Not one we lead with. We can board this if you want it. It is not one we know inside out, so we would be setting it up rather than advising you on it — and we would tell you that before you signed anything. Talk it through with us.
POS · RPOWER
RPOWER POS
On-premise restaurant POS that keeps trading when the internet doesn't.
- Restaurant
- Bar & nightlife
- Hotel
- Attractions
An independent assessment. Vigilant can place RPOWER POS, and is paid the same either way — which is why the drawbacks are on this page too.
What it is
RPOWER has been building restaurant POS since 1994, and it is one of the few remaining systems where the database lives in your building. That single architectural choice is the pitch: when the internet drops mid-service — which in Southwest Florida it will — a cloud POS degrades and RPOWER does not. Orders, tabs, gift and loyalty, clock-ins and payments keep running on the local network.
The other differentiator is processor independence. RPOWER is software you buy; it does not come with a merchant account attached. You can change processors without changing your POS, which is the opposite of how SpotOn and Square work.
It is deliberately customisable — bars and nightclubs that need raw speed, country clubs with member billing, franchise groups that want to white-label. The trade is that it takes real configuration, and it looks its age next to a cloud dashboard.
Who it fits
Best for
High-volume bars and nightclubs, country clubs, and operators who have been burned by an outage and want the system in the building.
Probably not ideal for
Owners who want to run the business from their phone on a Tuesday off. Cloud-native systems do that better.
Key capabilities
- Offline first
- Local server means service continues through an internet outage — payments, tabs, gift, loyalty and time clocks.
- Processor agnostic
- Buy the software, choose the processor, change it later without replacing the POS.
- Speed
- Built for bar and nightclub transaction volume where a half-second per ring adds up.
- Customisation
- Configurable to the operation rather than the other way round, including franchise white-labelling.
- Track record
- Continuously developed since 1994, with PCI-standard security as a stated priority.
Strengths and tradeoffs
Strengths
- The database lives in your building, so an internet outage does not stop service — payments, tabs, gift, loyalty and time clocks keep running.
- Processor-agnostic. You buy the software; you choose the acquirer and can change it later without replacing the POS.
- Built for bar and nightclub speed, where half a second per ring multiplies across a Saturday night.
- Deeply configurable, including franchise white-labelling and country-club member billing.
- Continuously developed since 1994, with PCI standards treated as a floor rather than a marketing line.
- No rate subsidy means the price you are quoted is the actual price.
Tradeoffs
- You cannot run the business from your phone on a Tuesday off the way a cloud system allows.
- It looks its age next to a modern dashboard, and that matters to some owners.
- Real configuration is required — this is not a box that arrives and works by lunchtime.
- Higher up-front cost, because none of it is being recovered through your processing rate.
- On-premise means hardware you own and eventually replace, plus a server in the building to look after.
Pricing
Licensed software plus hardware, bought outright. Higher up front and no rate subsidy, which means the number you see is the number.
Pricing reflects what the vendor publishes or what we have seen quoted. Your actual terms depend on volume, card mix and what is negotiated — which is the part we do.
Vigilant's assessment
The system we recommend most to bar operators and least to anyone who says 'I just want something simple.' Its entire value is that it does not depend on your internet or your processor — which is worth a lot on a Friday in season, and nothing at all if you have never had an outage.
How it compares
Three ways to run a busy room, all of them ours to place. The real question is what you want to be independent of: your internet, your processor, or neither.
| Criterion | RPOWER On-premise, processor-agnostic | Union iOS venue system | SpotOn Cloud, service-led |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best at | High-volume bars that cannot go down | Nightlife and venues wanting iOS and guest data | Restaurants that want a human on the phone |
| If the internet drops | Keeps trading — local server | Offline mode built in | Degrades — cloud dependent |
| Processing | Yours to choose and change | Processor-agnostic — rate stays negotiable | Bundled with the platform |
| Hardware | Purpose-built terminals you own | iOS hardware, including POS on iPhone | SpotOn hardware, bundled |
| Guest data & loyalty | Via configuration and integrations | CRM, loyalty and a funded rewards programme | First-party loyalty and marketing |
| Remote management | Weakest — it is on-premise by design | Strong | Strong, with a good phone app |
| Cost shape | Licence up front, no rate subsidy | Subscription plus your own processing | From $0 software; cost sits in the rate |
| Watch out for | Dated interface; configuration effort | Less familiar brand; built for volume, priced for it | Rate not negotiable after signing |
| Pick it when | An outage would cost you the night | You want speed, iOS and a negotiable rate | Support is what went wrong last time |
Verdict. If you have ever lost a service to an outage, RPOWER. If you want modern hardware and to keep the processing negotiable, Union. If your last vendor put you on hold, SpotOn. Nobody should be choosing on the demo alone — bring us the contract before the software.
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