Five kinds of 'free'
1. The trial that expires
The honest one. You get the full program for 7, 14 or 30 days, then you pay or it stops. Nothing wrong with it — as long as three things are clear before you type in your first product: what it costs after the trial, whether your data survives the switch, and whether 'stops' means a locked screen or a deleted database. A good trial tells you all three on the download page.
2. The free tier with limits
Free forever, for up to 50 products, one user, 100 receipts a month, no reports — pick any two. The limits are chosen to be fine on day one and painful in month three, when moving is hardest. Read the limits list as a prediction of the day you will pay: if 'one user' is on it, that day is the day you hire a cashier.
3. Paid for with ads — or with your data
Some apps are free because the screen shows ads, or because your sales, your customers' phone numbers and your prices are the product. Read the privacy terms once: if the app works only online and the data lives on the maker's servers, ask who else can see it, what happens if the maker shuts down, and whether you can export everything in a normal file. 'Free' that you cannot leave is not free.
4. Open source that needs a technician
Genuinely free software exists and some of it is excellent. The cost is different: someone has to install a database server, configure the printer and the cash drawer, translate the receipt into proper Arabic, keep it updated, and be there on a Friday evening when it stops printing. If you are that person, great. If you have to pay one, add their visits to the bill — and remember there is no company to call.
5. The pirated copy
The 'full version, activated' from a forum or a USB stick at the computer market. Three problems, in order of how likely they are to bite. It cannot be updated — the first update either fails or locks it, so you keep an old version with old bugs forever. It has no support — nobody will answer when the drawer stops opening. And the crack itself is a program someone else wrote and asked you to run as administrator on the PC that holds your cash records; keyloggers and ransomware ride in exactly this way. Add the legal side once your shop is a registered taxpayer, and the 'free' copy is the most expensive one on this list.
The bill over three years
Three years is a fair life for a till PC, so it is the fair period to compare on. Money is only one line; the others are what people forget. The entries are qualitative on purpose — every shop is different — but the shape is the same everywhere.
| Over 3 years | Money paid | Your time | Hardware lock-in | Support | Data-loss risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Expiring trial → subscription | Monthly fee × 36; often per user or per till | Low | Sometimes their tablet or their printer only | Included while you pay | Low while paying; access ends when you stop |
| Free tier with limits | 0 until you hit a limit, then the paid plan | Medium: working around the limits | Same as the paid product | Usually none on the free tier | Medium: export is often a paid feature |
| Ad / data funded | 0 in cash | Medium: ads, sign-ups, online only | Needs internet every minute | Forum or e-mail, if any | High: their servers, their rules, their shutdown |
| Open source + technician | Technician visits: setup plus every fix | High unless you are technical | Whatever the technician chose | One person's phone number | Depends entirely on that person's backup habit |
| Pirated copy | 0 — until malware, a fine, or a rebuild | High: no updates, workarounds forever | Stuck on the PC it was cracked on | None | Highest on this list |
| One-time license (PosMasr) | One payment per till: 4,900 / 8,500 / 12,900 EGP at launch prices; nothing monthly | Low: installer, trial with your own data first | None — any Windows PC, any thermal printer, any USB scanner | WhatsApp; free setup during the launch offer | Low: plain files on your PC, one-tap USB backup, daily auto-backup (Gold) |
A worked example, with made-up round numbers so you can redo it with real ones: a subscription of 300 EGP a month is 10,800 EGP over three years for one till — more if it is per user. A Gold PosMasr license at the launch price is 8,500 EGP once, and still yours in year four. The point is not that one number beats the other; it is that the subscription line has no end, and the free-tier line has a jump you cannot see on day one.
What to look for in any POS — free or not
This list is deliberately vendor-neutral. Run any program you are considering through it, including ours.
- Works offline. The internet in a shop drops; the queue does not. Selling, printing and the drawer must not depend on a connection.
- Your data on your PC, in plain files. You should be able to find the folder, copy it to a USB stick, and open a sales file in Excel or Notepad without the maker's permission.
- No per-user fees. A manager account and cashier accounts with different rights should be part of the program, not a price tier.
