Comparison

Lightspeed Restaurant POS (L) vs Apicbase

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Lightspeed Restaurant POS (L)

Streamline restaurant operations with a comprehensive point-of-sale system. Manage menus, orders, payments, and customer data from an iPad, with offline capabilities and detailed reporting. Includes free onboarding and 24/7 support.

Highlights
  • Intuitive iPad interface
  • Offline mode for uninterrupted service
  • Menu and floor plan customization
  • Streamlined ordering and payments
  • Detailed sales and staff reporting
  • 24/7 live support and free onboarding
  • Employee permission controls
Read full description

Imagine upgrading every single aspect of your restaurant with a simple touch. We’re talking quicker service, increased profits and simplified workflows. Lightspeed Restaurant’s robust POS solution lets you run your entire restaurant from an iPad and access your business from anywhere, even if you lose internet connection. Whether you run a full or quick service restaurant, a bar or nightclub, a hotel or cafe, this POS system is tailored to your business’ needs. Get your staff up and running with our intuitive interface and cloud-based system that allows servers to move fluidly from table to table and take orders with fewer mistakes. It’s built to help you upsell with ease and interact with your customers during the ordering process by uploading appetizing images and suggesting modifiers for each menu item. Menu and floor plan: Easily create discounts that automatically apply to customer groups, promotional events or specific items. Combining tables or moving them around is as simple as tap and drag. Present menu items complete with photos, descriptions and prices. Make quick updates to your floorplan. Ordering and payments: Send orders to the kitchen or bar and fire courses as needed. Cut down on the time it takes for customers to get their orders. Easily split or combine bills. Have guests sign and assign tip directly on your iPad. Offline mode: Internet down? Don't sweat it. Lightspeed restaurant POS works online or offline. It never quits. Lightspeed Restaurant is the only one to keep your data safe even if your terminal is permanently damaged. Look up customer information for take-out or delivery orders. Process gift card sales or as a payment method. Liteserver stays up at all times, so operations go on as usual. Once a connection is reestablished, your data is automatically synced. Reporting and data: Easily pull-up end of day reports to access key data that will help you prepare for peak periods and better understand your customers’ needs. Use the staff performance reports to learn who your best employees are. Access all this data from your phone, iPad or laptop, anytime, from anywhere. Free Onboarding & 24/7 Support: Benefit from a dedicated team who help you get started in a 1:1 session. Get live chat support with our support heros located around the world. Employees: Customizable user permissions give you full control over employees’ access to your system. Attribute personalized profiles to each employee with individual logins. Train your team in no time with the intuitive and easy-to-learn iPad interface. Servers can take orders directly from the iPad for quicker service and more accurate orders. Add ons: Kitchen Display System module for optimized communication between the kitchen and the front of the house. Customer Facing Display module to optimize communication between your staff and customers. Self Order Menu module to allow customers to place their own orders. Integrations: Our network of over 250 integration partners allows you to tailor Lightspeed to your business’ specific needs such as accounting, delivery or loyalty programs. What our customers are saying: “It allows me to focus on taking care of my customers and not worrying about how the place is running, it really gives me peace of mind.” - Maison Cloakroom “It was easy to program and even easier to train my staff with — I could do it with my eyes closed.” -Nobu Hotel “I wanted my team to focus on what they do best. With the click of a button, they can show guests how a particular dish looks like and that adds to the experience.” -Absurd Bird “From ringing up food and drinks to managing the backend and business side, it’s freeing me up to do so much more work than I would have the time to do if I had to do all that by hand.” - Live on Air Questions? You can always reach our friendly team of specialists by calling 855-251-0441 or by going to our support center for helpful tips, training videos and system updates.

About

Apicbase

Manage your food business's back-of-house operations with this cloud-based platform. Scan inventory, create new items, and track stock, even when offline.

Highlights
  • Cloud-based food management
  • Inventory scanning
  • Create new articles on the fly
  • Offline functionality
  • Stock management
Features
Read full description

Apicbase is the backbone of any food business and helps you manage your back of house with a world class food & beverage management platform. With the help of this app you can scan your stock directly into the platform, create newly delivered articles on the fly, both when you're online or offline in any storage unit.

Screenshots

Lightspeed Restaurant POS (L)4 screens
Apicbase4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Apicbase at 100% against Lightspeed Restaurant POS (L)'s 47%. Apicbase also leads on ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). Lightspeed Restaurant POS (L)'s advantage is rating (3.0 vs 1.0) and ratings volume (30 vs 2). On price, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Lightspeed Restaurant POS (L) holds the better App Store score, 3.0 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Lightspeed Restaurant POS (L) has 30 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 47% of Lightspeed Restaurant POS (L)'s written reviews are positive against 100% of Apicbase's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Lightspeed Restaurant POS (L) ships an update monthly, Apicbase every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on July 6, 2026 and September 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Lightspeed Restaurant POS (L) versus Apicbase: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLightspeed Restaurant POS (L)Apicbase
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (30 ratings) — better1.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews46.5% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings30 — better2
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationAd-supportedFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS1715.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size207 MB47 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperLightspeed Commerce Inc.Apicbase

Customer experience

Lightspeed Restaurant POS (L)

All ratings28 ratings
Positive46.4%
Neutral3.6%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews43 reviews
Positive46.5%
Neutral4.7%
Negative48.8%

Apicbase

All ratings2 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Lightspeed Restaurant POS (L)

No in-app purchases

None

Apicbase

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Lightspeed Restaurant POS (L) free?
Lightspeed Restaurant POS (L) is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Apicbase free?
Apicbase is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Lightspeed Restaurant POS (L) or Apicbase?
Lightspeed Restaurant POS (L) is rated higher. Lightspeed Restaurant POS (L) averages 3.0 out of 5 from 30 ratings, while Apicbase averages 1.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Lightspeed Restaurant POS (L) or Apicbase have ads?
Lightspeed Restaurant POS (L) shows ads; Apicbase does not.
Which is updated more often, Lightspeed Restaurant POS (L) or Apicbase?
Lightspeed Restaurant POS (L) ships an update monthly, and Apicbase every 2 months. Most recently, Lightspeed Restaurant POS (L) was updated on July 6, 2026 and Apicbase on September 10, 2026.

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