Kitchen display system vs kitchen printer: which is right for a UK takeaway?

Should your kitchen read orders from paper tickets or from a screen? For most small UK takeaways, a kitchen printer is still the cheaper and simpler choice. A kitchen display system (KDS) starts to pay for itself when the kitchen is busy, has more than one station, or takes orders from several places at once, such as the till, the phone and online.

This guide compares a kitchen display system vs a kitchen printer in plain terms. It covers what each one costs, using real prices from our own shop, what goes wrong with each, and a simple way to decide. Prices were checked on 2 November 2026 and are shown ex VAT unless we say otherwise.

The short answer

• Choose a kitchen printer if you have one cook line, a few hundred orders a week, a tight budget, and staff who are happy with paper tickets.
• Choose a kitchen display system if you have several stations (wok, fryer, grill, packing), busy peaks where tickets get lost or mixed up, and lots of online orders arriving at once.
• Use both if you want screens for the cooks and a printed ticket for the bag or the driver. Many kitchens end up here.

What a kitchen printer does

A kitchen printer prints each order as a ticket the moment it is sent from the till or comes in online. The cook reads the ticket, makes the food and spikes or bins the ticket when it's done.

There are two types, and the difference matters in a hot kitchen.

Thermal vs impact kitchen printers

Thermal printers use heat-sensitive paper and no ink. They are quiet, fast and cheap to run. The catch is that thermal paper darkens when it gets hot. Paper suppliers warn that thermal tickets left near fryers, grills or heat lamps can turn black and become unreadable (Paper Roll Products). If you go thermal, mount the printer away from direct heat and keep tickets off the hot pass.

Impact printers (also called dot matrix) strike an ink ribbon against plain bond paper. The print does not react to heat, steam or grease, so tickets stay readable next to the wok. They are slower and louder, and you need to buy ribbons as well as paper. Many takeaways still prefer them for that reason, and some can print a second colour, usually red, to flag changes or allergy notes.

Thermal and impact printers use different paper. Thermal paper will not print in an impact printer, and bond paper stays blank in a thermal one, so order the right rolls.

What a kitchen display system does

A KDS replaces paper tickets with a screen on the kitchen wall or on the pass. Orders appear on the screen as soon as they are taken. Cooks tap or "bump" each order when it is ready, and it clears from the screen.

The main benefits are:

• Stations. Each part of the kitchen can see only its own items. The fryer sees chips and spring rolls, the wok sees the stir fries.
• Timers. Every order shows how long it has been waiting, so late orders stand out.
• No lost tickets. Nothing falls behind the fryer or gets stuck to a wet bench.
• Clear changes. If the till changes or cancels an order, the screen updates. With paper, someone has to walk in and tell the kitchen.

The downsides are cost, the need for a reliable local network, and staff who have to get used to a new way of working.

Kitchen display system vs kitchen printer: costs compared

Here are real starting prices from the Gofood shop. Hardware is a one-off cost; the running costs are what you keep paying.

You can see the models on our kitchen printers and kitchen display systems pages. If you go with screens, you may still want a front-of-house receipt printer for customer receipts and bag labels; ours start at £69 ex VAT.

A worked example

Take a Chinese takeaway with a wok station and a fryer station.

• Printers: two impact kitchen printers at £199 each comes to £398 ex VAT (£477.60 inc VAT), plus ribbons and paper every month.
• Screens: two KDS screens at £379 each comes to £758 ex VAT (£909.60 inc VAT), with no paper for the kitchen.

So screens cost about £360 more up front in this example. Whether that is worth it depends on how much time and how many wrong or late orders the paper is costing you on a Friday night. Also ask your EPOS supplier whether the KDS software costs extra each month. That can change the sums more than the hardware.

When a kitchen printer is the better choice

A kitchen printer usually makes sense when:

• you have one cook or one main cook line;
• orders are steady rather than all at once;
• your budget is tight and you want the lowest set-up cost;
• your team is used to tickets and turnover is high, so training time matters;
• you need a paper ticket to go in the bag anyway.

Plenty of small Chinese takeaways and chip shops run happily on printers alone. A good impact printer next to the wok is hard to beat for the money.

When a kitchen display system is worth it

A KDS is worth a serious look when:

• orders come from the till, phone and online at the same time, and tickets pile up at peak;
• you have two or more stations, and cooks waste time sorting through each other's tickets;
• you keep getting "where's my order?" calls because tickets were missed;
• you want to see how long orders take from the till to the pass;
• you are opening a second site and want the same set-up in both.

Using both: the hybrid set-up

You don't have to pick one. A common set-up in busy takeaways is:

1. KDS screens for the cooks, split by station.
2. A receipt printer at the pass that prints the full order to go with the bag or the driver.

This gives the cooks a clear view of the queue and keeps a paper record with the food.

Checklist before you buy

• Count your stations and decide what each one needs to see.
• Check where the printer or screen will go: how close to heat, steam and splashes.
• Ask whether your EPOS software supports a KDS, and whether that costs extra each month.
• Ask what happens if the internet drops. Can the till still send orders to the kitchen over your local network?
• Check the printer is a network (Ethernet or Wi-Fi) model if your till and online orders need to reach it.
• Order the right paper: thermal rolls for thermal printers, bond rolls and ribbons for impact printers.
• For a KDS, plan a wall mount or stand and a power socket where cooks can reach the screen.

For the bigger picture on what a full till set-up costs, see our guide to how much an EPOS system costs for a UK takeaway.

Where GofoodPOS fits

GofoodPOS works with either set-up. Orders print to your network printers, and you can lay out the ticket in a drag-and-drop editor and add Chinese dish names for the kitchen (orders and kitchen tickets). If you want screens, the KDS App gives each part of the kitchen its own station. Receipt printers and cash drawers are supported too.

GofoodPOS takes £0 commission on online orders, and online payments go into your own Stripe account. A mode that keeps the till working when the internet drops is coming soon, so ask us how your kitchen set-up behaves today if that matters to you. Set-up and support are in English and Chinese. See pricing for plans.

In short

• A kitchen printer is cheaper and simpler. Impact printers handle heat best; thermal printers are quieter but must be kept away from heat.
• A kitchen display system costs more up front (from £379 ex VAT a screen in our shop) but helps busy, multi-station kitchens keep track of orders.
• Many takeaways use both: screens for the cooks, a printed ticket for the bag.
• Check the software fees and what happens when the internet drops before you buy.

Not sure which suits your kitchen? Get in touch and we'll help you plan it, in English or Chinese.