A Shopify POS alternative for retail
Last reviewed 2026-08-05 · by the RetailPOS team
Shopify POS is excellent if your business is fundamentally an online store with physical locations attached. It gets expensive and heavy if the reverse is true — a shop that mainly sells in person and doesn't need the full e-commerce stack. Here is how RetailPOS compares — factually.
Why in-store retailers look past Shopify POS
You pay for e-commerce you may not need.Shopify POS runs on top of a Shopify plan; if your sales are mostly in person, you're carrying an online-store subscription to power the till.
POS Pro is a per-location add-on. The advanced in-store features (advanced inventory, multi-location, smart grid) sit in POS Pro at roughly $89 per location per month on top of the plan.
Processing. Shopify Payments is the smooth path; using a third-party processor typically incurs an extra transaction fee.
RetailPOS vs Shopify POS for retail — factually
| RetailPOS | Shopify POS | |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | In-store-first retail | Omnichannel / online-first |
| Requires e-commerce plan | No | Yes (Shopify plan) |
| Advanced in-store features | Every plan | POS Pro add-on per location |
| Card processing | Bring your own | Shopify Payments or 3rd-party fee |
| Monthly pricing | $29–69/shop | Shopify plan + POS Pro per location |
| Works offline | Yes | Limited |
When to stay on Shopify POS
If you genuinely run omnichannel — a significant online store with one shared inventory across web and shop floor — Shopify POS is hard to beat, because the POS and the storefront are the same system. Stay if the website is central. Switch to RetailPOS if the shop is centraland the e-commerce subscription is overhead you're carrying just to run the counter.
Migrating from Shopify POS
Export your products, inventory and customers, import into RetailPOS, and reconcile stock before go-live. You can keep a lightweight Shopify store running separately if you still sell online. Steps in the Shopify POS migration guide.
Frequently asked
- Do I need a Shopify e-commerce plan to use RetailPOS?
- No — RetailPOS is a standalone point-of-sale. You don't carry an online-store subscription just to run the till.
- Can I still sell online if I switch?
- Yes — you can keep a Shopify (or other) online store running separately; RetailPOS integrates with e-commerce via its connector layer. It just isn't required to power the shop.
- Is RetailPOS cheaper than Shopify POS Pro?
- For an in-store-first shop, usually — you avoid both the e-commerce plan and the per-location POS Pro add-on, paying a flat per-shop fee with your own processor. For a true omnichannel seller, Shopify's unified model may be worth its cost.
Open your shop in 30 seconds.
No card. Free until your first 100 sales. Bring your own Stripe; keep your hardware.