Lightspeed vs PayPal Zettle
Lightspeed comes out ahead of PayPal Zettle on 3 of the 6 things that decide this, going by what each company publishes and what independent review sites report. The one that matters for you may be one the leader loses.
The verdict
Lightspeed takes it, 3–2 on rounds.
On the published figures and the independent review sites, Lightspeed takes 3 of 6 rounds. Treat that as a starting point and check the current figures on both pages, because prices and plans move.
Choose Lightspeed if…
- • You want Lightspeed's edge on who picks up when the till is down and what customers say on trustpilot
Choose PayPal Zettle if…
- • You want PayPal Zettle's edge on what the software costs and what each card sale costs
Round by round
- Round 1What the software costsPayPal Zettle winsLightspeed5/10
$89
the cheapest plan, per month billed annually
- $89, against $0
Source: hustlerslibrary.com ↗
PayPal Zettle wins this round on independent review-site data, not on its own claims.
- Round 2What each card sale costsPayPal Zettle winsLightspeed5/10
2.6% + 10¢
in-person card sale through Lightspeed Payments
- 2.6% + 10¢, against 2.29% + 9¢
Source: hustlerslibrary.com ↗
PayPal Zettle wins this round on independent review-site data, not on its own claims.
- Round 3Who picks up when the till is downLightspeed winsLightspeed8/10
24/7 phone and chat support
Support channels
- included with all plans
Source: posusa.com ↗
PayPal Zettle5/109:00 am - 5:00 pm on weekdays (no timezone)
Zettle help center contact page (PayPal brand); PayPal US/USD pages state no Zettle support hours at all
- phone and chat 6am to 6pm PT daily, against 24/7 phone, email and chat
Source: zettle.com ↗
Lightspeed wins this round on independent review-site data, not on its own claims.
- Round 4What customers say on TrustpilotLightspeed winsPayPal Zettle5/10
1.4 out of 5
TrustScore from 41,713 reviews on Trustpilot
- 1.4 out of 5, against 3.7 out of 5
Source: trustpilot.com ↗
Lightspeed wins this round on independent review-site data, not on its own claims.
- Round 5Selling when the internet dropsLightspeed winsLightspeed8/10
Offline selling mode
Retail (X-Series) Basic, billed annually (Annually tab, default)
PayPal Zettle5/10Only via third-party SDK apps
PayPal Point of Sale (formerly Zettle), no monthly fee
- Only via third-party SDK apps, against Offline selling mode
Source: paypal.com ↗
Lightspeed wins this round on what the published sources say.
- Round 6Tracking stock on the starter planTieLightspeed7/10
Inventory management in Basic
Retail (X-Series) Basic, billed annually (Annually tab, default)
Source: lightspeedhq.com ↗
PayPal Zettle7/10Inventory tracking included
PayPal Point of Sale (formerly Zettle), no monthly fee
Source: paypal.com ↗
Nothing to separate them here.
Side by side
- included with all plans
- every day, phone and online chat
- $89, against $0
- 3.6 out of 5, against 4.6 out of 5
- 14-day free trial, against 30-day trial of Square Plus
- Plus $289/mo, billed annually, against Premium $149/mo
- 1.4 out of 5, against 3.7 out of 5
- Only via third-party SDK apps, against Offline payments on every plan
- phone and chat 6am to 6pm PT daily, against 24/7 support
- 1.4 out of 5, against 2.7 out of 5