Thinking about using the Shopify POS app — is it worth upgrading plan?

Shopify Apps
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Topic summary

A merchant on the Basic plan is considering using Shopify POS for in-person sales at a small store and wondering whether to upgrade for additional POS features.

Key Questions:

  • Does the POS app perform well on smartphones/tablets?
  • Does it improve inventory tracking compared to the online dashboard alone?
  • Is upgrading necessary to access full POS functionality?

Recommendation Provided:

  • The POS app works on both smartphones and tablets, though tablets offer better checkout experience due to screen size
  • Start with the Basic plan and test in-person sales for 2-3 months before deciding
  • Upgrade to Shopify plan ($89/month for POS Pro) only if limitations become frustrating—such as needing multiple staff access, advanced reporting, or exchange capabilities
  • For occasional solo sales, Basic should suffice initially
  • The automatic inventory syncing feature alone makes POS worthwhile, even on Basic, as it eliminates manual tracking hassles

Status: Advice given; merchant has not yet made a decision.

Summarized with AI on October 24. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

Hello all,
For a while now, I have been looking through the Shopify POS app because I intend to begin selling face to face at small store. As at now, I’m on the basic plan but I noticed that there are certain POS features which require top plans.
Is it worth upgrading?
First, does Shopify POS app perform well on smartphones/tablets and does it really improve inventory tracking as compared to using online dashboard alone?
Second, should I remain on the plan I have currently or upgrade so that I can have all the POS features?
Before I make a decision on buying the upgrade, I would appreciate your honest feedback.

2

Hello @yamanika ,

I hope you are well!

The Shopify POS app works well on both smartphones and tablets, though tablets generally provide a better experience for checkout due to screen size. The app is stable and handles basic transactions smoothly. Instead of device.

I recommend you to start with Basic, test your in-person sales volume for 2-3 months, then reassess. If you find yourself frustrated by the limitations (multiple staff members, needing better reporting, wanting exchanges), upgrade to Shopify ($89/month gets you POS Pro features). But if it’s just you handling occasional face-to-face sales, Basic should suffice initially.

The inventory syncing alone makes using POS worthwhile even on Basic—it’ll save you significant headache versus manual tracking.