Revel vs. Vend

Looking for Point of Sale software? Here's how Revel and Vend stack up.

Mark Hammersley

Mark Hammersley

Last updated 15o September 2020


Revel

3.6  Stackupp rating


Pricing from

$ 99.00 / month

Free Plan?

No


Best for

small food businesses like restaurants, coffee shops and cafes.

Vend

4.0  Stackupp rating


Pricing from

$ 99.00 / month

Free Plan?

Trial


Best for

small and medium-sized brick-and-mortar retailers that require access to inventory management tools and want to sync data from their ecommerce store automatically.

Revel or Vend: Which is best?

Can't decide between Revel and Vend?

Find the best platform for you with our side by side comparison of Revel and Vend. See how each platform stacks up across ease of use, features, integrations, support and value for money.

Let the comparison begin. Don't worry, we'll guide you.

Is Revel right for you?

Revel POS is an iPad point-of-sale solution that’s aimed largely at small businesses in the catering space. It’s used by restaurants, coffee shops, food delivery services, and so on. Revel also offers a dedicated retail solution.

Revel was one of the earliest iPad POS platforms and the feature-kit is reasonably robust. Users have access to everything they need, including payment processing, inventory and employee management, analytics, a wide library of integrations, and a number of reasonably-priced and well-designed hardware packages.

The big downside is the cost. Cheaper small business solutions are available and there are a number of “hidden” costs, such as for use of the API and mobile inventory management app.

Advantages

  • Straightforward, relatively intuitive system.
  • Excellent customer support and onboarding options.
  • Some innovative features like the self-service kiosk.

Drawbacks

  • Expensive for a small business solution.
  • Extra costs for features not included in the base plan.
  • Interface can be a little confusing at times.

you’re a small business in the catering space and are looking for a functional, straightforward iPad system that comes with an excellent customer support package, a decent library of integrations, and a reasonably-priced hardware range.

Is Vend right for you?

Vend is a POS (point-of-sale) and inventory management system aimed at small and medium-sized retailers, although larger custom plans for enterprises are available. New users can take advantage of a free trial.

It’s a popular, feature-rich solution that offers extensive functionality alongside its point-of-sale features. In particular, retailers have access to inventory management tools that sync with their existing online stores and third-party marketplace listings. An advanced analytics dashboard is also included.

Vend is suitable for mobile POS and integrates with a large number of third-party payment processors. It doesn’t offer its own native payment processor but users aren’t charged any additional fees.

Advantages

  • Cloud-based solution, so retailers aren’t restricted by their operating system.
  • Easy-to-use interface.
  • 14-day trial and good support.

Drawbacks

  • No native payment processing option.
  • While the feature-kit is very good, large enterprises may need more advanced tools.
  • Limited employee permission settings.

you’re a small or medium-sized retailer looking for an easy-to-use, feature-rich point-of-sale system for your brick-and-mortar outlet that comes with excellent customer support.

Ease of Use

Our first comparison criteria, ease of use. Why? Because it’s the most important.

Think about it. You don’t want to invest a lot of your precious time setting up an online store and tweaking the design only to find out that it’s a pain in the butt to manage day to day.

We take a look at how simple the Revel and Vend platforms are to run.

How easy is Revel to use?

Rated 3.5/5 for Ease of Use

On the whole, we found Revel POS relatively easy to use. It’s not as intuitive as some other options on the market, but it’s by no means difficult.

The backend office, which is accessed via a browser, includes dedicated areas for inventory management, employee permissions, sales and analytics data, customer information, and restaurant menu and table customization.

The iPad app, which acts as the main sales terminal, also follows a typical POS block format, with options to create and hold orders, add discounts, search for saved customer information, and so on.

Notably, Revel also offers the option of a kitchen display system for visualizing the flow of orders.

What Revel customers are saying...

“It's easy to learn and accessible.”
“Nice clean look and fairly easy to find what you're looking for.”
“The cloud-based system allows me to access and make changes remotely which is fantastic.”

How easy is Vend to use?

Rated 4/5 for Ease of Use

Vend scored very well for ease-of-use on all devices, including desktops, iPads, and mobiles. The central dashboard, which links to dedicated areas for reporting, sales, product management, and saved customer details, is minimal and intuitive. Vend integrates with multiple hardware and checkout providers and also provides a customer-facing interface (such as for entering email addresses).

