Software for hospitality: the complete market overview

POS, rota, stocktaking, accounting – if you run a hospitality business today, you need software. But which? The market is confusing: dozens of providers, different pricing models, specialist solutions alongside all-in-one platforms, international players alongside German niche providers. On top of that, many comparison sites are either out of date or only name a handful of tools.

This article gives you the complete overview. 25+ providers, sorted into eight categories, with concrete prices, origin, strengths and weaknesses. No advertising copy, no affiliate links – just the facts you need to make a well-founded decision. Whether you run a single café, manage a bar with three sites or are planning the IT landscape of a hotel chain.

Scope: if you specifically want to compare back-of-house tools, read our F&B software comparison of 8 providers. This article covers the whole market across all categories.

The 8 categories of hospitality software

First, a quick overview of the eight software categories that matter in hospitality. Not every venue needs all eight – but everyone should know what options there are.

The boundaries between categories are fluid. Some providers cover two or three areas. Gastronovi, for example, combines POS, inventory management and reservations. FoodNotify combines stocktaking, inventory management and ordering. Where a provider appears in several categories, this is noted.

1. POS systems

In almost every hospitality business, the POS is the central piece of software. It processes orders, handles billing, produces the legally required TSE receipts and supplies the sales data everything else builds on. Since the German Cash Register Security Ordinance (KassenSichV), every system must use a certified technical security device (TSE). When choosing, three things matter: which hardware the system supports, how high the running costs are and how well it connects to other tools.

What to look for: TSE compliance is mandatory, not optional. Also check transaction fees (they can exceed the software fees), interfaces to accounting and inventory management, and the contract term. Also check whether you are billed per device or per venue – with several POS terminals, that makes the biggest difference. In a tax audit, the POS is the first thing to be scrutinised.

Providers in detail

orderbird PRO is the best-known hospitality POS specialist in the German-speaking region. The Berlin company has been part of the Italian payment provider Nexi since 2022 and serves more than 17,000 venues in DACH. Strength: deep hospitality integration, extensive interfaces. Weakness: iPad only, no Android option. The pricing from €99.90/month sits in the middle of the market.

SumUp lowers the entry barrier to zero: the software costs nothing, hardware starts at €39. You pay a 1.69% transaction fee per card payment. Ideal for small venues with low card revenue, but more expensive than flat-rate models at higher volumes. Fairly basic in terms of features.

ready2order from Vienna scores with maximum hardware freedom: iPad, Android tablet, Windows PC, web browser – all possible. The entry price of €34.90/month is low. A strong option especially for venues that want to use existing devices. The analytics are solid but less in-depth than Lightspeed's.

Lightspeed Restaurant is the premium choice for venues that work data-driven. The publicly listed company from Montreal delivers strong analytics, multi-location capabilities and a broad range of integrations. From €69/month, it positions itself in the upper segment. Oversized for small single venues, often the right choice for ambitious concepts and chains.

Gastronovi from Bremen takes the all-in-one approach: POS, inventory management, reservations and even a website builder – all from one source. The first POS licence costs €69 a month, from the second €59 each and from the sixth €49 each; billing is per device used, plus the cloud TSE at €14 per site. Modules such as inventory management (€129), table reservations (€99) or the ordering system (€69) can be added individually and apply per venue; for three modules there are alternatively success-based plans with a lower base fee. Advantage: no interface chaos. Disadvantage: if you only need a POS, you pay for the ecosystem too.

POSSUM positions itself as a low-cost challenger: €39/month software fee and only 0.59% transaction fees – the lowest on the German market. Functionally younger than the established competitors, but worth a look for cost-conscious venues.

2. Stocktake software

Stocktaking is the least popular task in hospitality – and at the same time one of the most important. Without regular stock recording, shrinkage, over-ordering and wrong costings stay invisible. Digital stocktake software replaces pen and paper with mobile apps, saves time and automatically delivers analyses such as shrinkage rates, cost of goods and reorder suggestions.

What to look for: how large is the product catalogue (do you have to create everything manually?), does the app support barcode scanning and liquid estimation for opened bottles, are there POS interfaces, and is multi-location management possible? You will find a detailed comparison here.

