In every industry, ever-increasing competition means that the margins you need to beat to standout can be very slim.
For example, in the restaurant industry, profit margins are typically around 5% pre-tax. And with costs growing worse either by economic failures or political battles, squeezing every opportunity that may up those margins is mandatory.
This is where Point-of-sale systems come in. Specifically, the best iPad POS systems in 2025.
That’s right, traditional POS systems have several pitfalls that may not suit your business relative to iPad POS systems. One thing the latter has going for it, for example, is that some claim that restaurants that use their mobile ordering and payment system get a 9% revenue boost. And that’s just one of the features accessible to you if you select the best iPad POS system.
But how do you decide which is the best iPad POS system in 2025?
In this article, we will compare five of them and actually give the verdict on which is the best (unlike most reviews).
| Pricing | Payment Options | Analytics | Retail Capabilities | Restaurant Capabilities | Omnichannel Capabilities | Software Integrations | Offline Mode | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aireus | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.5 | 5.0 | 4.8 |
| Toast | 4.0 | 5.0 | 4.5 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.9 |
| Square | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.5 | 5.0 | 4.5 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.75 |
| LightSpeed | 3.5 | 4.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 4.3 |
| Clover | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 4.5 | 3.5 | 3.7 |
Aireus seems to be the winner (and is our winner), but what you really want to know is, “what is the best ipad POS system for me?”
So let’s see if the numbers tell the full story for what you’re looking for in a POS system.
How to Choose The Best iPad POS System Before Buying
There’s a bunch of features that are absolutely necessary if you want your business to make those profit margins. And it’s these 10 features we considered when deciding on our best ipad pos system for 2025.
1. Pricing & Cost Structure
This includes monthly subscription fees, payment processing rates (per transaction costs), hardware costs (iPads, stands, printers, card readers), and any setup or hidden fees. Value for money is a critical ranking factor.
The Aireus system stands out here for its flexibility in granting lease options, considerations for when you switch POS systems, and a tidy little calculator so you can see just how much you’re about to pay. Square also stands out for having a free version albeit with limited capabilities.
2. Ease of Use
It really matters how intuitive and user-friendly the interface is for cashiers, servers, and managers. This impacts training time and operational efficiency, especially in fast-paced environments like restaurants.
Here, Clover definitely ranks high in its ease of use. Aireus’ smart adoption of the simple design ethos their partners, Apple, are known for also places them highly in this category. Coupled with the fact that they offer installation training.
3. Payment Processing
The ability to securely accept various payment types (credit/debit cards, EMV chips, contactless/NFC like Apple Pay/Google Pay, gift cards) saves both time and money, literally.
Integration, speed, and reliability are key. For restaurants for example, features like splitting checks and managing tips are important.
Toast, Square, LightSpeed, Clover and Aireus all offer great payment processing options and features.
4. Inventory Management
Tracking stock levels in real-time, managing variations (size/color), low-stock alerts, purchase order management, and (especially for restaurants) ingredient-level tracking and waste reduction.
LightSpeed, Square, and Aireus have reliable real-time reporting for both the front-end and the back-end of your business.
5. Analytics
Inventory reports are great, but not complete. You see, access to detailed sales reports, data on best-selling items, customer trends, employee performance, food cost (restaurants), and overall business health metrics to inform decision-making come alive when you also have great analytics.
In this category, there is just one winner – Aireus. Their partnership with ChatGPT a system that can distill all that chunky data into actionable prompts. Actionable prompts like recommending a dish to an undecided customer based on history.
All made easy through its POS cloud solution
6. Industry-Specific Features
Ideally, the best ipad POS system for you is the one that serves your industry/niche best. And there are features that indicate what a POS system provider has decided to focus on.
For example:
- For Restaurants: Table management/mapping, order modifiers, coursing, kitchen display system (KDS) integration, online ordering integration, reservation management, employee management (time tracking, shift scheduling, tip pooling). Toast and Aireus provide some of the best iPad POS systems that suit the food service industry.
- For Retail: Barcode scanning, managing product variations, e-commerce integration. Aireus is also ideal for this industry, but you’ll find a lot of retailers who love LightSpeed as well.
That takes us to our next point in the criteria.
7. Scalability
This is the system’s ability to grow with the business, accommodating more locations, employees, transaction volume, or even entirely new businesses without requiring a complete overhaul.
Aireus has several plug-and-play options for different business types like retail, hotel, restaurant. Even something as specific as the pizzeria option.
All that with a multi-unit viewing and control access to any of these businesses or units from one place.
8. Software Integrations:
The best iPad POS system must have the ability to connect the POS with other essential business software, such as accounting platforms (QuickBooks, Xero), e-commerce platforms, online ordering/delivery services (for restaurants), email marketing tools, and employee scheduling software.
Square, Aireus, and LightSpeed have all the integrations you’re going to actually use in a business.
9. Customer Support
Availability (e.g., 24/7), responsiveness, and quality of technical support offered by the POS provider (via phone, email, chat, knowledge base) elevates your user experience.
Lucky for you, all five iPad POS system providers have good customer support.
10. Offline Mode/Reliability
The capability to continue processing payments or recording sales even if the internet connection is temporarily lost will literally save your day.
Aireus smart offline mode is top of the class in this category because you don’t even have to set anything up manually – your automatic syncing with the cloud will make sure that downtime doesn’t affect any processes.
These features collectively determine how well a POS system meets a business’s operational needs, budget, and growth potential, forming the basis for comparison and ranking.
