Key takeaways
Shopify is a household name for powering online businesses. Lightspeed is quickly gaining market share among retail point-of-sale (POS) systems, especially after acquiring ShopKeep and Vend in recent years.
Both offer native ecommerce, POS, payment processing, order management, marketing, customer, and employee management tools for retailers. The main difference is Lightspeed was a POS first, expanding into ecommerce later. Shopify was an ecommerce platform first. It comes down to which is your primary sales channel of focus.
If it’s ecommerce, consider Shopify. If brick-and-mortar is your bread and butter and online sales are just a bonus, you might prefer Lightspeed.
Looking for more retail POS solutions? Check out our Retail POS Systems Buyer’s Guide.
Lightspeed: Best for brick-and-mortar
Pros
Cons
Our Rating: 3.81/5
Lightspeed is a POS and payments platform powering retailers of all sizes, from startups to enterprises. Unlike most modern POS systems, including Shopify, which are solely app-based, Lightspeed is browser-based, meaning you can run the software on a computer at your checkout counters.
However, Lightspeed Retail also has an iPad app to ring sales and help customers on the go.
Ecwid, which Lightspeed acquired in 2021, powers Lightspeed’s connected ecommerce platform. Lightspeed eCom allows you to build a no-code “instant site” in a few minutes, sell on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok, or sell on Amazon and Google Shopping.
If Ecwid doesn’t suit your e-commerce needs, Lightspeed Retail integrates with Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and more.
Where Lightspeed blows Shopify—and all other comparable POS systems—out of the water is with its inventory management and analytics features.
Read more: What are the Different Types of POS Systems
Shopify: Best for ecommerce and omnichannel
Pros
Cons
Our Rating: 4.12/5
Since its launch in 2006, Shopify has powered more than 7 million websites and ~$886 billion in sales. The platform is so popular that it’s basically a household name. You can’t say the same for most business software.
Shopify invests a lot of resources in developing and improving its ecommerce platform. Annually, Shopify issues Summer and Winter Editions, each with hundreds of product updates. Lately, Shopify has launched AI tools and improved its inventory tools, online checkout pages, store builder, dashboard capabilities, and more.
In other words, if you want a solution that offers the latest and greatest ecommerce tools, Shopify is your best choice. In addition to ecommerce, Shopify has two point-of-sale systems: a free Starter POS app and a more advanced Retail POS app. The latter features omnichannel tools like local delivery and pickup fulfillment options; buy online, return in-store; and ship-from-store sales.
Another huge bonus of using Shopify is its deep partnerships with platforms like TikTok and Meta for seamless social sales.
In this article…
How are Lightspeed and Shopify different?
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| | |
|---|---|---|
| User Interface | Slightly complex | Streamlined & easy to use |
| Detailed Inventory Tracking | Excellent | Average |
| Reporting and Analytics | Excellent | Average |
| Value for Money | Average | Excellent |
| Website Builder | Basic | Excellent |
On the surface, Lightspeed and Shopify both offer retail POS systems and online store builders for selling products in-store, online, on-the-go, via social media, and through marketplaces like Amazon.
However, each product’s user interface, workflow, and specific features function differently. The through line in Lightspeed was designed for brick-and-mortar and added ecommerce functionality later. Shopify is the opposite—it was designed for ecommerce and later added POS functionality.
Here are some of the key differences:
Omnichannel sales
Lightspeed operates with store sales in mind, so it truly excels at multi-store and multi-location sales tracking. It also has an unrivaled omnichannel loyalty program that bridges in-store, online, SMS, and email and is highly customizable.
On the other hand, Shopify is unparalleled in creating a seamless customer experience between online and in-store. Ship from store; buy online, return in-store; buy online, pickup in-store; email cart from store, browse online, buy in-store; and buy online with local delivery are just some examples of the omnichannel customer journeys Shopify enables.
