A custom point-of-sale system costs $2,200 for a single-counter till, $3,400 for a multi-staff outlet and $5,900 for a multi-branch chain with central stock sync, one-time, according to BengalTech's 2026 price list. Agencies in the US and India publish $10,000 to $150,000+ for the same three tiers. Square charges $0, $49 or $149 per location per month plus 2.4% to 2.6% and 15¢ on every card tap (read 4 September 2026). The rest of this guide shows where each number comes from and which option wins for which business.
Updated 4 September 2026. Every third-party figure links to the page it was read from and carries its date; BengalTech figures come from its published 2026 price list.
The Global POS Pricing Transparency Index separately classifies seven official vendor pages as exact, starting-price, or quote-only disclosure.
What a custom POS costs to build in 2026
BengalTech sells three fixed-scope tiers. The table puts each next to what agencies elsewhere publish for the same scope, so you can see the spread before you ask anyone for a quote.
| Tier | What it includes | BengalTech 2026 | Published elsewhere |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single counter | One till, one shop. Stock tracking, receipt printing, cash and digital payments, daily closing, basic reports. | Starts at $2,200 | $10,000 – $30,000 (Inventcolabs, Feb 2026); $15,000 – $30,000 (Netclues, May 2025); $60,000 – $90,000 (Groovy Web, Feb 2026) source |
| Multi-staff outlet | Several tills and staff in one outlet. Per-user logins, every sale attributed, barcode scanning, sales analytics. | Starts at $3,400 | $25,000 – $50,000 "intermediate" (Inventcolabs, Feb 2026); $35,000 – $70,000 "mid-level cloud POS" (Netclues, May 2025) source |
| Multi-branch chain | A chain of outlets on one stock ledger. Head office sets prices and sees every branch live; each branch keeps selling offline; role-based access. | Starts at $5,900 | $30,000 – $60,000 "multi-location" (Inventcolabs, Feb 2026); $150,000 – $280,000 "multi-location with full AI layer" (Groovy Web, Feb 2026) source |
Two things the table does not say. The BengalTech price is one-time: the POS service page lists what each tier includes, the source code is handed over, and there is no per-terminal or per-user fee. And the third-party ranges are wide because they mix scope, team location and whether AI features are bundled in; treat them as the market's spread, not as a quote.
If what you actually want is the head-to-head against the products you would otherwise subscribe to, custom POS vs Square, Lightspeed, Shopify POS, Toast and Loyverse puts all six three-year software totals in one table at one and three locations, and is honest about which of them is cheaper than building.
Custom POS cost estimator
Pick what you run, how many tills and branches, and the integrations you need. The estimator returns the published BengalTech tier and adds the published add-on prices to it. The only arithmetic is that addition; every figure is the one listed on the pricing page.
Published tier
Single Counter
Starts at $2,200
One till, one shop. Stock, receipts and daily closing for an independent store, cafe or pharmacy.
- •Stock Tracking
- •Receipt Printing
- •Cash & Digital Payments
- Build, starting price
- $2,200
- One-time, from
- $2,200
Arithmetic on BengalTech's published 2026 prices. The tier is a starting price, so a scoped quote can be higher; it cannot be lower than the tier.
Not in the number: hardware (tills, printers, scanners), which you buy locally, and integrations without a published price, which are quoted per integration. Building an ERP instead? Use the ERP cost estimator.
Why the same POS is a few thousand here and $60,000 there
Groovy Web (February 2026) quotes $60,000 to $90,000 and 8 to 12 weeks for a single-location build by an AI-first US team, and says custom is "not the right answer" below roughly $500,000 a year in card volume. That is a fair statement of the US agency market. It is not what a shop in Dhaka, Dubai or Riyadh should pay, for three reasons BengalTech would give you in a first call:
- Scope is fixed, not discovered. Each BengalTech tier is a published feature list. The $60,000 figure includes demand forecasting and upselling models that a single till does not use.
- The team is in Dhaka. Prices are positioned for buyers in the Gulf, the UK and Australia against real offshore bids, not against US agency margins. See the Bangladesh outsourcing rate guide for how the rate bands compare.
- The core exists. The offline-first till, the stock ledger and the branch sync have shipped before. A new build is configuration and integration on a proven core, which is why the single-counter tier can start where it does.