- A proper Arabic receipt. Right-to-left, your logo, product names that do not come out as boxes — on a 58 or 80 mm thermal printer you already own.
- A path to the ETA e-receipt. Even if you are not enrolled yet, the program should be able to submit receipts and print the tax QR when your turn comes — check the latest ETA notices for your activity.
- Any hardware. Any Windows PC, any thermal printer with a Windows driver, any USB scanner that types like a keyboard. Be wary of 'works only with our terminal'.
- A real installer and real updates. A Setup file, a version number, and a way to update that keeps your data. If updating means 'reinstall and re-enter everything', walk away.
- Someone to talk to. A phone number or WhatsApp that answers, in Arabic, about your printer — not a ticket form in another time zone.
- Backup you can see. One button that writes a copy to a USB stick, and ideally one that does it every day without you.
Which kind for your shop
| Your situation | Reasonable choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Not sure you need a POS at all | A full trial with your own products | Two weeks with real sales tell you more than any comparison table — including this one. |
| Technical yourself, enjoy tinkering, one shop | Open source is a fair option | You are the technician, so that cost is zero for you. Keep your own backups. |
| Chain of branches needing one cloud dashboard | A subscription cloud POS may fit | That is what the monthly fee buys. Make sure each branch still sells offline. |
| One or two tills, want to pay once and own it | One-time license | Predictable, offline, no one can switch it off. Budget the hardware separately. |
| Tempted by the cracked copy | Anything else on this table | It is the only option where the worst case is losing the cash records, not just the software. |
Where PosMasr sits
For the record, and so you can hold us to the list above:
- A 7-day trial, then a one-time license. The trial is the full Platinum package with no limits, no card and no sign-up; everything you enter carries over when you activate. Licenses are per till PC: Silver 4,900, Gold 8,500, Platinum 12,900 EGP at the launch prices until 15 October 2026 (5,900 / 9,900 / 14,900 after), with a second till at 40% off. Nothing monthly, nothing that expires.
- Offline, on your PC. Windows 7 and up, no internet needed to sell, and nobody can switch it off remotely. Your data is plain files in the program's data folder; sales files are one text file per day you can open in Excel.
- Accounts are not a price tier. A manager plus cashier accounts in every package; per-cashier rights in Gold.
- Arabic receipts on your printer, 58 or 80 mm, any thermal printer with a Windows driver; the drawer through the printer or a COM port; any USB scanner. We never force special hardware.
- ETA e-receipts with the tax QR on every receipt, in the Platinum package, queued when offline.
- A real installer and updates: PosMasr-Setup.exe, a once-a-day notice when a newer version exists, and updating means running the new Setup over the old one — your data stays where it is. There is a portable ZIP too (manual §28).
- Support on WhatsApp, in Arabic, from an Egyptian company in Cairo; setup is free during the launch offer. Moving the license to a new PC is free with the release code from the old one (manual §27).
- The trial counter is honest both ways: it is stored encrypted and tied to the machine, so it cannot be reset by changing the Windows date — and it cannot delete your data either. When it ends you see the activation screen, and everything is where you left it.
Quick answers
Is there a free version of PosMasr?
A free 7-day trial of the full Platinum package, requested from the download page. After that it is a one-time license; there is no permanent free tier and no subscription.
What happens to my data when the trial ends?
Nothing. The program shows the activation screen; type a key and the products, sales and settings are exactly as you left them.
Are there hidden costs after the license?
Hardware if you need it (we can supply a printer, drawer, scanner or touch screen, or you use your own), and setup outside the launch offer. Updates within the version you own, support on WhatsApp and moving the license with a release code are free.
I have a cracked copy of another program. Can I move my products to PosMasr?
If it can export a product list to Excel or CSV, yes: Settings → Products → Import (CSV). See the Excel migration article for the steps.
Why not just charge monthly like everyone else?
Because a shop's till should not stop when a card payment fails or a company changes its plans. You pay once, it runs on your PC, and it keeps running.
The only free that is honest about it
Seven days, every feature, your own products, no card. Then one price, once. Ask for your trial copy on WhatsApp or the download page.
