Cheaper Alternatives to EPOS Now for UK Pubs

Last updated: 6 April 2026

EPOS Now isn’t broken—but for a growing number of independent pub landlords, it’s become unnecessarily expensive. You’re paying £50–£150 per month for features you don’t use, tied into contracts that feel inflexible, and left wondering if there’s something simpler out there that does the job for half the cost.

I’ve spent 15 years running The Teal Farm and watching other landlords wrestle with point-of-sale systems that promise everything but deliver complexity. The truth is this: the right POS system for your pub isn’t always the market leader. It’s the one that matches your specific operation, your budget, and your need for real control over your numbers.

In this article, I’m going to walk you through the genuine alternatives to EPOS Now—what they cost, what they actually do well, and whether they’re worth switching to. More importantly, I’ll show you how to avoid picking the wrong system and wasting another year trapped in a contract that doesn’t serve your business.

Why Landlords Are Looking for EPOS Now Alternatives

EPOS Now has spent two decades positioning itself as the “safe choice” for hospitality. It works. The terminals don’t crash. The support team picks up the phone. For large estates with 50+ locations and a procurement team, that reliability justifies the cost.

But for a single pub or a three-site operation, EPOS Now often feels like overkill. You’re paying enterprise prices for features designed around logistics that don’t apply to you. You’re locked into monthly contracts that feel difficult to exit. And most importantly, you’re not getting better control over your finances—you’re just paying more for the same basic reporting everyone else gets.

I’ve talked to dozens of pub landlords who switched away from EPOS Now in the last 18 months. The pattern is always the same: the system wasn’t bad, but there was something cheaper that did 85% of what they actually needed, and the money saved per year (often £500–£1,200) went straight into operational improvements or staffing.

Here’s the real issue: most pub owners don’t know what questions to ask when evaluating a POS system. They assume you need what the market leader offers. You don’t. You need transaction processing, sales reporting, basic inventory tracking, and staff accountability. Beyond that, most features are noise.

The Real Cost of EPOS Now (What They Don’t Tell You)

When you call EPOS Now for a quote, you get a headline number. “£79 per month” sounds reasonable. Then the actual invoice arrives with terminal rental (£25–£40), payment processing fees (1.5–2%), integration setup (£200–£500), and training (£150–£300). Suddenly you’re at £120 monthly plus setup costs.

Over three years, the typical EPOS Now installation at an independent pub costs between £4,800 and £6,500. That’s not including change fees, feature upgrades, or what happens if you want to switch systems before your contract ends.

The cost model is built around making it expensive to leave. Your data is locked into their system. Exporting transaction history takes weeks. Moving payment processing means updating your merchant account with the new provider. The friction is deliberate.

For comparison, here’s what you’d pay with the alternatives I’ll cover in this article:

• Square: £0–£49 monthly + 1.99% per transaction. Total over 3 years: £1,800–£2,200
• Lightspeed: £60–£100 monthly + payment fees. Total over 3 years: £2,160–£3,600
• Toast: £70–£120 monthly + payment processing. Total over 3 years: £2,520–£4,320

The difference compounds. At The Teal Farm, switching from a larger system to something right-sized saved us £140 per month—£1,680 per year. That’s money directly into the bottom line or back into the business.

Square POS: The Simplest Alternative

Square is the cheapest entry point and the one most independent UK pub owners should seriously consider. It does one thing exceptionally well: process payments and give you a clear sales record.

What Square Does Well

Square’s pricing is transparent. You pay nothing for the software. You pay 1.99% per contactless card transaction (or 2.5% for online). There are no monthly subscription fees, no hidden integrations, no terminal rental charges. The business model is completely different from EPOS Now: they make money when you sell something, not when you sit there doing nothing.

The dashboard shows you sales by hour, by staff member, by category. You can see which products moved and which sat on the shelf. The reporting is clean and exportable. Square is particularly strong for independent pubs because it doesn’t force you into reporting structures designed for chains.

Setup takes 20 minutes. You link a bank account, add your products, and start selling. There’s no “we need to send an engineer” or “training is Tuesday.” The hardware is cheap (a card reader costs £19, a complete till setup is under £200). If you need to upgrade, you buy the hardware and move on.

