Look at how POS reviews compare tools and you will see three numbers: the monthly software fee, the per-transaction processing fee, and the hardware cost. “Free” POS software usually means free software with paid card processing. That framing matters when you read about the best point of sale software for small business, because open source POS is different: the software is free, but you still need a payment processor and hardware.
The real cost of a POS
| Cost | Cloud POS products | Self-hosted open source POS |
|---|---|---|
| Software | Free tier or monthly fee | No license fee |
| Card processing | Built in, charged per transaction | Separate: you choose a processor or terminal |
| Hardware | Often sold as a bundle | You buy printers, scanners, drawers yourself |
| Setup and support | Vendor support | You, or a freelancer |
As an illustration only, if a processor charged 2.5% and you took 20,000 in card sales in a month, the fees would be 500. Processing fees often exceed the software cost, so compare them before anything else.
Open source POS tools compared
| Tool | Best for | License | Stack | Stars | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open Source POS | Retail POS with inventory | MIT | PHP (CodeIgniter) | 4,443 | Oct 2026 |
| NexoPOS | Laravel POS with inventory | GPL-3.0 | PHP (Laravel), Vue | 1,278 | Oct 2026 |
| Lakasir | Simple POS for small stores | GPL-3.0 | PHP (Laravel) | 911 | Oct 2026 |
| ERPNext | POS built into ERPNext | GPL-3.0 | Python (Frappe), MariaDB | 40,232 | Oct 2026 |
| URY (restaurant POS for ERPNext) | Restaurant POS for ERPNext | AGPL-3.0 | TypeScript, Frappe | 388 | Oct 2026 |
| Odoo Community | POS app in Community | LGPL-3.0 (Community edition) | Python, PostgreSQL | 55,072 | Oct 2026 |
| Dolibarr ERP CRM | Basic POS inside Dolibarr | GPL-3.0 | PHP, MySQL/MariaDB/PostgreSQL | 7,732 | Oct 2026 |
Stars and dates are a snapshot from 16 October 2026. They show project activity, not quality. Tool names open our in-depth review.
Feature comparison at a glance
| Tool | POS | Stock | Barcodes | Invoices | Multi-user | Modules |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open Source POS | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| NexoPOS | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Lakasir | ✓ | – | – | – | ✓ | – |
| ERPNext | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| URY (restaurant POS for ERPNext) | ✓ | ✓ | – | – | – | – |
| Odoo Community | ✓ | ✓ | – | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Dolibarr ERP CRM | ✓ | ✓ | – | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
✓ = listed in the project's documentation. – = not confirmed in the documentation we reviewed, so check the demo or docs.
1. Open Source POS
Retail POS with inventoryA web-based point of sale for small shops with sales, stock, receipts, quotes and reports. MIT licensed and actively maintained.
What it offers for point of sale
- Stock management for items and kits with an extensible attribute list
- VAT, GST, customer and multi-tier taxation
- Sale register with transaction logging
- Expense logging and a cash up function
4,443 stars · MIT · repo updated Oct 2026
Read the full Open Source POS review2. NexoPOS
Laravel POS with inventoryA web POS built with Laravel and Vue that includes inventory features.
What it offers for point of sale
- POS sales, orders, payments, receipts, refunds and registers
- Customer groups, rewards and coupons
- User roles, permissions and activity tracking
- Barcode and scale barcode support
1,278 stars · GPL-3.0 · repo updated Oct 2026
Read the full NexoPOS review3. Lakasir
Simple POS for small storesA straightforward open source POS aimed at simple needs, with stock and sales reports.
What it offers for point of sale
- Role management with permissions
- Sales transaction management
- Product management with different prices per unit
- Per-item or global discounts
911 stars · GPL-3.0 · repo updated Oct 2026
Read the full Lakasir review4. ERPNext
POS built into ERPNextERPNext includes a point of sale, so sales and stock update the accounts automatically.
