Set Up Payments & Understand Pricing

OpenPOS uses Stripe Connect for payment processing. You get your own Stripe account, payments go directly to you, and the platform's operations fee is automatically deducted. No invoices, no manual transfers.

Connecting Stripe

1. Go to Settings > Payments.
2. Click Connect with Stripe.
3. Complete Stripe's onboarding: business info, bank account, identity verification. Takes about 5 minutes.
4. Once connected, your storefront can accept payments immediately.

How pricing works

OpenPOS pricing has two components: a monthly subscription and a 5% + 30¢ all-in fee per transaction.

The 5% + 30¢ — what it covers

Think of it as giving your AI manager a small cut of the revenue it helps generate. Your AI manager is a marketer, SEO specialist, menu consultant, operations analyst, and growth hacker all in one, working 24/7. It also connects with AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini to help customers discover and order from you. The 5% + 30¢ includes:

• AI manager — automated marketing campaigns, SEO optimization, menu pricing insights, daily performance reports, and store health monitoring. This is work that would cost $3,000-8,000/month in staff or consultants — assuming you could find them in today's labor market.
• Payment processing — Stripe card processing (2.9% + 30¢) comes out of our 5% + 30¢, not on top. You never see a separate processing charge.
• Fraud protection and chargeback handling
• Automated payouts to your bank account

The fee is automatically deducted as a Stripe application fee — you see your net payout, no surprises.

For comparison, most restaurants pay 2.9-3.5% for processing alone, then $200-500/month for separate marketing, analytics, and operations tools — if they use them at all. The 5% + 30¢ replaces all of that in one number.

Subscription plans

• Free — $0/month. Build your menu, design your storefront, take orders, and accept payments. 1 location, 1 staff member.
• Launch — $49/month ($39/mo annual). Go live with ordering, reservations, waitlist, basic analytics, staff management, and online payments. 1 location, up to 5 staff.
• Operate — $149/month ($119/mo annual). Everything in Launch plus AI-driven menu optimization, campaign drafts, full analytics, CRM, catering, delivery, and pickup lockers. Up to 3 locations, 25 staff.
• Grow — $349/month ($279/mo annual). Everything in Operate plus AI-led marketing automation, SEO optimization, customer win-back, competitor analysis, and priority support. Up to 10 locations, 100 staff.

Manage your subscription in Settings > Billing. You can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel anytime.

Messaging credits

Email and SMS campaigns sent from the Marketing page use a prepaid messaging wallet:

• SMS: $0.03 per message.
• Email: $0.01 per message.
• New accounts start with a $100 credit bonus — enough for thousands of messages.
• Purchase additional credits in preset amounts ($25, $50, $100, $250).
• Enable auto-reload to automatically top up when your balance gets low — never miss a campaign.

Note: AI-initiated messages (like AI Manager recommendations) are included in your subscription at no extra cost. The messaging wallet is only for merchant-initiated campaigns.

Payouts

Stripe handles payouts directly to your bank account, typically within 2 business days. You can monitor all payouts, individual transactions, and fees in your Stripe dashboard.

Refunds

Issue full or partial refunds from the Orders page:

1. Open the order and click Refund.
2. Choose full refund or enter a partial amount.
3. Add an optional reason.
4. Confirm — the refund goes to the customer's original payment method in 5-10 business days.

Note: Stripe does not refund their processing fees on the original transaction. You can issue multiple partial refunds on the same order up to the total amount. Refunded amounts are automatically deducted from your sales analytics.

Loyalty and referral adjustments are intentionally simple: full refunds attempt to reverse earned loyalty, restore redeemed rewards, and claw back referral store credit when possible. Partial refunds keep loyalty and referral benefits unchanged. Staff can make manual loyalty or store-credit adjustments from the customer profile when an exception needs to be handled.

Why this pricing model

• Aligned incentives — We only make more when you make more. The 5% + 30¢ fee means we're invested in driving more orders to your store.
• No per-transaction fee tiers — One simple rate. No confusing rate cards or hidden charges.
• Everything included — Your subscription unlocks all features at your tier. No $25/month add-ons for reservations, $50/month for loyalty, etc.
• Free to explore — Build your entire menu and storefront before committing to a paid plan.