Where Square Falls Short

Square’s inventory management is basic. If you’re doing serious stock tracking, counting bottles, and monitoring wastage, you’ll outgrow it. The labor reporting is thin—you can see which staff member processed a transaction, but you don’t get detailed shift costing or break analysis.

Integrations exist, but they’re not as seamless as EPOS Now. Connecting Square to an accounting system or a loyalty app requires a bit more manual work. For a straightforward pub operation, this is fine. For a complex multi-site business with external inventory software, you’ll feel the friction.

The core issue with Square is this: it’s built for retail and cafes, not specifically for hospitality. That’s not a dealbreaker, but it means you’re leaving some specificity on the table.

Square Pricing Breakdown

• Software: Free
• Card processing: 1.99% contactless, 2.5% online
• Hardware: £19–£200 depending on setup
• Total monthly cost for average pub: £15–£49 (depending on transaction volume)

Lightspeed: The Mid-Market Choice

Lightspeed is what EPOS Now would be if it was built for smaller operators instead of large chains. It’s more expensive than Square but significantly cheaper than EPOS Now, and it includes reporting features that actually matter for pub operations.

What Lightspeed Does Better Than Square

Lightspeed’s inventory system is built for hospitality. You can track individual bottle stock, set par levels, and get alerts when inventory drops. The labor reporting shows you shift costs, break analysis, and staff productivity metrics. The dashboard gives you more actionable insights than Square’s basic sales view.

Integrations are cleaner. Lightspeed connects to most accounting software natively. Payment processing is integrated directly—you’re not linking separate systems. For pubs with more complex operations, Lightspeed hits a sweet spot between simplicity and functionality.

The support is responsive. You’re not calling an 0800 number and waiting in a queue—Lightspeed’s team answers quickly, and they understand pub operations.

Where Lightspeed Costs More Than Square

You pay a monthly subscription (£60–£100 depending on tier). You also pay payment processing fees on top. There’s a learning curve steeper than Square, but not as steep as full enterprise systems. If you’re not comfortable with software, you might need support, which costs money.

Lightspeed’s reporting is strong, but it’s not customizable to the degree that some operators want. You get the reports they’ve built; building custom reports requires exporting data and using spreadsheets (which defeats some of the purpose).

Lightspeed Pricing Breakdown

• Software: £60–£100 monthly depending on features
• Payment processing: 1.5–2% per transaction
• Hardware: typically included or heavily discounted
• Total monthly cost for average pub: £85–£150

Toast: Advanced Features Without the Enterprise Price Tag

Toast is the system I’d recommend to pub owners who want serious reporting and don’t mind paying a bit more for it. It’s cloud-based, which means your data lives online and you can access it from anywhere. No server in the back office. No worrying about losing transaction history.

What Makes Toast Different

Toast was built specifically for restaurants and bars. The reporting is hospitalality-first. You get drink profitability by brand, glass size, and recipe. You can track waste by product and see exactly where money is leaking. Labor reporting shows you cost-per-cover and hours-per-shift analysis that actually matches how pub operations work.

Integration with external tools is strong. Toast connects to accounting software, delivery platforms, loyalty systems, and third-party inventory apps. If you’re running a complex operation with multiple integrations, Toast handles it smoothly.

The most valuable feature for independent pub owners is Toast’s ability to show you real cost of goods sold (COGS) by drink category. You can see that your spirits margin is stronger than beer, or that wine is dragging down profitability. That visibility alone pays for the system for many operators.

The Toast Tradeoff: Cost vs. Complexity

Toast costs more than Lightspeed and significantly more than Square. You’re looking at £70–£120 monthly plus payment fees plus hardware. For a pub with £8,000+ weekly turnover, that’s justified. For a quiet pub doing £2,500 weekly, it feels expensive.

Toast also requires more setup than Square. You need to configure recipes, cost out your drinks, set up your menu structure. It’s not a 20-minute setup. It’s 2–4 hours if you’re doing it yourself, or £300–£600 if you hire Toast to do it.

The learning curve is real. Your staff needs training. If you’re switching from EPOS Now, there’s data migration work. It’s not difficult, but it’s not plug-and-play either.

Toast Pricing Breakdown

• Software: £70–£120 monthly depending on features
• Payment processing: 1.5–2% per transaction
• Setup and training: £200–£600
• Total monthly cost for average pub: £100–£160

Smaller Systems Worth Considering in 2026

Not every alternative is a household name. There are several smaller, UK-focused systems that serve pubs well and often cost less than the big three.