What Vend customers are saying...

“I love Vend. It’s one of the easiest platforms to use, and I have used a lot.”
“Absolutely love the ease of use of Vend.”
“Great easy to use systems on the front-end.”
Vend is our winner for ease of use

Revel Features

Rated 3.5/5 for Features

As far as features go, Revel has everything you would expect in a point-of-sale system. The iPad display is intuitive, customizable, and users can take advantage of employee permissions, add-on options during checkout (like discounts and gift cards), and saved customer details. The backend office, which is accessed via a browser, has ample tools for inventory management, customer relationship management, and analytics and tracking. Revel also offers a number of innovative features that you will struggle to find elsewhere. These include self-order kiosks, mobile ordering (for customers that prefer to make orders via their mobile devices in your store or restaurant), and a large library of integrations, although intermediary third-party connectors are relied on quite heavily.

Prospective users should remember, however, that many features aren’t included in the core package. Online ordering, API use, mobile barcode scanning, and multi-location management may all incur extra costs.

What’s more, Revel doesn’t integrate with any third-party payment processors, so you will have to use the in-house solution, Revel Advantage. Pricing is on a custom basis, with discounts for larger enterprises.

Finally, Revel provides an always-on mode (so you don’t need to worry about the WiFi going down), high-level security, and regular data backups. There is no cap on the number of users per terminal.

Vend Features

Rated 4/5 for Features

Vend has an excellent set of features and, most store-owners and managers will find everything they need. Vend provides integrations with various payment processors, a simple, easy-to-use dashboard and sales interface, secure cloud back-ups, an outstanding customer service package, support for promotions, gift cards, and product variations, and in-depth analytics.

As a cloud-based solution, Vend will run on Windows, Android, iOS, and macOS. Vend also integrates with a wide variety of hardware suppliers. A dedicated app means that mobile devices and iPads can be used to create ePOS (electronic point of sale) stations in conjunction with a main register.

Centralized management of multiple retail outlets and advanced analytics are available on the “Pro” and “Enterprise” plans. Users on the “Lite” plan have access to a limited set of analytics tools.

It’s worth pointing out that while Vend brands itself as an “inventory management” app, its functionality in this area is only really suitable for brick-and-mortar stores. If you need to manage inventory and fulfillment for your ecommerce store, you should look for a dedicated inventory management solution. Vend is perfectly suitable, however, for managing in-store inventory. What’s more, it will integrate with many of your other retail channels, allowing for the seamless flow of data between platforms.

Vend is our winner for features

Revel Integrations

Rated 3.5/5 for Integrations

Revel performed very well on the integrations front. The library of integrations is fairly extensive, especially when compared to other similar solutions on the market. It includes connectors for everything from mobile ordering to additional security services.

Two points are worth mentioning, however. First, Revel often makes use of intermediary tools, rather than direct integrations. So you will have to use third-party providers to sync Revel with some apps in your tech stack. Second, payment processing is only available through Revel Advantage, Revel’s in-house payment solution. No third-party integrations are offered. Pricing for Revel Advantage varies depending on the size of the user’s business, so you should get in touch to check prices before making a decision.

The main highlights of the integrations library include connectors for accounting platforms like QuickBooks and Xero, mobile ordering with big delivery services like UberEats, and numerous loyalty and gift card programs.

Users can also connect up to many major ecommerce platforms through the Kosmos eSync app. A limited online ordering toolkit with a customer portal (mainly for food purchases) is available. Revel doesn’t offer a high-level in-house ecommerce platform, so retailers that want to run their own online store will have to opt for a separate package from a brand like Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and so on.

Vend Integrations

Rated 3.5/5 for Integrations

Vend offers a good - but not mind-blowing - selection of integrations. Some users have complained that the integrations or “add-on” library could be more extensive. That said, small and medium retailers will likely find everything they need. Just be sure to check that any integrations you absolutely require are included before you subscribe to a paid plan. It was also a little unfortunate that Vend hasn’t built a connector for Zapier, which would have overcome many of the shortcomings of the current library (although a similar app, Workato, is supported).

So what does Vend offer? On the accounting front, users can link up to QuickBooks (online version), Xero, MYOB, and Accounts Portal.

