SpotOn vs Lightspeed Restaurant

Restroworks

Toast POS

Lavu

Restroworks powers 25,000+ restaurants worldwide with a cloud-based platform combining POS, inventory, kitchen automation, kiosks, and analytics, helping restaurant brands streamline operations, gain real-time insights, and scale efficiently.

Toast POS solution is a cloud-based restaurant management platform for restaurant owners to reduce staff & operational costs and improve customer experience

Lavu is an iPad-based restaurant POS system designed for various food service establishments including full-service restaurants, cafes, and food trucks. The platform offers integrated features such as dual pricing options, online ordering, kitchen display systems, and automated payroll processing. Restaurant operators can manage their business remotely with detailed reporting tools while benefiting from customizable menu modules that allow for quick adjustments to inventory and pricing.

Growth and Development

Support team other than [sensitive content hidden] are not helpful and rarely know what is going on nor are they able to help in most situations.

President

I am not happy with how there is little to no support with the integrations with SpotOn, specifically with ShoGo.

Best thing about SpotOn is the customer service and the attention to detail for our company's objectives.  

SpotOn Restaurant is a cloud-based point of sale (POS) solution designed to help small to medium businesses in the hospitality industry streamline online payments, tableside orders, and fraud protection. The labor management module lets users handle employee hours, gratuities, shifts, and more.

Access Controls/Permissions

Accounting Integration

Activities Booking

Activity Dashboard

Activity Tracking

Alerts/Notifications

Appointment Management

Availability Management

Barcode Recognition

Barcode/Ticket Scanning

Bar Tab Management

Billing & Invoicing

Booking Management

Booking Notes

Built-in Accounting

Calendar Management

Calendar/Reminder System

Calendar Sync

Campaign Analytics

Campaign Management

Campaign Planning

Campaign Scheduling

Campaign Segmentation

Cash Management

Channel Management

Client Portal

Clock In/Out

Commenting/Notes

Contact Database

Contact Management

Credit Card Processing

Customer Accounts

Customer Activity Tracking

Customer Database

Customer Experience Management

Customer History

Customer Profiles

Customer Segmentation

Customer Support

Customizable Branding

Customizable Categories

Customizable Fields

Customizable Forms

Customizable Reports

Customizable Templates

Dashboard

Data Import/Export

Data Security

Debit/Credit Card Processing

Delivery Estimate

Delivery Management

Discount Management

Drag & Drop

eCommerce Management

Electronic Payments

Electronic Signature

Email Management

Email Marketing

Email Reminders

Email Templates

Employee Management

Engagement Tracking

Event Marketing

Event Scheduling

Feedback Management

Food Delivery Dispatching

For Bars/Clubs

For Restaurants

For Retail

Gift Card Management

Group Reservations

In-Person Payments

Inventory Control

Inventory Management

Inventory Replenishment

Inventory Tracking

Invoice Management

Kitchen/Menu Management

Labor Cost Reporting

Loyalty Cards

Loyalty Program

Menu Builder

Mobile Access

Mobile Booking

Mobile Payments

Monitoring

Multi-Campaign

Multi-Channel Communication

Multi-Channel Marketing

Multi-Location

Multiple Payment Options

Negative Feedback Management

Online Booking

Online Ordering

Online Payments

Online Reservations

Order Entry

Order Management

Order Processing

Reviewers appreciate SpotOn’s affordable pricing and say bundled POS and credit card processing features add value. Some users report dual-pricing and cost savings as benefits, but some reviewers feel pricing can be misleading or too high. Some users say equipment costs and menu editing difficulties negatively affect value for money.

Value for money

By industry, SpotOn reviewers are most commonly professionals in restaurants (45%). The most frequent use case for SpotOn cited by reviewers is restaurant POS (58% of reviewers).

SpotOn

Web-based

Android

iPhone

iPad

Windows

Linux

Chromebook

Square Point of Sale

Clover

Aloha EPOS

Aloha Cloud

Revel Systems

Square Payments

Harbortouch POS

Lightspeed Restaurant

Genius

HungerRush

TouchBistro

Quick start

Counter-service

Full-service

Customize Your Own

Slow and unreliable phone support

Owner

You call or email and when you speak with someone, it's not to solve your problem but is instead to set up an appointment for someone to diagnose your issue. If you need urgent help, forget it.

58% of reviewers feel negative about Phone Support. Some users say reaching support by phone is challenging, with long wait times and repeated follow-ups needed to resolve issues. Reviewers report that calls often go unanswered or are not returned, and when contact is made, solutions are delayed or require multiple appointments. They find this lack of responsiveness particularly problematic when urgent help is needed, and some users express frustration with having to repeatedly explain their problems to different representatives.

Recurring technical glitches

They take up hours of my day trying to troubleshoot and it still doesn't work.

Business owner 

Been trying to get the issue resolved for three weeks still nothing.

