Last updated: 2026-04-24
Shopify POS Free Trial (2026)
Shopify POS free trial guide for 2026: what the trial actually includes, step-by-step signup, getting-started checklist, and what to evaluate in your first 14 days.
Shopify POS is bundled with a Shopify ecommerce plan, so the trial path is: sign up for Shopify's 3-day free trial, which includes POS Lite at no additional cost. After the free trial, Shopify offers $1/mo for the first 3 months on Basic, Shopify, or Advanced plans — effectively a paid trial at a trivial price. POS Pro ($89/mo per location) is a separate upgrade and does not have its own free trial; you'd evaluate it by upgrading during your $1/mo window. There's no standalone Shopify POS trial because the product requires an active Shopify plan to function — if you're not already a Shopify merchant, the trial is really a Shopify ecom evaluation with POS as a secondary focus.
Step-by-step getting started
The fastest path from "signing up" to "processing real transactions." These are the steps Shopify Inc actually walks new merchants through, condensed into a checklist you can move through in a focused afternoon:
- 1 Sign up at shopify.com — not shopify.com/pos — and choose the 3-day free trial on any ecom plan (Basic at $39/mo is the right starting point for most POS-focused merchants).
- 2 After signup, go to Sales channels → Point of sale in your Shopify admin and enable POS Lite (free) or POS Pro ($89/mo per location, adds staff permissions + smart grid).
- 3 Download the Shopify POS app on an iPad or iPhone. The Android app exists but has fewer card-reader hardware options.
- 4 Order Shopify POS hardware: Tap & Chip card reader ($49) for starter, or the Retail Stand hardware kit (~$349) for a full countertop setup. Hardware ships in 2-3 days in North America.
- 5 Import products via Shopify's bulk importer (CSV, with variant support) or via one of 3rd-party migration apps if you're coming from Square or Clover. Don't manually rebuild a catalog of more than ~50 SKUs.
- 6 Connect Shopify Payments for processing (2.4-2.9% + 30¢ depending on plan), or use a third-party processor if you're willing to pay the 0.5-2% transaction fee Shopify adds as a penalty.
- 7 Run a $0.01 test sale on the Tap & Chip reader, then refund it, to verify the end-to-end transaction + receipt + inventory decrement + online inventory sync.
- 8 Configure staff accounts (Settings → Staff) with scoped permissions — cashiers should not have admin access or the ability to issue refunds over a threshold.
What to evaluate first (evaluation checklist)
The biggest mistake operators make in trial periods is testing whatever feature seems shiny instead of pressure-testing the workflows they'll actually live with daily. This checklist prioritizes the decision-relevant tests — the ones that tell you whether Shopify POS is the right long-term call, not just whether it "works":
- Do you already run a Shopify ecom store, or is this your first Shopify experience? (First-time Shopify + POS is a bigger evaluation than just POS.)
- Does POS Lite cover your needs, or do you need POS Pro features (staff permissions, smart grid, advanced reporting)?
- Can you commit to Shopify Payments (no transaction fee), or do you need a third-party processor (0.5-2% transaction fee)?
- Does the Shopify ecom plan tier you need ($39 Basic vs. $105 Shopify vs. $399 Advanced) align with your sales volume?
- Will your POS inventory actually sync to Shopify ecom in real-time as expected? (Test this during the trial.)
- Is the Shopify POS hardware compatible with your counter layout and receipt printer choice?
- Does your staff workflow match Shopify's cashier / manager / admin role model without forcing everyone to be an admin?
- Will your existing Shopify apps (inventory management, loyalty, reviews) work correctly with POS transactions, or only ecom?
What to expect during the trial
Expect signup to take 10-20 minutes. The 3-day free trial is genuinely short — extend to the $1/mo paid trial immediately if you need more evaluation time. Shopify onboarding is self-serve by design, with heavy reliance on the help docs and community forums; there's no dedicated launch specialist unless you're on Shopify Plus. Hardware ships in 2-3 days. First 30 days, focus on verifying online-to-in-store inventory sync — it's the single feature that justifies Shopify POS vs. a standalone retail POS, and it has edge cases worth finding before you commit.
Recommended next step
Start the 3-day free trial, immediately extend into $1/mo paid trial, and use the 90 days to test real-world omnichannel workflows (BOPIS, buy-online-return-in-store, shared customer profiles). If you're a single-location retail shop without an ecom presence, Square for Retail or Lightspeed will probably fit better; if you have or plan to have an ecom store, Shopify POS is usually the obvious call.
Ready to start?
Shopify POS signup is self-serve and takes 15-30 minutes. No sales call required unless you want one. You can start evaluating today.
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Before you commit: see Shopify POS in context
A trial is a feature test, not a category decision. If you're still comparing POS options, pull these references before you invest the 2-4 weeks it takes to fully evaluate Shopify POS:
About this trial guide
This guide is assembled from Shopify Inc's own onboarding documentation, sales-team walkthroughs, independent tutorials, and operator discussions in retail and restaurant communities. We verify the trial terms, signup flow, and pricing structure against Shopify Inc's public site on 2026-04-24. If Shopify Inc changes the trial terms (duration, features, hardware inclusions), this page is updated within the week. Some outbound links are affiliate links — we may earn commission at no cost to you.