Lightspeed Review Australia 2026

POS Systems
4.0 / 5SoftwareHQ editorial score

Editorial score, not a user-review average. How we score · How we test

Editorial verdict

Best POS for Complex Retail Inventory & Multi-Location Businesses

Lightspeed is still the inventory-heavy retail POS and the table-service hospitality POS in this set, at retail from $129/month ex GST and hospitality from $79/month — not $40 and not $89. Payments are 1.5% card-present on the retail table. Hosting is not AU-sovereign on the privacy policy. Worth it when Square/Zeller inventory or restaurant workflows are too thin; too expensive for a single-register stall.

Best for
Established retail or hospitality businesses with complex inventory, multiple locations, or omnichannel selling needs that have outgrown simpler POS systems.
Not ideal for
Budget-conscious single-register operators, market stalls, or micro businesses — Square or Zeller offer better value for simple setups.
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Pricing verified 8 Sep 2026 · Hosting verified 8 Sep 2026

By SoftwareHQ Editorial Team — Updated

Overview

Lightspeed is full-featured pos for retail and hospitality. Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Montreal, Canada, it serves Australian businesses.

Feature highlights

These highlights come from vendor documentation and editorial analysis of public sources. They are not firsthand test results or a claim that every listed capability was exercised in a trial.

  • Advanced Inventory Management

    Retail plans include inventory, variants and supplier catalogues. Core/Plus add loyalty and advanced inventory reports; Plus adds forecasting. Hospitality inventory is +$99/month on Starter, included from Essential. 8M+ catalogue figure is prior marketing, not re-counted.

  • Omnichannel Selling

    Built-in e-commerce included on all retail plans, syncing in-store and online inventory, orders, and customer data in real time. Supports Shopify integration for existing online stores.

  • Integrated Payments

    Retail table: 1.5% card-present. Lightspeed Payments is available for Restaurant in Australia on current support articles. Surcharging in-product is scheduled off from 1 Oct 2026.

  • Dual Retail & Hospitality POS

    Retail X-Series and Restaurant O-Series are separate products and price lists. Do not mix a $129 retail Basic with a $79 hospitality Starter as if they were one SKU.

  • 40+ Customisable Reports

    Real-time reporting and analytics covering sales, inventory, staff performance, and forecasting. Available anywhere via cloud access, with advanced reporting and custom dashboards on higher plans.

  • Employee Management & Permissions

    Role-based access controls with secure PIN logins, performance tracking per staff member, time tracking, and transaction accountability — helping reduce shrinkage and improve team management.

AU Compliance Scores

These scores apply to Australian tax, payroll and banking capabilities where they are relevant to Lightspeed. They are SoftwareHQ editorial judgements from public documentation, not firsthand product tests.

Not applicable means this product type is not scored on that dimension (for example BAS lodgement on a CRM). Not supported means the vendor does not offer it. Unknown means we could not verify it from public sources — that is not the same as unsupported.

BAS LodgementNot applicable

POS. Accounting integration is listed; BAS lodgement is in Xero/MYOB, not Lightspeed.

STP Phase 2Not applicable
Payday SuperNot applicable
Modern AwardsNot applicable
GST Handling
3/5Verified

GST on receipts/invoices via POS tax settings; accounting integration syncs tax data. Not in-product ATO lodgement. Card surcharging in Lightspeed software is scheduled to be disabled for all card types from 1 Oct 2026 (RBA reform page).

Bank FeedsNot applicable

Not a bank-feeds product.

When this was checked

Status as of (page snapshot) against a 90-day review target. Checked dates are not updated when the site is rebuilt.

Editorial article date: . That is not proof that pricing, hosting, or compliance was re-checked.

  • PricingVerified

    Verified — checked 8 September 2026.

    lightspeedhq.com/pos/retail

    AUD monthly, GST exclusive (payments agreement). Retail $129/$229/$329. Hospitality Starter $79 / Essential $179 / Premium $359. Card-present 1.5% on retail table. Extra hospitality register $39. Stored $40/$120/$220/$340 hospitality SKUs not on the table.

