Lightspeed Review UK
Lightspeed costs £79/month for one restaurant till and £75/month for one retail till before any card fees, and it does not publish its UK card rate. That makes it a system for venues that need its depth; a single café taking £5,000 a month pays less on Square's free plan before Lightspeed charges a penny in card fees.
Our verdict
Consider Lightspeed when you run several tills or sites, need serious stock control or table service, and can get a card rate quoted in writing. Against Square for Restaurants Plus at £5,000 a month, Lightspeed Basic only comes out cheaper if its quoted rate is below 1.55%. Read the service agreement before signing: the term, the renewal and the 90-day notice rule all sit in your Order Form and s.4.
Multi-till restaurants and bars, and retailers with large catalogues, purchase orders and an online shop to run from one stock list.
You run one small site, want a published card rate before you talk to sales, or want to be able to leave at short notice.
Prices checked 1 November 2026 on lightspeedhq.com/uk; terms from the Lightspeed Service Agreement (last updated 26 February 2026). VAT treatment of plan prices: Not published.
How we review: we cost published prices and contract clauses against a worked example. We have not used Lightspeed ourselves, and we do not score products or aggregate reviews. See our editorial standards.
What is Lightspeed?
Lightspeed is a Montreal-based POS software company with separate products for restaurants and retail. Its UK company is Lightspeed POS UK Ltd (company number 09381839, incorporated 9 January 2015, registered in London SE1). You pay a monthly software fee per plan, buy hardware separately, and take cards through Lightspeed Payments, which is built into the till.
Lightspeed Restaurant pricing
| Plan | Monthly | Licences | Software a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | £79/month | 1 | £948 |
| Core | £149/month | 2 | £1,788 |
| Pro | £219/month | 3 | £2,628 |
| Extra register | £39/month per extra register | +1 | £468 |
Card rate row on the pricing page: Shown as "Default" on Basic and "Custom" on Core and Pro, with no figure. Tableside mobile ePOS and kitchen display are add-ons on Basic; "additional fees may apply". Source: Lightspeed Restaurant pricing, checked 1 November 2026.
One detail worth doing the sum on: Basic plus one extra register is £79 + £39 = £118 a month, £31 less than Core with its two licences. Pay for Core for its features, not for the second till.
Lightspeed Retail pricing
Lightspeed Retail is £75/month (Basic), £149/month (Core) or £189/month (Plus), each with 1 register included. Extra locations and registers: not published (labels shown on the pricing page with no price). The page has an annual/monthly toggle but does not say which billing the headline price assumes. Lightspeed says prices can vary and additional service fees may apply depending on the business, so treat these as starting points and get the Order Form figure before comparing. For shops weighing simpler options, see retail card machines.
Worked example: the £5,000 a month café
Lightspeed's card rate is not published, so we cannot give you its total. What we can do is work out the rate it would have to beat.
- Square for Restaurants Free: £5,000 × 1.75% = £87.50/month
- Square for Restaurants Plus: £69 + £87.50 = £156.50/month
- Lightspeed Basic: £79 + (£5,000 × quoted rate)
To match Square Plus, Lightspeed Basic needs (£156.50 − £79) ÷ £5,000 = 1.55% or less. To match Square Free it would need (£87.50 − £79) ÷ £5,000 = 0.17%, an unrealistically low card rate. Lightspeed Core would need 0.15% to match Square Plus. At this volume, Lightspeed is a feature choice, not a cost saving.
Lightspeed Payments
Lightspeed Payments sits inside the till software. Lightspeed says the rate is the same whatever card the customer uses, but the UK rate itself is not published. What is published: a £15 chargeback fee, standard settlement typically within 2 business days of the transaction, and instant payouts typically within 30 minutes of a request (fee not published). Hardware: Sold separately; prices not published. Existing terminals from other providers cannot be reused. The service agreement also allows Lightspeed to charge fees for using a different payment provider (s.5.1), which is why a rate quote should come with a written answer on that point.
