Revel Systems Review: Next-Gen POS Built for Modern Restaurants & Bars

Frustrated by complicated POS setups?

If you’re researching Revel Systems, you’re likely trying to fix broken workflows and disjointed systems that slow down your restaurant or retail business.

But here’s the reality: dealing with pieced-together software usually means constant headaches managing inventory or handling orders—and it’s leaving you with long days and costly mistakes.

Revel Systems aims to solve this by giving you a cloud-based iPad POS and tightly integrated tools for inventory, online ordering, kitchen displays, and deep reporting—letting you actually manage everything from one place.

In this review, I’ll break down how Revel can tie your operations together, so you actually get your time (and margins) back.

Inside this Revel Systems review, you’ll get a real look at features, actual pricing, ease of use, limits, and how Revel stacks up against other top options—so your evaluation is way less stressful.

You’ll leave knowing the features you need to confidently choose your next POS.

Let’s dive into the analysis.

Revel Systems Overview

Revel Systems has developed its cloud-based point of sale platform since 2010. From their Atlanta headquarters, I see their core mission as empowering complex restaurant and retail businesses.

What I find most compelling is how they don’t try to serve everyone. They specifically target quick-service restaurants and multi-location franchises, whose intricate operational needs far exceed the capabilities of simpler POS solutions on the market.

Their recent acquisition by payments leader Shift4 in 2024 is a massive strategic move. As we explore through this Revel Systems review, this adds serious, fully integrated payment muscle.

Unlike competitors who lock you into proprietary hardware, Revel gives you flexibility within the Apple ecosystem. Their unique value truly shines with their iPad-based system and an open API, a major advantage for your unique technical needs.

I believe they work with a broad mix of ambitious quick-service restaurants, full-service establishments, and growing retail chains that require sophisticated tools to manage their expanding scale and operational complexity.

From my analysis, their current strategy is exceptionally clear: deliver an enterprise-grade management toolset on familiar and reliable iPad hardware. This aligns perfectly with your need for scalability without adding overwhelming IT complexity.

Now, let’s examine their core capabilities in detail.

Revel Systems Features

Still dealing with disconnected restaurant and retail systems?

Revel Systems features offer a comprehensive suite of integrated solutions designed to manage various aspects of restaurant and retail operations. Here are the five main Revel Systems features that streamline your business.

1. Point of Sale (POS) System

Is your POS system slowing down your staff?

Slow, clunky POS systems can frustrate customers and staff alike, leading to long queues and order errors. This directly impacts your service quality.

Revel’s iPad-based POS offers a user-friendly touchscreen interface that reduces training time for new staff, which I found incredibly intuitive during my testing. This feature handles everything from order creation to payment processing, ensuring a smooth checkout experience.

This means you can enjoy faster transactions and happier customers, ultimately boosting your overall operational efficiency.

2. Inventory Management

Are stockouts costing you sales and customer loyalty?

Running out of popular items disappoints customers and hurts your bottom line, requiring constant manual checks. This is a common pain point.

Revel’s comprehensive inventory management tracks products and ingredients in real-time, preventing stockouts with low-stock alerts. What I love is how it manages inventory down to the ingredient level, crucial for complex recipes, and can automatically generate purchase orders.

So you can maintain optimal stock levels, reduce waste, and ensure you always have what your customers want in stock.

3. Kitchen Display System (KDS)

Paper tickets causing chaos and errors in your kitchen?

Misread orders and lost tickets lead to wasted food and frustrated customers, especially in busy periods. This kills your service speed.

Revel’s KDS digitally displays orders, eliminating paper tickets and improving accuracy and speed. From my testing, the ability to tailor multiple KDS stations for different prep areas truly streamlines kitchen workflows and reduces mistakes.

This means your kitchen operates like a well-oiled machine, ensuring faster food preparation and happier customers.

4. Online Ordering

Missing out on online sales and delivery opportunities?

Without a seamless online ordering solution, you lose out on a massive revenue stream and customer convenience. This is a critical missed opportunity.

Revel offers its own integrated online ordering platform, allowing customers to place orders directly and reducing wait times. This feature supports building online-specific menus and managing delivery solutions, including your own driver fleet, which offers incredible flexibility.

This means you can expand your reach, offer convenient pickup or delivery options, and grow your sales channels effortlessly.

5. Employee Management & Reporting

Struggling to track employee performance and business trends?

Inefficient staff scheduling and a lack of insightful data make informed business decisions difficult. This hinders your growth potential.

