Lightspeed POS pricing and fees for restaurants

Lightspeed Restaurant prints three plans on its US pricing page: Starter at 69 USD, Essential at 189 USD and Premium at 399 USD, with Enterprise by quote. The page shows no billing term beside those figures, so ask whether each is a monthly fee and whether it is billed monthly or upfront. Kitchen screens cost $30/screen per month. Card processing, hardware and setup come from a quote.

Two rules in Lightspeed's terms also shape the total. Lightspeed requires its own processor, Lightspeed Payments, where it is offered, and charges a monthly fee if you keep another one. Its service agreement also sets an early termination fee for leaving before the term ends.

What does each Lightspeed Restaurant plan include?

The table follows the checkmarks on Lightspeed's restaurant pricing page. The page adds that prices may vary depending on the nature of the business and the industry.

Feature	Starter (69 USD)	Essential (189 USD)	Premium (399 USD)
POS, menu manager, floor plans, Advanced Insights reporting, take out and delivery, pre-auth bar mode	Included	Included	Included
Integrated payments	Marked "Default"	Marked "Custom"	Marked "Custom"
Online ordering, contactless ordering, order and pay at table	Not marked	Included	Included
Multi-location management, advanced inventory, Pulse mobile app	Not marked	Included	Included
Lightspeed Tasks checklists	Add-on	Included	Included
Lightspeed Reservations and reservation integrations	Add-on	Add-on	Add-on
Raw API access, hotel revenue centers	Not marked	Not marked	Included
Kitchen Display System	Starter KDS: $30/screen per month	Essential KDS: $30/screen per month	Premium KDS: $30/screen per month

Tooltips on the page say order and pay at table, contactless ordering and advanced inventory are also sold as add-ons on all plans. The page lists more add-ons without prices: delivery app menu sync, hotel PMS and accounting integrations, gift cards, and Pro Services, which it offers on Essential and Premium. Enterprise lists a personalized software and hardware package and a dedicated support team, by quote.

What does card processing cost?

Lightspeed does not print a card rate on its restaurant pricing or payments pages. Ask for every rate in writing: tapped or dipped, typed in, online, and American Express.

Its Lightspeed Payments FAQ says Lightspeed now requires merchants to use Lightspeed Payments, and that merchants on other processors are charged a monthly third-party processing fee. It also says Lightspeed Payments does not work with any other processor, and that payment terminals must come from Lightspeed directly.

The fee for keeping another processor is set by Lightspeed's US transaction fee table, based on estimated monthly transaction volume:

Estimated monthly volume	Monthly fee
$5,000 to $34,999	Fee: $200
$35,000 to $99,999	Fee: $400
$100,000 to $124,999	Fee: $560
$125,000 to $149,999	Fee: $680
$150,000 to $174,999	Fee: $810
$175,000 to $199,999	Fee: $930
$200,000 to $249,999	Fee: $1,120
$250,000 and up	Contact your account manager

The Lightspeed Service Agreement (last updated February 26, 2026) says the fee applies in each month you process through another service, and that for customers on an annual subscription it is assessed on renewal. You pay it on top of whatever your own processor charges.

What does the hardware cost?

Lightspeed's hardware page prints no prices. Its iPad hardware kit lists a receipt printer, cash drawer, Lightspeed iPad stand and kitchen printer, and notes that the iPad and payment terminal are not included. Terminals listed include the Verifone e285 and P400 and the Mobile Tap reader. The page says you may be able to reuse some existing hardware and asks you to check with its team.

Read the hardware terms in the service agreement before you accept a discount. Hardware given at a discount or free depends on using Lightspeed's POS and Lightspeed Payments for at least 24 months, starting payments within 30 days, and processing a minimum daily average of 100 in local currency. Miss any of those and you owe the value of the hardware plus shipping. Lightspeed's own warranty on new hardware runs 30 days from shipping, in addition to the maker's warranty.

What does the contract say about term, renewal and leaving?

1. Term: your order form sets the start date and initial term. The agreement's plain-language note says your order form also tells you whether fees are paid upfront or monthly.
2. Renewal: the agreement renews automatically for a period equal to the initial term. To stop it, give written notice 90 days before the end of a term longer than 90 days, or 30 days if there is no order form. Discounts do not carry into a renewal unless agreed in writing.
3. Early exit: leaving early costs the recurring fees left in the term, any unpaid one-time fees, and the gap between list price and any discount you got on software or hardware.
4. Price changes: Lightspeed can amend the agreement, including fees, with 30 days' written notice.
5. Installation: on-site installation is quoted as an estimate, and extra cabling or non-standard menu builds can add fees. Cancelling a booked installation with less than 48 hours' notice carries a cancellation fee.

What would a month on Lightspeed cost? A worked example

Every input below is an assumption. The restaurant has one location on Essential, reads the 189 USD figure as a monthly fee, and runs two kitchen screens. It takes $50,000 a month in card sales across 1,250 payments at $40 each. Lightspeed prints no card rate, so the example uses a made-up rate of 2.5% + 15¢. Replace it with your quote. It leaves out hardware, installation, tax, cash and other add-ons.

Line	Assumed input	Monthly cost
Plan	Essential, read as monthly	Plan line: $189.00
Kitchen screens	2 screens at $30/screen per month	KDS line: $60.00
Card processing	$50,000 across 1,250 payments at an assumed 2.5% + 15¢	Processing line: $1,437.50
Total	$50,000 in card sales	Total: $1,686.50, or $20,238 a year

Processing is 85% of this month. Each 0.1 point on the rate moves it by $50, or $600 a year. Keeping an outside processor at this volume adds Lightspeed's $400 monthly fee, or $4,800 a year, on top of that processor's charges.

Now the exit. Suppose the order form sets a 24-month term and the restaurant leaves after month 12. The recurring fees left are 12 months of $249 (plan plus screens), or $2,988, plus any list-price gap on discounted software or hardware.

What should you ask Lightspeed before you sign?

1. Is each plan price a monthly fee? Is it billed monthly or upfront for the year?
2. What are my Lightspeed Payments rates for tapped, typed-in, online and American Express cards? What does "Default" or "Custom" on the plan table mean for my rate?
3. How long is the initial term, and what notice date stops the renewal?
4. What does each device cost, and is any hardware discounted in a way that ties me to 24 months of Lightspeed Payments?
5. Which add-ons are on my quote, such as reservations, delivery sync or gift cards, and what is each monthly fee?
6. What will installation and the menu build cost, and what counts as non-standard?

For other systems' printed prices, see our guide to choosing a restaurant POS, and for three-year totals, what a restaurant POS costs. If you plan to take phone orders with AI, Maple Pro lists Lightspeed among its supported POS systems; the Lightspeed integration page is the place to start.

Published by Maple. This AI-assisted guide combines Lightspeed's own US pricing, payments, hardware, help-center and agreement pages with an original worked example using assumed sales, an assumed card rate and an assumed billing term. It does not include a quote from Lightspeed, and it does not claim anyone tested Lightspeed products.