One till, two ways to run it
Both are PosMasr. The cashier sells on a PC in the shop with the same screens, the same printer, drawer and barcode scanner. The difference is where the shop lives:
- The desktop edition (on your PC): the data sits in plain files on the till PC, it never needs the internet, and nobody can ever switch it off. You take the backups yourself. You pay once per shop: for shops, Silver 2,450, Gold 4,250 or Platinum 6,450 EGP; for restaurants, Silver 4,900, Gold 8,500 or Platinum 12,900 EGP. Updates for your package are free.
- PosMasr Online (online): the shop's data lives on our servers in Milan, Italy, and you open it from any browser on any computer, phone or tablet at app.posmasr.com. Nothing to install on a server, a backup every day, and the online side is always the latest version. The till program keeps a copy on the PC, so selling carries on when the line drops. It is paid per shop per month, from 125 EGP for a shop and 249 EGP for a restaurant, and starts with a 14-day free trial of Platinum for your line (Retail Platinum or F&B Platinum), no card.
Notice the small words in each: the licence is paid once per shop (each extra till in the same shop 1,000 or 1,500 EGP), the online plan per shop per month with the tills inside. That detail explains most of the comparison below.
The money, as a detail
The price is not the main difference, but here it is plainly: the monthly price, the year paid yearly (10 months: 12 months for the price of 10) and the matching licence. Nothing here is an estimate; it is the price list multiplied.
| Online plan | A month | One year, paid yearly | The matching licence, once |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Silver (1 till) | 125 | 1,250 | 2,450 |
| Retail Gold (2 tills) | 249 | 2,490 | 4,250 |
| Retail Platinum (4 tills) | 375 | 3,750 | 6,450 |
| F&B Silver (1 till) | 249 | 2,490 | 4,900 |
| F&B Gold (2 tills) | 499 | 4,990 | 8,500 |
| F&B Platinum (4 tills) | 749 | 7,490 | 12,900 |
The smallest online plan, Retail Silver, is 125 a month for one till; the same Retail Silver on the PC is 2,450 once. For a café or restaurant the smallest is F&B Silver: 249 a month online, or 4,900 once on the PC.
So, plainly: for one shop that stays small, the licence costs less from the second year, and every year after that the gap grows. If that is your shop, you are happy taking a USB backup and you do not need the shop on your phone, the desktop is the better deal and we would rather tell you so.
What the monthly price buys you online:
- Nothing to set up. No server, no primary PC, no shop network: install the till program and pair it in a minute with a 6-digit code. Gold covers 2 tills and Platinum 4, for shops and for restaurants; on the desktop the licence is per shop, and a second till in the same shop is 1,000 EGP on Silver or 1,500 EGP on Gold and Platinum and linked over the shop network (Gold or Platinum).
- The shop from anywhere. Any browser on any computer, phone or tablet, on every plan, with nothing to configure. On the desktop the phone dashboard comes with Platinum only (for shops or restaurants), after opening a port on the router (or PosMasr Link). And Chain (Retail Chain or F&B Chain) puts every branch in one report.
- No backup to remember. A backup is taken every day on our side; a dead PC costs you a PC, not your history.
- Always up to date. The online side updates itself; there is nothing to download on the server side, because there is no server of yours.
- A small start. 125 for the first month (249 for a restaurant) instead of a licence on day one — and 14 days free before that.
Which one for which shop
Find the row that looks most like you. The shops are examples, not customers.
| Your shop | Our advice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Kiosk or small grocery, one till, the owner is behind the counter all day | Desktop, Retail Silver | You are there, so the phone matters less; Retail Silver already sells and prints and keeps credit, stock and cashier accounts |
| One shop, one or two tills, the internet in the area is bad | Desktop | It never needs the internet; online, selling continues offline, but reports and the phone wait for the line |
| You want your records kept on your own PC | Desktop | Plain files in one folder on your PC; you keep the backups |
| The owner is not in the shop every day and wants the numbers on the phone | Online, any plan | The phone works on every plan with nothing to configure |
| Just opening, and you would rather start small | Online, Retail Silver or F&B Silver | From 125 a month for a shop or 249 for a café, after a 14-day trial; move up a plan, or to the desktop, when the shop settles |
| One shop with three or four tills, a supermarket for example | Online, Retail Platinum | 4 tills in the plan, every till equal, no primary PC and no shop network |
| A café or restaurant that wants an online menu or ordering from the table by QR | Online, F&B Gold or F&B Platinum | Included from F&B Gold, with the kitchen screen and tables; on F&B Silver the online menu is an add-on at 100 a month, and the online shop is included in F&B Platinum and an add-on at 300 a month below it |
| Two branches or more | Online, Platinum (up to 3) or Chain, for shops or restaurants | Central prices, stock per branch, transfers, one report for all; on the desktop branches are separate copies |
| You lost data once, or you know you will forget the backup | Online | A backup every day on our servers; a dead PC is replaced and paired, and you carry on |
What is the same in both
- The screens. The PosMasr Windows program (version 5 and up) runs either way: on first run it asks whether to work “On this PC” or on PosMasr Online, and in cloud mode it keeps every screen and keyboard shortcut of the desktop. The cashier does not have to learn anything new.
- The hardware. Thermal printer, cash drawer, barcode scanner, scale, customer display: the same devices, driven the same way. Online they are set per till in Settings → Tills, so two tills can have different printers.