What it offers for point of sale
- Leads, opportunities and quotations
- Accounting and inventory included
- Very large community
- Frappe Cloud hosting optional
40,232 stars · GPL-3.0 · repo updated Oct 2026
Read the full ERPNext review5. URY (restaurant POS for ERPNext)
Restaurant POS for ERPNextAn open source restaurant management and POS system built on top of ERPNext.
What it offers for point of sale
- POS for dine-in, takeaway and delivery, with offline mode and printer management
- Kitchen display with real-time order queues and KOT printing
- P&L dashboard, consumption reports and item trends
- Pre-billing checklists to enforce compliance, such as a stock check
388 stars · AGPL-3.0 · repo updated Oct 2026
Read the full URY (restaurant POS for ERPNext) review6. Odoo Community
POS app in CommunityOdoo Community includes a Point of Sale app connected to its inventory and invoicing apps.
What it offers for point of sale
- Huge app ecosystem
- CRM linked to quotes and invoicing
- Active community and partners
- Modular: install only what you need
55,072 stars · LGPL-3.0 (Community edition) · repo updated Oct 2026
Read the full Odoo Community review7. Dolibarr ERP CRM
Basic POS inside DolibarrDolibarr includes a point of sale option for simple counter sales.
What it offers for point of sale
- Modular: enable only what you use
- Invoicing, stock and agenda built in
- Runs on cheap shared hosting
- Very active project
7,732 stars · GPL-3.0 · repo updated Oct 2026
Read the full Dolibarr ERP CRM reviewHardware and fiscal checklist
- Does it work with your receipt printer, barcode scanner and cash drawer?
- What happens to a sale when the internet drops?
- Do your local rules require fiscal printers or certified POS software for tax receipts?
- Can it export daily sales to your accounting software?
- Who answers the phone when the shop is busy and it breaks?
Test with your hardware first
POS problems show up at the counter, with a queue behind the customer. Run a week of mock sales with your real scanner and printer before going live.
Example: a bookshop with one till
An illustrative example, not a real company.
A bookshop has one till, about 3,000 titles and a few hundred sales a week. The owner wants sales to reduce stock and daily takings to reach the accountant.
She runs Open Source POS on a small server, connects a barcode scanner and a receipt printer, and uses a separate card terminal from her bank. The first week she runs mock sales while the old till stays in use. She sets daily exports to her accountant.
The software is free, and the real costs are the hardware and the card fees from her processor.
What usually goes wrong
- Forgetting that card processing is a separate cost.
- Not testing hardware before go-live.
- No plan for an internet outage.
- Ignoring local rules on fiscal receipts.
- Running the POS without backups.
Free self-hosted or paid cloud: how to decide
Paid cloud POS bundles software, hardware and payments, and offers support, which many shops value. Self-hosted POS suits owners who want control and are comfortable with technology. If a broken till would cost you a day of sales, weigh support carefully.
Linking the POS to stock matters. See our inventory guide. Self-hosted POS needs a reliable server and a backup plan. A VPS or hosting plan from Hostinger is a common starting point.
Need a server to host it?
Self-hosting a CRM needs a server. PHP and MySQL apps can often run on ordinary web hosting, while Docker, Node, Python or Java apps usually need a VPS. Check each project's requirements first. Hostinger offers both shared web hosting and VPS plans.
Affiliate disclosure: this is an affiliate link. If you buy through it we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. CRMs and software are listed independently of any hosting partner. Learn more.
Official links for the tools in this guide
Every tool above has its own page on our site with the full review. These are the official sources, so you can download the latest version safely.
- Open Source POS: Official website · Source on GitHub
- NexoPOS: Official website · Source on GitHub
- Lakasir: Official website · Source on GitHub
- ERPNext: Official website · Source on GitHub
- URY (restaurant POS for ERPNext): Official website · Source on GitHub
- Odoo Community: Official website · Source on GitHub
- Dolibarr ERP CRM: Official website · Source on GitHub