You've probably seen Square in a YouTube video or a café abroad: a small white card reader, a tidy app, and a cashier ringing up sales in seconds. It looks like exactly what your shop needs. Then you try to sign up and find it isn't offered in your country.
That's the situation for most businesses in Africa, and for much of the Middle East and Asia. Even where Square does operate, growing businesses sometimes move on because of per-transaction fees or because they need deeper stock control.
The short answer: if you're outside Square's markets, or you've outgrown it, the realistic options are EliteTeQ for stock, branches and local payments in one place, Loyverse as a free starter for one small shop, Odoo if you have a developer, a local POS vendor that knows your market, or, if you trade where they operate, Shopify POS or Lightspeed.
What Square does well
Square is a payments company with a free POS app and its own card readers. It operates in a handful of countries, including the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and Japan.
- Very quick setup and an easy app.
- No monthly fee on its basic plan. Instead, a fee is charged on each card transaction.
- Good for small and mobile sellers who mainly take cards.
If you're a small card-first seller in one of those countries, Square is a reasonable choice.
Why businesses look for something else
- It isn't available. This is the big one for most of our readers. Square isn't offered in most African countries.
- Payments that aren't cards. Where customers pay by Octopus, bank transfer or cash, a card-first system doesn't match how money actually arrives.
- Fees that grow with sales. A fee on every card sale is fine at low volume. As volume rises, some owners prefer a fixed subscription they can budget for.
- Stock and suppliers. Growing shops want purchase orders, supplier history, and stock that matches the shelf across branches.
- Unreliable connections. If the internet drops often, you need a till that keeps selling and syncs later.
The alternatives
EliteTeQ: stock, branches and local payments together
EliteTeQ is a cloud POS with the back office built in. It runs in a browser on devices you already own, and it's priced from USD 499 per year as a fixed subscription, not a cut of each sale.
What it does for an owner:
- Octopus, card and cash recorded against the same sale, so the end-of-day report matches the drawer and the phone.
- Stock that matches the shelf: sales, deliveries, returns and damages all update the count.
- Purchasing and suppliers: purchase orders, deliveries received against them, and orders sent to suppliers on WhatsApp.
- Branches in one view, with transfers recorded between them.
- Selling offline: the till keeps going through an outage and syncs when the connection returns.
- Staff roles and audit logs, so you know who discounted or voided what.
- Tax on every sale, kept in reports for IRD.
- Support from our own team, on phone and WhatsApp.
Suits: supermarkets, mini-marts, pharmacies, hardware shops, restaurants and any business with, or planning, more than one branch. It isn't an online store builder.
Loyverse: a free till for one small shop
Loyverse has a free core POS app for phones and tablets, with paid add-ons for things like employee management and advanced inventory. It's used by small shops and cafés in many countries.
Suits: a single small shop starting out, where the owner is happy to manage stock and staff personally.
Odoo: if you have a developer
Odoo is an open-source business suite with a POS app, offered as a free Community edition and a paid Enterprise edition. It's very flexible but setting it up is a project, usually with a partner.
Suits: businesses with technical staff or a trusted Odoo partner.
A local POS vendor
Many countries have local POS companies that know the tax rules and payment habits well. Ask to see how they handle stock, branches and offline selling, and ask to speak to a customer in your sector.
Shopify POS or Lightspeed, where they operate
Shopify POS makes sense if your business is built around a Shopify online store. Lightspeed is a mature retail and restaurant system popular in North America, Europe and Australia. Check that each one supports your country and how your customers pay before going further.
A side-by-side view
| EliteTeQ | Square | Loyverse | Odoo | Shopify POS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best suited to | Growing shops and branches | Small card sellers where offered | One small shop | Teams with a developer | Shopify online stores |
| Pricing model | Fixed yearly subscription | Free app, fee per card sale | Free core, paid add-ons | Edition, hosting, partner time | Shopify plan plus payment fees |
| Local payments | Recorded on each sale | Card-first | Added as payment types | Depends on setup | Card-first |
| Stock and purchasing | Built in | Basic | Basic, more with add-ons | Deep, once configured | Good, tied to online catalogue |
| Selling offline | Keeps selling, syncs later | Some offline capability | Basic | Depends on setup | Some offline capability |
How to choose
1. Is it offered in your country? Rule out anything that isn't, however good it looks online. 2. How do your customers pay? List your payment types and make sure every one lands on the same sale. 3. What does a bad day look like? If it's a power cut during the lunch rush, test offline selling in the demo. 4. How will the cost change as you grow? Work out what a busier month or a second branch would cost on each system. 5. Who will help you? Call support before you commit, and see how quickly a person answers.
If you're running one small shop and mostly need a simple till, a free option may be enough for now. If you're managing suppliers, staff and branches with a mix of payment types, EliteTeQ is built for that.
Want to see it with your own products? Book a free demo or message us on WhatsApp to talk to a real person. We also compare [Lightspeed alternatives](/blog/best-lightspeed-alternatives/) and review [six POS systems side by side](/blog/best-pos-systems-reviews/).
Let's discuss how EliteTeQ POS can help you achieve the results you just read about.