Lightspeed
- Lightspeed is a POS and e-commerce platform for retailers and restaurants that need deep inventory. Matrix variants, purchase orders, vendor management, serialised tracking. Square and Clover can't match it.
- The card-present rate is 2.6% + 10c VENDOR, shown identically on all three retail plans, US region, USD. The bare "1.5%" that turns up for Lightspeed isn't a Lightspeed figure. It appears nowhere on the pricing page.
- Chargeback fee is $15 VENDOR. Lightspeed's wording implies that's the whole dispute cost, with no separate representment fee. Set that against Stripe's $15 plus $15.
- Software plans are published for both product lines. Retail $89 / $149 / $289, restaurant $69 / $189 / $399.
- The online, keyed and card-not-present rates are genuinely NOT PUBLISHED. So is the restaurant processing rate. Those are the gaps to close in writing before signing.
- Lightspeed's own filing shows a blended take of about 1.90% of processed volume. The US list price is 2.6% + 10c. So there's headroom below list, and Lightspeed invites negotiation on its own payments page.
Lightspeed sits between Square and enterprise retail systems, on both complexity and capability. Square is simpler and cheaper. Inventory depth is the reason to pick Lightspeed. Its card-present rate is published. Its online rate isn't.
The string "1.5" appears nowhere on Lightspeed's pricing page. Not a partial rate. Not a promotional rate. Not one component of a rate. Don't reproduce it, not even as a thing to be sceptical of.
The real rate is 2.6% + 10c, from lightspeedhq.com/pos/retail/pricing/, US region, USD, on 2 August 2026. It sits alongside Square and Clover. And it clears interchange comfortably, which a 1.5% card-present rate couldn't. That's the tell.
One genuine absence. The restaurant pricing page publishes plan prices and no processing rate. That's a product-line difference, not a page hiding something.
When to Use Lightspeed
You should use Lightspeed if:
- You run a retail store with complex inventory: apparel with sizes and colours, sporting goods, home decor.
- You need purchase orders, vendor management, and reorder points inside the POS.
- You operate multiple retail locations and need centralised inventory.
- You want integrated e-commerce synced with in-store stock.
- You've outgrown Square's inventory management.
Skip Lightspeed if:
- You're a simple operation under about 100 SKUs. Square is cheaper and easier.
- You're online-first. Shopify is better for pure e-commerce.
- You just need payment processing without a POS. Stripe or Helcim is simpler and both publish their rates.
- You sell online. Lightspeed publishes no online, keyed or card-not-present rate at all, so you can't cost that half of the business before committing.
- You run a restaurant and want the deepest food-service features. Toast is more specialised.
Pricing Breakdown
Processing Rates VENDOR
| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Card-present, retail (X-Series) | 2.6% + 10c, shown identically on Basic, Core and Plus |
| Chargeback fee | $15, stated twice on the payments page |
| Rate consistency | Lightspeed's own wording: "the rate is always the same no matter what card your customer chooses to pay with" |
Source: lightspeedhq.com/pos/retail/pricing/ and lightspeedhq.com/payments/, US region, USD, accessed 2 August 2026.
On the chargeback fee, Lightspeed's exact words are worth quoting. The phrasing carries information. "The only thing you can expect is a $15 chargeback fee" and "You will be charged a single $15 fee and we will fight tooth and nail to dispute the claim on your behalf."
"A single $15 fee" implies no separate representment or defence charge. Set against Stripe's $15 to receive plus $15 to counter, that's a real difference on a dispute-prone book. It comes from a marketing FAQ rather than a fee schedule, so confirm it in writing.
Software Plans VENDOR
Retail (X-Series):
| Plan | Monthly | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $89 | POS, basic inventory, basic reporting. Includes 1 register |
| Core | $149 | Advanced inventory, e-commerce, accounting integration. Includes 1 register |
| Plus | $289 | Advanced reporting, loyalty, omnichannel. Includes 1 register |
Lightspeed's own note on that page: "these prices reflect Lightspeed Retail (X-Series). Prices can vary and additional service fees may apply."
Restaurant:
| Plan | Monthly |
|---|---|
| Starter | $69 |
| Essential | $189 |
| Premium | $399 |
| Enterprise | Custom |
| Kitchen Display System | $30 per screen per month |
Annualised, retail runs $1,068, $1,788 and $3,468 a year in software, before you process a single dollar. Square's Free plan is $0 a year for the equivalent basic function. So Lightspeed's software cost is the entry fee for inventory depth. No matrix inventory, no purchase orders, no serialised tracking? Then you're paying for capability you won't use.