Providers in detail

BarBrain from Munich specialises in stocktaking for drinks-led hospitality. The fill-level slider for opened bottles is particularly practical. With more than 30,000 products in the catalogue, recipe management (add-on), purchase price comparison and multi-location support, the software is aimed at bars, restaurants, hotels and clubs. More than 1,000 venues use the solution, including Schloss Elmau and the Ory Bar at the Mandarin Oriental Munich. Prices start at €52/month.

FoodNotify is the most comprehensive F&B platform in the German-speaking region. The Vienna company (founded 2014) covers stocktaking, inventory management, ordering and recipe management. The price from €174.90/month reflects the range of functions. Ideal for large venues that want to bundle as much as possible in one platform. Oversized for pure bar stocktaking.

MarketMan (part of the Meal Ticket Group) comes from Israel and is strongest in the US and UK markets. The POS integrations with Toast, Lightspeed and Square are mature. German-language support is limited, and there is no DACH-specific product catalogue. Estimated price: around €150/month. Interesting for internationally operating chains, less so for purely German-speaking venues.

Apicbase from Belgium is explicitly aimed at multi-unit venues and chains. The focus is on menu engineering and food cost analysis across multiple sites. Prices are only available on request, which points to a higher price segment. Too complex for single venues, a strong tool for chains with ten or more sites.

3. Inventory management

An inventory management system controls the entire flow of goods: purchasing, goods receipt, stock levels and consumption. In hospitality, that specifically means automatic reorder suggestions based on consumption data, supplier comparison and traceability. The boundary with stocktake software is fluid – many solutions cover both.

What to look for: interfaces to wholesalers (Transgourmet, Metro, Service-Bund), automatic matching of target and actual stock, and the ability to compare supplier terms.

Providers in detail

FoodNotify offers the broadest inventory management in the DACH region. The advantage: stocktaking, inventory management and ordering run in one system. If you use Transgourmet or Metro as suppliers, you can trigger orders directly from the system. The price reflects this: from €174.90 a month.

Gastronovi offers inventory management as a module of its all-in-one solution. The module costs €129 a month per venue plus a one-off €199 onboarding fee and includes the costing and purchasing modules; alternatively there is a success-based plan from €39 a month including 50 ingredients. Important: the inventory management module requires the Gastronovi POS. If you already use a different POS, you cannot use the inventory management function on its own.

Gewinnblick combines POS, inventory management and costing in one system. The German company advertises direct interfaces to Transgourmet, Metro and Service-Bund. Prices are only available on request. For venues that want everything from one source and do not want to tie themselves to an Austrian or international system.

4. Recipe management & costing

Recipe management software digitises recipes, automatically calculates food costs per portion and helps with allergen labelling (LMIV, the EU food information regulation). For any venue offering more than a handful of dishes, that is a huge efficiency gain. Costing shows in real time whether a dish is profitable or whether the cost of goods is getting out of hand.

What to look for: are purchase prices updated automatically, does the software calculate allergens and nutritional values correctly, and is there a clean connection to stocktaking? You will find more details here.

BarBrain offers recipe management as an add-on (€29 a month) to any stocktake plan – with automatic costing and a purchase price comparison, particularly strong for restaurants, hotels and bars where recipes are complex and margins tight. FoodNotify is also very well suited to these requirements. Apicbase plays to its strength in cross-site menu engineering. Gewinnblick offers costing as part of its overall package. At Gastronovi, costing is included in the inventory management module and can be booked separately for €19 a month.

5. Ordering platforms

Ordering platforms digitise communication between operator and supplier. Instead of fax, phone or WhatsApp, orders go through an app or platform – with order history, price comparison and automatic documentation.

Choco from Berlin has established itself as a free ordering platform for operators. The app replaces fax and phone with a chat-like interface through which orders go directly to suppliers. Advantage: no risk, since it is free. Disadvantage: no integrated inventory management. FoodNotify builds the ordering function directly into its inventory management. If you use FoodNotify for stocktaking and inventory management, you can handle ordering there too. At Gastronovi, the purchasing system is included in the inventory management module and can be booked separately for €9 a month.