Revel’s system assists with employee scheduling, time tracking, and performance monitoring, making staff management easier. What truly shines is their advanced reporting, offering detailed insights on sales, employee performance, and customer preferences for data-driven decisions.

This means you get a clear overview of your business, identify top-performing items, and make smart decisions to boost profitability.

You’ll appreciate how these Revel Systems features work together to create a cohesive business management ecosystem, from front-of-house to back-of-house.

Revel Systems Pricing

What are you actually paying for?

Revel Systems pricing is primarily custom and subscription-based, often requiring direct contact for a quote tailored to your specific operational needs.

1. Pricing Model & Cost Factors

Understanding Revel’s cost drivers.

Revel Systems’ pricing model is subscription-based, largely driven by the number of POS terminals you require and the length of your contract. What I found regarding pricing is that it typically starts at a two-terminal minimum with a three-year commitment. Additional costs come from hardware, payment processing fees (around 2.49% per transaction), and premium add-ons like online ordering.

From my cost analysis, this means your monthly costs are influenced by your scale and specific feature needs.

2. Value Assessment & ROI

Does Revel deliver budget value?

Revel’s comprehensive platform integrates POS, inventory, and employee management, consolidating systems to potentially reduce overall operational costs. What impressed me is how their system can streamline operations, helping you save time and reduce manual errors, which translates into tangible ROI for your business.

This approach helps you avoid disparate systems, potentially saving your finance team significant reconciliation time and money.

3. Budget Planning & Implementation

Planning for total cost of ownership.

Beyond the monthly software fee, you’ll need to factor in significant hardware costs for iPads and peripherals. Implementation, while not publicly priced, will involve setup and training. Budget-wise, you can expect substantial upfront investment in hardware before your system is fully operational and your team trained.

So for your business, planning for both subscription and initial hardware/setup costs is critical to avoid budget surprises.

My Take: Revel Systems pricing is best suited for established restaurants and retail businesses seeking a robust, integrated POS solution willing to commit to a multi-year contract for comprehensive features.

The overall Revel Systems pricing reflects an investment in a complete, integrated POS ecosystem.

Revel Systems Reviews

What do real customers actually think?

To give you the clearest picture, I analyzed numerous Revel Systems reviews from various user platforms, focusing on real-world experiences to highlight common themes and provide balanced insights.

1. Overall User Satisfaction

User sentiment is quite mixed.

From my review analysis, overall user satisfaction with Revel Systems presents a varied picture, often depending on business size and support needs. What I found in user feedback is that some users find it robust and dependable, while others struggle with consistency issues, particularly regarding support and costs.

This indicates your specific business context significantly influences your potential satisfaction.

2. Common Praise Points

Users love the comprehensive features.

Customers consistently praise Revel Systems for its extensive features, including detailed inventory management, customizable employee access, and robust reporting. Review-wise, the ability to completely customize and set individual privilege access for staff members frequently stands out as a major benefit, streamlining operations.

This suggests you can expect powerful tools to manage various aspects of your business efficiently.

3. Frequent Complaints

High costs and contracts frustrate users.

A recurring complaint in Revel Systems reviews is the high cost of the system and the requirement for long-term contracts, often three years. What stands out in user feedback is the frustration with auto-renewal tactics and early termination fees, creating significant financial unexpected hurdles for businesses attempting to switch.

These issues are major considerations and could be potential deal-breakers if flexibility is key for you.

Overall, Revel Systems reviews show a capable system balanced by significant concerns around pricing structure and customer service consistency, indicating careful due diligence is essential.

Best Revel Systems Alternatives

Too many POS options causing decision paralysis?

The best Revel Systems alternatives include several strong options, each better suited for different business sizes, budgets, and industry-specific requirements, helping you find your ideal fit.

1. Toast POS

Operating a restaurant or bar primarily?

Toast POS is purpose-built for the food and beverage industry, offering restaurant-grade hardware and a highly integrated ecosystem. From my competitive analysis, Toast offers purpose-built hardware for demanding restaurant environments, unlike Revel’s iPad-based system, along with extensive integrations tailored for F&B.

Choose Toast if your business is solely a restaurant or bar and you need specialized, durable hardware.

2. Square Point of Sale

Seeking simplicity, affordability, and easy setup?

Square POS excels for small businesses and service-based shops due to its user-friendability, transparent pricing, and vast app marketplace. What I found comparing options is that Square provides lower starting costs and more flexible plans, making it highly accessible for smaller operations looking for essential POS functions.

