CartFlow

CartFlow is operational software for mobile food businesses that already have a point-of-sale system. It is best suited to food trucks, market stalls, coffee carts and caterers juggling recurring events. Its appeal is connecting event logistics, stock and profitability reporting; it does not handle checkout itself.

Overview

CartFlow puts market and festival applications, bookings, staff coordination, packing lists, logistics and event records in one workspace. That breadth is useful when an operator needs to manage the work around a service as well as its sales. Profitability reports by event, product and venue, with year-over-year comparisons, can help identify which commitments and menu items are worth repeating.

CartFlow is explicitly not a POS: it connects to the system a business already uses. That makes it a poor fit for a new operation seeking one tool for checkout and back-office work. It runs in a browser on phones, tablets and laptops, and can be installed to a phone home screen without an app store. Sales, stock adjustments and event notes can be recorded offline and synced when a device reconnects, a practical benefit at venues with weak service.

Key features

Events, stock and reporting

Keeping applications, bookings, staffing and packing logistics alongside event records should make repeat-event administration easier to coordinate. Live stock counts, low-stock alerts and per-event usage give operators a way to connect inventory decisions to specific services, rather than relying only on general stock totals. The event-, product- and venue-level profitability views add a useful decision layer, though their value depends on having sales data flowing from a connected POS.

Connections and controls

CartFlow lists connections to Square, SumUp, Zettle, Shopify POS, Lightspeed Retail, Clover, Toast, Loyverse, Xero, Zapier, HNRY via Zapier and Stripe. The range is helpful for businesses already using one of those services, but setup is not entirely automatic: OAuth POS connections may require credentials configured in-app. Xero and the AI assistant require Business, while CSV import and export require Pro, so lower tiers do not unlock every route for moving or reconciling data.

CartFlow describes row-level database security, workspace-level data separation, private files with signed URLs, server-side authorization and HTTPS/TLS transport. It also says it does not sell personal information or use business data to train third-party AI models. These are relevant protections, but CartFlow says its security description is not an independent audit or certification.

Pricing

The free plan costs NZ$0.00 and is a constrained way to see whether CartFlow suits a small operation: it allows 3 events and 20 sales records per month, 10 products, 3 recipes, 15 stock items, 1 saved venue and 3 tasks per event, with no custom event fields. Those caps may be workable for occasional trading, but busy operators are likely to outgrow the event and sales-record allowances quickly.

Pro is billed at NZ$39/mo and removes the stated caps on events, sales, products, recipes and stock, while adding 5 custom event fields. It is the more practical choice for a solo operator with regular events who does not need team seats or unlimited customization. Business is billed at NZ$79/mo and adds unlimited custom event fields, team seats with roles, priority support and dedicated onboarding. It suits businesses coordinating staff across events; its extra cost is harder to justify for a single operator who can work within Pro's field limit. CartFlow's pricing note also says paid plans start at $29/mo, so check the applicable offer before subscribing.

Platforms

CartFlow supports Android, iOS and the web. Its browser access covers phones, tablets and laptops, while home-screen installation provides phone access without an app-store download. Offline entry for sales, stock adjustments and event notes helps preserve work during a signal outage, with syncing after reconnection.

Who it's for

Choose CartFlow if you run a mobile food business, already take payments through a POS, and need event coordination and stock usage tied to profitability. Multiple locations, inventory tracking and staff permissions are supported, making it relevant beyond a one-person cart. Look elsewhere if checkout is your primary need, or if your event volume would make the free plan's monthly caps a constant constraint.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Event applications, staffing, packing and records share a workspace, reducing fragmentation in recurring event work.
• Pro: Profitability by event, product and venue, plus year-over-year comparisons, supports more informed choices about where and what to sell.
• Pro: Offline recording and later sync address unreliable connectivity at event sites.
• Con: It is not a POS, so operators need a separate checkout system and a compatible connection.
• Con: The free tier's 3 events and 20 sales records per month can limit even a modestly active business.
• Con: Xero and the AI assistant are reserved for Business, and CSV transfer requires Pro, limiting lower-tier workflows.
• Con: Its security controls are described by CartFlow itself, not independently certified or audited.

Alternatives

If checkout software is the priority rather than event back-office work, compare Food Truck POS Software and Event Catering Software for category options.

Biyo POS is a freemium POS option with Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, web and Windows support; its free Premium + Processing plan is limited to US businesses and adds processing fees, while Standard is $47 a month. Loyverse has a free POS plan with 31 days of sales history and sells unlimited sales history for $5 a month per store, or $50/year; it may suit operators who want an inexpensive way to extend history rather than CartFlow's event-management focus.

SpotOn Restaurant offers POS software and hardware, ordering, payments, table layouts, menu management and reporting on its All-In Plan, with processing minimums and a two-year minimum term. Zeller has a free-to-run POS with no monthly subscription or software licence fee, but requires a Zeller Terminal and transaction fees apply. FuegoPOS offers a free Starter plan with cloud menu management, an employee module, split payments and offline mode, with processing fees and hardware exclusions to weigh.

ParcelPOS is an Android and Windows option with a free plan capped at 30 orders per day. Avocado POS is iOS-only and charges no monthly bill on Starter, but its payment fee is 5% + 15¢ per payment total. HunoMenu is another alternative for readers comparing restaurant software.

Verdict

CartFlow is a strong fit for mobile food operators who already have a POS and want one place to manage events, inventory and event-level profitability. Its offline workflow and operational scope are the clearest reasons to choose it. Look elsewhere if you need checkout built in, or if the free plan's tight quotas and the paid cost of team features do not suit your scale.