Epos Now vs PrestaShop

What Epos Now is

Epos Now sells a proprietary cloud POS ecosystem rather than a single till application. It combines POS software, countertop or handheld hardware, Epos Now Payments, inventory and staff controls, onboarding, support and an app marketplace for retail and hospitality. Current UK marketing shows complete hardware from £199, but the disclosed offer requires a 12-month payments, care and support subscription starting at £54 per month; VAT and card-processing charges are separate. Contract structure, hardware title, software licenses, support, payment volume commitments, optional apps and extra terminals determine the real cost, so the headline device price is not a complete system price.

What PrestaShop is

PrestaShop is self-hosted open-source commerce software whose core is distributed under OSL 3.0. It provides catalog, order, customer and storefront foundations with modules and themes for extensions; production cost still includes compatible hosting, implementation, payment services, module licensing, upgrades, backups and security maintenance.

What Epos Now is built to do

POS operations

Processes sales and manages products, inventory, tenders, staff and location activity.

Retail and hospitality

Adds industry workflows such as variants, tables, ordering and kitchen displays through selected products.

Payments and hardware

Pairs terminals and peripherals with Epos Now or supported third-party payment arrangements.

Cloud and integrations

Provides remote reporting, an app marketplace and contract-governed APIs for connected workflows.

What PrestaShop is built to do

Catalog and orders

Provides the core data and administration workflows for products, customers and orders.

Modules and themes

Extends business logic, integrations and storefront presentation through separate packages.

Webservice

Offers a configurable webservice interface for supported shop resources.

Release packages

Distributes production-oriented archives separately from development source checkouts.

Choose Epos Now if

• Physical retail or hospitality businesses wanting a packaged till and payment setup
• Operators needing inventory, staff and multi-location visibility from a cloud dashboard
• Buyers able to test peripherals, offline behavior, integrations and payment settlement before signing

Skip Epos Now if

• The decision is based only on the promotional hardware price
• The business cannot accept fixed terms, minimum processing conditions or hardware-return obligations
• Required apps, payment providers, tax rules, connectivity or local support are not confirmed in writing

Choose PrestaShop if

• Stores whose required catalog and checkout behavior fits maintained PrestaShop modules
• Teams that want source-level control over hosting and storefront implementation
• Organizations able to stage updates and govern security, backups and payment integrations

Skip PrestaShop if

• You need hosting, upgrades and incident response bundled into one managed subscription
• A critical payment, shipping or compliance module does not support the chosen release
• No owner can test and maintain PHP, database, core, modules, theme and overrides

Epos Now: pros & cons

• Integrated hardware, software and payments can reduce manual reconciliation at the till.
• Retail functions cover products, variants, stock, staff and multi-location operations.
• Hospitality options include table, order, kitchen-display and payment workflows.
• Cloud access, APIs and an app marketplace provide integration paths for supported accounting, ecommerce and delivery systems.
• Promotional hardware pricing can depend on a fixed-term software, support and payments commitment.
• Some UK packages require Epos Now Payments usage or a minimum transaction level; failure can trigger a plan change or different charges.
• Hardware ownership varies between upfront purchase and rental, and early termination can leave remaining fees or return obligations.
• Standard support hours, premium support, additional devices, apps, card rates, VAT and non-integrated payment choices can all add cost.

PrestaShop: pros & cons

• Commerce foundation: Core supplies product, customer, order and storefront management.
• Source access: The core code and release process are publicly maintained under an open-source license.
• Extension model: Native and third-party modules and themes add shop-specific behavior.
• Deployment control: Teams can install release packages on compatible self-managed infrastructure.
• Version-specific stack: PHP support and other requirements must be checked against the exact PrestaShop release.
• Operational ownership: Server hardening, backups, monitoring and security updates are not included with the core license.
• Extension risk: Module and theme quality, compatibility, licensing and maintenance vary independently from core.
• Upgrade testing: Store code, overrides, theme, modules, data and checkout integrations require staged validation.