Supported ecommerce platforms include BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Shopify, Ecwid, Pointy, Near St, and Magento (through Vortex HQ). You can also connect Vend with some ecommerce platforms using ShopIQ as an intermediary (if you have an account and want to take advantage of its omnichannel analytics tools). As Vend doesn’t offer direct integrations with third-party marketplaces (like Etsy, eBay, and Amazon), data must be processed by your ecommerce platform or your inventory management solution before syncing. Inventory management integrations include Unleashed, Ecomdash, and Orderhive.

Finally, Vend offers a handful of marketing, scheduling, and deep analytics (including Vonto and 9Spokes) integrations. For enterprises, NetSuite is supported. Link-ups with other leading ERPs are currently in development.

It's a draw!

How much do they cost?

Everyone’s favourite topic - pricing. Let's dive in to see if Revel or Vend offers better value for money.

How much does Revel cost?

Rated 3/5 for Pricing

Revel POS falters a little when it comes to cost. Much of the pricing is on a custom, per-user basis, so you should get in touch for a specific quote for your business. This also applies to Revel’s payment processing service, Revel Advantage.

You should also be aware of the fact that there are some semi-hidden costs for features that aren’t part of the core plan. These features include the API, the mobile inventory management and barcode scanning app, multi-location management, and online ordering functionality.

Pricing starts at $99/month per terminal, with possible discounts available depending on the size of the business and the number of locations. An installation package, which includes tailored onboarding assistance, is available for $649. A variety of hardware options, with varying price-points, are available.

How much does Vend cost?

Rated 4/5 for Pricing

Vend has a reasonably competitive pricing model. Smaller retailers with a low number of registers will find the pricing reasonable. For larger brands, however, with multiple locations and sales-points, expenses can quickly add up. It costs an extra $59/month to add cash registers. That said, the “Enterprise” plan, which is offered on a custom pricing model, is worth exploring.

There are three plans - Lite, Pro, and Enterprise. The Lite plan is suitable for stores with up to $20,000 in turnover a month. Pro and Enterprise allow for unlimited turnover.

Notably, Vend doesn’t charge any fees on top of those required by payment processing providers.

Vend is our winner for cost

Help and Support

If things go wrong (and they often do) you need to know someone’s there to help get you back on track. So, how does Revel's and Vend's support measure up?

How good is Revel support?

Rated 4.5/5 for Help and Support

The level of support offered by Revel is very good. 24/7 phone and web (email) support is included on all plans. The user documentation is also very detailed.

Companies can take advantage of a comprehensive onboarding package for $649. This includes management console training, hardware installation, and payments set-up. Dedicated long-term account management is also available.

How good is Vend support?

Rated 4.5/5 for Help and Support

Vend really shines when it comes to customer support. The Vend customer service team, which has won multiple awards and has offices around the world, is available via email or in-app live-chat. Phone support is also offered on all plans.

Dedicated onboarding assistance and a personal account manager are both included on the “Enterprise” plan. Users can also pay extra for one-on-one training, with several service packages available). There’s also the option to search for a local Vend specialist to help with hardware installation and account setup.

Finally, Vend offers a wide selection of training materials, including webinars, courses, and in-depth documentation.

It's a draw!

The Bottom Line

The final say. Let's wrap up our thoughts on each platform.

Revel: Our Verdict

For the right kind of business, Revel POS is a good solution. We feel that it is definitely geared towards companies in the restaurant and catering spaces. If you sell retail merchandise, we suggest trying other solutions before making a final decision. Small restaurants, coffee shops, takeouts, and so on, however, will find a lot to like.

Overall, it’s an intuitive, feature-rich, and reasonably well-priced solution that comes with an excellent support package. Just be careful to check the prices of any additional features and keep in mind that you will have to use Revel’s in-house payment processor. If you are thinking about going with Revel, take advantage of the free demo first.

Vend: Our Verdict

Overall, we were very impressed with Vend. As a POS system, it’s reasonably priced, has a good selection of features, and is very intuitive and easy to use.

It’s best for small and medium brick-and-mortar retailers. So if you fit into this category, it’s well worth taking advantage of the free trial. It’s also a good option for sellers that have an online presence and want a POS that will sync with their ecommerce stores and inventory management apps.

There are a small handful of downsides, including a somewhat limited integrations library, the absence of a native payment processor (although most popular third-party options are supported), and limited enterprise features, such employee permissions. Most retailers won’t find these drawbacks to be an issue, but they should be considered when evaluating the software.

Overall, we found Vend to be the better Point of Sale platform.

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