Gastronovi
Founded in 2008 in Germany, Gastronovi is a leading provider of cloud-based POS and all-in-one management software specifically engineered for the hospitality and gastronomy sectors. The company offers a highly modular ecosystem that digitizes the entire value chain.
Why we win
Why we lose
Design & UX
Modern & intuitive UI that requires minimal training, whilst Gastronovi has an “uglier” or more cluttered UX.
Hardware Flexibility
Flexible due to no hardware requirements (Windows, Apple, Android).
Features
Lightspeed offers Reporting & Advanced Insights.
Features
More advanced inventory system with vendor integration, stronger OA feature (“Self-ordering”) with more options (eg. call a waiter).
Support
Lightspeed offers free 24/7 phone, chat, and email support globally, whilst Gastronovi charges for support packages.
Locality
Primarily focused on German and Austrian fiscalization, and working closely with local resellers.
Pricing
High transparency through clear SaaS tiers with no hidden payment fees.
Pricing
Gastronovi individualizes offers, making it more competitive in some cases.
Stronger integration ecosystem
180+ integrations across payments, delivery, loyalty, and more. Gastronovi builds most modules natively and offers fewer external integrations.
Payments
Lightspeed offers one contract, one app, no extra hardware movements, and fully embedded. Gastronovi is modular: while they have “Gastronovi Pay”, many users still use third-party terminals.
“I don’t want to buy new hardware. Gastronovi lets me use my old Windows PCs, Android tablets, and iPads all at once.”
While hardware independence sounds like a cost-saver today, it’s often a support nightmare tomorrow. When your system is running on three different operating systems, troubleshooting becomes a game of ‘find the culprit.’ Lightspeed offers a curated, high-performance hardware ecosystem that allows us to guarantee 99.9% uptime.
“Gastronovi’s inventory and recipe costing is more advanced than yours. It integrates directly with my vendors.”
Gastronovi’s back-of-house is indeed deep, but it is also highly manual and time-consuming to maintain. Lightspeed focuses on actionable insights. Our inventory is designed to be lean and automated, and our Advanced Insights feature gives you the data that actually increases your bank balance, not just a spreadsheet of your stock.
“Gastronovi allows me to edit my floor plan and almost all settings directly from the POS terminal, whereas you use a Back Office.”
Being able to change everything from the POS sounds convenient until a staff member accidentally deletes a table or changes a price in the middle of a rush. We believe the POS should be a ‘protected zone’ for one thing: Service. By separating the ‘Admin’ from the ‘Action,’ we ensure your POS remains fast, uncluttered, and secure.
Category
Feature
Gastronovi
Lightspeed
Cloud-based
✅
✅
iOS
✅
✅
Advanced order
✅
✅
Mobile POS
✅
✅
Reservations
Reservation widget
✅
✅ Native and via integration
KDS
KDS
✅ Basic
✅
Inventory
✅ More advanced
Vendor integrations, calculation system
✅
Loyalty
Loyalty / Punch cards
✅
✅
Hardware
Hardware shop
❌
✅
Support
24/7 support
❌ Local daytime support only
✅
Integrations
Third-party integrations
❌ Basic
40+ available integrations
✅ Wide-ranged
180+ available integrations
Payment solution
✅ Basic
Adyen but not PaT, pushes Sunday/Yavin
✅
Tap to Pay
✅
✅
Core POS
Starts at €59/month (per device)
Checkout system included
Cash journal €19
Menu €19.
Cloud-TSE
Mandatory add-on: €14/month
Per location & operation
Incl. 10k transactions/month.