Free POS Software

CNET Editors' review

Free POS Software is a freeware point-of-sale system optimized for bars, clubs, restaurants, and other small businesses in the food and hospitality trade. The basic system supports two cash drawers simultaneously, which is sufficient for many small businesses, though it can be networked for multiple sale points. It accepts barcode readers, card swipers, touch screens, receipt printers, remote printers, and other tools of the trade. It also handles inventories. While it's free to use, registration is required, though that's free, too.

During the installation process, a Hardware Setup screen appeared. It identified our system and whether it had things like a barcode reader or receipt printer; we could select or deselect items as well as configure LAN, Bluetooth, or Serial network access as well as IP Address, IP Port, and COM Port for remote printers. Under Currency, we changed the default selection, the South African Rand, for US Dollars. This program's interface fills the entire desktop, which is typical of POS systems since it keeps operators from wasting time. The program opened in Demonstration Mode, which requires users to test the functionality of their systems to proceed to the main menu view. Here we could access the Setup, POS, and other features.

Free POS Software's color-coded controls on a stark black background make for good contrast and visibility, but we quickly realized this program suffers from the chief disadvantage of nearly all POS software, free or not: It's complicated and unintuitive, with interfaces that are either too busy or too stark, a clunky functionality, and some weird ways of doing things, many of which are doubtless related to the fact that running Free POS Software will probably be the host PC's only duty. Issues like being difficult to close (we had to use the Task Manager), which are inconvenient on a home PC, may actually be virtues when employees are at the till. On the plus side, it's free and it does a lot; with some effort, you could probably configure your POS system to be foolproof (not that you'd actually hire fools; we're just saying). We've seen POS software with basic, intuitive interfaces yet just as many features and options as Free POS. We recommend trying a few before committing your store.

Publisher's Description

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All User Reviews
  • All versions:

    2.3 stars

    out of 7 votes

    • 5 star: 1
    • 4 star: 1
    • 3 star: 0
    • 2 star: 2
    • 1 star: 3
  • Current version:

    3.0 stars

    out of 3 votes

    • 5 star: 1
    • 4 star: 0
    • 3 star: 0
    • 2 star: 2
    • 1 star: 0
  • My rating:

    0 stars

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Results 1-3 of 3

  • 2.0 stars

    "good program but virus protecter detects it as a virus"

    January 24, 2012  |   By chris_xxllos

    Version: Free POS Software 2.0.4

    Pros

    neet orinised easy to use

    Cons

    showing up as a infected file

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  • 5.0 stars

    "Great POS system for restaurants"

    August 26, 2011  |   By ktdave

    Version: Free POS Software 2.0.4

    Pros

    Extremely reliable and mature software, and great customer service for registered customers.
    Simple to train employees to use this software.

    Cons

    It can be time consuming to configure to your needs. It may require more technical experience on your end to maintain.

    Summary

    We've been running this software on in our restaurant for 5 years on 2 terminals without issues. It is very reliable, and I can't recommend it enough. If you are more inclined towards the DIY ethic, this will work well for you and save you thousands of dollars.

    Our restaurant has a small dining area and most of our business is takeout or delivery. I was able to configure the software to suit our needs perfectly.

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  • 2.0 stars

    "POS software"

    June 2, 2011  |   By DONeill13

    Version: Free POS Software 2.0.4

    Pros

    Graphics aren't too bad

    Cons

    Very little adjustments to the setup are available and the ones that are don't work well. I can't print anything on my receipt printer because it says that I don't have a cash drawer installed, even after I installed a cash drawer.

    Summary

    Not very useful to my particular situation. I just wanted something to run an online test on my POS printer and this was pretty much worthless. POS can stand for a whole lot more than just Point Of Sale.

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Free POS Software