Shopify or Lightspeed: which to choose?

Shopify or Lightspeed? Choose Shopify if selling online is your main business and a shop, pop-up or market comes on top at most. Choose Lightspeed if your shop or restaurant is the heart of the business, you already use or want their point of sale, and your online store mainly needs to show the same stock. Both now sell till and online store together; the difference is where each is strong, and that is where each began.

Below: what each is, what they cost for a shop with an online store, a worked example, and when a custom site next to your till earns more. All prices before tax.

Shopify: it started as an online store

Shopify is a hosted store platform from a Canadian company. You pay a monthly plan, Shopify handles hosting and security, and you extend it with apps. If you also sell in a shop or at markets, Shopify POS comes with every plan: a till app on a tablet or phone with a card reader. For more till features, such as staff permissions and stock per location, you add POS Pro at 79 euros per location per month on Shopify's EU pricing. Selling online remains the starting point.

Lightspeed: it started at the counter

Lightspeed is known for its point-of-sale systems for retail and hospitality, with an online store that runs on the same stock: one product, one stock level, one view of what you sell in the shop and online. You also pay a plan and Lightspeed handles hosting. The starting point is the counter. In the eurozone, Lightspeed Retail costs 99 euros (Basic), 149 euros (Core) or 229 euros (Plus) a month billed yearly, for one location and one till, with an online store included; in dollars the plans run from 89 to 289. Extra tills, locations and payment terminals add to that, so ask for a quote for your setup.

Shopify and Lightspeed side by side

Worked example: a shop with an online store

A clothing shop with one location, 70 percent of revenue at the counter and 30 percent online. We compare fixed monthly costs before tax. Both in euros, billed yearly, for one location and one till. Treat this as a basis for comparison, not a quote.

The fixed costs sit close together. The difference is in daily use: does your staff work quickly with the till, does stock per location add up, and do you have the online features you need? Work out your own margin per sale with the margin calculator.

How to choose

Ask yourself three questions.

1. Where do you sell most? In the shop or online? Pick the platform that started where your revenue is.
2. Do you already have a till? Switching till costs time and staff training. If yours works well, an online store that connects to it is often the shortest route.
3. What else must your site do? An online store shows products. If you also want to be found for what people in your area search for, publish guides or take bookings, a store platform alone soon hits its limits. How the move itself works, POS included, is in Shopify migration.

Involve your staff. Sellers use a till every day. Let them test before you sign, because a system that shines in a demo can feel slow at the counter.

What a shop with an online store needs

A shop that also sells online has other needs than a pure online store. Run through this list at every demo:

• Click and collectOrder online, pick up in the shop, with a notice when it is ready.
• Returns in the shopAn online purchase returned at the counter, with stock correct at once.
• One customer record across both channelsSomeone who buys in the shop and online is one customer with one history.
• Stock per locationShow online what is in which shop, or sell from the warehouse.
• A till that keeps working offlineIf the internet goes down, you still need to take payments.
• A link with your accountingDaily takings and online sales in one export, so your accountant does not work twice.

Both platforms do most of this, each in its own way and sometimes with an extra module. Ask explicitly about your three most important points.

A custom site next to your till

You can also keep your till or store platform for selling, and add a site built to be found: pages per product group, per service and per city, with the store as the destination. That combines the ease of a platform with the visibility of a custom build. How to be found locally is in create a Google Business Profile; what local SEO adds is on our service page.

Mistakes with tills and online stores

• Choosing on the demoTest with your own products and your own staff, on a busy Saturday.
• Forgetting hardwareCard readers, receipt printers and scanners cost extra. Ask what comes with your package.
• Two stock levelsAn online store not tied to your till sells products the shop just sold. Choose a setup with one stock.
• The online store as an afterthoughtA store without its own photos, copy and visibility sells little; see why is my online store not selling.
• AccessibilitySince 28 June 2025 the European Accessibility Act applies to EU stores selling to consumers, except micro-enterprises.

Switching

Both are hosted platforms. Products and customers can be moved, but your design, integrations and often your till hardware are replaced. Plan a switch outside your busiest season and redirect every old product URL with a 301; see moving a website to a new host. Comparing two store platforms instead? Read Shopify or WooCommerce; the full store bill is in ecommerce website cost.