

  • Headquarters, founders and employee count (not stated on Square's site)
  • Length of the free trial on paid plans
  • Full integration list: accounting, payroll and reservation integrations are not confirmed
  • Which restaurant features and prices apply outside the United States
  • Interface languages
  • Independent security certifications beyond PCI compliance
  • Availability of restaurant features and pricing by country

Go further

Lightspeed Restaurant profileSquare for Restaurants profile

Other comparisons with these products

Sources

Facts on this page come from the pages below. Prices and features change, so confirm with each vendor before you buy.

Lightspeed Restaurant, reviewed 29 September 2026

  1. Product overview, FAQhttps://www.lightspeedhq.com/pos/restaurant/
  2. Plans and priceshttps://www.lightspeedhq.com/pos/restaurant/pricing/
  3. Feature listhttps://www.lightspeedhq.com/pos/restaurant/features/
  4. Hardwarehttps://www.lightspeedhq.com/pos/restaurant/hardware/
  5. Editions and country selectorhttps://www.lightspeedhq.com/pos/restaurant/integrations/
  6. Partner marketplace listhttps://www.lightspeedhq.com/pos/restaurant-k-series/integrations/
  7. Multi-locationhttps://www.lightspeedhq.com/pos/restaurant/multilocation-restaurant-pos/
  8. Paymentshttps://www.lightspeedhq.com/pos/restaurant/payments/
  9. Inventoryhttps://www.lightspeedhq.com/pos/restaurant/inventory/
  10. Deliveryhttps://www.lightspeedhq.com/pos/restaurant/delivery/
  11. Accountinghttps://www.lightspeedhq.com/pos/restaurant/accounting/
  12. Workforce and payrollhttps://www.lightspeedhq.com/pos/restaurant/payroll/
  13. Reservationshttps://www.lightspeedhq.com/pos/restaurant/reservations/
  14. Support and traininghttps://www.lightspeedhq.com/pos/restaurant/support-onboarding/
  15. Headquarters, scalehttps://www.lightspeedhq.com/about/

Square for Restaurants, reviewed 29 September 2026

  1. Product overview and customer quoteshttps://squareup.com/us/en/restaurants
  2. Capabilities list, delivery partnershttps://squareup.com/us/en/restaurants/capabilities
  3. Restaurant POS features, hardware, customershttps://squareup.com/us/en/point-of-sale/restaurants
  4. Plans, fees, per-location pricinghttps://squareup.com/us/en/pricing
  5. Company history, countries served, Block name changehttps://squareup.com/us/en/about
  6. PCI compliancehttps://squareup.com/us/en/payments/secure
  7. Hardware rangehttps://squareup.com/us/en/hardware
  8. iOS app listinghttps://apps.apple.com/us/app/square-point-of-sale-pos/id335393788
  9. Google Play listinghttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.squareup