Compare · vs Lightspeed · verified August 2026

Lightspeed will take your vertical. Their payments won't.

Lightspeed markets a POS page for vape retail from $109 a month. Per the same company's published policy, August 2026, vape is restricted from Lightspeed Payments and routed to a third-party processor, and its published fee table bills third-party processing at $200 to $1,120+ a month. PandazPOS comes out of a real counter the big processors would rather not talk to: the hardware is on us, processing is included, and your rates are agreed upfront in writing.

$1,120+/mo
Lightspeed's published fee table, August 2026: monthly billing for using a third-party payment processor runs $200 to $1,120 and up by volume. The same company's published policy restricts vape from Lightspeed Payments and routes it to a third-party processor.
$289/mo
TOP RETAIL PLAN PER LOCATION, ONE REGISTER INCLUDED, PER PUBLISHED PLANS, AUGUST 2026
$0
NO PER-DEVICE SOFTWARE FEES
Unpublished
COUNTER HARDWARE PRICES, NOT ON THEIR PUBLISHED PLANS, AUGUST 2026
Free
SUNMI + DEJAVOO UNITS, ON US
Full contract value
THE EARLY-TERMINATION CEILING, PER PUBLISHED CONTRACT TERMS, AUGUST 2026
No lease
NOTHING TO BUY OUT WHEN YOU LEAVE
The rest of the ledger
Vape and tobacco
Marketed a dedicated vape POS page from $109 a month while their published policy restricts vape from Lightspeed Payments, routing it to 2ACCEPT.
Boarded on purpose. Processing included, rates agreed upfront in writing.
Track record
In 2023 their payments push billed holdout merchants $400 to $560 a month, a program trade press called "blackmail."
No forced migrations. Your rates are agreed before you sign, not changed after.
Who picks up
Ask who answers at their size; get a name before you sign.
Our own crew, not outsourced.
Lightspeed figures are read from Lightspeed's published plans, fee schedule, payment policies, and contract terms, August 2026, and change when Lightspeed changes them. Our column is put in writing before you sign. Sources on request: [email protected]
The questions everyone asks

Ask us what you'd ask them.

Q.1
"But Lightspeed has a vape POS page."
They do, from $109 a month, per their published page, August 2026. The same company's published policy restricts vape from Lightspeed Payments and routes it to 2ACCEPT, a third-party processor. Before you sign, get in writing which processor you would run on and every monthly fee that rides along. We board vape and tobacco retail on purpose.
Q.2
"2.6% and 10 cents sounds fair."
That is the advertised card-present rate for their in-house payments. Their published fee table also bills $200 to $1,120+ a month for using a third-party processor, and in 2023 their payments push billed holdout merchants $400 to $560 a month, a program trade press called "blackmail." Our rates are quoted per merchant and agreed upfront in writing.
Q.3
"What does leaving cost?"
Per Lightspeed's published contract terms, August 2026: no early termination, with a fee that can run up to the remaining value of the contract. With us the hardware is on us while you process with us, no lease to buy out. Ask the exact terms on the demo call and we will walk you through them.
Book a 15-minute demo. Bring your current statement; we read it line by line.

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