Loyverse vs Peddlr: which one actually tracks utang for your sari-sari store?
You've asked in the sari-sari store owners' Facebook group which app to get, and the two names that keep coming back are Loyverse and Peddlr. One is the free POS everyone recommends for any small shop, the other was actually built for a tindahan like yours. But the question that matters more than "which app" is the one written on the cover of your notebook right now: sino may utang, magkano, and kailan babayaran. Here's what each one, plus digabloPos, actually does about that, and where each stands on BIR receipts.
None of the three apps in this comparison are bad. Loyverse has years of real use behind it worldwide, Peddlr was built specifically for Filipino micro-sellers, and digabloPos is the newer option we recommend. We read each vendor's own site, checked Loyverse's public community forum where its own team answers feature questions, and cross-checked the BIR side against the Bureau's own registration rules and the actual text of the law that changed official receipts into invoices.
Sino may utang, magkano: the real first question
Ask a sari-sari store owner what their "system" is and most will point at a stack of worn notebooks, sometimes one per regular customer. Filipino small-business writers describe this exact chaos: prices, stock counts and who-owes-what all living in the same handwriting, some of it half a year old and hard to read even for the person who wrote it.
Related reading before you pick an app: sari-sari store stock shrinkage, and customer tabs and staff discount limits, which covers the utang problem beyond just the Philippines.
Uncontrolled utang is one of the most commonly cited reasons a sari-sari store owner describes going into "lugi," a loss, even while the shop is technically busy all day. A customer who owes ₱500 and keeps buying on credit feels like a loyal regular right up until the day they stop coming back, and by then the notebook has already cost you real stock. That's why "which POS is cheapest" is the wrong first question for this kind of shop. The right one is: does this app actually help me see who owes what, on a phone, without me trusting my own memory or someone else's handwriting.
Loyverse: free, reliable, no built-in utang
Loyverse's core plan really is free, no time limit and no card required to start: the POS app, dashboard, kitchen display and customer display cost nothing, according to Loyverse's own site and independent reviews of it. That's a big part of why it comes up constantly in small-shop recommendations, in the Philippines and everywhere else.
The paid add-ons sit on top of that free core. Employee Management and Advanced Inventory are each priced separately per store, according to Loyverse's published pricing and independent reviews, so confirm the current figure on Loyverse's own site before you commit to a full setup.
Here's the gap that matters most for a sari-sari store: Loyverse has no built-in credit sales feature. On Loyverse's own community forum, a Loyverse moderator answered a long-running thread on the topic directly: "At the moment, Loyverse do not have a credit sales (pay on account/installment sale) feature." Owners in that same thread describe workarounds, adding a custom "Account Balance" payment type and manually splitting a receipt between cash and credit, or leaving a ticket open until the customer pays. Both work, but both are extra steps you're doing by hand every single time, which is exactly the kind of manual process a notebook already forces on you.
Offline mode is real, sales keep recording and sync once the connection returns. But reviews and search summaries of Loyverse's own help documentation describe two things that stop working while you're offline: processing a refund, and creating or editing a customer record. If your utang list depends on adding a new customer mid-transaction during a brownout, that's worth testing yourself before you rely on it.
Peddlr: built for the tindahan, check the receipt
Peddlr's own homepage is explicit about who it's for: "maliliit na negosyo," small businesses, with sari-sari stores named directly alongside market vendors and online sellers. It's free to use, no credit card needed and "walang commitment," according to Peddlr's own site.
The feature that actually answers the utang question is Peddlr's Credit Ledger, which the app itself describes as a way to track customer utang and send free SMS reminders when payment is due, sitting alongside a separate Cash Ledger, an inventory tracker and an expense tracker. It also handles e-load and bills-payment services, a real side income for a lot of sari-sari stores, which neither Loyverse nor digabloPos is built around.
Where Peddlr goes quiet is BIR compliance. Its own homepage doesn't mention accreditation, official receipts or invoices anywhere on it, and Philippine POS comparison guides we checked describe Peddlr as issuing acknowledgment receipts rather than a BIR-registered invoice. That's not a dealbreaker if your store issues informal receipts today anyway, but if you're approaching the point where a customer or a bank asks for an official invoice, ask Peddlr's team directly, in writing, what their current accreditation status is. Some reviews of the app also mention occasional sync or performance hiccups, worth testing on your own connection before you move your whole utang list into it.
The BIR question, in one paragraph
Under the National Internal Revenue Code, a business generally has to register for VAT once gross sales pass roughly ₱3,000,000 in twelve months, and separately, since the Ease of Paying Taxes Act took effect, the "invoice" replaced the old "Official Receipt" as the primary sales document for goods and services alike. Any electronic device you use to generate that invoice, a cash register or a POS app, generally needs to be registered with the BIR before you rely on it for regulated sales. That's a lot to unpack in a comparison article, so we've kept the full walkthrough, the registration steps, the penalties and the current e-invoicing timeline, in a separate guide: BIR-accredited POS system in the Philippines. None of the three apps compared here claim Philippine BIR accreditation as of this writing; treat that as a separate decision from which one tracks your utang best, and confirm your own registration requirement with your RDO.
