We scored each system on a scale of 1–5 across key criteria:

| System | Age Verification | Inventory | Compliance | Ease of Use | Price | Overall | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Square | 2 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 3.6 | | Lightspeed | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4.0 | | Cova | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4.0 | | Shopify POS | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3.4 | | Clover | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3.0 |

Lightspeed and Cova tie for the top score, but for different reasons. If you need compliance, Cova is unmatched. For most shops, Lightspeed offers the best balance of features and cost.