Consider this alternative if you need a straightforward, budget-friendly system with extensive third-party app integrations.

3. Clover POS

Prioritizing integrated hardware and ease of use?

Clover POS provides proprietary hardware and pre-set packages with clear pricing, streamlining the acquisition process for small businesses. From my analysis, Clover offers an affordable, integrated hardware solution, making it generally more accessible and simpler to implement than Revel’s quote-based hardware.

Choose Clover for its ease of use, affordability, and all-in-one hardware solutions, especially for service-based shops.

The best Revel Systems alternatives truly depend on your specific business size, budget, and operational focus.

Revel Systems Setup

Worried about a lengthy, disruptive software rollout?

This Revel Systems review explores what it really takes to deploy and adopt this POS system. Expect realistic insights into time, resources, and potential challenges for your business.

1. Setup Complexity & Timeline

This isn’t a quick plug-and-play setup.

Revel Systems implementation can be cumbersome, with a steep learning curve for initial configuration. What I found about deployment is that importers can help with menu setup, but extensive time investment for customization is still required based on your specific business needs.

You’ll need to plan for significant internal time and resources to ensure proper system configuration and data migration.

2. Technical Requirements & Integration

Expect specific hardware and internet dependencies.

Your technical setup involves iPad compatibility, peripheral hardware like cash drawers and printers, and a stable internet connection for cloud-based operation. From my implementation analysis, an open API allows for custom integrations, which is crucial if you need tailored connections to other business tools.

Prepare your IT infrastructure, including reliable network connectivity, to support seamless system functionality and data flow.

3. Training & Change Management

User adoption requires focused effort and ongoing support.

Staff training is essential due to Revel’s comprehensive features, covering inventory, employee scheduling, and reporting beyond basic transactions. From my analysis, the intuitive touchscreen can reduce training time, but deeper functionality still demands dedicated learning for full utilization.

Invest in robust training programs and leverage online resources to ensure your team effectively utilizes all system capabilities.

4. Support & Success Factors

Vendor support during implementation can be a mixed bag.

While Revel offers an implementation team and online tutorials, user feedback indicates inconsistent support quality, which could impact your rollout. From my implementation analysis, 24/7 support is available, but consistency varies, so have a clear escalation path for critical issues.

Prioritize clear communication with their support team and designate internal champions to drive successful adoption.

The overall Revel Systems setup requires significant planning and dedicated resources but can streamline operations with proper execution.

Bottom Line

Is Revel Systems worth the investment for your business?

This Revel Systems review aims to provide a decisive final assessment, helping you determine if its comprehensive features and robust platform align with your operational needs and budget.

1. Who This Works Best For

Mid-market to enterprise restaurants and retailers.

Revel Systems excels for businesses, especially quick-service and full-service restaurants or retail chains, that require a powerful, scalable POS system with deep functionality. What I found about target users is that multi-location or franchise operations benefit immensely from its centralized management and extensive reporting capabilities.

You’ll succeed if your business demands detailed inventory tracking, integrated online ordering, and advanced business intelligence from your POS.

2. Overall Strengths

Extensive features power complex operations efficiently.

The software succeeds by offering a comprehensive suite of tools, including robust inventory management, efficient kitchen display systems, and seamless online ordering integrations. From my comprehensive analysis, its open API allows for extensive customization and integration with your existing business ecosystem.

These strengths mean your business can streamline operations, enhance customer experience, and make data-driven decisions confidently.

3. Key Limitations

Higher costs and steep learning curve are notable.

While powerful, Revel Systems comes with a higher price point, requires a multi-year contract, and presents a considerable learning curve during implementation. Based on this review, inconsistent customer support experiences have been reported by some users, which can impact your overall satisfaction.

I find these limitations important to consider, especially for smaller businesses or those on tighter budgets with less technical expertise.

4. Final Recommendation

Revel Systems receives a strong recommendation.

You should choose this software if you’re an established mid-market to enterprise-level business in the hospitality or retail sector seeking a feature-rich and scalable POS solution. From my analysis, your investment is justified by its comprehensive capabilities and potential for significant operational efficiency and growth.

My confidence level is high for businesses prioritizing advanced features and are prepared for the associated financial and implementation commitment.

This Revel Systems review provides strong value for the right business profile, while also highlighting crucial considerations regarding investment and implementation efforts.