6. Staff planning

Staff costs account for 30–40% of revenue in hospitality. Without digital rota planning and time tracking, these costs are hard to control. Since the obligation to record working time electronically (German Federal Labour Court ruling, 2022), a digital solution is effectively mandatory.

What to look for: hospitality-specific features such as split shifts, tip management and payroll preparation with DATEV export. Mobile access is a must – staff need to be able to check the rota on the go.

Providers in detail

gastromatic from Darmstadt has specialised in hospitality staffing since 2014. The Core plan from €91/month covers rota planning, time tracking and payroll preparation. Strength: deep understanding of hospitality, excellent DATEV interface. Economically sensible for venues with around 15 or more staff.

Ordio (founded 2021) has quickly established itself on the market with more than 1,500 customers. From €89 per site per month, it offers rota planning, time tracking and digital checklists. The checklist function is a unique selling point compared with pure planning tools.

Planday from Denmark uses a per-head model: from €2.99 per employee per month. Extremely cheap for small teams, but costs rise with large workforces. The mobile app is considered one of the best on the market. Interfaces to German payroll systems exist but are less deep than gastromatic's.

e2n is a German hospitality specialist focused on payroll functions and compliance. Prices are only available on request. Particularly relevant for venues that need a direct handover to their accountant.

7. Reservations & guest management

Reservation systems digitise table allocation, no-show management and guest communication. For restaurants with high occupancy they are essential, for bars and clubs often less relevant.

What to look for: Google integration (reservations directly via Google Maps), automatic confirmations and reminders, no-show protection through credit card guarantees or deposits, and the reach of the platform (how many guests find you through it?).

OpenTable is the global market leader. Its biggest advantage: the huge guest community that actively searches for restaurants through OpenTable. The basic version is free, premium features cost extra. Attractive for venues with walk-in potential. resmio from Berlin scores with strong Google integration: reservations directly via Google Maps and Google Search. The basic version is free; from €49/month you get features such as automatic confirmations and marketing tools. quandoo (also Berlin) works on a commission model: a fee is charged per reservation referred. Strong internationally, in DACH behind OpenTable and resmio. Gastronovi offers table reservations as a module of its platform – sensible above all if your POS comes from there anyway.

8. Controlling & accounting

Controlling software delivers the metrics a venue needs to steer: cost-of-goods ratio, BWA (management accounts), contribution margins, staff costs relative to revenue. Accounting software automates receipt capture, VAT returns and DATEV export. Together they form the financial backbone of the business.

What to look for: DATEV export is effectively mandatory in Germany. Hospitality-specific controlling (cost-of-goods ratio by product group) is only offered by specialist solutions. General accounting software such as lexoffice or sevDesk covers the basic requirements.

MEINbusiness from Tyrol specialises in hospitality controlling. The software delivers sector-specific metrics (cost-of-goods ratio per product group, contribution margins per dish) and is deliberately aimed at accountants who look after hospitality clients as well. Prices only on request. lexoffice and sevDesk are not hospitality solutions in the narrow sense, but they are the most widely used accounting tools for small and medium-sized businesses in Germany. From €7.90 and €8.90/month respectively, they offer receipt capture, invoicing and DATEV export. Perfectly adequate for operators who do not need specialised controlling.

Your venue → your setup: 6 scenarios with total costs

The right combination depends on venue type, size and budget. Here are six typical scenarios with concrete tool combinations and estimated monthly costs:

How the tools work together: interface logic

No tool exists in isolation. The crucial question is: which systems exchange data automatically, and where do you have to export and import manually?

POS → stocktaking: the POS supplies the sales data. From this, the stocktake software calculates the target stock. This interface is the most important – without it, the stocktake remains a pure stock count with no shrinkage analysis. BarBrain offers a POS integration. So does FoodNotify.

Stocktaking → inventory management: actual and target stock flow into inventory management, which generates reorder suggestions from them.

Inventory management → ordering: ideally, the inventory management system triggers orders directly with wholesalers. Alternatively, Choco can be used as a separate ordering tool.

