Why Storey is free
The software should not be one more thing nickel-and-diming you.
We're business owners too. We've felt what this industry does to the people running the register.
A subscription fee for the software. Another for the feature you actually need. A price that quietly creeps up every year while what you get for it does not. Shrinkflation. Inflation. A charge for every little thing that used to be part of the product. Running a business is already expensive. We do not think the software you run it on needs to add to that pressure.
Storey's software is free. Not a free trial. Not a free tier with the good stuff locked away. The whole system — every module, every feature — for as long as you use it.
We are not pretending this costs us nothing. We could charge for it, the way everyone else in this industry does. We are choosing not to. The only thing we charge for is card processing, because that is a real cost and someone has to cover it — and we commit to competitive rates on that, full stop. Past that, running your business on Storey does not cost you anything.
Net Zero Pricing
Storey supports cash discounting: the card processing fee can be passed along to the customer, or the business can absorb it instead — and that choice can be flipped, sale by sale, right at checkout.
This is not a hook to get you in the door and upsell you later. It is a bet that we can build a real business on processing, honestly, without turning every feature into its own subscription.
Compare
How Storey compares
Storey's software is free in full — every module, no tiers, no per-feature charges. The only paid part is card processing, at competitive rates with no software markup. Here's how that lines up against the point-of-sale systems businesses most often ask us about.
| System | Software cost | In-person processing | Feature access | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Storey | $0 — the whole system | Competitive rates, no software markup | Every module included, no tiers | |
| Square | $0 Free plan; Plus $49/mo and Premium $149/mo per location | 2.4%–2.6% + 15¢ in person, by plan | Loyalty and staff scheduling on paid tiers | Storey vs Square → |
| Toast | Not published — quote-based, varies per business | Not published — quote-based | Quoted per business | Storey vs Toast → |
| Clover | From around $349/mo (retail Starter) to $2,648 upfront + ~$105–180/mo (Advanced) | 2.3%–2.6% + $0.10 card-present | Extras often via paid App Market add-ons | Storey vs Clover → |
One complete system
Retail, full-service restaurants and table service, reservations and bookings, invoicing, inventory, employee management, e-commerce and loyalty are included.
No per-device software fee
Storey runs on Android and works with keyboard-wedge barcode scanners, ESC/POS receipt printers and compatible USB or Bluetooth scales. No Storey-branded terminal is required.
Competitor pricing and features are current as of September 2026 and subject to change; plans and rates can vary by business type, location and contract. Storey is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Square, Toast, Clover or Stripe, and all trademarks belong to their owners. Please verify current pricing directly with each company before deciding.
Comparing Stripe Terminal?
Payment infrastructure, not a POS
Stripe Terminal is a payment API — the layer that takes the card — rather than a point-of-sale system.
Stripe Terminal charges 2.7% + 5¢ per transaction with no monthly fee. It has no built-in inventory, employee or table management, and it takes developer resources to build a usable system on top of it.
Storey is the complete system — register, tables, stock, staff and more — ready to use without writing code. And if you've already built your own point-of-sale software, Valet adds card payments to it with Storey handling processing.