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E-Commerce · head to head

Heartland Retail vs Shopkeep

Heartland Retail logo

Heartland Retail

E-Commerce

Cloud point of sale and inventory management sold alongside Heartland card processing

From
$150/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Shopkeep logo

Shopkeep

E-Commerce

Cloud-based POS for small businesses

From
$89/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Heartland Retail the software is sold as part of a card processing relationship, so the monthly licence understates the real cost and the processing rate is the number that determines what you pay over a year.; Shopkeep all plans require 24/7 phone and chat support; no tiered support options
  • They diverge on capability: Heartland Retail covers Multi-store inventory, Shopkeep covers Point of sale.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Heartland Retail and Shopkeep actually diverge.

Attributes where Heartland Retail and Shopkeep differ
AttributeHeartland RetailShopkeep
Starting price$150/month$89/month
PlatformsWebiPad, Web
Founded19972008

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (E-Commerce).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Heartland Retail

  • Multi-store inventory
  • Cloud point of sale
  • Purchasing and receiving
  • Customer records
  • Sales and stock reporting
  • Integrated card processing
  • E-commerce integrations

Only in Shopkeep

  • Point of sale
  • Payment processing
  • Inventory management
  • Customer profiles
  • Sales analytics
  • Employee management
  • Mobile POS
  • Reporting

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Heartland Retail

  • A specialty retailer opening a third or fourth site that needs one stock position across all of themnot Shopkeep
  • Replacing a legacy on-premise till system that requires a server in the back office of every storenot Shopkeep
  • A retailer whose buying team needs purchase orders and receiving rather than just a cash registernot Shopkeep
  • An existing Heartland processing customer consolidating software and payments under one suppliernot Shopkeep

Shopkeep

No use cases recorded yet. See the Shopkeep review.

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Heartland Retail

  • The software is sold as part of a card processing relationship, so the monthly licence understates the real cost and the processing rate is the number that determines what you pay over a year.
  • Leaving means changing till software and merchant account together, and since the payment terminals, the reporting history and the staff training are all tied to the same supplier, the switching cost is far higher than a software migration alone.
  • It is not an online store platform, so a merchant selling on the web still buys and maintains a separate e-commerce platform, and the stock and order integration between the two is an ongoing operational dependency rather than a one-off setup.
  • Historical sales and customer purchase history rarely migrate cleanly out of a point of sale system, so a retailer who switches typically starts with an empty history and keeps the old system read-only, paying for it, for years.
  • Heartland sits within Global Payments, a group that has repeatedly restructured its portfolio through acquisitions and divestitures, so which entity owns and invests in this specific product is not stable over a long contract term.

Shopkeep

  • All plans require 24/7 phone and chat support; no tiered support options
  • Prices vary by business type and industry with additional service fees possible
  • Extra locations and registers incur additional charges beyond base plan cost

Pricing, plan by plan

Heartland Retail

$150/month
  • Core$150/month
    • POS system
    • Inventory management
    • Customer management
  • Professional$350/month
    • All Core features
    • Omnichannel
    • Advanced analytics

Shopkeep

$89/month
  • Basic$89/month
    • Retail POS platform
    • 1 register included
    • Integrated Payments 1.5%
  • Core$149/month
    • All Basic features
    • Advanced management tools
    • Business growth support
  • Plus$289/month
    • All Core features
    • Advanced customization
    • Established retail operations support

Which should you pick?

Choose Heartland Retail if

  • You need multi-store inventory.
  • You also want cloud point of sale.
Heartland Retail review

Choose Shopkeep if

  • You need point of sale.
  • You work on iPad, Web.
  • You also want payment processing.
Shopkeep review

Questions people ask

Is Heartland Retail or Shopkeep better?
Neither clearly leads. Heartland Retail starts at $150/month and Shopkeep at $89/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Heartland Retail or Shopkeep?
Heartland Retail starts at $150/month and Shopkeep at $89/month.
Does Heartland Retail or Shopkeep run on more platforms?
Heartland Retail runs on Web. Shopkeep runs on iPad, Web.
What is Heartland Retail best used for?
Heartland Retail is most often used for a specialty retailer opening a third or fourth site that needs one stock position across all of them, replacing a legacy on-premise till system that requires a server in the back office of every store, a retailer whose buying team needs purchase orders and receiving rather than just a cash register, an existing heartland processing customer consolidating software and payments under one supplier. Of those, a specialty retailer opening a third or fourth site that needs one stock position across all of them and replacing a legacy on-premise till system that requires a server in the back office of every store are not what Shopkeep is typically brought in for.
What can Heartland Retail do that Shopkeep cannot?
Heartland Retail covers Multi-store inventory, Cloud point of sale, Purchasing and receiving, Customer records. Shopkeep covers Point of sale, Payment processing, Inventory management, Customer profiles.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Heartland Retail: Can I use it as my online store?

No. It manages the shop floor and stock. Selling online means a separate e-commerce platform and an integration to keep the catalogue and stock aligned.

Shopkeep: What is included in the Lightspeed Retail Basic plan at $89 per month?

The Basic plan includes 1 register, retail POS platform, integrated payments at 1.5% card-present rate, inventory management, Lightspeed Wholesale access, NuORDER Catalog with 5 million+ products, built-in eCommerce, loyalty programs, and 24/7 support.

Source
Heartland Retail: Do I have to use Heartland for card processing?

The product is sold as part of a payments relationship, and that is where the supplier's margin sits. Ask explicitly what the software costs standalone before assuming you have a choice.

Shopkeep: How much can I save by paying annually instead of monthly?

Shopkeep (Lightspeed Retail) offers up to 18% discount when paying annually instead of month-to-month. All three plans (Basic, Core, Plus) qualify for this annual discount.

Source
Heartland Retail: What should I negotiate hardest on?

The card processing rate and the contract term, not the software subscription. Ask for interchange-plus pricing in writing rather than a blended rate.

Shopkeep: What additional costs should I budget beyond the monthly subscription?

Beyond the monthly plan cost, extra locations require additional charges, extra registers incur per-register fees, and hardware (terminals, scanners, iPad devices) have separate costs. Integrated payment processing charges 1.5% per transaction.

Source
Heartland Retail: What happens to my sales history if I leave?

Assume products and current stock export cleanly and that years of transaction history do not. Budget for keeping the old system available read-only during any transition.

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