Point of sale in South Africa is not one market. It is five quite different ways of buying, and most of the frustration comes from picking the wrong kind rather than the wrong brand.
From R199 per branch · 15-day free trial · No credit card required
These are categories, not brands. Work out which category suits you and the shortlist writes itself.
A card machine came first and a till grew around it. Software is often free or low-cost with a hardware purchase. Strongest where taking a card is the main job.
Software loaded onto machines in your shop, usually quoted per site with a technician install and an onsite support contract. Long track records, deep operational features.
Built for other markets and billed in foreign currency. Large ecosystems and integrations; support hours and payment integrations may not be local.
Cloud software bought through a scoped quote and a planned rollout, often with a specific accounting integration as the headline.
Published pricing, sign up yourself, no setup fee because there is no setup labour. Bizzfo is one of these.
If you mainly need to take cards, look at the first. If you need a technician on site, the second. If you want to be trading today on a published price, the fifth.
Only things you can check yourself before you sign. No opinions about anyone’s software.
| Payment-led | Installed | International | Consultative | Self-serve (Bizzfo) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing published | Sometimes | Rarely | Usually, in foreign currency | Rarely | Yes — four plans, R199 to R1,650 |
| Start without a call | Often | No | Usually | No | Yes |
| Free trial, no card | Varies | Rarely | Varies | Rarely | 15 days on every branch |
| Where it runs | Device supplied | Installed on your machines | Browser | Browser | Browser, plus an Android till that works offline |
| Billing currency | Rands | Rands | Foreign currency | Rands | Rands |
| Setup fee | Hardware purchase | Commonly | Varies | Commonly | None |
| Contract | Varies | Often a term | Varies | Often a term | Month to month, no lock-in |
| Support | Local | Local, often onsite | International hours | Local | Local, WhatsApp and email |
These are general characteristics of each category, not statements about any particular company. Individual vendors vary, and terms change — verify anything that matters to you directly with the vendor, in writing, before you decide.
Including us. If a vendor cannot answer these in writing, that is itself an answer.
Our answers to 1, 2 and 3 are on the pricing page · and 8 is on the features page
Takeaways & QSR · Pizza · Coffee Shops · Bakeries · Pie Shops · Butcheries · Bottle Stores
Fifteen days free on every branch. Load your own products and judge it against whatever else you are looking at.
Choosing a POS system in South Africa is mostly a question of which kind of system suits how you want to buy and be supported. Payment-provider systems lead with card acceptance. Installed on-premise systems are quoted per site with a technician and an onsite support contract. International cloud platforms bring large ecosystems but bill in foreign currency. Consultative cloud systems are scoped through a quote. Self-serve cloud systems publish their pricing and let you set up yourself. Bizzfo is the last of these: four plans from R199 to R1,650 per branch per month, a 15-day free trial on every branch with no credit card, no setup fee and no lock-in contract, running in any browser with an Android till that keeps selling through a network outage.