Scalability
Lightspeed and Shopify both have enterprise solutions. And, both are SaaS solutions that offer developer APIs.
However, Shopify is specifically designed to support businesses scaling to multimillion-dollar ventures. If that is your ambition, you’ll likely quickly outgrow Lightspeed’s native ecommerce tools. Shopify also has a network of Shopify Experts to help you build and optimize your store, and thousands of apps so you can customize your solution.
Compatibility with other business types
Shopify is built for retail and is best suited for retail. This includes ecommerce, wholesale, dropshipping, international sales, direct-to-consumer, and headless commerce stores. Anything outside of a retail or merch operation will likely not find the industry-specific tools you need.
Lightspeed, on the other hand, has dedicated software to support a variety of restaurant types, including hotels, quick service, full service, and cafes.
Read more: Best Restaurant POS Systems
Lightspeed’s retail POS is also popular with specialty shops like bike and jewelry stores because it has native tools for managing repair and work orders, parts, and warranties (which Shopify doesn’t offer natively). Interestingly, Lightspeed also has a solution built specifically for golf courses: public, private, resorts, and more.
Lightspeed vs Shopify: Pricing
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| | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee (POS) | $89–$269 per register | 89 |
| Monthly fee (POS, with annual payment) | $69–$199 | 79 |
| Additional registers | $59 per month | 0 |
| Additional locations | $69 for second location, discounts for additional | $89 per location |
| Monthly fee (ecommerce) | $0–$82.50 | $29–$299 |
| In-person transaction fee | 2.6% + 10 cents* | 2.6% + 10 cents* |
| Online transaction fees | 2.9% + 30 cents* | 2.9% + 30 cents* |
| Card reader | Quote-based | From $49 |
*Discounts available with certain plans or high processing volumes
On the surface, Lightspeed and Shopify are comparable in terms of the monthly software fees and payment processing fees you will pay. However, Shopify is cheaper for most businesses and generally offers a better value for money. Namely, Shopify does not charge for additional registers with its Pro POS. Most other POS systems on the market, including Lightspeed, do charge per register.
Let’s say you have a boutique with two registers and an online store and opt for an annual POS subscription. Here’s how the monthly subscription fees will roughly break down for each:
- Lightspeed: $178 for the Standard plan, including ecommerce at $119, plus $59 for the second register.
- Shopify: $108 for the Pro plan at $79 and Basic ecommerce for $29. The second register is included with POS Pro.
For bigger businesses, the difference is even more noticeable. Let’s look at how much each will cost you per month if you have three retail locations, each with four registers, and an online store, still on an annual contract:
- Lightspeed: $1,128 for the Advanced POS plan—including a customer loyalty program and advanced reporting, and ecommerce—for $199. It’s $398 in fees for your two other locations and $531 for your nine additional registers.
- Shopify: $536 for three locations of POS Pro at $79 each (unlimited registers included) and Advanced ecommerce, which makes up the bulk of these fees. This cost will be significantly lower if you opt for a lower ecommerce subscription tier.
Shopify and Lightspeed both have the same standard processing fees: 2.6% + 10 cents for in-person sales and 2.9% + 30 cents for online sales. However, Lightspeed offers custom rates for businesses processing over $250,000 annually.
While Shopify doesn’t offer custom rates, you get a discount with certain plans. For example, with a Shopify ecommerce plan (about $50 more than the Basic ecommerce plan), you would receive a 1% discount for in-person sales and a 2% discount for online sales.
As mentioned above, both platforms allow you to use third-party payment processors. However, Shopify will impose an additional 0.5–2% transaction fee, depending on your plan. Note that Shopify only allows third-party processors with its ecommerce software. Shopify POS is only compatible with Shopify Payments. With Lightspeed, you can use a third-party processor for both POS and ecommerce. However, you’ll pay a slightly higher monthly fee.
Now, let’s take a look at hardware options and fees.