- Selling when the internet is down. The desktop never needs it; the online till keeps a copy of the shop on the PC, sells and prints through the outage with a provisional receipt number, and syncs in order when the line is back.
- The people. Cashier accounts with the same rights switches, login cards and manager approvals.
What is different
| Desktop (on your PC) | PosMasr Online (online) | |
|---|---|---|
| Where you open it | On the till PC (and the phone dashboard on Platinum, shops or restaurants) | Any browser on any computer, phone or tablet; selling on the till program |
| Where the data lives | In plain files on your PC | On our servers in Milan, Italy, over an encrypted connection; a copy stays on each till to sell offline |
| Backups | Yours to take, to a USB stick | Taken every day on our side; you can still download everything any day |
| Updates | Free for your package | The online side updates itself: always the latest version |
| Internet | Never needed | Selling continues without it; editing products and prices, settings, reports and the phone pages wait for the line |
| Several tills | A licence per shop; the second in the same shop at 1,000 or 1,500 EGP, linked over the shop network (Gold or Platinum) | In the plan, for shops and for restaurants: 1 on Silver, 2 on Gold, 4 on Platinum, up to 30 on Chain; a new till is paired with a 6-digit code, and a spare PC can be paired and kept off |
| Branches | Separate copies | Platinum up to 3 branches, Chain up to 10 (shops or restaurants): central prices, stock per branch, transfers, consolidated reports |
| Your phone | Platinum only (shops or restaurants), after opening a port on the router (or PosMasr Link) | Every plan, from anywhere, at app.posmasr.com |
| Can it be switched off? | Never | If you stop paying: 7 days of grace, then read-only — no new sales, but receipts, reports and exports keep working |
| The till PC | Windows 7 and up | The PosMasr Online app on Windows 10/11 (Mac and Linux as a preview), or the Windows program in cloud mode on Windows 7 and up |
| The price | Once per shop, from 2,450 for a shop or 4,900 for a restaurant | Per shop per month, from 125 for a shop or 249 for a restaurant |
| Trying it | 14-day free trial by request (download page) | 14 days of Platinum for your line, no card |
Can I switch later? Yes, both ways
This is not a marriage. Whatever you pick today, your products, customers and sales can follow you to the other one.
From the desktop to the cloud
- In the desktop program: Settings → Backup → Move to PosMasr Cloud…. It makes one file (
.pmbak) with the products and their pictures, the customers and their balances, the suppliers, the cashiers, the settings and the last year of sales and shifts. Nothing on the PC changes. - Online: sign up, then Settings → Data → Import a desktop copy. The online plan matching your licence is pre-selected: the same tier, in the same line.
- Pair each till with a 6-digit code, and sell.
The whole move, step by step, is in Moving your PosMasr desktop to the cloud in minutes. Coming from another program, not from PosMasr? See moving in from another program.
From the cloud back to the desktop
- In the browser: Settings → Data → Download a copy — one file with the whole shop, in the desktop program's own backup format. It works on every plan and in every status, even read-only.
- On the PC: install PosMasr (5.2 or newer) and choose “On this PC”, then Settings → Backup → Restore from a file… and pick that file. You see what is inside before anything changes: products with their pictures, customers and what they owe, the sales days; tick what to bring back and press “Restore selected”. From there on it is the one-time edition, with its licence as usual.
- Cashiers get a one-time password on the way back, so set new passwords on the first day.
Three questions to decide
- How many places do you sell from — tills and branches? One till in one shop leans to the desktop; three tills or a second branch lean to online.
- Do you need the shop on your phone when you are not there? If yes, online gives it on every plan; the desktop only on Platinum (shops or restaurants) with a router set-up.
- On this PC only, or everywhere? On the PC it works with no internet ever, you keep the backups and you pay once. Online it opens on any device from anywhere, with nothing to back up or update. Both answers are fine — and you can change your mind.
Quick answers
So online costs more?
For one small shop over several years, yes: Retail Silver online paid yearly is 1,250 a year against 2,450 once on the PC (for a restaurant, F&B Silver: 2,490 a year against 4,900 once). What you pay for is being online: nothing to set up, the shop on any device from anywhere, several tills in one plan, branches, a backup every day and always the latest version.
Does PosMasr Online need the internet all the time?
No. The till sells, prints and opens the drawer with no internet and syncs when the line is back. What waits for the line is editing products and prices, settings, reports and the phone. Details in when the internet cuts.
If I stop paying for the online plan, do I lose my data?
No. After 7 days of grace the shop becomes read-only: no new sales, but reports, receipts and exports keep working. If it stays unpaid, the data is deleted 90 days after the shop went read-only; the download works until then (see the plans).
I have a Mac in the shop. Which one?
Online. The desktop program runs on Windows only; PosMasr Online opens every management page in the Mac's browser, and the PosMasr Online app for Mac (macOS 14 and newer, a preview for now) sells at the till with the printer and the drawer. Download it →
Can I try both before I decide?
Yes: online for 14 days with no card, the desktop for 14 days by request from the download page.
Try PosMasr Online on your own shop for 14 days
Platinum for your line (Retail Platinum or F&B Platinum), no card, opened from any browser or phone. If the desktop turns out to suit you better, your data comes with you.
