Free POS vs. monthly subscription POS: what is the difference, and which should a retail store choose?

What kinds of free are there?

Free POS software on the market comes in 3 kinds. The first is free forever but limits the number of products, bills or users. The second gives you the point of sale for free but requires you to buy hardware or add-on services from the same provider. The third is free during a trial and charges you afterward. Before choosing, read the terms to see which kind of free it is.

Hidden costs you do not see when you sign up

• The owner's time: at the end of every month you have to pull out the sales figures and do the accounts and tax yourself in a separate file
• The data is not yours: some services do not let you export customer data and sales history, or allow it only on paid packages
• No full tax invoices, or document numbers that do not run in sequence the way the Revenue Department requires
• Stock is not really deducted, or only for one branch, so when you open a second branch you have to replace the whole system
• No per-person permissions: every employee can void bills and give discounts just like the owner
• No one to ask when the system has a problem while customers are lined up at the counter

Which stores can keep using free software

A store that is not VAT-registered, has one branch, where the owner sells alone or with one employee, carries a few dozen products, and has no plans to expand within 1 year can use free software without losing out. What you should do is export your sales and keep a copy yourself every month, in case the day comes when you need to move.

Signs it's time to switch to a monthly plan

• Revenue is approaching 1.8 million THB a year, which means registering for VAT and issuing a tax invoice for every sale
• You're about to open a second branch, or you have a warehouse separate from the store
• You have more than 2 employees and want to know who sold what and who voided which bill
• Your accounting firm asks for files every month, and the owner has to prepare them personally
• You've started selling through LINE or a website alongside the store

8-point checklist before you pay monthly

• Export all your data anytime, without asking permission
• Is the price per business or per branch, and are there any other costs?
• Issues the tax invoices your store actually needs, and helps prepare the legally required output VAT and input VAT reports
• Stock is deducted the moment you sell, and can be transferred between branches
• Permissions can be set per person
• Runs on devices you already have, no hardware purchase required
• You can try it with your real data before paying
• Cancel any month with no penalty

Where GORINY fits

GORINY has been a monthly subscription from the start, with per-branch pricing shown clearly on the website. The 14-day free trial needs no card, and all your data can be exported anytime. We built it as the option for stores that have outgrown what free software can handle.

Abbreviated tax invoices can be issued from the POS, and the slip prints the machine code approved by the Revenue Department automatically. The only thing the shop prepares itself is the machine approval (Por.Por.06) from the Revenue Department, then entering the code in the program.

Frequently asked questions

Is free POS software illegal?

No, as long as the store can issue the documents the law requires. The problem is usually that free software doesn't produce complete tax invoices, so the store ends up writing extra ones by hand.

Do I have to start from scratch when moving from free software to a monthly plan?

No. What you need is your product list, customers, and stock balances as of the start date. Your old sales history can be kept as reference files.

Is paying yearly better value than paying monthly?

If you plan to use it for more than 10 months, yearly is better value, since most providers discount the equivalent of 2 months. But try monthly for 1 to 2 cycles first to make sure it suits your store.

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