Lightspeed vs Shopify: Hardware
Lightspeed and Shopify both offer mobile and countertop POS solutions. However, there are a few key differences:
Shopify POS is available only on Shopify devices, as well as Apple and Android smartphones and tablets. Specifically, Shopify POS is available on:
Shopify also has a proprietary mobile POS terminal called Shopify POS Go. This handheld, all-in-one terminal runs Shopify POS software, has a built-in card reader and barcode scanner, an all-day battery life, and can accept contactless payments. Read more: What is a POS Terminal?
Lightspeed, on the other hand, can be accessed via Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox browsers on any computer running Windows 8.1 or higher or Mac OS X 10.15 or higher. Certain versions of Lightspeed Retail can also be accessed via iPad on iOS 15.5 or higher.
Both systems offer mobile and countertop card readers, tablet stands, cash drawers, barcode scanners, receipt printers, label printers, and assorted accessories.
Read more: Best POS Hardware for Business
Lightspeed vs Shopify: POS capabilities
Lightspeed and Shopify POS have the same core functionalities. They both allow you to ring orders, create customer profiles, see inventory levels in real-time, view sales reports, and process payments.
However, their interfaces and user experience are very different. Lightspeed, again, is browser-based and has a lot more form fields and data collection options. There are also more clicks and screens to navigate through in the checkout process. This is ideal if you need detailed customer information, want to track work orders, or need a high level of customization.
Shopify, on the other hand, is app-based and the checkout screen operates via customizable tiles or hotkeys. Processing orders is much faster, and everything is done via touch screen. While the tiles themselves are customizable, the workflow is not as detailed as Lightspeed’s.
Both Shopify and Lightspeed offer back-office management tools like reporting, analytics, customer management, order management, and more in browser-based dashboards.
Read more: POS Data Guide for POS Analytics
Lightspeed vs Shopify: Ecommerce site builders
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Both Shopify and Lightspeed ecommerce:
Shopify was built for ecommerce and is a more robust online sales platform than Lightspeed. Shopify lets you create more full and feature-rich websites than Lightspeed’s basic site builder. For example, Shopify has a drag-and-drop site builder that enables you to customize the look of your page, the sections you have on your site (including adding elements like a blog or sales promotions), thousands of more apps, and significantly better search engine optimization (SEO) tools.
That said, Lightspeed’s system is incredibly easy to use. If Lightspeed’s POS tools are a better fit for your needs, and you don’t mind a basic storefront, Lightspeed’s ecommerce solution will be just fine. It allows you to create a basic storefront displaying products, company information, and contact information.
However, you’ll likely be happier with Shopify if you need anything more than that.
Lightspeed vs Shopify: Ease of use
When comparing Shopify vs Lightspeed for ease of use, Shopify’s app-based system is simpler to navigate. Creating a sophisticated online store through Shopify’s website builder is also incredibly easy. Lightspeed’s interface is a little more complex, and there are more decisions to make when it comes to ecommerce—specifically, whether you want to use Lightspeed’s basic ecommerce tools or connect a third party (like Shopify or BigCommerce).
However, Lightspeed does have much more granular inventory controls. So, suppose ease of use for your business means having a wealth of data at your fingertips or lots of visibility and control over product variants and work orders. In that case, you might find Lightspeed easier in practice because Shopify won’t give you the same level of visibility.
Which is best?
If you regularly need to manage work orders like assembly, repairs, parts, or warranties in-store, Lightspeed is best for you. Otherwise, Shopify is likely the better choice. It is cheaper, the POS is easier to use, and its ecommerce and omnichannel offerings are significantly stronger.
However, Lightspeed POS excels at managing work orders and tracking detailed brick-and-mortar inventory.
That said, certain versions of Lightspeed Retail integrate with Shopify ecommerce. So, if you have brick-and-mortar shops with complex inventories, like jewelry or bike stores, and also plan to do significant ecommerce sales, you may want to consider Lightspeed for POS and Shopify for ecommerce.
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