POS → accounting: daily revenue, tax rates and payment methods have to flow into accounting. DATEV export is the standard. orderbird, ready2order and Lightspeed offer this natively. With SumUp it works via CSV exports.

Staff → accounting: working hours and payroll preparation data from gastromatic or Ordio are transferred to DATEV. This interface saves your accountant a lot of work.

Rule of thumb: the more systems you use from the same provider, the smoother the data exchange. The more best-of-breed tools you combine, the more interfaces you have to check and maintain.

The 5 most common mistakes when choosing software

1. Comparing only the price, not the total cost. A POS for €0/month sounds cheap – until the transaction fees on €2,000 of monthly card revenue come to €33.80. Always calculate the total cost including transaction fees, hardware and add-on modules – and with your actual number of POS terminals if the provider bills per device.
2. Starting without clear requirements: if you buy software without first defining which problems it should solve, you end up with features nobody uses – and miss the ones you really need. Write down three concrete pain points beforehand (e.g. “stocktake takes 4 hours", “cost of goods unclear", “rota via WhatsApp"). Then the market filters itself.
3. Investing in all-in-one too early. All-in-one systems are convenient but often expensive and less flexible. For a single café, a simple POS plus an accounting tool is enough. The money for a do-everything solution is better invested in good staff.
4. Overlooking contract terms. Some providers lure you with low prices but tie you in for 24 months. Check the notice period. Monthly cancellation is the standard – anything else should be justified by a clear price advantage.
5. Sticking with pen and paper for too long. Many venues keep putting off digitalisation and continue counting stock on paper. That not only costs hours every week but also hides shrinkage and costing errors. A detailed look at the shrinkage problem can be found at /en/blog/schwund-und-bruch.

FAQ: common questions about hospitality software

What does hospitality software cost on average?

The range goes from €0 (SumUp POS, Choco ordering platform) to over €400/month for comprehensive stacks of POS, inventory management and staff planning. A typical mid-range setup with POS, stocktaking and accounting comes to €100–200 a month.

Do I need a certified POS?

Yes. Since 1 January 2020, the German Cash Register Security Ordinance (KassenSichV) has required a certified technical security device (TSE). All POS systems named in this article meet this requirement. If you take payments without a TSE, you risk penalties in a tax audit (/en/blog/betriebsprufung-gastronomie).

Can I combine different providers?

Yes, and in most cases it even makes sense. But check beforehand whether the interfaces actually exist and whether data flows automatically or has to be exported manually.

What is the difference between stocktake software and inventory management?

Stocktake software records stock (counting), compares target with actual and analyses shrinkage. Inventory management additionally controls the entire flow of goods: purchasing, goods receipt, storage optimisation and reordering. Many solutions overlap. Details at /en/blog/inventur-gastronomie-guide.

Which software is particularly suited to bars?

Bars have different requirements from restaurants: opened bottles, complex cocktail recipes, fast service. BarBrain offers a dedicated fill-level slider for opened bottles (/en/branchen/bars-und-cocktailbars). For the POS, orderbird or ready2order are a good fit.

Is there free hospitality software?

Yes, with limitations. SumUp offers a free POS (funded by transaction fees), Choco a free ordering platform and resmio a free basic version for reservations. There are no fully featured stocktake or inventory management solutions at no cost – but for simple stock lists you can use Excel templates (/en/blog/inventurliste-gastronomie-bar-excel-liste).

How long does it take to introduce new software?

That depends on the complexity. A POS is set up in a few hours. Stocktake software needs 1–2 weeks for the item master data (unless there is a ready-made catalogue – BarBrain provides 30,000+ products, which speeds up setup). Inventory management systems need 2–4 weeks including supplier connections.

What role does DATEV export play?

In Germany, most accountants work with DATEV. A DATEV export from your POS and accounting software saves your accountant work and you money. Make sure your POS (at least as CSV) and your accounting tool are DATEV-compatible.

Digitise your stocktake: try BarBrain free for 30 days

Want to digitise stocktaking and costing? You can try BarBrain free and without obligation for 30 days. More than 30,000 products in the catalogue, a fill-level slider for bars, multi-location support and ready-made stock lists with Excel export. See BarBrain in a demo first: BOOK A DEMO.