What's Still NOT PUBLISHED
| Item | Status |
|---|---|
| Online / card-not-present rate | Absent from the retail, restaurant, payments and general pricing pages alike. The biggest gap for any merchant selling online |
| Keyed-in rate | Same. Not published |
| Restaurant processing rate | Published for retail, absent from the restaurant pricing page. A genuine product-line difference |
| Instant payout | Not published |
| Third-party processor surcharge | Lightspeed steers merchants to Lightspeed Payments, but no amount is published. A "$400 a month" figure gets quoted for it. It verifies nowhere and shouldn't be reused |
| Contract length and early termination fee | Not published anywhere |
| Hardware prices | Not published |
| Volume floor | Not published |
What to Ask For, In Writing
Lightspeed invites negotiation on its own payments page, listing "Negotiate a competitive rate" as a bullet. Treat 2.6% + 10c as an anchor and work down.
- "What are the online, keyed and card-not-present rates, with the per-transaction fee?" Published nowhere. It's the single biggest gap if you sell online.
- "Can you do better than 2.6% + 10c card-present?" Lightspeed's own Q1 FY2027 filing shows a blended take of about 1.90% of processed volume. There's demonstrable headroom below list. See the take rate note below.
- "Is the $15 chargeback fee the only dispute cost, with no separate representment or defence fee?".
- "What is the contract term, the billing frequency, and the early termination fee?" None of the three is published. A monthly-quoted plan usually implies an annual-versus-monthly billing choice, and Lightspeed doesn't disclose one.
- "What does the hardware cost, and is it bought or financed?" This matters more than usual. Lightspeed states existing terminals can't be reused, "as these have not been injected with the certified firmware".
- "What is the processing rate for the restaurant product specifically?" It's published for retail and not for restaurants.
- "If I use a third-party processor instead of Lightspeed Payments, what does that cost me per month or per transaction?".
Get all seven in writing. Then run the comparison below.
The Take-Rate Gap Is Your Leverage
From Lightspeed Commerce's Q1 FY2027 earnings release, Form 6-K filed 2026-07-30, quarter ended 30 June 2026, reported in USD under IFRS VENDOR:
| Input | Q1 FY2027 |
|---|---|
| Gross transaction volume | $25.7 billion |
| Gross payment volume | $11.3 billion (44% of GTV) |
| Transaction-based revenue | $214.5 million |
| Subscription revenue | $95.4 million |
| Customer locations | about 146,000 |
DERIVED: transaction revenue over GPV is a blended gross take of about 1.90%.
That's well below the 2.6% + 10c US list price. The gap is informative rather than contradictory. Three reasons it's lower. Transaction-based revenue includes merchant cash advances and third-party processor referral revenue. Lightspeed's volume is heavily European, where interchange caps make rates structurally far lower. And larger merchants negotiate.
What it tells you: 2.6% + 10c is a list price, not a floor. Lightspeed's average customer pays less. Ask what the rate is at your volume.
What Lightspeed Does Well
1. Advanced Inventory Management
This is the product, and no other SMB POS matches it:
- Matrix inventory: products tracked across multiple variants, size and colour and material, in one view.
- Purchase orders: create POs, track receiving, manage vendor relationships.
- Serialised inventory: individual serial numbers for electronics, luxury goods, firearms.
- Reorder points: automatic low-stock alerts and suggested quantities.
- Multi-location inventory: real-time stock across stores with inter-store transfers.
- Built-in catalogues: pre-loaded SKU databases for certain verticals.
Square's inventory is quantities per item and low-stock alerts. No matrix, no purchase orders, no serial tracking. Managing a size run across four colours in three stores? That gap is the whole decision, and the software fee is worth it.
2. Omnichannel Commerce
Inventory syncs between the online store and physical locations in real time. Buy online and pick up in store, unified customer profiles, one product catalogue across channels.
Against Shopify. Shopify's e-commerce is stronger online, with more themes and a bigger app ecosystem. Lightspeed's in-store POS and inventory are deeper. If more than half your revenue is in-store, Lightspeed is the stronger platform.
3. Reporting
Sell-through by product and category, inventory turnover, margin by product, vendor, or category, employee performance, customer lifetime value, and multi-location comparison. Built for retail operators rather than for generic sales summaries.
4. Vertical Depth
Specialised features for bike shops, sporting goods, apparel, home decor and furniture, and golf. Built-in catalogues, work orders, special orders, and variant handling shaped to those trades.
What Lightspeed Does Poorly
1. You Cannot Price the Online Side
Card-present is published at 2.6% + 10c. Online, keyed and card-not-present are published nowhere. Neither is the restaurant processing rate. For an omnichannel retailer, that's half the cost behind a sales call. And omnichannel retailers are exactly who Lightspeed sells to. Shopify, Square, Stripe, Clover and Helcim all publish an online rate.
2. Expensive Software Floor
$89 to $289 a month, before processing, before hardware, before iPads. If your operation is simple, you're paying for inventory depth you don't need.
