HandyBook's POS runs on any iPad, laptop, or PC out of the box. You can take orders, ring up sales, and accept Stripe-online payments with zero hardware. Add a thermal printer, scanner, drawer, or Stripe Terminal as your business grows.
Three ways to roll out
Every component is independent. Start with what you need today; add the rest when sales volume justifies it.
Tier 1
$0
total hardware
Just the SaaS. Run a real POS today on whatever device you already own.
Sales, inventory, shifts, refunds, reports — all browser-based.
Branded HTML receipts via your transactional email.
Take card payments through your Stripe Connect account — no in-person reader needed.
Tier 2
$300 – $450
total hardware
A real cash-and-card station: thermal receipts, scanner, drawer.
Workhorse ESC/POS thermal printer. Auto-cutter, near-silent.
1D barcode scanner, USB HID — auto-types into the focused field.
Compact cash drawer that kicks open via the printer.
Tier 3
$900 – $1,300
total hardware
Full networked counter with tap-to-pay and a heavy-duty drawer.
Networked thermal printer — no companion app needed.
1D + 2D scanner — reads QR, paper coupons, mobile wallets.
Heavy-duty 5-bill / 5-coin tray cash drawer.
Stripe Terminal device for tap, chip, and swipe. (BBPOS WisePad 3 ~$59 if budget.)
VESA-grade counter mount — secure, swivels, pro look.
Works with what you have
Bring your own gear, or follow our recommended list. Every spec is documented.
Any ESC/POS-compatible thermal printer works (Star, Epson, Bixolon, Munbyn). Set the IP in /dashboard/pos/hardware.
Any HID-keyboard-emulation scanner works (95%+ of consumer/professional scanners). Plug in via USB and it just types the code into the focused input.
Any drawer with an RJ-12 kick port works, connected to the receipt printer.
Requires Stripe Terminal. See supported readers at stripe.com/docs/terminal/readers.
Why these brands?
Star Micronics has 30+ years of POS history; Honeywell and Zebra are the gold-standard for retail scanners; APG is what Square ships in their bundles. Picking from this list means everything just works.
FAQ
No. HandyBook ships with online Stripe Connect — you can take cards through invoices, payment links, or the embedded Stripe checkout without any in-person reader. Add a Stripe Terminal device only when you want tap/chip at the counter.
Almost certainly yes. Any scanner that emulates an HID keyboard (~95% of scanners on the market) will work — plug it in via USB and the cashier scans straight into the cart. Toggle the scanner on under /dashboard/pos/hardware.
Only if you take cash. The drawer wires into the printer's RJ-12 kick port; the printer pops it open at the end of cash sales. If you're card-only, skip it.
Yes — HandyBook is a web app, so it runs in mobile Safari on iPad and Chrome on Android tablets. For a permanent counter we recommend the Heckler WindFall stand. Stripe Terminal's iPad SDK works alongside.
Star Micronics has 30+ years of POS deployments behind it; Honeywell and Zebra are the gold standard for retail scanners; APG is the OEM that Square ships with most of its bundles. Picking from this list eliminates compatibility headaches.
Browsers can't open raw TCP sockets to port 9100. You either install a tiny "print bridge" daemon on the same LAN (free, our docs cover the 50-line script) or use PrintNode — a paid cloud relay that handles it for you. Both modes are configurable per cashier device.
Yes — most users start at Basic, add a Tier 2 printer + drawer when cash sales pick up, then upgrade to a Stripe S700 once tap-to-pay matters. Every component is independent.
No. You connect your own Stripe account and Stripe charges its standard processing rate directly. We never touch the funds.
Configure your printer, scanner, drawer, and card reader in under five minutes. All settings live on the cashier device — change them whenever.
Sign-in required to configure. Public tier list above is free to reference.