Shopify POS Lite vs Pro for orders not paid at the counter

What does Shopify POS Pro add over POS Lite for counter orders?

In POS, Pro adds saved carts and draft orders, Send cart by email, pickup, shipping and local delivery orders, Add staff to sale, and receipt code editing, automatic printing and copies. It’s charged per location, so add it only where staff do these jobs. Admin drafts and their links work on any paid plan.

As of October 2026, from Shopify’s help center and changelog:

Outside unpaid orders, Pro also adds exchanges, order cancellations and retail staff permissions.

Can I save a cart or create a draft order on Shopify POS Lite?

Not natively in POS. Saving carts and drafts in POS is a POS Pro feature. On any paid plan, build the order as a draft in the Shopify admin: Orders > Drafts > Create order. Or ring it up in POS and tap Mark unpaid at checkout, which creates an order with nothing paid yet, not a draft. Some POS apps save carts too: see save-cart and draft apps for Shopify POS.

On Pro, a draft (horizontal menu icon > Create draft order) can reserve stock and reloads with Load draft order > Load to cart. A recent cart can be resumed and, since POS 11.11 (July 2026), opened on other store devices, but holds no stock and is deleted after 24 hours by default. Recent carts and draft orders differ most on stock and timing.

How do I send a customer a link to pay without POS Pro?

From a draft in the Shopify admin, click Send invoice, or Share, then Copy link. Or ring the sale up in POS, tap Mark unpaid, then open the order in the admin and use Collect payment > Send invoice. Outside POS, the Shopify app’s Quick Sale makes payment links too: tap Collect, then Payment link.

At the POS checkout, a Pro location can add the items, then tap More actions > Send cart, enter the customer’s email and tap Send. The order stays a draft until the customer completes checkout. For the trade-offs, see Shopify POS payment link options.

Can I take a deposit or part payment on Shopify POS Lite?

Shopify’s help names no plan requirement for partial payments: at the POS checkout, tap Split payment, take the first amount, then tap Mark as partially paid and Mark as partial. Collect the rest later from the order with Collect payment. Send cart only takes the full amount. Some EU locations, such as France, Italy and Spain, can’t mark a sale partially paid, so check deposit options on your Shopify plan.

Can I print an unpaid order for the kitchen on Shopify POS Lite?

Ring the order up in POS, tap Mark unpaid, then reprint its receipt from the order. The kitchen gets a standard customer receipt. Shopify has no Print option for drafts in the admin; your browser can print the draft’s page, prices included.

On POS Pro the order can stay a draft instead of becoming a sale, and Prep Ticket (below) prints a price-free ticket from it. Don’t use a gift receipt as an item list: since August 11, 2026, gift receipts no longer show line items. The guide to printing an order before payment puts every route side by side.

How do I take a pickup or local delivery order without POS Pro?

Creating pickup, shipping or local delivery orders in POS is a POS Pro feature. In the Shopify admin, any paid plan can make a draft and choose Pickup in store or Local delivery as its shipping method, then send the customer its link.

Since POS 11.3 (March 2026), a Pro location can tap the Pickup all items tile; the customer pays now and collects later. Since POS 11.16 (September 2026), staff can tap Add shipping, enter the address, then tap Shipping > Local delivery, once local delivery is set up in the admin.

If the customer pays by link, turn on “Let customers pick up orders directly at this location” under Settings > Shipping and delivery > Pickup in store. See the pickup orders guide and the local delivery guide.

Does Shopify POS Lite credit sales to staff?

Staff can sign in with PINs (depending on your Shopify plan), but adding a staff member to a sale needs POS Pro. On Pro, select items and tap Attribute staff in the cart tray (Shopify’s help still calls it Add staff), or tap Add staff to sale on the Smart Grid.

A paid Send cart order is credited to POS, the location and the staff member, unless they signed in with a PIN. Staff attribution on Shopify POS explains how each kind of sale is credited.

What changes on receipts between Lite and Pro?

Every paid plan can email or text receipts and make basic printed-receipt edits, such as a header and footer message. POS Pro adds the code editor, automatic printing and extra copies. The code editor ends on January 1, 2027: see moving to the visual editor.

Where Pay Link and Prep Ticket fit on a POS Pro location

Pay Link and Prep Ticket are Countermade’s Shopify POS apps, from Invenire Studios. Both need Shopify POS Pro: saving drafts in POS is a Pro feature, and Prep Ticket prints from a draft in POS.

Pay Link is for the order a customer pays by link. Before the link is made, Pay Link shows staff the total up front, with a note when checkout will add shipping. Afterwards, staff can see whether the link has been paid.

Staff start from the POS cart; the customer pays on Shopify’s own secure checkout, so staff never see or type card details. If staff tap twice, Pay Link makes one link, not two. The customer pays the full amount, and can choose to collect once Pickup in store is on for your location.

Prep Ticket is for the order that has to be made before it’s paid. From a draft in Shopify POS, made in POS or the admin, it prints a prep ticket with item names, quantities, customer and notes, and no prices, through the iPad’s print dialog to an AirPrint printer.

Next step

If the jobs in the Pro column are ones you do every week, add POS Pro to the location that takes them. In the admin, go to Sales channels > Point of Sale > Settings > POS Pro Subscription, choose the location, then click Add POS Pro > Approve subscriptions.

Pay Link and Prep Ticket aren’t on the Shopify App Store yet. Join early access and we’ll email you when they’re ready to try.