Support is part of the product.
Every system works in the demo. What separates them is what happens when a terminal dies on a Saturday, a deposit is held, or the invoice does not match the quote. We score all 23 systems on four dimensions of customer service.
Customer service ranking
Overall support score out of 100 · top ten
How we score support
- 35%Responsiveness. How fast and how well first-line support answers.
- 30%Escalation. Whether you can reach someone with authority over billing, account holds and contract problems. This is where most serious complaints live.
- 20%Onboarding. Migration, setup, training and go-live support.
- 15%Self-help. Documentation, community and in-app guidance.
The pattern
Systems sold through resellers or built on required processing score lowest on escalation, because the person who can fix the problem is often not the person who answers the phone. Systems with clear pricing and no processing contract have the fewest serious complaints to escalate in the first place.
All 23 systems.
Editorial scores out of 100 on each dimension, weighted into the overall support score.
| System | Trustpilot | Responsiveness | Onboarding | Self-help | Escalation | Support score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1AlpacaBOSS | — | 94 | 96 | 88 | 94 | 94 |
| 2Mangomint | 4.8 | 92 | 88 | 86 | 86 | 88 |
| 3Jobber | 4.2 | 88 | 84 | 86 | 80 | 84 |
| 4Phorest | 4.2 | 84 | 90 | 80 | 82 | 84 |
| 5Tekmetric | — | 86 | 86 | 84 | 80 | 84 |
| 6KORONA POS | 4.0 | 84 | 82 | 78 | 80 | 82 |
| 7Shopmonkey | — | 82 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 81 |
| 8ECRS CATAPULT | — | 80 | 86 | 70 | 78 | 79 |
| 9ServiceTitan | 3.9 | 76 | 84 | 88 | 72 | 78 |
| 10Housecall Pro | 2.4 | 78 | 82 | 84 | 70 | 77 |
| 11Boulevard | — | 78 | 82 | 78 | 72 | 77 |
| 12Toast | 2.6 | 74 | 86 | 88 | 66 | 76 |
| 13Shopify POS | 1.3 | 72 | 84 | 92 | 64 | 75 |
| 14Vagaro | 3.8 | 76 | 80 | 78 | 68 | 75 |
| 15Lightspeed Retail | 4.2 | 70 | 78 | 86 | 62 | 72 |
| 16Zenoti | 4.3 | 70 | 80 | 72 | 70 | 72 |
| 17Fishbowl | — | 72 | 76 | 74 | 70 | 72 |
| 18TouchBistro | 3.4 | 70 | 76 | 80 | 64 | 71 |
| 19Lightspeed Restaurant | 4.2 | 68 | 78 | 84 | 60 | 70 |
| 20Square | 3.9 | 62 | 92 | 90 | 48 | 68 |
| 21Lightspeed DMS | — | 66 | 78 | 68 | 62 | 68 |
| 22Cin7 | 3.0 | 62 | 74 | 80 | 58 | 66 |
| 23Clover | 2.2 | 58 | 66 | 74 | 44 | 58 |
Best at escalation
Where a real person with authority is easiest to reach
Lowest support scores
Systems where buyers should test support before signing
How to test support before you buy
Call support during the trial, not sales. Ask a real operational question and time the answer. Sales will always pick up; support is what you are buying.
Ask who owns the problem. If hardware, software and processing come from different companies, get in writing who you call for each and what the others will do.
Read the fund-hold and reserve policy. The worst service experiences in our index are not slow tickets; they are frozen deposits with no one to talk to.
Check the onboarding scope. Data migration, training hours and go-live support should be listed, with a named contact.
Look at the help center. If the documentation is thin, you will be waiting on tickets for things you should be able to fix yourself.
Trustpilot scores compared
Public review scores for all 23 systems next to our service scores.
Complaint Index
Recurring complaint themes by system: pricing transparency, support access, contract exit and hardware lock-in.
Payments
Why processing contracts drive most of the serious service complaints.
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