An alternative to escpos and node-thermal-printer, and how to migrate

The escpos package has not had a stable release in years, and its USB adapter is still an alpha. node-thermal-printer is maintained but stops at ESC/POS and Star Line text. If you need Star TSP100, label printers, templates, previews or printer status, retail-print-kit covers them in one package.

Comparison

	retail-print-kit	escpos	node-thermal-printer
Epson ESC/POS and compatibles	yes	yes	yes
Star Line Mode	yes	no	yes
Star raster-only (TSP100 / TSP143)	yes	no	no
Label printers (ZPL, TSPL, EZPL)	yes	no	no
Printer profiles	yes	no	no
JSON templates with data binding	yes	no	no
HTML / PNG / SVG preview	yes	no	no
Printer status and model detection	yes	no	partly
TypeScript types	built in	community	built in
Packages a plain install adds (measured Oct 2026)	4	66	7

Migrating from escpos

The builder keeps the escpos method names, so most receipt code does not change.

Before:

const escpos = require('escpos');
escpos.USB = require('escpos-usb');
const device = new escpos.USB();
const printer = new escpos.Printer(device);

device.open(() => {
  printer.align('ct').style('b').size(2, 2).text('MY STORE')
    .tableCustom([{ text: 'Coffee', align: 'LEFT', width: 0.7 }, { text: '$2.50', align: 'RIGHT', width: 0.3 }])
    .cut().cashdraw().close();
});

After:

const { Printer, profiles } = require('retail-print-kit');
const { UsbTransport } = require('retail-print-kit/usb');
const printer = new Printer(new UsbTransport(), profiles['epson-tm-t88']);

await printer.open();
printer.align('ct').style('b').size(2, 2).text('MY STORE')
  .tableCustom([{ text: 'Coffee', align: 'LEFT', width: 0.7 }, { text: '$2.50', align: 'RIGHT', width: 0.3 }])
  .cut().cashdraw();
await printer.close();

What changes:

escpos	retail-print-kit
`new escpos.USB()`, `escpos.Network(host)`, `escpos.Serial(port)`	`UsbTransport`, `NetTransport`, `SerialTransport`
`device.open(callback)`	`await printer.open()`
`printer.close()` sends and closes	`await printer.close()` (returns a promise)
`font('a')`	`setFont('a')`
`qrimage(text, opts, cb)`	`qr(text, { size })`, no callback
`image(img, density)` with `escpos.Image.load`	`image(await loadImage(file, { width }))`
options `{ encoding }`	the profile's code page

The global USB detach listener that escpos-usb leaks is gone: listeners are attached on open and removed on close.

Migrating from node-thermal-printer

node-thermal-printer	retail-print-kit
`new ThermalPrinter({ type: PrinterTypes.EPSON, interface: 'tcp://192.168.1.50' })`	`new Printer(new NetTransport('192.168.1.50'), profiles['epson-tm-t88'])`
`println(text)`	`text(text)`
`alignCenter()`, `alignLeft()`, `alignRight()`	`align('ct')`, `align('lt')`, `align('rt')`
`bold(true)`	`style('b')`, back with `style('normal')`
`setTextSize(h, w)`	`size(w + 1, h + 1)`
`tableCustom([...])`	`tableCustom([...])`
`printQR(text)`, `code128(data)`	`qr(text)`, `barcode(data, 'CODE128')`
`openCashDrawer()`	`cashdraw()`
`cut()`, `partialCut()`	`cut()`, `cut(true)`
`await execute()`	`await close()` or `await flush()`

Check before you ship

npx retail-print-kit test --net 192.168.1.50 --profile epson-tm-t88

prints a test page and the printer status.

Related: print a receipt, Star TSP100, labels.

Install

npm install retail-print-kit

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