How much does Lightspeed online ordering cost? Zayos runs the numbers
Published July 2026 · Updated July 26, 2026
Lightspeed publishes three restaurant plans as of July 2026: Starter at 69 USD, Essential at 189 USD and Premium at 399 USD, plus a kitchen display at $30 per screen per month. Online ordering sits inside those plans. Processing rates, hardware, onboarding and contract length are not published.
What does Lightspeed actually publish?
Five numbers, read off lightspeedhq.com/pos/restaurant/pricing on 26 July 2026. Credit where it is due: most POS vendors publish nothing at all, and Lightspeed at least prints a ladder you can start from.
Starter
Customizable POS, menu manager, floor plans, offline mode and 24/7 support. Lightspeed describes it as "Simplify your daily operations".
Essential
Adds the deeper operational layer Lightspeed markets as "Exceed guest expectations", including richer reporting and more service options.
Premium
Adds advanced inventory management, multiple revenue center support for hotels and raw API access for custom integrations.
Enterprise
A personalized software and hardware package, unlimited launch and consultation services, and a dedicated support team with a customer success manager. No price shown.
Kitchen Display System
The one add on Lightspeed prices on the page, and it is priced per screen, so a second kitchen screen is a second $30.
The page closes with a line worth reading twice: "Prices may vary depending on the nature of the business and the industry." That is a fair disclosure and also a warning. The ladder above is a starting point for a conversation, not a checkout page.
Which numbers are missing, and do they matter?
Six line items that will appear on a real Lightspeed invoice and do not appear on the pricing page. Each one is a question, not an accusation.
- 01
Card processing rate
The largest recurring number in the deal, and the page does not carry it. Lightspeed Payments is marketed with "competitive rates" tailored by an expert. At $60,000 a month in card volume, a 0.4 point difference in rate is $240 a month, more than the Essential plan itself.
- 02
Hardware cost
Terminals, customer displays and order pickup screens appear as features, not as prices. A full service floor with three stations is a real capital number that never shows up next to the $189.
- 03
Onboarding or implementation fee
Enterprise advertises "unlimited launch and consultation services", which implies the lower tiers get something different. Ask what launch costs on your tier.
- 04
Contract length and cancellation
The page states no term, no auto renewal language and no early termination policy. Month to month and a one year commitment are very different purchases at the same monthly price.
- 05
Monthly versus annual billing
The plan table shows one figure per plan, and the page markup tags those figures as the annual billing rate. That strongly suggests month to month costs more. Ask for both numbers.
- 06
Add on module prices
Delivery, loyalty, reservations, advanced insights and accounting integrations are all listed as things you "add when you need them" with no price attached, except the kitchen display at $30 per screen.
Why is the processing rate bigger than the plan price?
Modeled on a single location doing $60,000 a month in card volume across roughly 1,900 tickets at a $32 average.
The 2.6% and 3.0% figures above are illustrative, not quotes from Lightspeed, because Lightspeed does not publish a restaurant rate. That is exactly the point. A restaurant can spend a week arguing about the difference between the 69 USD and 189 USD plans and lose more than that difference every month to a rate nobody wrote down.
Here is the one thing worth doing before any POS conversation. Pull your last merchant statement, take total fees, divide by total card volume, and write the percentage on a sticky note. That is your effective rate. Every vendor quote gets compared to that number and nothing else.
What should I get in writing before I sign?
Five questions, in the order that saves the most money. This works on any POS vendor, not just Lightspeed.
-
1. Ask for the blended processing rate on your own mix
Not the headline card present rate. Give them last month's statement: total card volume, transaction count, and the split between in person and online orders. Ask what your all in effective rate would be.
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2. Ask for the monthly billing price, not just the annual one
Confirm in writing what Starter, Essential or Premium costs if you pay month to month, and whether the published figure requires a year up front.
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3. Ask which plan tier online ordering sits in
Online ordering appears in the feature list, and Delivery appears separately as an add on. Have the rep write down which tier gives you the ordering page you saw in the demo.
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4. Ask for the hardware quote as a separate line
Terminals, kitchen screens at $30 each per month, customer displays. Keep software and hardware on separate lines so you can compare each against another vendor.
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5. Ask for the term, the renewal and the exit
Contract length, auto renewal, early termination fee, and what happens to your menu and customer data if you leave. Get it in the agreement, not in an email.
Who is Lightspeed genuinely the right fit for?
Full service restaurants with real floor complexity. If you run table mapping, coursing, bill splitting, deep inventory down to the supplier order, multiple revenue centers under one roof such as a hotel with a bar and a restaurant, or you need raw API access to push data somewhere custom, Lightspeed is built for that and the Premium tier is genuinely aimed at it. It is a serious point of sale and this page is not going to pretend otherwise.
It is a heavier answer than a counter service shop with six tables needs, and it is not a fix for marketplace commission. The delivery apps take 15% to 30% base, closer to 25% to 35% blended once delivery, marketing and processing fees stack, and no POS plan changes that. What changes it is moving repeat customers onto a channel you own.
How Zayos prices the ordering side
Zayos is $499 Operator, $599 Operator plus Marketplace or $699 Concierge, per location per month, month to month, no setup fee, priced per location. The per order fee is paid by the diner at checkout, $0.99 pickup, $2.99 delivery, $0 dine in and 10% on catering, and the restaurant keeps 100% of food revenue and 100% of tips. At $599, Otter pulls Uber Eats, DoorDash and Grubhub tickets onto the same kitchen tablet as direct orders, so one screen runs every channel.
The honest boundary: Zayos does not replace your POS, does not run your card processing and does not print your receipts. It runs next to what you have. Naya Grill in Pompano Beach and West Palm Beach is the restaurant live on it today, keeping $48k+ a year that used to leave as commission. If your problem is the terminal, buy a terminal. If your problem is the commission, that is the other purchase.
- Lightspeed Restaurant pricing. Starter 69 USD, Essential 189 USD, Premium 399 USD, Enterprise by quote, Kitchen Display System at $30 per screen per month, the Enterprise inclusions, the add on list with no prices, and the line "Prices may vary depending on the nature of the business and the industry." Accessed 26 July 2026.
- Lightspeed Payments. No published percentage rate, "competitive rates" tailored by an expert, a $15 chargeback fee as the only extra fee described, and deposits typically within 2 business days. Accessed 26 July 2026.
- Zayos pricing. The $499, $599 and $699 per location tiers, no setup fee, month to month, and the diner paid service fee quoted above.
The 2.6% and 3.0% processing figures in the math section are illustrative rates used to size the gap, not quotes from Lightspeed. Lightspeed does not publish a restaurant processing rate, and this page does not invent one for it.
Lightspeed cost questions, answered.
How much does Lightspeed Restaurant cost per month?
Does Lightspeed charge extra for online ordering?
What does Lightspeed charge for payment processing?
Does Lightspeed require an annual contract?
How does Lightspeed pricing compare to Zayos?
Get the whole number, not the published half.
The free AI report takes your real order volume and average ticket and shows what your current setup costs every month. About 60 seconds, no card, no sales call.
New to the category? Start with what Zayos is.