Lightspeed Retail vs Thrive by Shopventory

Square Point of Sale

Fishbowl

Clover

Square for Retail

Shopify POS

SKU IQ

Compare Lightspeed Retail and Thrive by Shopventory based on features, pricing, verified reviews, integrations & more on GetApp. Find out which software is best for your business in 2026.

Square Point of Sale is a POS solution for Android and iOS devices which includes tools for managing payments, digital receipts, inventory, reports, and more.

Clover is an all-in-one platform designed to help on and offline retailers, quick service restaurants, and other service businesses manage their point-of-sale operations, with secure payment solutions and reliable business management features

Shopify Point of Sale (POS) is a retail management system that integrates everything needed to run a successful brick-and-mortar or omnichannel business. The POS software and hardware work seamlessly together to streamline daily operations, from inventory management and staff controls to smooth checkout and detailed reporting.

Lightspeed Retail is a complete point of sale (POS) & inventory management tool that simplifies time-consuming tasks like inventory & employee management. Access detailed sales reports in minutes and use built-in customer profiles to provide personalized service that will increase customer loyalty.

Access Controls/Permissions

Accounting

Accounting Integration

Activity Dashboard

Barcode Printing

Barcode Recognition

Barcode/Ticket Scanning

Barcoding/RFID

Billing & Invoicing

Cash Management

Catalog Management

Channel Management

Check-in/Check-out

Clock In/Out

Consignments

Content Management

Cost Tracking

Credit Card Processing

Customer Accounts

Customer Database

Customer History

Customer Management

Customer Segmentation

Customizable Branding

Customizable Fields

Customizable Reports

Customization

Data Import/Export

Data Synchronization

Discount Management

eCommerce Management

Electronic Payments

Email Marketing

Employee Management

For Bakeries

For iPad Devices

For Jewelry Stores

For Liquor Stores

For Retail

For Small Businesses

Gift Card Management

Inventory Auditing

Inventory Control

Inventory Management

Inventory Optimization

Inventory Replenishment

Inventory Tracking

Item Management

Kitting

Layaway Management

Loyalty Program

Mail Order

Marketing Automation

Merchandise Management

Mobile Access

Mobile Commerce

Multi-Channel Marketing

Multi-Location

Multi-Store

Order Entry

Order Management

Order Processing

Order Tracking

Ordering Automation

Payment Processing

Point of Sale (POS)

Price/Margin Management

Pricing Management

Product Catalog

Product Configurator

Product Identification

Product Management

Promotions Management

Purchase Order Management

Purchasing & Receiving

Real-Time Analytics

Real-Time Data

Real-Time Monitoring

Real-Time Reporting

Remote Access/Control

Reorder Management

Repair Tracking

Reporting & Statistics

Reporting/Analytics

Retail Inventory Management

Retail Management

Retail POS

Returns Management

Returns Tracking

Sales History

Sales Management

Sales Order Management

Sales Reports

Sales Tax Management

Search/Filter

SEO Management

Serial Number Tracking

Shopping Cart

Lightspeed Retail

Linux

Web-based

Windows

iPad

Web Manager

For example, today is a Friday and there have been 2 MAJOR OUTAGES in one day. Ultimately, this results in a terrible customer experience and literally costs thousands of dollars over time.

Owner

This POS system is terrible for retail shops doing anything more than a standard sale. It's unintuitive, confusing, easy to make errors and very frustrating.

When I have spoken to a tech they have been excellent in understanding my question and providing a solution. At times working outside the box to create the best result with the conditions present.

Manager

Overall we are happy with performance and support from LightSpeed. It's reliable and with the small amount of problems we have we are pleased.

Co-Owner

We love how easy this was to set up. It does not require buying $20,000 worth of equipment like our first POS system did back in 2008.

Store Manager

Lightspeed is very user friendly and easy to teach employees how to use it. The reporting is top-notch and they even can help you create custom reports which was very important to us.

It has been a wonderful experience from the start. The inventory tracking, the invoicing, Quickbooks integration, time clock, rewards program, and the list goes on of all the awesome features.

owner

Customer service is amazing. Have not had to call them in years over an issue, yet they do reach out to me to ask for any suggestions on improving their system.

I love that as my business expands Lightspeed has made it seamless. Everyone at Lightspeed has been wonderful in helping me with all and any questions that my team or myself might have.

Consultant

I worked with other POS systems in the past and find Lightspeed much more user friendly than the others. You can build your menu in literally a few hours and the flexibility is amazing.

