Clover POS Review 2023 – Features, Pros and Cons

Clover is a powerful point-of-sale (POS) system with a solid array of retail and hospitality features, plus the best customer loyalty app we’ve reviewed. In fact, with an impressive research score of 4/5, the solution is the third-best POS of the 11 best POS systems we’ve tested overall.

However, despite the system's versatility, its entry price of $60 per month for retail stores and $90 per month for restaurants make it less suitable for businesses starting from scratch. What's more, if you're in need of robust support tools, you'd be better off going for Square, which unlike Clover, received a perfect 5/5 help and support score, alongside 5/5 business management and inventory features, justifying its position as our number one point-of-sale.

There’s a lot to discuss when it comes to this POS, so to learn more about Clover's capabilities, pricing plans, and usability, scroll down or jump to specific sections using the links on the right.

Alternatively, if it's quick quotes you're after, use our free comparison tool to receive custom prices from the best POS providers on the market.

In this review:

• Clover POS: Quick Fact-File
• Clover Review: Is It Right for Your Business?
• Does Clover Have a Free Plan?
• Key Clover POS Features
• How Does Clover Compare to Other POS Systems?
  • Clover Retail Alternatives
  • Clover Restaurant Alternatives
• Our Methodology
• Final Verdict
• Frequently Asked Questions

We don't pull verdicts out of a hat at Tech.co. Working alongside our in-house insights team, we create a unique research process for every type of product we review. Interested in learning more about how we assess Clover and similar point-of-sale solutions? Skip down to our research section below.

Clover POS: Quick Fact-File

Want to check out Clover's potential at a glance? We list some major deciding factors below:

• POS packages – All of Clover's plans include both software and hardware
• Retail plans – Clover offers three dedicated retail-focused plans, starting at $60 per month
• Restaurant plans – Clover offers three Quick Service plans and three Full Service plans, with an entry price of $90 per month
• Hardware cost – Prices start from $49 for Clover Go. All-in-one POS hardware is available from $120 per month.
• Transaction fees – Charges range from 2.3% + $0.10 per sale to 2.6% + $0.10 per sale.
• Help & support options – Customer service helpdesk and helplines are available, but not 24/7, and no live chat options.
• Inventory management features – (5/5) Clover's ‘Shopventory' features are excellent, and include vendor management, inventory alerting, purchase orders, and complete inventory history tools.
• Business management features – (4.5/5) Great business management features including multiple reporting options, employee performance tracking and sales forecasting tools, and a 7-day offline mode.
• Till features – (4/5) – Solid till features, including bill splitting, table management, and product variant capabilities. However, payment options are quite limited.

Clover Review: Is It Right for Your Business?

Is Clover Good Value for Money?

Receiving a price score of 3/5 in our research, Clover's value for money isn't great.

While Clover does offer affordable options, such as its professional Starter plan and home & field Starter plan, which both cost $14.95 per month, Clover's average price is fairly steep.

Retail stores will need to fork out $60 to $175 per month to use the point-of-service, while restaurants can expect to pay anywhere from $90 to $290 per month.

However, while these prices are much higher than lots of other POS options, all of Clover's plans include hardware options as well, saving businesses from having to invest in devices separately. If vendors want to buy hardware separately, they're able to do so as well, with the provider's card reader Clover Go, costing $49, its tablet-style POS system Clover Mini costing $45 per month for retail stores, and $90 per month for restaurants, and it's all-in-one POS system Clover Duo, costing $1,799 upfront, plus a monthly $44.95 software plan.

In addition to costly hardware, Clovers transaction fees, which range between 2.3% to 3.5% + 10 cents, depending on your monthly plan and the type of transaction, are slightly higher than other similar POS systems too.

According to our research, Clover's value offering is slightly poorer than similar POS alternatives, especially in relation to Square and Zettle which both offer free options. However, Clover's software and hardware options are fairly advanced, making the packages ideal for businesses that are able to invest in slightly pricier systems.

For a more detailed breakdown of how much this POS costs, read our Clover pricing guide here.

Does Clover Have a Free Plan?

Unfortunately, Clover doesn't currently offer a free plan. However, businesses keen on testing out Clover's software can sign up for the provider's 30-day free trial. This free trial includes 24/7 support, basic POS features like inventory and order management, and more advanced marketing tools like email lists.

Instead of incurring monthly rates, the trial charges users a flat rate of 2.9%+30¢ per transaction, or 2.7% + 10¢ for those using a Clover device to take payments. While this isn't a bad deal for a free trial, these fees are still steeper than those offered on quality free plans from Square and Zettle.

Clover Review: Key Features

Clover's POS is packed with a variety of high-quality hospitality and retail features, making it an asset to businesses in multiple industries. From front-of-house functions to business growth tools, we break down its main features below, to give you an insight into its potential.

Sales

Just like other leading POSs like Square and Toast, Clover accepts all major payment types, including credit cards, debit cards, cash and checks. It also accepts contactless payments through mobile wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay. Clover's also has its own Cash Log and Cash Track apps which let businesses record cash flows to employees and registers, ensuring that every dollar is accounted for.

QR code payment options are available for dine-in and pick-up orders too, allowing customers to cover the bill from their mobile devices.