57% of reviewers feel negative about Bugs and Issues. Some users report frequent glitches and programming errors that disrupt daily operations, such as lost orders, error messages, and unreliable hardware. Reviewers indicate that resolving these issues often takes a long time, with support responses being slow or ineffective. They mention that recurring problems can cause significant frustration and operational setbacks, and some users feel that unresolved bugs impact their ability to serve customers efficiently.

Efficient staff training process

I'm able to not only use it but teach it and problem solve with great ease.

84% of reviewers feel positive about Training and Learning Curve. Some users report that training new staff is straightforward, with clear guidance and supportive resources available. Reviewers indicate that the learning process is manageable, even for those new to the system, and they value the patience and thoroughness of training support. They say the system’s design helps staff quickly become comfortable with its features, and some mention that ongoing learning is supported by accessible help and responsive trainers.

Streamlined staff operations

General Manager

My personal favorite aspects of the SpotOn Restaurant POS system is how easily my staff picked it up.

owner

The programming is great to allow you to do more tasks with better trained staff. And the customers have a positive reaction.

85% of reviewers feel positive about Staff Management. Some users say the system simplifies employee training and makes onboarding new staff quick and efficient. Reviewers appreciate being able to manage payroll and timekeeping with ease, and they find that even staff with no prior experience adapt rapidly. They mention that the intuitive interface reduces confusion and helps staff perform tasks confidently. Some reviewers find that the software supports smooth operations for both employees and administrators, contributing to a positive work environment.

Intuitive and accessible interface

Operations Manager

MY favorite thing about Spot On is how easy the BOH Management interface is to use.

Owner/President 

The system is very user friendly, from both the front and back of house.  

86% of reviewers feel positive about Ease of Use. Reviewers indicate the system is user-friendly for both front and back of house, with intuitive navigation and logical layouts that make daily operations straightforward. Some users say setup and integration are smooth, and they appreciate how quickly they can train staff. They find that the interface allows them to access essential functions easily, and many mention that both experienced and new users adapt quickly. Some users report that having a reliable, easy-to-learn system is crucial for their business continuity and efficiency.

Prices are wrong, discounts are added instead of subtracted, gratuity can’t be added, printers malfunction, systems lose connectivity to the internet, handhelds don’t work, back up cell service fails, tickets won’t print to the kitchen, the list continues.

Chief Mischief Officer

There is no escalation path, no public developer email that works (partner-support@ bounces), and no visibility into where your request sits in their pipeline.

Customizable reports deliver powerful insights for smarter decision-making, while their user-friendly email marketing and loyalty programs drive real results.

manager

need offer more 3rd party vendors to connect to give customers options such as affirm and Klara and other financial institutes

Their platform makes managing even the most complex menu modifiers effortless—ideal for restaurants with detailed setups.

president

They told me that I have to adjust it in my general ledger. but the 1099E will be showing a big difference since it's not corrected on their end.

Do not expect timely responses to issues – after not receiving a response from their IT department regarding website interface issues I had to hire a website developer to figure out a band aide solution.

ADMIN

Being assigned to an engineer who fully understood our menu structure and was fast in responding and fixing our issues.

We are building online ordering for a coffee shop that opens this week.

After unplugging everything, he then determined our wiring wasn’t sufficient for the new system.

Managing Partner

Terminals don't hold cellular as well as handhelds.

The handhelds can't even reach my patio tables even though we are well within the required sq footage.

She helped me resolve a transition issue from my old POS and allowed us to close the book on it completely.

The constant computer crashes, lost tickets, not for high volume restaurants.

We entered into an agreement with SpotOn under the promise of a comprehensive food truck setup and a system that would function without internet connectivity.

The East European code slingers that maintain Spoton have built a runaway software "system" that makes a restaurant's job harder - not easier.

Admin

I don't like that there's three different websites (BOH, reporting, Dashboard) and then another if you get gift cards (through ECS.)

The handheld devices are cumbersome and have connectivity issues.

Chef Owner

The sales team was bad, the white glove install was done by a third party that doesn't know the software or hardware.

Every time we called [sensitive content hidden] to help, if he is not there then he will call us back right away when he's available.

We purchased the spot on POS system about a two months ago for our restaurant.

We do not have a kids menu at all, and there were chicken tenders listed as a kids menu item available to order online.

It’s really hard to come up with a least favorite when there are so many issues that have gone wrong.

The cut off time is 6pm and every bar/restaurant is open past that which means we won't see funds for 2 days.

Owner Operator

Would like a little more flexabilty on the "Tip" suggestion/option on handhelds.  

Additionally, there were menu items listed for our online ordering that we do not even sell at our restaurant.

Office Manager

Their accuracy and consistency with payments being processed in a timely manner.

Found myself liable with big sales tax amount.

Partner

The device will take orders but the process to create the order is a multi step process and when  you are busy this increases the stress. Plus the device has a scanner but will not scan upc codes, so you can't use this to process order without manual entry and that is not efficient.

SpotOn vs Lightspeed Restaurant Comparison (2026)

SpotOn

Lightspeed Restaurant

Overview

Video & Screenshots

Pricing

User reviews

Key features

Integrations

Alternatives