Owner 

And as a bonus this is a Montreal based company with EXCELLENT customer service. I will be a loyal client for life.

Limited options for payment processing, having to go with a non integrated payment was frustrating, and we were also limited with payment processing options for our eCommerce site.

Area Sales Leader

The overall experience has been great. Lightspeed fills a need in the industry with great integration across a variety of POS/PMS systems.

Very intuitive platform, great visualizations and strong customizations. Most importantly, the integration between the restaurant POS and the hotel PMS system is key.

I also use the inventory counting program and have integrated my online site with Lightspeed to my brick/mortar store. The price is good and the service provided has been very helpful.

Only thing worse than their ecom is their customer service.

It’s extremely frustrating and not user friendly at all. In fact, I think the whole system is deeply flawed and unworkable.

Gallery Director

The eCom web development tool is based on a Wordpress format - cumbersome and non-intuitive with a very steep learning curve. You will feel overwhelmed and lost - for weeks.

Lightspeed Retail screenshot: Lightspeed Retail catalog


Lightspeed Retail screenshot: Lightspeed Retail supplier market


Lightspeed Retail screenshot: Lightspeed Retail product details


Lightspeed Retail screenshot: Lightspeed Retail checkout


Freelancers

Large Enterprises

Mid Size Business

Non Profit

Small Business

Square for Retail is a point of sale (POS) system for retail businesses, with integrated inventory management, customer profiles, employee timecards, and more

Designed with simplicity and efficiency in mind, Fishbowl’s complete manufacturing and inventory management solution transforms the inventory process and uses automation to help growing businesses make strategic and precise decisions based on real-time data and cut costs.

With SKU IQ you can save time by automatically having your POS and e-commerce inventory sync in real-time! We connect all major POS (Square, Clover, Lightspeed) with all major e-commerce systems (Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix, BigCommerce).

Thrive Inventory is a back office management and sales reporting solution for Square, Clover, Shopify, BigCommerce and WooCommerce.

Alerts/Notifications

Audit Trail

Barcode/Label Management

Forecasting

Historical Reporting

Inventory Labels

Invoice Management

Label Printing

Label Templates

Labeling

Manufacturing Inventory Management

Multi-Channel Management

Predictive Analytics

Product Labels

SKU/UPC Codes

Stock Management

Supplier Management

Third-Party Integrations

Warehouse Management

Thrive by Shopventory

Android

iPhone

The customer service I think is the best feature. They are pretty responsive and pretty friendly.

There are very few things in this world today that have given me more confidence rather than less. Shopventory is a miracle solution for us.

founder

Their support team is fantastic and is more knowledgeable about other platforms like Square than the Square customer support teams. When dealing with integration issues).

Shopventory is defenily great at linking a great inventory with square or syncing between to platforms such as square and shopify or woocommerce or even clover.

Sensitive content hidden] and other Customer Service Reps did such a good job helping me with my needs of transfering inventory to my new clover and it was such an easy process.

Director

I found it more accurate than any stock system I had used before, and it's integration with Square fast and seamless. The customer service is INSANELY good.

gift shop buyer Manager

They are constantly improving the product. Perfect for managing multiple locations with the Clover Station.

Co Owner

There is a few basic things missing, like the possibility to write notes on a partially received PO, or if you make a mistake. In fact you can't write notes anywhere which is quite annoying.

I have honestly not needed a call because the chat actually is clearer, quicker, and more efficient. I bet their call help is just as good.

They have all been polite, helpful, and very polite (they don't make ya feel dumb for asking) as well as super quick to respond.

Incredibly helpful and great for starting our business.

Ease of use, customer support is bar none the best I have ever experienced.

Owner MGR

I love it I have been using it for years and do the annual subscription. I have told several people about Thrive.

Operations Manager

I like the cost averaging feature, first in/first out for products and being able to add freight costs to  purchase orders. I also like all the notes you can add in.

Have only been using the system for 3 months although the company has had it for years. Find it user friendly and easy to use.

I wish I could give more than 5 stars, they deserve the sky. We will 100% be purchasing a subscription and will not consider it to be wasted money at all.

We had two locations that were very hard to manage, one was an open air market where sales went very quickly and this software solved our problems instantly.

Lightspeed Retail vs Thrive by Shopventory Comparison (2026)

Lightspeed Retail

Thrive by Shopventory

Overview

Video & Screenshots

Pricing

User reviews

Key features

Integrations

Alternatives