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Lightspeed Restaurant vs Sling

Lightspeed Restaurant logo

Lightspeed Restaurant

Software

One restaurant POS to power it all

From
$69/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Sling logo

Sling

Software

Free employee scheduling software

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Sling has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Lightspeed Restaurant starts at $69 a month for Starter, rising to $189 for Essential and $399 for Premium; Sling the free plan is limited to 30 users
  • They diverge on capability: Lightspeed Restaurant covers Floor plan management, Sling covers Employee scheduling.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Lightspeed Restaurant and Sling actually diverge.

Attributes where Lightspeed Restaurant and Sling differ
AttributeLightspeed RestaurantSling
Starting price$69/monthFree
Free tierNoYes
Founded20052015

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), platforms (Web, Ios, Android), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

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 Lightspeed Restaurant

  • Floor plan management
  • Tableside ordering
  • Menu management
  • Staff management
  • Delivery integration
  • Advanced reporting
  • Uber Eats
  • DoorDash

Only in Sling

  • Employee scheduling
  • Time tracking
  • Team messaging
  • Task management
  • Shift swapping
  • Labor cost tracking
  • Toast
  • Square

Both cover

  • Web support
  • Ios support
  • Android support

What people use each for

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

Lightspeed Restaurant

  • Point of Salenot Sling
  • Order Managementnot Sling
  • Inventory Controlnot Sling
  • Staff Schedulingnot Sling

Sling

  • Building and publishing shift schedules for hourly staffnot Lightspeed Restaurant
  • Tracking clock in and clock out and labour costnot Lightspeed Restaurant
  • Messaging and announcements across a shift based teamnot Lightspeed Restaurant

Where each one falls short

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

Lightspeed Restaurant

  • Starts at $69 a month for Starter, rising to $189 for Essential and $399 for Premium
  • The kitchen display system is charged separately at $30 per screen per month
  • Lightspeed Reservations, reservation integrations and Lightspeed Tasks are add-ons on every tier below Enterprise rather than included features
  • Integrated payments are fixed to a default configuration on Starter, with custom configuration only from Essential upwards
  • Card processing rates and hardware costs are not published, and the vendor notes prices vary by business and industry

Sling

  • The free plan is limited to 30 users
  • Time tracking on mobile, labour cost tracking and overtime analysis require the Premium plan
  • Kiosk time clock, hours and wages reporting, no show tracking, sick leave and PTO tracking require the Business plan
  • The lowest advertised per user rates of $1.70 and $3.40 require annual billing

Pricing, plan by plan

Lightspeed Restaurant

$69/month
  • Starter$69/month
    • POS
    • Menu management
    • Payments
  • Essential$189/month
    • Online ordering
    • Delivery
    • Advanced reporting
  • Premium$399/month
    • Multiple locations
    • API access

Sling

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Scheduling
    • Messaging
    • Basic features
  • Premium$2/user/month
    • Time tracking
    • Overtime alerts
  • Business$4/user/month
    • Labor costs
    • Reporting

Which should you pick?

Choose Lightspeed Restaurant if

  • You need floor plan management.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want tableside ordering.
Lightspeed Restaurant review

Choose Sling if

  • You need employee scheduling.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want time tracking.
Sling review

Questions people ask

Is Lightspeed Restaurant or Sling better?
Neither clearly leads. Lightspeed Restaurant starts at $69/month and Sling at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Lightspeed Restaurant or Sling?
Sling has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $69/month for Lightspeed Restaurant and Free for Sling.
Does Lightspeed Restaurant or Sling run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, Ios, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Sling for free?
Yes. Sling has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Lightspeed Restaurant starts at $69/month.
What is Lightspeed Restaurant best used for?
Lightspeed Restaurant is most often used for point of sale, order management, inventory control, staff scheduling. Of those, point of sale and order management are not what Sling is typically brought in for.
What can Lightspeed Restaurant do that Sling cannot?
Lightspeed Restaurant covers Floor plan management, Tableside ordering, Menu management, Staff management. Sling covers Employee scheduling, Time tracking, Team messaging, Task management. Both handle Web support, Ios support, Android support.
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