3. Complexity
Setup takes days rather than minutes, especially with complex inventory. Staff training is more involved than Square. For a coffee shop or a single-product store it's overkill.
4. Steering to Lightspeed Payments
Lightspeed pushes merchants to its own processing. Is that enforced with a surcharge? How much? Neither could be verified, which is itself a reason to get it in writing. A penalty for using an outside processor removes your ability to shop rates. Shopify's gateway fee does the same thing.
5. E-Commerce Is the Weak Spot
Fewer themes, a smaller app ecosystem, less SEO flexibility, and weaker marketing tooling than Shopify. If online is your primary channel, Shopify wins.
Lightspeed vs Square vs Shopify
All three now publish US card-present rates.
| Factor | Lightspeed | Square | Shopify POS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Card-present rate | 2.6% + 10c (retail) | 2.6% + $0.15 Free, 2.5% + $0.15 Plus, 2.4% + $0.15 Premium | 2.6% + 10c Basic, 2.5% + 10c Grow, 2.4% + 10c Advanced |
| Online rate | Not published | 3.3% + $0.30 Free, 2.9% + $0.30 Plus and Premium | 2.9% + 30c Basic, 2.7% + 30c Grow, 2.5% + 30c Advanced |
| Chargeback fee | $15, stated as a single fee | No per-dispute fee published | Not published |
| Monthly software | $89 to $289 retail, $69 to $399 restaurant | $0 Free, $49 Plus, $149 Premium, per location | $39 to $399, or $29 to $299 billed annually |
| Inventory depth | Advanced: matrix, POs, serial | Basic | Moderate |
| E-commerce | Included, moderate | Square Online, basic | The strongest of the three |
| Multi-location | Strong | Good | Good |
| Can you price it fully? | No. Card-present only | Yes | Yes |
| Best for | Complex retail, 100+ SKUs | Simple retail and services | Online-first with retail attached |
All figures US, USD, verified 2 August 2026 at lightspeedhq.com/pos/retail/pricing, squareup.com/us/en/payments/our-fees and shopify.com/pricing.
Bottom line, now that the card-present rates line up:
- Lightspeed and Shopify Basic charge exactly the same card-present rate, 2.6% + 10c. So on in-person cost, that choice isn't a rate decision. It's a software decision. Lightspeed's $89 against Shopify Basic's $39 monthly is the real difference. Inventory depth is what you're buying with it.
- Square is five cents a transaction more expensive at the same percentage on the Free plan. On 2,000 transactions a month that's $100.
- Lightspeed still wins on inventory depth, and only on inventory depth. Buy it for matrix variants, purchase orders and serialised tracking. The card-present rate is now competitive rather than unknowable. That's a genuine improvement. It still isn't a reason to choose Lightspeed.
- Shopify POS wins when online is your primary channel. It also publishes an online rate where Lightspeed doesn't.
Who Lightspeed Is Best For
Perfect Fit
| Business Type | Why Lightspeed Wins |
|---|---|
| Apparel retailers | Matrix inventory, purchase orders, sell-through reporting |
| Bike and sporting goods shops | Built-in catalogues, work orders, variant tracking |
| Multi-location retail | Centralised inventory, inter-store transfers, location comparison |
| Home decor and furniture | Special orders, custom pricing, delivery management |
| Serialised goods | Electronics, luxury, firearms. Few SMB systems do this properly |
Poor Fit
| Business Type | Better Alternative |
|---|---|
| Simple retail under 100 SKUs | Square |
| Online-first e-commerce | Shopify Payments |
| Coffee shops and cafes | Square. Simpler and cheaper |
| Restaurant-only | Toast |
| Anyone optimising processing cost | Helcim or Stax. Both publish full schedules |
Common Gotchas
1. The Rate You'll See Quoted Is Retail Only
2.6% + 10c is the retail (X-Series) card-present rate. It isn't stated for the restaurant product. And neither product line has a published online rate. If a salesperson quotes 2.6% + 10c for a restaurant or for online volume, get it in writing. Lightspeed doesn't publish it there.
2. Annual Versus Monthly Billing
Published software plan prices commonly assume annual billing. Whether Lightspeed's $89, $149 and $289 do isn't stated. Ask. It changes both your cash flow and your commitment. The page's own caveat is "prices can vary and additional service fees may apply". That's doing a lot of work.
3. iPad Requirement, and Terminals You Cannot Reuse
Lightspeed retail POS runs on iPads, which you buy separately, along with cases and stands. Budget for it as part of hardware, not as an afterthought.
More importantly, Lightspeed states that existing card terminals can't be reused, "as these have not been injected with the certified firmware". So switching to Lightspeed Payments means new terminals, whatever you already own. And Lightspeed publishes no hardware prices. Get that quote before you commit to the software.