The Lightspeed service agreement
- Term: The duration in your Order Form (s.4.1); not published as a standard length.
- Renews automatically for a period equal to the initial term unless either side gives written notice (s.4.2).
- Notice: 90 days before the end of the current term, where the term is more than 90 days (s.4.2). Notice equal to the term itself where the term is under 90 days; 30 days if there is no Order Form (s.4.2).
- You may not terminate before the end of the term except as the agreement allows (s.4.2).
- Early termination fee: Unpaid one-off fees, plus all recurring fees due for the rest of the current term, plus any software or hardware discount you received (s.13.5).
- Payments are non-refundable unless the law requires otherwise (s.5.1).
- Contracting entity: The contracting-entity table has no UK row. For Lightspeed Restaurant (K-Series) it lists Lightspeed Netherlands B.V. under Dutch law for Europe and Lightspeed Commerce Inc. under Quebec law for the rest of the world.
In pounds, on an example 12-month order for Basic: leave after 3 months and you owe 9 × £79 = £711, plus any hardware or software discount you were given. The 90-day notice rule is the one to diarise: on a 12-month term, notice has to land by the end of month 9 or the agreement rolls into another full term. If you are mid-term and unhappy, it is usually cheaper to stay put and give notice on time than to pay the fee.
Lightspeed reviews: what to check
We do not collect or score user reviews. If you read Lightspeed POS reviews before buying, filter for UK venues of your size, and check whether complaints are about the software or about the contract. Software problems may be fixable; contract problems are settled by s.4 and s.13.5 above, whatever the review says.
Pros
- Separate restaurant and retail products built for each trade
- Published plan prices, with extra restaurant registers at £39
- Instant payout option alongside standard settlement within 2 business days
- Registered UK company and a service agreement with plain-English notes beside each clause
Cons
- UK card rate: Not published
- Hardware prices: not published; other providers' terminals cannot be reused
- Early exit costs the rest of the term plus any discounts
- Restaurant agreement governed by Dutch or Quebec law under its entity table, not English law
Alternatives to Lightspeed
Square POS publishes everything and has no contract. Epos Now publishes a card rate but locks you into a fixed term. Our EPOS systems comparison sets them side by side, and restaurant card machines covers the payments side for hospitality.
Is Lightspeed worth it?
For a multi-till venue that will use its depth, it can be, provided the card rate is quoted in writing and the third-party processor question is answered. For a single small site, the maths above says no: Square's free plan is £87.50 a month at £5,000 of takings, against £79 for Lightspeed's software alone. If you already have a Lightspeed quote, send it with a recent statement to our free statement review and we will tell you whether it beats what you pay now.
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Lightspeed questions
How much does Lightspeed cost in the UK?
Lightspeed Restaurant is £79/month (Basic, 1 licence), £149/month (Core, 2 licences) or £219/month (Pro, 3 licences), with extra registers at £39/month per extra register. Lightspeed Retail is £75/month, £149/month or £189/month. Card processing is on top, at a rate that is not published.
Do I have to use Lightspeed Payments?
The UK pricing pages list integrated payments in every plan. The service agreement (s.5.1) says fees can include charges for using a payment provider other than Lightspeed Payments, without stating an amount, and Lightspeed says terminals from other providers cannot be reused. Ask for any third-party processor fee in writing before you sign.
Can I cancel Lightspeed early?
Generally no. The agreement runs for the term in your Order Form and, under s.13.5, leaving early costs any unpaid one-off fees plus all recurring fees for the rest of the term, plus any discount you received. On £79/month with 9 months left that is at least £711.
How much notice does Lightspeed need?
90 days before the end of the current term where the term is longer than 90 days (s.4.2). Otherwise the agreement renews automatically for a period equal to the initial term. On a 12-month order, that means giving notice by the end of month 9.
How fast does Lightspeed pay out?
Standard settlement is typically within 2 business days of the transaction. Instant payouts are typically within 30 minutes of a request; the fee for instant payouts is not published. Each chargeback costs £15.