What each company charges
| Company | Lowest paid plan, a month | Per | Free or trial | Read |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Square for Retail | $109 a month (currency not named) | per location | free plan | 13 Oct 2026 |
| Lightspeed Retail | A$129 a month | per month, 1 register included (yearly or monthly term not stated) | free trial | 13 Oct 2026 |
| Shopify (Shopify POS) | A$42 a month | Basic plan, per month billed yearly ($56 billed monthly); POS Pro adds $129 per location per month | free trial | 13 Oct 2026 |
| Hike POS | A$79 a month | per plan, billed annually, single outlet; 89 if billed monthly | 14 days, no credit card | 13 Oct 2026 |
| Retail Express | A$199 a month | per location | 13 Oct 2026 | |
| Counterpoint (NCR Voyix) | could not read | 13 Oct 2026 |
Each price is from the company's own pricing page on the date shown, in its own currency; we do not convert. A page we could not read is marked could not read, and a page that asks for a quote is marked quote only. Prices can differ by country.
What pushes the price up
- 1 of the 5 we could read offers a free plan, and 4 offer a time-limited trial.
- 1 of the 5 we could read states a setup, hardware or licence cost on top of the monthly price (the notes below say which).
What to know about each price
- Square for Retail: Card processing fees apply on every plan (1.6% per in-person tap or insert, 2.2% online or keyed in), and hardware is ordered separately with no hardware prices on this page.
- Lightspeed Retail: the page does not say whether the AUD prices are the yearly or monthly rate, and extra locations, extra registers and onboarding services are priced separately with no amounts shown.
- Shopify (Shopify POS): The page calls POS Pro, at $129 AUD a month per location billed yearly, the upgrade for retail locations, while casual in-person selling at pop-ups and events is included in every plan.
- Hike POS: Hardware is bought separately, one-off in AUD (Register $1,508, CounterTop $1,109, Handheld $625, HikePay Terminal $366, Reader $114).
- Retail Express: These are starting prices per location, each with one register, and extra registers are AU$19 a month each.
What to look for in bottle shops software
Know what is on the shelf and in the cool room, and what to order before the weekend.
A tool for bottle shops has to fix these:
- Cases and singles are counted as separate products.
- Specials change the margin without anyone noticing.
- Stocktake takes a weekend.
What to look for in pet shops software
Food by the bag, treats by the box and accessories by the hook, counted in one place.
A tool for pet shops has to fix these:
- Bags and loose weight stock.
- Regulars want loyalty.
- Grooming bookings live in a diary.
What to look for in hardware stores software
Thousands of lines are easier to count a shelf at a time than to guess.
A tool for hardware stores has to fix these:
- Tens of thousands of products.
- Trade customers expect their own prices.
- Cut-to-length and loose items are hard to count.
What StockRoom charges
Free to 50 products, then A$9, A$44 or A$89 a month. Prices in Australian dollars. Every plan includes your whole team. The stock side works today; what is still to come for each business is on its own page: bottle shops, pet shops, hardware stores.
Questions
About the price
What is the cheapest of these?
Prices are in the currency each page names and are not ranked across currencies: 4 in A$, from A$42 to A$199 a month; 1 with no currency named. The lowest price is often the plan with the fewest features, so check what each includes. StockRoom is free to 50 products.
Why do prices differ so much?
Mostly who is counted and what is included: per user or per seat, the number of jobs or products, payment processing, and setup.
Does it handle cases and singles?
Not as one product. A case and a single are two products today.
Does it check age at the till?
No. StockRoom records stock; it is not a till.
Does it do bookings for grooming?
No. Bookings are a separate product we are planning.
Does it handle loyalty prices?
Not built.
Can it hold tens of thousands of products?
The plans stop at 400 and 2,000 products and Pro has no limit. We have not yet tested a catalogue of tens of thousands, so we will not claim it.
Does it do trade accounts and price tiers?
Not built.