NoPOS vs Competitor 3.
Competitor 3 is a payments company with free POS software, popular with small independent businesses. NoPOS is a restaurant POS for single stores and groups, paid by the store, that works with your own card provider.
Who wrote this: the NoPOS team at Novasys IT (Pty) Ltd. We sell NoPOS, so we are not neutral. We have not named the other products. Facts about them come from their public websites and terms, checked on 30 October 2026, and prices and features change.
Side by side.
| NoPOS | Competitor 3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | R1,499 (Standard) or R2,999 (Premium) per store a month, excl. VAT, any number of tills | R0, R249 or R499 per location a month, by plan |
| Card fees | None to us. Your own bank or provider charges its fees | Tiered by plan and turnover, for example 2.30% debit on its R0 plan up to R50,000, excl. VAT. Its payments are required to use its POS |
| Contract | Month-to-month, cancel any time | No contracts. The POS service can be cancelled on 30 days' written notice |
| Trading offline | Every till and kitchen screen holds the day's orders and works on the store network, with no store server. Online orders wait for the internet | Fully cloud-based. Switches to mobile data if Wi-Fi drops; selling with no connection at all is not described |
| Uber Eats and Mr D | Built, not live yet: go live once each provider approves | Not listed on its integrations page |
| Kitchen | Kitchen screens with oven pacing, included | Kitchen and bar printers. A separate table-service product has a kitchen display; its price is not published |
| Hardware | Your own Windows tills, Android devices and Epson printers, or from our shop | Its own devices only |
| Multi-store | HQ with menus, price bands and royalties | Per-location paid plans; franchise tools not described |
Where Competitor 3 is stronger.
- Cost to start: R0 software and devices from a few hundred rand.
- No setup: buy online and install it yourself.
- One supplier for the POS and card payments, with instant payouts and cash advances.
- A very large merchant base, and a strong fit for a small single outlet.
Which one suits you.
Choose Competitor 3 if you run one small outlet, want the lowest cost to start, and are happy to take card payments through it.
Choose NoPOS if the kitchen and offline trading matter more, if you want to keep your bank and card fees, or if you run several stores. Any comparison must include card fees, which grow with your turnover, while the NoPOS fee does not. You still pay your own bank's card fees on NoPOS, so compare both totals. See our plans.
Questions owners ask.
Is Competitor 3 free?
Its entry plan is R0 a month, and you pay card fees on each sale, plus the cost of its devices. NoPOS has a monthly fee per store and no fee on sales, and your own bank charges its card fees.
Which is better for one small shop?
If you sell simply and want the lowest cost to start, Competitor 3 is hard to beat. If your kitchen runs on tickets and you cannot stop when the line drops, NoPOS suits you better.