RMS Hospitality (formerly Tillpoint)

RMS is built specifically for UK hospitality. It’s less polished than EPOS Now but more tailored to how pubs actually work. Pricing is typically £40–£80 monthly. Support is good because they understand the industry. The main weakness is that it’s desktop-based (not cloud), which means you’re dependent on a server in the back office.

iVend

iVend is another UK-focused system with competitive pricing (£50–£100 monthly). It’s stronger on retail than hospitality, so if you’re selling groceries or merchandise alongside drinks, it’s worth looking at. For pure pub operations, it’s functional but not tailored.

Epos Touch

Epos Touch is the budget option (£30–£60 monthly) and it shows in the interface. The reporting is basic. The integrations are limited. But if you’re a small operation that just needs sales tracking and staff accountability, it works.

The rule for these smaller systems is simple: they’re cheaper because they do less, and they do less because they’re not built for complex operations. If your pub is straightforward—a single location, standard menu, no complex inventory tracking—they’re adequate. If you’re managing labor costs closely or running detailed profitability analysis, stick with Square, Lightspeed, or Toast.

How to Choose the Right Alternative for Your Pub

Picking a POS system is actually simpler than most operators think, once you separate signal from noise. Here’s the framework I use:

Step 1: Understand Your Real Reporting Needs

Sit down and ask: what numbers do I actually need to see weekly? For most independent pub owners, the answer is three things: (1) sales by category (spirits, beer, food, etc.), (2) labor cost as a percentage of sales, and (3) which staff member processed which sale (for accountability).

If that’s your list, Square or Epos Touch covers it. If you also need inventory tracking by bottle, COGS analysis, or recipe costing, jump to Lightspeed or Toast. If you need multi-site consolidation or complex integrations, stick with EPOS Now or Toast.

Step 2: Calculate Your True Monthly Spend

Call three providers and ask for a real quote. Include subscription, payment processing (estimate 1.8% of your average weekly sales), terminal rental, and any setup costs. Don’t accept “starting at £49″—get your actual number.

Then compare year-on-year cost. A system that costs £50 monthly is £600 per year. A system that costs £120 monthly is £1,440 per year. Over three years, that’s £2,160 difference. If the cheaper system covers 85% of what you need, that’s money in the bank.

Step 3: Assess Integration Requirements

How many external systems do you already use? If you’re using Pub Command Centre for financial management and labor tracking, you need a POS that can export clean sales data and link with your accounting software. If you’re using an external loyalty platform, your POS needs to integrate.

Systems that integrate cleanly cost less to run because you’re not manually moving data between systems. A POS that exports directly to your accounting software saves you 5–10 hours per month of manual reconciliation. Over a year, that’s worth £1,000–£2,000 in saved admin time.

Step 4: Test Before You Switch

Most providers offer 30-day free trials. Use them. Process actual sales. Run a shift. Generate the reports you need. Don’t just look at the demo—actually use the system under real conditions. This is the only way to know if it fits your operation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Verdict: Which Alternative Is Right for Your Pub?

There’s no universally “best” EPOS Now alternative. The right choice depends entirely on your operation.

Choose Square if: You’re a straightforward single-location pub, you don’t need advanced inventory tracking, and you want the lowest possible monthly cost. You’re comfortable with basic reporting and manual data export.

Choose Lightspeed if: You need inventory management and labor reporting but don’t want to pay enterprise prices. You’re happy with a mid-range solution that does most things well but doesn’t specialize in any particular area.

Choose Toast if: You want the strongest financial reporting and cost-of-goods-sold analysis. You’re willing to invest time in setup and training. Your pub does enough volume to justify the higher monthly cost.

Stay with EPOS Now if: You’re managing multiple locations that all need to report centrally, or you have complex integrations that only EPOS Now supports cleanly. For a single independent pub, it’s usually overkill.

The biggest mistake I see is operators staying with an expensive system because “that’s what we’ve always used.” Every penny you save on POS costs is money that can go into improving your pub—better staff, better stock selection, better marketing. Your choice here directly impacts your profitability.

Most independent pubs can reduce POS costs by 30–50% simply by switching to a system built for their actual size, not enterprise chains. That’s £500–£1,200 annually that goes straight to your bottom line.

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