The three kinds
- Desktop (offline): installed on one PC. Works without the internet. The data is on that PC.
- Cloud (online): runs in the browser or an app. The data is on a server. Stops when the internet stops.
- Cloud with offline billing: data on the server, and the counter keeps billing without the internet, sending the bills when it is back.
Side by side
| Desktop | Cloud only | Cloud + offline | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bills without internet | Yes | No | Yes |
| Data safe if the PC breaks | Only with your own backups | Yes | Yes |
| See sales from your phone | No | Yes | Yes |
| Several counters and branches | Harder | Yes | Yes |
| Updates | Often paid | Included | Included |
| Cost | One-time + yearly support | Yearly or monthly | Yearly or monthly |
What usually goes wrong
With desktop software, it is the PC: a hard disk fails or a virus strikes, and years of bills and customers are gone because nobody took the backup. With cloud-only software, it is the internet: the connection drops in the evening rush and the counter can't bill.
Which to choose
For a shop with a single counter and no plans to grow, desktop software with a daily backup to a pen drive can do. For a busy shop, more than one counter, or an owner who wants to see sales from home, choose cloud with offline billing: the counter never stops, and the data is never only in the shop.