Integration line items, priced individually
"Custom features" as one line on a quote is where budgets go wrong. These are the POS-relevant add-ons on BengalTech's 2026 price list, each priced on its own so the quote and the final invoice match.
| Add-on | BengalTech 2026 | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Barcode / QR Integration | $400 – $700 | Scanner and label workflow wired into stock and checkout. |
| bKash / Nagad Payment Gateway | $500 – $800 | Priced for the two Bangladesh mobile wallets. Stripe, Tap or PayTabs in other markets are quoted per integration. |
| Pathao / Steadfast Courier Integration | $500 – $800 | Order hand-off to a delivery partner from the till. Other courier APIs quoted per integration. |
| WhatsApp Business API Integration | $700 – $1,200 | Receipts, order status and stock alerts over WhatsApp. |
| Admin Panel / Dashboard | $1,500 – $2,800 | Head-office reporting beyond the standard tier reports. |
| POS / ERP Support Contract | $200 – $380/month | Optional after launch. Bug fixes, updates and support hours. The code is yours with or without it. |
Custom build vs Square vs Toast over three years
Software fees only, before card-processing charges, using the list prices on each vendor's pricing page on 4 September 2026 (Toast's page states it was last updated 20 August 2026 and that its price applies to new customers and single locations only). Square Free is $0 a month, so it is the floor for a single shop that fits the platform.
| Option | Price basis | 3 years, 1 location | 3 years, 3 locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Square Plus | $49/location/month + 2.5% + 15¢ per card tap (Square) | $1,764 | $5,292 |
| Square Premium | $149/location/month + 2.4% + 15¢ per card tap (Square) | $5,364 | $16,092 |
| Toast Point of Sale | "Starting at" $69/month, single location, extra devices charged separately (Toast) | $2,484 | quote only |
| BengalTech single counter | One-time build, code yours, no per-terminal fee. Support contract optional. | $2,200 | see multi-branch |
| BengalTech multi-branch | One-time build, every branch on one ledger, offline-first tills, no per-location fee. | n/a | $5,900 |
Verdict. One shop, standard needs: stay on Square Free or Plus; three years of Plus costs less than a custom build and you carry no development risk. One shop on Premium, or any chain of three or more locations: the one-time build costs less than the subscription within three years, and you own the result. The case for custom is strongest when the platform cannot do the job at all: bKash, Nagad or another local rail, ZATCA or UAE e-invoicing, pharmacy batch and expiry, or a delivery partner it does not integrate with. Clover publishes processing "as little as 2.3% + 10¢" but shows software plans only after you pick a business type, so it is not in the table.
Compliance adds scope in Saudi Arabia and the UAE
A till sold into Saudi Arabia must produce XML simplified tax invoices, stamp them with a device certificate and report them to ZATCA within 24 hours; a business in the UAE must exchange B2B invoices through an Accredited Service Provider from 2027. Both are scoped as their own line items on a BengalTech quote. The requirements, quoted from the authorities, are in the ZATCA Phase 2 POS guide and the UAE e-invoicing 2027 guide.
Restaurant POS and retail POS are not the same build
Restaurant POS carries table management, kitchen display integration, split billing and delivery-platform sync that a retail build does not need. Retail POS carries barcode and variant handling, multi-branch stock and loyalty that a restaurant does not need, and a supermarket adds weight scales and several counters on one stock count (see the super shop POS features guide). A vendor quoting the same number for both without asking about your operation is not scoping the project. See the restaurant POS service page, the general POS service page, or the confidential restaurant POS case study for a real restaurant build.
The most underestimated cost: integration and migration
The line most likely to turn a fixed quote into a change order is connecting the new system to existing stock records, accounting software and, for multi-branch operations, a central reporting layer. It depends on the state of your existing data more than on the POS. Ask for it as a separate, scoped item before you sign; the integration table above is how BengalTech does it.
More on what Bangladesh-built software costs
For the full picture of what a POS costs to deploy, hardware included, see the POS software price guide. For how BengalTech's prices sit against other local vendors, see the Bangladesh Software Pricing Transparency Index. The single-counter build starts at $2,200. If you are still choosing between vendors, run each one against the six questions in the POS buyer's checklist first.
Sources
External references behind the figures and claims on this page. Rate bands and vendor pricing move — check the source before quoting a number.
- Square Point of Sale — pricing (read 4 September 2026)
Block, Inc.
Square Free $0, Plus $49 and Premium $149 per location per month; card-present fees of 2.6%, 2.5% and 2.4% plus 15¢; offline payments declined if the device does not reconnect within 24 hours.
