Choosing the right restaurant POS software is one of the highest-leverage decisions an operator makes. The wrong system slows service, breaks GST filing and drives staff attrition — the right one pays for itself in weeks. This guide walks through the exact criteria we use with 3,000+ Indian F&B brands.

1. Start with your service model, not features

A dine-in fine-dine, a cloud kitchen and a QSR chain all need different POS behaviour. Map your outlets by service type first, then match software. See our deeper breakdown in the restaurant POS software guide.

2. Non-negotiable features for Indian restaurants

GST-compliant billing with HSN codes and CGST/SGST/IGST split
KOT printing to multiple kitchen sections
Swiggy / Zomato / ONDC aggregator sync
Table & modifier management
Offline mode with auto-sync
Role-based access and audit logs

3. Cloud vs on-premise — the real trade-off

Cloud POS wins on multi-outlet visibility and updates; on-premise wins on internet resilience. Most modern operators pick cloud-based restaurant POS with a local caching layer — best of both.

4. Total cost of ownership (TCO)

Licence fee is usually 30–40% of TCO. Add hardware, training, aggregator integrations, GST filing, support SLAs and per-outlet add-ons. Ask vendors for a 3-year TCO in writing.

5. Migration and onboarding

Insist on menu import, historical sales migration and side-by-side parallel runs for 7 days. If the vendor can't do this, walk away.

Free tool

Not sure where you stand today? Run our POS Assessment — a 5-minute self-audit that scores your current POS across 12 dimensions.