Club Bar vs ParallelPOS

Club Bar is an open-source point-of-sale system for sports clubs, community centers, and member organizations running a bar or canteen. Members can identify themselves with RFID or NFC cards and see their personal tab at the terminal. The terminal stores data locally, allowing checkout without an internet connection and syncing when connectivity returns. Administrators can manage members and products, handle settlements, view reports, and review transaction journals and audit history. Checkout checks minimum product ages and can refuse an offline sale using a member’s birth date. Settlement tools export XML or CSV, and the backend generates SEPA direct debit pain.008.001.08 XML. The system supports SMTP email and REST APIs, with an optional ESP8266 token dispenser. Its security design includes mandatory admin TOTP two-factor authentication, role-based authorization, encrypted IBANs, audit logging, and terminal anomaly detection. Club Bar is self-hosted at free, with no subscriptions. Hosting documentation specifies PHP 8.3 or later, MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.5+, and Apache mod_rewrite; the Flutter desktop terminal targets embedded Linux.

ParallelPOS combines point of sale, inventory, payroll, CRM, scheduling, marketing, security, and reporting in one business platform. Checkout and stock tools include live inventory, low-stock alerts, transfers between stores, and AI reorder suggestions. Team functions cover payroll, commissions, scheduling, clock-in, team messaging, and an employee portal. Its analytics track profit margins, cash flow, and break-even performance. The site describes AI tools for business questions, report summaries, demand forecasting, reordering, and marketing content. It names Stripe, Apple Pay, Visa, and Mastercard, and says Stripe processes card payments. Pricing is per location, with different locations able to use different tiers; the main office runs the account’s highest tier. Plans are billed monthly and start at $149.99 per month per location, and a free trial is available. The service is listed for iOS, Linux, macOS, web, and Windows. Support includes 24/7 AI technical support and 24/7 email support, with live chat during business hours. The company describes the product for small shops, growing businesses, multi-store operations, and enterprise use.