Side by side
Rough picture as published or documented at the time we checked. Confirm current details directly with each vendor before you decide.
| App | Free plan | Utang / credit tracking | BIR accreditation claimed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loyverse | Core POS free, no time limit | No, manual workaround only | Not documented on its own site |
| Peddlr | Free, no commitment | Yes, Credit Ledger + SMS reminders | Not documented on its own site |
| digabloPos | Free forever base plan | Yes, customer credit built in | Not claimed for the Philippines |
Where digabloPos fits
digabloPos
digabloPos runs on a free-forever base plan, no card required to start. It manages customer credit (utang) as a built-in feature rather than a payment-type workaround, and pairs it with a per-employee discount cap, so a tindera or family helper's login can be restricted from giving away unlimited credit without your say-so. The base plan runs fully offline with no function restricted, syncing once your connection is back, which matters through a brownout. It also supports selling by weight, useful if you sell rice, sugar or cooking oil by the kilo alongside your sachets, and lot tracking with expiry alerts for anything that can go bad on the shelf.
👍 Strengths
- Free forever base plan, no forced payment commission
- Customer credit (utang) built in, not a manual workaround
- Per-employee discount cap, protects your margin from unapproved credit
- Offline mode, no function restricted, then auto-sync
- Selling by weight, lot tracking and expiry alerts, barcode scanning
👎 Check for yourself
- Newer name in the Philippine market than Loyverse or Peddlr
- No BIR accreditation claimed for the Philippines, verify your own registration requirement
- Doesn't process or settle GCash or any specific e-wallet itself, you keep your own payment method
See your own utang list on a phone, not a notebook
Set up a free till, add a few real customers with real balances, and check how the credit tracking actually works before you commit.
Try digabloPos freeHow to test any POS with your own utang list before you commit
Don't take a features page's word for any of this, including ours. Before you move your store off paper, run this short test on whichever app you're considering.
- Add one real customer with an existing balance and record a sale on credit, then check whether you can see that balance again later without re-adding it by hand.
- Turn off your data or wifi mid-test and try the same thing, a credit sale, a new customer, a discount, to see exactly what stops working during a brownout.
- Log in as a second, limited account if the app allows it, and try to give a discount or add credit beyond whatever cap you'd want a helper to have.
- Ask each vendor directly, in writing, what their current BIR accreditation status is for the Philippines, rather than assuming from a features page either way.
Whichever app passes that test for your actual shop is the right one, not whichever name gets recommended the most in a group chat.
Frequently asked questions
Is Loyverse free, and does it track utang?
The core POS, dashboard, kitchen display and customer display are free with no time limit, per Loyverse's own site and independent reviews of it. Credit sales are the gap: a Loyverse moderator wrote on the company's own community forum that "Loyverse do not have a credit sales (pay on account/installment sale) feature," so tracking utang means a manual payment-type workaround, not a built-in ledger.
Is Peddlr BIR accredited?
Peddlr's own homepage does not mention BIR accreditation or official receipts anywhere on it, and Philippine POS comparison guides we checked describe Peddlr as issuing acknowledgment receipts rather than BIR-registered invoices. If a compliant invoice matters for your store, ask Peddlr directly for its current accreditation status before you rely on it for that.
Do I need to register with BIR if I'm just a small sari-sari store?
It depends on your sales, not how small the store feels. Under the National Internal Revenue Code, a business must register for VAT once gross sales pass roughly 3,000,000 pesos in twelve months, and separately, any electronic device you use to print receipts or invoices generally has to be registered with the BIR before you use it. See our full guide to BIR-accredited POS systems for the step-by-step, and confirm your specific case with your RDO.
What happens to my sales record during a brownout?
That depends on the app, not just whether it claims to work offline. Loyverse's own help documentation notes that refunds are disabled and new customer records can't be created while offline, according to reviews and search summaries of that page. digabloPos advertises offline selling with no function restricted, syncing once the connection returns, though you should confirm that against your own workflow before you rely on it during a long outage.
Can I stop a tindera or family member from giving away too much utang?
Only if the app lets you attach a limit to a specific login, not just track sales in general. digabloPos includes a per-employee discount cap and individual staff logins, so a helper's account can be restricted from giving unlimited credit or discount without your approval. Neither Loyverse's nor Peddlr's own public documentation describes an equivalent per-employee credit cap as of this writing, ask each vendor directly if that control matters to you.
Is digabloPos BIR accredited in the Philippines?
No BIR accreditation is claimed on its site specifically for the Philippines. digabloPos describes itself as ready for e-invoicing, but exactly like Loyverse and Peddlr, you should confirm current accreditation status and your own Permit to Use or registration requirement directly with the vendor and your RDO before you rely on any of the three for regulated invoicing.
Start with utang tracking built in, not bolted on
Free forever base plan, offline mode with nothing restricted, and customer credit that doesn't need a manual workaround.
Create my free tillOfficial sources
Prices, features and rules change. Here is where to check what you just read.
- Peddlr, official site : the vendor's own description of its features and who it's built for.
- Loyverse Town, credit sales feature thread : Loyverse's own community forum, including a moderator's direct answer on credit sales.
- Republic Act No. 11976, full text : the Ease of Paying Taxes Act that replaced the Official Receipt with the Invoice.