  • HostingVerified

    Verified — checked 8 September 2026.

    lightspeedhq.com/privacy-policy

    Privacy policy 8 Jul 2026: may store data outside the country of collection, including US and Canada. Not an AU region claim. PCI via payment providers; NuORDER SOC 2 on archived security page.

  • GST handlingVerified

    Verified — checked 8 September 2026.

    lightspeedhq.com/pos/retail

    Accounting integrations listed; tax data can sync. Not ATO BAS lodgement. Surcharge disable 1 Oct 2026 on vendor RBA page.

Pricing (AUD)

All prices below are in Australian dollars and exclude GST. Verified — checked 8 September 2026. Source: lightspeedhq.com/pos/retail.

Retail Basic
$129/mo
AUD ex GST
lightspeedhq.com/au/pos/retail/pricing/ (8 Sep 2026): $129 AUD/mo, 1 register. Inventory, integrated payments, supplier catalogues, basic e-commerce. No in-store/online loyalty or advanced reports. Card-present 1.5%. GST exclusive per payments agreement. Prices can vary by business.
  • Registers: 1
  • Locations: 1
  • Ecommerce: Yes
  • Loyalty: No
Most Popular
Retail Core
$229/mo
AUD ex GST
$229 AUD/mo. Adds loyalty, advanced sales/staff/inventory reports, accounting/ecommerce/marketing integrations, mobile scanner apps, landed costs.
  • Registers: 1
  • Locations: 1
  • Ecommerce: Yes
  • Loyalty: Yes
Retail Plus
$329/mo
AUD ex GST
$329 AUD/mo. Adds custom reporting, integrated forecasting, API, workflows, custom user roles. Serialisation and work orders are extra.
  • Registers: 1
  • Locations: 1
  • Ecommerce: Yes
  • Loyalty: Yes
  • Advanced Reporting: Yes
Hospitality Starter
$79/mo
AUD ex GST
lightspeedhq.com/au/pos/restaurant/pricing/ (8 Sep 2026): $79/mo ($3/day). Offline mode, restaurant/takeaway workflows, integrated payments, bill splitting, pay at table. Order Anywhere +$59. Inventory add-on +$99. Extra register +$39. Replaces stored Hospitality Basic $40.
  • Registers: 1
Hospitality Essential
$179/mo
AUD ex GST
$179/mo ($6/day). Adds Order Anywhere, Lightspeed Inventory, Tasks, Tempo, multi-location. Extra register +$39.
  • Registers: 1
Hospitality Premium
$359/mo
AUD ex GST
$359/mo ($12/day). Adds multi-revenue centre and raw API. Extra register +$39. Replaces stored Growth $220 / Pro $340 (Pro had been listed with 5 registers).
  • Registers: 1

Estimate first-year cost for Lightspeed

Observed price changes

Recorded when a listed price changed. This is not a complete vendor timeline.

  1. Hospitality public table is now Starter $79 / Essential $179 / Premium $359 (stored Basic $40 / Plus $120 / Growth $220 / Pro $340). Retail Basic/Core/Plus $129/$229/$329 unchanged on the table.
  2. Hospitality Starter · $40 → $79 · Hospitality public table is Starter $79 / Essential $179 / Premium $359 (stored Basic $40 / Plus $120 / Growth $220 / Pro $340). Retail $129/$229/$329 unchanged on the table.

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Retail inventory (variants, POs, catalogues, e-commerce) on every retail plan
  • Hospitality offline mode listed on Starter, Essential and Premium
  • 1.5% card-present on the AU retail payments row
  • 24/7 chat and phone listed on the retail pricing table
  • Accounting integrations listed for Xero/MYOB tax sync
  • Separate retail and restaurant products instead of a generic till

Cons

  • Retail from $129/month ex GST — not a free POS
  • Hospitality public plans now start at $79, not the stored $40 Basic
  • Privacy policy allows US/Canada (and other) storage — not AU-hosted
  • Extra hospitality register $39/month; hardware is extra
  • Restaurant inventory is an add-on on Starter (+$99)
  • Card surcharging in the software ends 1 October 2026 under RBA reforms

How this review was made

Reviews separate vendor documentation, editorial analysis and firsthand records. They are not interchangeable.

