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Food & Restaurant · head to head

Lightspeed Restaurant vs Upserve

Lightspeed Restaurant logo

Lightspeed Restaurant

Food & Restaurant

One restaurant POS to power it all

From
$69/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Upserve logo

Upserve

Food & Restaurant

Restaurant management platform with insights

From
$59/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Lightspeed Restaurant starts at $69 a month for Starter, rising to $189 for Essential and $399 for Premium; Upserve offline terminals can only store credit card payment data for 48 hours before requiring internet connection
  • They diverge on capability: Lightspeed Restaurant covers Floor plan management, Upserve covers Cloud POS.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Lightspeed Restaurant and Upserve differ
AttributeLightspeed RestaurantUpserve
Starting price$69/month$59/month
Pricing modelsubscriptionUnknown
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb, iPad, Android, Custom POS terminals
Founded20052013

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Food & Restaurant).

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 Upserve

  • Cloud POS
  • Guest insights
  • Menu intelligence
  • Server performance
  • Reputation management
  • Inventory tracking
  • 7shifts
  • Grubhub

Both cover

  • QuickBooks
  • Xero
  • 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 Sale
  • Order Management
  • Inventory Control
  • Staff Scheduling

Upserve

  • Point of Sale
  • Order Management
  • Inventory Control
  • Staff Scheduling

Both are used for point of sale, order management, inventory control, staff scheduling, on those jobs the choice comes down to price and fit rather than capability.

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

Upserve

  • Offline terminals can only store credit card payment data for 48 hours before requiring internet connection
  • Customers cannot add tips when the system operates in offline mode
  • $400 monthly penalty for using alternative payment processors instead of Lightspeed
  • No global ability to change menu items across all locations at once, requiring per-location updates
  • Mandatory 2.6% + $0.10 per transaction payment processing fee with Lightspeed

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

Upserve

$59/month
  • Core$59/month
    • Cloud-based point of sale
    • Basic reporting
    • Guest insights
  • Pro$199/month
    • All Core features
    • Inventory management
    • Online ordering

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 Upserve if

  • You need cloud pos.
  • You work on Web, iPad, Android, Custom POS terminals.
  • You also want guest insights.
Upserve review

Questions people ask

Is Lightspeed Restaurant or Upserve better?
Neither clearly leads. Lightspeed Restaurant starts at $69/month and Upserve at $59/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Lightspeed Restaurant or Upserve?
Lightspeed Restaurant starts at $69/month and Upserve at $59/month.
Does Lightspeed Restaurant or Upserve run on more platforms?
Lightspeed Restaurant runs on Web, Ios, Android. Upserve runs on Web, iPad, Android, Custom POS terminals.
What is Lightspeed Restaurant best used for?
Lightspeed Restaurant is most often used for point of sale, order management, inventory control, staff scheduling.
What can Lightspeed Restaurant do that Upserve cannot?
Lightspeed Restaurant covers Floor plan management, Tableside ordering, Menu management, Staff management. Upserve covers Cloud POS, Guest insights, Menu intelligence, Server performance. Both handle QuickBooks, Xero, Web support, Ios support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Upserve: Does Upserve support offline mode?

Yes. Upserve is a hybrid cloud-based system where reporting data is stored in the cloud but offline mode allows the software to store important data locally on your device in case the internet goes down, allowing transactions to continue.

Source
Upserve: What is Upserve's pricing structure?

Upserve offers three plans: Core at $59/month, Pro at $199/month with advanced features like inventory management and loyalty programs, and Pro+ with custom pricing for enterprise customers. Hardware is sold separately.

Source
Upserve: Does Upserve offer a free trial?

Yes, Upserve offers a 14-day free trial for new users to test the platform before committing to a paid plan.

Source
Upserve: What delivery platforms does Upserve integrate with?

Upserve integrates with DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub through partner middleware services like Chowly and Deliverect, which provide real-time menu syncing and order management.

Source
Upserve: What are the payment processing requirements?

Upserve requires using Lightspeed payment processing at 2.6% + $0.10 per transaction. Using alternative payment processors incurs a $400 monthly fee, making Lightspeed the mandatory choice for most restaurants.

Source
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