4. Feature Gating
E-commerce, loyalty and advanced reporting sit on higher tiers. Work out which features you need before choosing a plan. The gap between Basic and Plus is $200 a month, or $2,400 a year.
5. Migration Complexity
Product variants need mapping, customer data needs CSV formatting, and historical sales don't always transfer. Budget one to two weeks for a proper inventory migration, and more if your variant structure is messy.
Test to Run
Lightspeed evaluation, with the processing gap closed:
Step 1: Confirm you need the inventory depth
- Do you have matrix variants, purchase orders, or serialised stock? If none of the three, Square is cheaper and simpler. You can stop here.
- Count your SKUs. Under about 100, the case for Lightspeed is weak.
Step 2: Get the numbers Lightspeed doesn't publish 3. Ask for all seven items in the written questions above. 4. If you can't get the online rate, you don't have a quote. The card-present rate is published. The online one isn't.
Step 3: Build total monthly cost
Software: $89, $149, or $289
Processing: (volume x effective rate) + (count x per-txn fee)
Hardware: (iPads + terminals + accessories) / 36
Total monthly: _______
Step 4: Benchmark against a published alternative
Square Free, card-present: (volume x 2.6%) + (count x $0.15) + $0 software
Square Plus, card-present: (volume x 2.5%) + (count x $0.15) + subscription
Step 5: Price the inventory features 5. The difference between the two totals is what you're paying for matrix inventory, purchase orders and serialised tracking. 6. Say that difference is $250 a month. Do the inventory features save you $250 a month of staff time and stockouts? For an apparel retailer with a real size run, they usually do. For a gift shop, they usually don't.
Success criteria. You have a written effective rate. You know your total monthly cost. And you can name the specific inventory features that justify the gap over Square.
Where This Breaks
-
You can't price the online side at all. Card-present is published. Online, keyed and card-not-present aren't, on either product line. For an omnichannel retailer that's half the cost behind a sales call.
-
The restaurant product publishes no rate. That's a real product-line difference, not a page that's withholding one.
-
Processor steering may remove your leverage. If there's a penalty for using an outside processor, your rate is fixed for as long as you're on the platform. The amount isn't published.
-
The software floor is high. $1,068 to $3,468 a year retail, before anything else. That only makes sense with the inventory complexity to match.
-
The $15 chargeback fee comes from a marketing FAQ, not a fee schedule. The "a single $15 fee" wording implies no separate representment charge. That would be genuinely good. Confirm it in writing rather than assuming.
-
It's a retail system first. For restaurants, Toast is more specialised and publishes a rate. For online, Shopify is stronger and publishes a rate.
Sources
| Source | What it gave us | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| lightspeedhq.com/pos/retail/pricing/ | The 2.6% + 10c card-present rate and the retail plan prices, US region, USD | Vendor page | Accessed 2026-08-02 |
| lightspeedhq.com/pos/restaurant/pricing/ | Restaurant plan prices and the KDS add-on. Publishes no processing rate, confirmed by pattern-searching the rendered page | Vendor page | Accessed 2026-08-02 |
| lightspeedhq.com/payments/ | The $15 chargeback fee, the rate-consistency statement, the "negotiate a competitive rate" invitation, and the terminal firmware note | Vendor page | Accessed 2026-08-02 |
| Lightspeed Commerce Q1 FY2027 earnings release, Form 6-K | GTV, GPV, transaction and subscription revenue and location count, behind the derived 1.90% blended take rate. Quarter ended 30 June 2026, USD under IFRS | Regulatory filing | Filed 2026-07-30 |
Next Steps
Considering Lightspeed?
- Confirm you actually need matrix inventory, purchase orders, or serialised tracking. That's the entire reason to pay the premium.
- Get all seven written answers, especially the online rate and the restaurant rate.
- Run the total cost comparison against Square's published rates.
- Request a demo. Ask them to demonstrate your specific inventory structure, not a generic one.
Already on Lightspeed?
- Calculate your effective rate: total processing fees divided by total volume, over three months. It's the only reliable way to learn what you're paying.
- Compare it to Square's and Helcim's published rates on the same volume.
- Review your plan tier. Are you using the features that justify the step up?
- Check your card-present rate against the published 2.6% + 10c, and against Lightspeed's own blended 1.90% take. If you're above list, that's a conversation.
- Confirm the $15 chargeback fee is the whole dispute cost, in writing.
See Also
- Square - Simpler and cheaper, with fully published pricing
- Shopify Payments - Better for online-first retail
- Clover - Alternative POS ecosystem, also quote-only
- Helcim - Published interchange-plus, useful as a processing benchmark
- Processor Comparison - Full comparison table