What is the best point of sale software for a custom picture framing shop?

The best point of sale software for a custom picture framing shop prices by the united inch straight off your supplier's cost per foot and prints a work ticket with the cut list already worked out. It should also keep your price files current and text the customer when the piece is ready, without anyone remembering to call.

The shops I know are choosing between LifeSaver Cloud, SimpleFrame, Virtual Framer, Framing POS and FrameForge in 2026. FrameForge is the one I built, so read this knowing that, and read it anyway because I will tell you when to pick someone else.

I spent years delivering framing supplies, in and out of frame shops every week. I watched good framers fight aging software and paper tickets, and I built FrameForge for the counter I kept standing at. Here is how I would choose.

What a frame shop needs that a general POS cannot do

Square, Shopify and the rest are fine for selling a mug. A framing order is a made-to-order job with its own math and its own paperwork.

• United-inch pricing. The frame is priced on width plus height, with moulding at a per-foot cost from the supplier, a sliding markup, mats by the united inch, glazing by the square foot, and fitting labor by bracket. Every clerk has to land on the same number.
• A quote the customer can see. A live preview of the framed piece sells the upgrade from regular glass to museum glass better than any speech.
• A work ticket. The workshop copy needs the cut lengths, the face width, the stick footage with waste, and a checklist from chop to final fit.
• Supplier price files. Moulding prices move. If you are quoting off a list from last spring you are eating the difference, and you will not know it.
• The "it's ready" call. Finished work on the rack is money standing against the wall. The software should text the customer the moment you mark it ready.
• Your data. Customers, orders and the catalog have to export as plain CSV, because you just watched what happens when records live inside a program that gets discontinued.

Galleries add consignment and artist payouts to that list.

The options in 2026, honestly

Prices are from each vendor's public pricing page, checked October 2026. They change, so look before you sign.

LifeSaver Cloud is the established option and the official migration path for FrameReady, which it owns. Broad vendor catalogs and the longest track record. The entry tier shows $79 billed annually and the higher tiers need their pricing tool. If you want the vendor most other shops are on and annual billing does not bother you, it is a reasonable choice.

SimpleFrame is a cloud, tablet-first POS with united-inch pricing and a large vendor catalog, and it quotes each shop individually rather than publishing a price. It bundles card processing. If you want someone to migrate you in a single session and you are fine asking for a quote, look at it.

Virtual Framer is built around photo-realistic visualization and a very large moulding library, at $125 a month or $1,375 a year. If the preview is the centerpiece of how you sell, that is its strength.

Framing POS is the budget option, from $30 a month for five users. If you mostly need to price, ring up and print a ticket, and reporting is not how you run the shop, it is the cheapest way in.

FrameForge is $39, $59 or $89 a month, month to month, 14-day trial with no card. It does united-inch pricing off your supplier files with a visible freshness date, a live preview at the counter, quote approval and deposit by email, work tickets with the cut list, order-ready texts on the Shop and Gallery plans, QuickBooks export, consignment on the Gallery plan, and a one-step FrameReady customer import. It is the newest of the five, with fewer years in the field than LifeSaver, and I would be lying if I said otherwise.

I keep a comparison table with each vendor's billing terms on the switching from FrameReady page, including when to pick each of the others.

How to test any of them in a week

Do not read feature lists. Run real work through the trial.

1. Import your customer list. Did the names, phones and emails land, and were duplicates handled?
2. Price three real jobs from this week, one with a double mat and museum glass. Does the number match what you charged, and does every clerk get the same number?
3. Print a work ticket and hand it to whoever cuts. Does it have the cut lengths, or do they still need a calculator?
4. Load one supplier's price file. How long did it take, and can you see how fresh it is?
5. Mark an order ready. Did the customer get told?
6. Export everything. Did you get plain CSV without emailing support?

If a system passes all six, it will hold up at your counter. If it fails the last one, keep looking.

Where FrameForge fits

FrameForge is for the shop that wants pricing identical no matter who is at the counter, workshop paperwork that is already worked out, customers told automatically, and monthly billing you can walk away from. The first ten shops get the Shop plan, normally $59, locked at $39 a month for as long as they stay subscribed, and I do the FrameReady import for them myself. The home page shows how many of the ten spots are left, and the offer closes when the tenth shop takes it.

Start your free 14-day trial, price a few real jobs, and see how it feels at your counter. Questions go to info@getframeforge.com and I answer them.