Primary-source comparison index
Open-source POS comparison: five source snapshots
This page maps five products to a dated official source boundary. It is an index for deeper comparison and site acceptance, not a feature-count ranking or a declared winner.
Method and evidence boundary
Reviewed 18 August 2026. Posnic evidence is pinned to stable-channel release v1.3.0 and source commit b531ef4308c4dc3a25f250551a54fc5616e3b8d9. The other rows use the official source or documentation snapshot named in the row.
Project statements, source inspection, a controlled runtime result, a physical site test and an independent assessment are different evidence levels. No competitor was installed or scored by Posnic for this matrix.
Five-product source and operating-model matrix
| Product and snapshot | Officially documented shape | Source and license boundary | Buyer must establish |
|---|---|---|---|
Posnic v1.3.0b531ef43 | Packaged Electron desktop application with a local API and MongoDB on the till; optional services are evaluated separately. | Public source under AGPL-3.0-only. Exact package names, sizes and SHA-256 values are published; current signing limits are disclosed. | Physical devices, full-shift outages, production recovery, payments, fiscal acceptance, security and support for the actual site. |
| Odoo POS 19.0 Documentation snapshot | Browser POS inside the wider Odoo application and database environment, with selected hosting, modules and hardware routes. | Odoo documents Community under LGPLv3, Enterprise under its separate license, and apps under their stated terms. | Exact edition, modules, hosting, database, devices, provider integrations, outage behavior, recovery and data exit. |
OSPOS master8bd2a51c | Web application using PHP, CodeIgniter 4 and MySQL or MariaDB, operated through the buyer's selected web/database stack. | Pinned source describes MIT terms with an important addition; the exact license includes visible-footer and ownership conditions. | Production web/database hardening, topology failures, devices, payments, restore, updates and an accepted legal position. |
| uniCenta community 5.0 Public source route | Java POS whose project listing describes retail, restaurant, multi-terminal and several database choices. | Official FAQ says GPL3 and says the community release is behind the support-customer release; SourceForge identifies community 5.0 and points to 5.4.0 for support customers. | Exact edition/access route, source-to-installer match, Java/database support, devices, payments, recovery, updates and support scope. |
Floreant 2.0 branch6cf73ad8 | Restaurant-oriented Java/Maven POS; the current official site labels 2.0.1 as beta and describes a non-cloud deployment. | Pinned repository states MRPL 1.2, a modified MPL 1.1 with attribution; exact terms must be read in full. | Selected package maturity, database, restaurant workflow, hardware, outage behavior, payments, restore, updates and commercial add-on boundary. |
Read each source-based comparison
Each pair page keeps the competitor statement separate from Posnic evidence and from the buyer's required site result.
Freeze the exact candidate
Record version, edition, package, source commit, license, hosting and required modules. A moving project name cannot produce a reproducible decision.
Use one deployment profile
Give each product the same representative items, users, devices, payments, failures, recovery targets and data-exit requirements.
Keep blockers visible
Do not average away a failed mandatory license, device, payment, fiscal, restore, security or export control.
Primary sources behind the matrix
Posnic
v1.3.0 release and pinned source tree define the Posnic boundary.
Odoo POS
Odoo 19 POS documentation and Odoo 19 licenses define the stated application and edition boundary.
Open Source Point of Sale
OSPOS source at 8bd2a51c preserves the architecture, installation and license snapshot.
uniCenta
Official source archive and official SourceForge project disclose the public community and support-customer release boundary.
Floreant POS
pinned official repository and current official product page define the source and current beta statement.
Shared acceptance method
Twenty-four-test benchmark and research and correction policy explain how claims are separated from buyer evidence.
Comparison questions
Does this comparison name the best open-source POS?
No. It records current source and operating-model boundaries for five products. The right shortlist depends on the exact shop, deployment, equipment, payments, fiscal duties, recovery objectives, support ownership and data-exit requirements.
Why are source versions and documentation snapshots shown?
A moving project name is not a reproducible comparison. Version, commit, edition and access route determine which license, architecture, package and feature statements can be checked later.
Did Posnic install and benchmark all five products?
No. Competitor facts are attributed to their official documentation, official websites or pinned public source. Posnic runtime evidence covers Posnic only. Each buyer must install the selected builds and run the same acceptance pack.
Is a public source archive the same as the latest supported release?
Not always. For example, uniCenta currently identifies public community 5.0 while its official project listing points to a newer support-customer release. Record both access and support boundaries before comparing versions.
What should block an open-source POS decision?
An unaccepted license, unknown package provenance, failed required hardware, unapproved payment or fiscal workflow, unrecoverable data, missing security ownership or unusable data exit should remain visible as a blocker rather than being hidden inside an average score.