- Toast POS — pricing (page states last updated 20 August 2026)
Toast, Inc.
Starter Kit from $0/month for one location with up to two terminals; Point of Sale "starting at" $69/month; pricing applies to new customers and single locations only, with additional charges for subsequent devices.
- Clover — pricing
Clover Network
Processing "as little as 2.3% + 10¢ per transaction"; software plans are shown only after choosing a business type, which is why Clover is not in the three-year table.
- Cost to Build POS Software: 2026 Development Guide (12 February 2026)
Inventcolabs
Agency-published ranges: single store $10,000–$30,000, multi-location $30,000–$60,000, enterprise $60,000–$100,000+; complexity tiers up to $80,000–$150,000+; ongoing costs an additional 15 to 30 percent a year.
- The Real Cost of POS Software Development in 2025 (13 May 2025)
Netclues
Agency-published ranges: basic POS app $15,000–$30,000, mid-level cloud POS $35,000–$70,000, enterprise custom POS $80,000–$150,000+; 14 to 30 week phase-based timeline.
- Custom POS System Development with AI in 2026: Build vs Buy Analysis (22 February 2026)
Groovy Web
A US AI-first team's single-location build at $60,000–$90,000 over 8–12 weeks, multi-location with AI at $150,000–$280,000, and the claim that custom is not the right answer below about $500,000 a year in card volume.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a custom POS system cost to build in 2026?
According to BengalTech's 2026 price list, a custom single-counter POS starts at $2,200, a multi-staff outlet starts at $3,400, and a multi-branch chain with central stock sync starts at $5,900, one-time, with the source code yours and no per-terminal fee. Agencies in the US and India publish $10,000 to $150,000+ for the same three tiers (Inventcolabs, February 2026; Netclues, May 2025), and one US-based AI-first team quotes $60,000 to $90,000 for a single location (Groovy Web, February 2026).
Is a custom POS cheaper than Square or Toast?
Not for one shop with standard needs. Square Free costs $0 a month and Square Plus $49 per location per month (Square's pricing page, read 4 September 2026), so three years of Plus is $1,764 before card fees, against a one-time BengalTech single-counter build of $2,200. The arithmetic flips at the top tier and with branches: Square Premium is $149 per location per month, which is $16,092 over three years for three locations, against a one-time multi-branch build of $5,900. Custom also wins whenever the platform cannot do something you need at all: local payment rails, ZATCA or UAE e-invoicing, pharmacy batch and expiry, or a delivery integration it does not offer.
Why do agencies quote $60,000 for what BengalTech builds for a few thousand?
Three things, in BengalTech's experience. Scope: the $60,000 to $90,000 single-location figure from Groovy Web (February 2026) is for an AI-first team over 8 to 12 weeks, with forecasting and upselling features a corner shop never uses; BengalTech's tiers are fixed feature lists you can read on the POS service page. Location: the team is in Dhaka, and the price is positioned for buyers in the Gulf, the UK and Australia rather than for US agency margins. Reuse: BengalTech has shipped the offline-first till, the stock ledger and the multi-branch sync before, so a new build is configuration and integration work on top of a proven core, not a from-scratch product.
What does a POS cost after launch?
BengalTech's POS/ERP support contract is $200 – $380 per month on its 2026 price list and is optional; the code is yours either way. For comparison, Inventcolabs (February 2026) puts hidden and ongoing POS costs at an additional 15 to 30 percent of the build each year, and a subscription platform keeps charging per location every month for as long as you use it.
Does a custom POS need to work offline?
Yes, for almost every retail and restaurant environment. A till that stops with the internet stops the business from taking payment. Square's own pricing page notes that its offline payments are declined if the device does not reconnect within 24 hours. BengalTech builds every tier offline-first: sales are recorded locally and synced when the connection returns, with no 24-hour cut-off on the sale itself.
What is the biggest hidden cost in a POS project?
Integration and data migration: connecting the new system to existing stock records, accounting software and, for multi-branch operations, a central reporting layer. It depends on the state of your existing data more than on the software, and it is the line item most likely to turn a fixed quote into a change order if it is not scoped up front. BengalTech prices each integration as its own line item so the quote and the invoice match.
Should a restaurant and a retail store expect the same POS build cost?
No. Restaurant POS carries table management, kitchen display integration, split billing and delivery-platform sync. Retail POS carries barcode and variant handling, multi-branch stock and loyalty. A vendor quoting the same number for both without asking about your operation is not scoping the project.