Softwr

Inventory · head to head

Lightspeed Retail vs Quartzy

Lightspeed Retail logo

Lightspeed Retail

Inventory

Point of sale and retail management system

From
$89/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Quartzy logo

Quartzy

Inventory

Lab inventory and ordering software funded by the supply marketplace attached to it

From
$50/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Lightspeed Retail high pricing starts at USD 89/month (Basic plan), escalating to USD 289/month for Plus tier with advanced features; Quartzy the vendor earns margin on supplies bought through its own Shop, so the recommended purchasing path is not necessarily the cheapest one for a university that already holds negotiated supplier contracts.
  • They diverge on capability: Lightspeed Retail covers Point of sale, Quartzy covers Inventory tracking.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Lightspeed Retail and Quartzy actually diverge.

Attributes where Lightspeed Retail and Quartzy differ
AttributeLightspeed RetailQuartzy
Starting price$89/month$50/month
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer month by user tier
PlatformsWeb, iPad, Cloud-basedWeb, iOS, Android
Founded2005Unknown

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

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 Retail

  • Point of sale
  • Inventory management
  • Customer management
  • Omnichannel selling
  • Analytics
  • Employee management
  • Loyalty programs
  • Hardware compatibility

Only in Quartzy

  • Inventory tracking
  • Request and approval
  • Quartzy Shop
  • Order tracking
  • Spend reporting
  • Barcode scanning
  • PunchOut
  • Vendor catalogues

What people use each for

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

Lightspeed Retail

  • Tracking 10,000+ SKUs across multiple sales channelsnot Quartzy
  • Reconciling payments across terminals in under 10 minutesnot Quartzy
  • Selling across in-person, online, and social simultaneouslynot Quartzy
  • Accessing real-time inventory demand forecastingnot Quartzy

Quartzy

  • An academic lab of three postdocs replacing a shared freezer spreadsheet that nobody updates after a reagent runs outnot Lightspeed Retail
  • A small biotech that wants requests approved by a lab manager before any money is committednot Lightspeed Retail
  • A principal investigator tracking consumable spend against separate grant codes for reportingnot Lightspeed Retail
  • A growing company standardising ordering across two lab sites so duplicate reagent purchases stopnot Lightspeed Retail

Where each one falls short

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

Lightspeed Retail

  • High pricing starts at USD 89/month (Basic plan), escalating to USD 289/month for Plus tier with advanced features
  • Limited integrations with third-party platforms, particularly challenging for Shopify inventory sync
  • Inventory synchronization issues reported with backordered products and bulk updates
  • Customer support response times can be slow despite 24/7 availability
  • System crashes and performance degradation reported during high-traffic periods

Quartzy

  • The vendor earns margin on supplies bought through its own Shop, so the recommended purchasing path is not necessarily the cheapest one for a university that already holds negotiated supplier contracts.
  • Seat limits are tight, at three users on Academia and five on Industry, and exceeding them pushes you into a quoted Enterprise contract rather than a predictable per seat increment.
  • It is not a LIMS: there is no sample workflow, instrument integration, electronic lab notebook or 21 CFR Part 11 audit trail, so a lab moving toward regulated work will need a second system.
  • Prices are billed annually, so the USD 250 Industry plan is a USD 3,000 upfront commitment for a five-person team, which is significant for an early-stage company.
  • Supplier catalogue coverage and pricing accuracy vary by region, and labs outside the United States frequently find their usual distributors missing or their contract pricing not reflected.

Pricing, plan by plan

Lightspeed Retail

$89/month
  • Basic$89/month
    • Retail POS platform
    • Integrated payments at 1.5% card-present rate
    • Inventory management
  • Core$149/month
    • All Basic features
    • Advanced management tools
    • 1 register included
  • Plus$289/month
    • All Core features
    • Advanced customization
    • Scalability for established operations

Quartzy

$50/month
  • Academia$50/month
    • Billed annually
    • Up to 3 users
    • Inventory tracking and request workflow
  • Industry$250/month
    • Billed annually
    • Up to 5 users
    • Everything in Academia
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Quoted pricing
    • Unlimited users
    • PunchOut integration with institutional procurement

Which should you pick?

Choose Lightspeed Retail if

  • You need point of sale.
  • You work on Web, iPad, Cloud-based.
  • You also want inventory management.
Lightspeed Retail review

Choose Quartzy if

  • You need inventory tracking.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want request and approval.
Quartzy review

Questions people ask

Is Lightspeed Retail or Quartzy better?
Neither clearly leads. Lightspeed Retail starts at $89/month and Quartzy at $50/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Lightspeed Retail or Quartzy?
Lightspeed Retail starts at $89/month and Quartzy at $50/month.
Does Lightspeed Retail or Quartzy run on more platforms?
Lightspeed Retail runs on Web, iPad, Cloud-based. Quartzy runs on Web, iOS, Android.
What is Lightspeed Retail best used for?
Lightspeed Retail is most often used for tracking 10,000+ skus across multiple sales channels, reconciling payments across terminals in under 10 minutes, selling across in-person, online, and social simultaneously, accessing real-time inventory demand forecasting. Of those, tracking 10,000+ skus across multiple sales channels and reconciling payments across terminals in under 10 minutes are not what Quartzy is typically brought in for.
What can Lightspeed Retail do that Quartzy cannot?
Lightspeed Retail covers Point of sale, Inventory management, Customer management, Omnichannel selling. Quartzy covers Inventory tracking, Request and approval, Quartzy Shop, Order tracking.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Lightspeed Retail: How much does Lightspeed Retail POS cost?

Pricing starts at $89 per month for the Basic plan, $149 for Core, and $289 for Plus, with each plan including 1 register.

Source
Quartzy: How much does Quartzy cost?

USD 50 per month billed annually for up to three users on Academia, USD 250 per month for up to five users on Industry, and quoted pricing for unlimited users on Enterprise.

Lightspeed Retail: Can I get a discount for annual billing?

Annual billing provides savings up to 18% compared to monthly billing across all Lightspeed Retail tiers.

Source
Quartzy: Do I have to buy supplies through Quartzy?

No, you can record orders placed elsewhere. But the Shop is how Quartzy earns beyond the subscription, and supplier credits are tied to it.

Lightspeed Retail: What payment processing fees does Lightspeed Retail charge?

Integrated payment processing charges a card-present rate of 1.5% on all plans.

Source
Quartzy: Is Quartzy a LIMS?

No. It handles inventory and purchasing. It does not do sample workflow, instrument data or regulated electronic records.

Lightspeed Retail: Do I need to pay extra for additional registers?

Yes, each base plan includes 1 register. Additional registers require per-register fees on top of the monthly plan cost.

Source
Quartzy: What happens when we exceed the user limit?

You move to Enterprise, which is quoted rather than listed, so budget for a step change rather than an extra seat charge.

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