Check out our Toast vs Clover review to see learn more about how the systems stack up.

Online ordering

Clover's online ordering system ‘Clover Online Ordering' is great because it lets businesses receive and process orders from anywhere they choose, making it easier to tap into a wider pool of customers. The system processes online orders and payments on your behalf too, operating just like an in-person POS. Clover does charge more for online transactions, however, with a fee of 3.5% +10¢ compared to 2.3%+10¢ for in-store sales, and its overall ecommerce capabilities are much more limited than solutions like Shopify.

Inventory

Receiving a perfect 5/5 score for stock management, Clover's inventory features are second to none. Its own inventory app, Shopventory, lets businesses automate their inventory, bulk edit items, spot sales trends, and even track expiration dates for perishable items – making the system especially useful for food businesses.

Staff management

From creating rotas and managing payroll to rolling out training and incentive programs, Clover's employee management features are very extensive. Its team management systems can all be accessed through its central app Dashboard too, letting businesses streamline the process even further. User permissions can be created and allocated per role easily too on the systems ‘Permissions' tab.

While Clover's training features are solid, they fall slightly short of Vend, with the system offering a greater selection of tools to onboard, train and track employees.

Customer loyalty

Clover really shines when it comes to customer relationship management (CRM). Its customer engagement tools let businesses customize offers, sign up customers, and communicate with buyers directly, to reward customers and encourage repeat buying.

Unlike systems like Square and Lightspeed, Clover builds customer profiles automatically too, helping you to gain valuable insights from consumer data. And the best part? Businesses don't need to pay extra for these services, they're included in each paid plan.

How Does Clover Compare to Other POS Systems?

If you're after a reliable POS system with a low entry price, Clover will do the job – especially if customer engagement is a top priority. However, with costly hardware and poor support options, it's unlikely to fit the needs of every business.

With an amazing retail rating of 4.7/5, compared to Clover's still respectable 4.5/5, Square is our top pick for storefronts. In fact, thanks to Square's 5/5 business growth, inventory, and business management tools and generous free plan, the POS is our top pick for businesses across all industries, as long as you're willing to shell out extra for certain essential features.

For hospitality businesses with an advanced toolkit, TouchBistro and Toast offer some of the most impressive restaurant features in the market. Both of these systems are priced pretty steeply, however, so if cutting costs is your top concern, Zettle is another great, budget alternative.

Clover for Retail

Retail businesses could certainly do worse than choosing Clover POS. However, they could potentially do better.

Our research found Clover wanting when it came to inventory tools, for example. It doesn’t allow for the complexity that rivals such as Square or Vend do.

Clover also falls short when it comes to reporting and marketing tools. These aren’t core POS features but have become so commonplace that not having them feels like a bad deal. Clover’s reporting is of particular concern – while rival POS providers will allow you to get seriously in-depth with your data to help optimize everything in your business, Clover just doesn’t offer that level of detail.

Read more – The Best Retail POS Systems

Clover Retail Alternatives

We would choose Vend over Clover. Vend might cost a bit more than Clover, but it’s a better all-round package, and more likely to make your business more money in the long run.

If you’re looking to get started for less, then we would recommend Square. Square’s flat-rate transaction fee-only system means that you only start paying when you start making money. What’s more, you even get a free card reader when you sign up. Square also offers better features than Clover, particularly out-classing it when it comes to inventory management.

Clover for Restaurants

Again, Clover is a decent option for restaurant businesses – but you can, and should, do better.

Clover has a strong kitchen register system, and is still good value for money. However, its stock management is poor. It doesn’t allow for inter-store transactions, stock-taking, or inventory alerting, instead suggesting that you install the Shopventory app from its App Market to add these features. But, frankly, these should be included in any restaurant POS.

Read more – The Best Restaurant POS Systems

Clover Restaurant Alternatives

Yet again, we have to recommend Square. It bests Clover in all areas, from its cheaper starting price to its more advanced restaurant management features.

What’s more, Square even sells hardware that can rival Clover’s excellent suite, while still being app-based – meaning you won’t be committed to a non-reprogrammable Clover Station, for example.

Our Methodology

Before writing up any product, we do our homework first. In fact, we've created a unique research framework for each type of technology we assess to ensure our verdicts are as accurate as possible. When reviewing POS systems, we consider the following metrics:

• Till features – We measure how solid a system's till features are and look out for advanced features like bill splitting and receipt customization.
• Business management – We evaluate how helpful a POS system is in managing a business, ranking systems based on how robust their employee performance and reporting features are.
• Inventory management – We assess the quality of a system's stock management tools, checking the presence of advanced tools like perishable inventory management and stock valuation reports.
• Business growth – We measure how capable is the POS at helping you expand your business, and record the presence of business growth features like CRM, ecommerce, and marketing tools.
• Price – We calculate the average price of the system, and check if any free or demo versions are available.
• Help and support – We assess the utility of a system's support tools for businesses that are in a pinch. For instance, we check how many support channels are available and if services are open around-the-clock.

After our research is complete, we award each point-of-sale a score out of 5 for each of these categories, as well as an overall star rating. These scores are used to help us rank products, and determine their core strengths and weaknesses.

Frequently Asked Questions