  • Vendor documentation — Public pages from Lightspeed and other sites. Recorded HTTP(S) URLs are listed under Sources. A source URL is a document we recorded, not a claim that every sentence on this page was checked against that URL.
  • Editorial analysis — SoftwareHQ's written verdict and scores for Australian buyers. The header score is an editorial assessment, not a user-review average, not a lab result, and not a number derived from how many evidence records exist.
  • Firsthand records — This review has no firsthand observation records, trial walkthroughs, or screenshots from a logged-in SoftwareHQ account. Missing tests stay not tested.

This page does not rank products by speed or security from documentation or from evidence count.

Checked by SoftwareHQ Editorial Team. There is no named author profile for this page; attribution stays with the SoftwareHQ editorial team. How we test and the editorial policy for scoring, independence and affiliate rules.

Sources

Public pages recorded when this review was compiled. They are not a checklist that every claim was verified, and they are not evidence of hands-on product testing.

Lightspeed Alternatives

If Lightspeed doesn’t quite fit your needs, consider these alternatives for Australian businesses:

  • Square — Free POS software with affordable card payments. Free plan available.
  • Zeller — AU-made EFTPOS and POS in one device. Free plan available.
  • Shopify POS — Omnichannel POS for retailers who sell online and in-store. From $56/mo ex GST.

Related Comparisons

Head to Head
Square vs Lightspeed 2026
Square's $0 POS software and 1.6% card-present rate (new accounts) remain the easy entry; hardware s...
Head to Head
Lightspeed vs Zeller 2026
Lightspeed retail is $129–$329/month ex GST with 1.5% card-present; hospitality starts at Starter $7...

Migration Guides

Step-by-step switching guides involving Lightspeed for Australian businesses.

Hard
How to Switch Your POS System
4-8 hours · 10 steps
Moderate
How to Migrate from Lightspeed to Square
3-5 hours · 8 steps

Related Compliance Guides

Guide
BAS Lodgement Guide for Australian Businesses
Business Activity Statements must be lodged quarterly or monthly with the ATO, reporting GST, PAYG i...
Guide
GST Registration Guide for Australian Businesses
Australian businesses must register for GST once their annual turnover reaches or is expected to rea...
Guide
Tax Invoice Requirements in Australia — What You Must Include
Australian businesses registered for GST must issue tax invoices for taxable sales of $82.50 or more...

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Lightspeed POS cost in Australia?
Retail (8 Sep 2026): Basic $129, Core $229, Plus $329 AUD/month, one register included. Hospitality: Starter $79, Essential $179, Premium $359 per month. Extra hospitality registers $39/month. Hardware is extra. GST exclusive on the payments agreement. Vendor note: prices can vary by business.
What are Lightspeed's card transaction fees in Australia?
Retail pricing table: Lightspeed Payments card-present 1.5% on Basic, Core and Plus. No monthly terminal rental on that table. Automatic card surcharging is still described in older copy; Lightspeed's RBA page says surcharging will be disabled in the software for all card types from 1 October 2026.
Does Lightspeed work with Xero and MYOB?
The retail feature grid lists accounting integrations. That syncs sales/payments/tax into Xero or MYOB — it is not Lightspeed lodging BAS with the ATO.
Can I use Lightspeed for both retail and hospitality?
Lightspeed offers separate POS products optimised for retail and hospitality. Retail includes advanced inventory, e-commerce, and catalogue management. Hospitality includes table management, recipe costing, delivery orders, and kitchen display integration. Both share integrated payments and reporting.
Does Lightspeed offer a free trial?
Trial-account help articles still exist, and older AU marketing offered a 14-day trial with no credit card. The 2026 retail and hospitality pricing tables opened this check do not print a trial length. Treat 14 days as vendor trial-account practice, not a guarantee on those tables.
Is Lightspeed suitable for small single-location businesses?
Retail from $129/month ex GST is usually more than Square's $0 software or Zeller's $0 monthly. Hospitality Starter is $79/month. Better fit when you need retail inventory depth or restaurant workflows (offline mode, coursing, KDS add-on).

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