Heartland Retail vs Lightspeed Retail
POS integration head-to-head for ERP teams: evidenced capabilities, published pricing, and which ERPs each actually integrates with.
| Starting price | Subscription (per POS station) plus separately priced payment processing | Subscription |
| Deployment | Cloud | Cloud |
| Company size | Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise | SMB, Mid-market, Enterprise |
| Stated ERP integrations | QuickBooks | NetSuite, QuickBooks, Xero, Sage Intacct |
| Vendor | Heartland (a Global Payments company) | Lightspeed Commerce Inc. |
Our take
Where Heartland Retail leads
- Stronger evidenced coverage on 7 of the 22 capabilities where they differ (led by customer profiles & crm and gl journal sync).
Where Lightspeed Retail leads
- Stronger evidenced coverage on 15 of the 22 capabilities where they differ (led by variant / matrix products and native ecommerce platform).
- Stated NetSuite, Xero, Sage Intacct integration the alternative doesn't list.
Where they differ
The 22 capabilities (of 54 in the POS integration taxonomy) where the evidence separates them, biggest gaps first. “Not evidenced” means our research found no public documentation of this capability — the vendor may still offer it. Confirm on a demo.
| Capability | ||
|---|---|---|
| Variant / matrix productsInventory & Stock Management | Not evidenced | Core strength Multi-variant and composite product handling |
| Native eCommerce platformOmnichannel & eCommerce Fulfillment | Not evidenced | Core strength Template-based online store builder with unlimited products and locations |
| Customer profiles & CRMCustomer Engagement & Loyalty | Core strength 360-degree customer profiles covering spend, purchase history and visit frequency | Not evidenced |
| GL journal syncPlatform, Accounting & Integrations | Core strength Posts POS financial events as GL journal entries across eight categories | Not evidenced |
| Offline-resilient checkoutCheckout & Transactions | Not evidenced | Supported Offline mode when connectivity drops |
| Returns, exchanges & layawayCheckout & Transactions | Not evidenced | Supported Refunds, exchanges and store credit |
| Quotes & draft ordersCheckout & Transactions | Not evidenced | Supported Quotes and special orders |
| Alternative payment methodsPayments & Payment Processing | Not evidenced | Supported Buy-now-pay-later support |
| Virtual terminalPayments & Payment Processing | Not evidenced | Supported Card-not-present transactions |
| Barcode & label managementInventory & Stock Management | Not evidenced | Supported Mobile scanning app for stock counts; barcode label generation and printing |
| Low-stock alertsInventory & Stock Management | Supported Stock alerts to reduce overselling and shrinkage | Not evidenced |
| Marketplace connectorsOmnichannel & eCommerce Fulfillment | Not evidenced | Supported Marketplace integration with Amazon, eBay and Google |
| Social commerceOmnichannel & eCommerce Fulfillment | Not evidenced | Supported Social selling on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok |
| Gift cardsCustomer Engagement & Loyalty | Supported Gift card issuance and redemption | Not evidenced |
| Staff PIN / individual loginStaff & Workforce Management | Not evidenced | Supported Staff PIN sales attribution |
| Accounts receivablePlatform, Accounting & Integrations | Not evidenced | Supported On-account sales with customizable credit limits |
| Public APIPlatform, Accounting & Integrations | Supported Developer-friendly open API for custom integrations | Not evidenced |
| App marketplacePlatform, Accounting & Integrations | Supported Published marketplace of 75+ point-of-sale integrations | Not evidenced |
| Unified catalog & pricingOmnichannel & eCommerce Fulfillment | Core strength Published integrations with BigCommerce, Shopify, Magento and WooCommerce with real-time sync | Supported Real-time inventory sync across channels |
| Built-in loyalty programCustomer Engagement & Loyalty | Supported Built-in loyalty program powered by Como | Core strength Tiered loyalty programs, points or dollar-based |
| Marketing campaignsCustomer Engagement & Loyalty | Partial Email marketing via Mailchimp and Klaviyo integrations, not native | Supported Customer segmentation with email and SMS campaigns |
| Certified ERP connectorPlatform, Accounting & Integrations | Supported Prebuilt QuickBooks Online connector posting journal entries | Core strength Built for NetSuite (BFN-certified) SuiteApp, plus native QuickBooks, Xero and Sage Intacct connectors |
Both grade identically on the other 32 capabilities — see each product's full profile: Heartland Retail, Lightspeed Retail.
Heartland Retail vs Lightspeed Retail — FAQs
Is Heartland Retail or Lightspeed Retail better for ERP integration?
Both state integrations with QuickBooks. Lightspeed Retail additionally lists NetSuite, Xero, Sage Intacct. Always verify the connector against your ERP version with a reference customer.
Which is cheaper, Heartland Retail or Lightspeed Retail?
Neither publishes a list price — both quote. Ask each for the all-in first-year cost at your seat count, as one number, and compare those.
Get pricing for both
Tell us your ERP, seat count and must-haves and we'll come back with an independent view of what Heartland Retail and Lightspeed Retail should each cost you — and whether a third option belongs on your shortlist.