Alternatives to Lavu
iPad restaurant POS with kitchen display and online ordering
Lavu ranks #5 of 9 in Restaurant POS & management, with an Alt Score of 85. It is licensed under Proprietary (commercial SaaS) and available on iOS and Web. 12 of 12 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
Lavu is an iPad-based restaurant POS covering tableside ordering, kitchen display, inventory, and online ordering, aimed at independent restaurants and bars.
Lavu targets independent and multi-unit restaurants, bars, breweries, cafes, food trucks, pizzerias and other food-and-beverage operators, from single locations to high-volume, multi-location concepts. It positions itself for operators who want an iPad-based POS with award-winning support rather than an enterprise-tier system.
An iPad restaurant POS bundled with a kitchen display system, native online ordering, integrated payment processing (Lavu Pay) with dual-pricing/cash-discount options, fully integrated payroll, inventory management, detailed reporting, offline mode and multi-location controls. It also layers in Marty AI, which surfaces daily profit-recovery insights across labor and food cost, plus an open API and a large marketplace of integrations (loyalty, accounting, delivery).
Staff run the point of sale on iPads, taking orders tableside and firing them straight to the kitchen via the KDS, while a cloud/web back office handles menu, pricing and reporting across locations. The system keeps taking orders and payments offline and auto-syncs when the connection returns. Payments run through the integrated Lavu Pay processing, and pricing is obtained by booking a demo rather than a public price list.
Why people leave Lavu
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Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Toast is an all-in-one restaurant point-of-sale and management platform with Android-based hardware, online ordering, payroll, and payments for food-service businesses.
Clover is a POS platform with proprietary hardware and an app marketplace serving restaurants and retail, owned by Fiserv, with restaurant-specific dining plans.
Lightspeed Restaurant is a cloud-based restaurant POS covering tableside ordering, menu management, and reporting, part of Lightspeed's commerce platform.
SpotOn is a restaurant point-of-sale and management platform bundling handheld ordering, online ordering, loyalty, and marketing with integrated payments.
Revel Systems is an iPad-based POS platform for restaurants and retail with tableside ordering, kitchen display, inventory, and enterprise multi-location management.
Square for Restaurants is Square's restaurant-specific point-of-sale package adding coursing, floor plans, and kitchen display on top of Square's payments and hardware.
TouchBistro is an iPad-based restaurant POS with tableside ordering, menu management, and add-on reservations, loyalty, and online ordering modules.
GloriaFood is a free online ordering and table-reservation system for restaurants, monetized through optional paid add-ons like a branded app and card payments.
Feature comparison
Rows come from the Restaurant POS & management checklist (16 rows). Human-verified cells only. ? means the value has not been verified.
| Restaurant POS & management checklist | Lavu | Toast | Clover | Lightspeed Restaurant | SpotOn | Revel Systems |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
| Starts at | ||||||
| License | ||||||
| Platforms | ||||||
| Tableside / handheld ordering | ||||||
| Menu management | ||||||
| Online ordering & delivery | ||||||
| Kitchen display system | ||||||
| Inventory management | ||||||
| Staff scheduling & payroll | ||||||
| Loyalty & gift cards | ||||||
| Reporting & analytics | ||||||
| Offline mode | ||||||
| Payment processing included | ||||||
| Own hardware | ||||||
| Multi-location |
Every fact and feature listed for Lavu is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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License Proprietary (commercial SaaS) verified 2026-07-12
© 2026. All rights reserved. | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy
https://lavu.com/restaurant-pos/ -
Platforms iOS, Web verified 2026-07-12
POS front end runs on iPad/iOS; back-office/payroll management is web-based (https://lavu.com/payroll/: 'A fully web-based solution gives you total control from anywhere').
Requires iOS 13.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/lavu-pos/id1449885676 -
Status active verified 2026-07-12
The Lavu Story How It Started In 2010, our founders were sitting in a busy restaurant
https://lavu.com/about-lavu/ -
Tableside / handheld ordering Yes verified 2026-07-12
Tableside ordering. Reduce floor traffic and errors with mobile ordering direct from the table.
https://lavu.com/restaurant-pos/fine-dining -
Menu management Yes verified 2026-07-12
Centralized menu management. Push menu changes, price updates, and 86’d items across all locations instantly from one dashboard.
https://lavu.com/restaurant-pos/multi-location -
Online ordering & delivery Yes verified 2026-07-12
Offer your own takeout and delivery options without paying the steep fees of outside marketplaces.
https://lavu.com/online-ordering/ -
Kitchen display system Yes verified 2026-07-12
Lavu’s KDS sends orders instantly to the kitchen from any device — no more paper ti
https://lavu.com/kitchen-display-system-kds/ -
Inventory management Yes verified 2026-07-12
With Lavu, you can easily manage your inventory and use powerful inventory integrations.
https://lavu.com/integrations/ -
Staff scheduling & payroll Partial verified 2026-07-12
Payroll is native (Lavu Payroll); staff scheduling is via integrations (e.g., Dolce) per lavu.com/integrations/, not a native module.
Unlock Fully Integrated Payroll Save time and money with Lavu Payroll
https://lavu.com/payroll/ -
Loyalty & gift cards Partial verified 2026-07-12
Loyalty delivered through integrations (LoyaltyMatch, Pepper, OpenTable); no native loyalty or gift-card program stated.
If you use Lavu, you can increase loyalty and benefit from powerful integrations.
https://lavu.com/integrations/ -
Reporting & analytics Yes verified 2026-07-12
Lavu offers features and detailed reports to help you streamline operations and make informed decisions.
https://lavu.com/restaurant-pos/ -
Offline mode Yes verified 2026-07-12
Full order and payment processing offline. Lavu doesn’t degrade to a notepad when your internet d
https://lavu.com/restaurant-pos/offline-mode -
Payment processing included Yes verified 2026-07-12
Give your guests a fast and secure checkout experience – and take control of your processing costs with Lavu Pay
https://lavu.com/payment-processing/ -
Own hardware No verified 2026-07-12
Runs on third-party Apple iPad hardware; no Lavu-branded POS hardware advertised.
Run your point-of-sale system using an iPad that is extremely easy to manage and update.
https://lavu.com/restaurant-pos/ -
Multi-location Yes verified 2026-07-12
Centralized menu management. Push menu changes, price updates, and 86’d items across all locations instantly from one dashboard.
https://lavu.com/restaurant-pos/multi-location
FAQ
Yes. Toast, Square for Restaurants and GloriaFood have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
Clover, Lightspeed Restaurant and SpotOn — every license claim links its source.