POS systems, comparedPOS systems and card readers for small businesses, with in-person card rates, monthly fees, hardware prices and contract terms read from each vendor's own pages and dated.
Independent research. Every number is checked against the provider's own page and dated. Some links may earn us a commission, which never changes a ranking. How we make money
7 POS systems compared; 7 of 7 in the main list were re-read in the last 14 days (newest read Oct 14, 2026). Ranking rule: We weigh what a POS system costs a small shop to run, how clearly the price is published, how easy it is to leave, and how much the software does for the money. It is an editorial order, not a score, and the cost example shows where it differs from the cheapest. Every rate, plan price, hardware price and contract term is read from the vendor's own pages and carries the date we checked it. A commission never changes the order. How we rate
Only need to take payments? See credit card processing.
Square is our starting point for most small shops: a $0 plan, no contract and every price on one page. PayPal Point of Sale had the lowest flat rate among those we could price in full, and Toast is the restaurant specialist.
A free plan, simple card rates and no contract, built for small shops, salons and food trucks
Monthly software: $0 plan. Contract: None.
3 others we list also qualify; this one ranks first in our order.
Also: Most focused on markets and pop-ups (tied with SumUp POS)
No monthly fee, a 2.29% + 9¢ in-person rate and a $29 first reader, from the company behind PayPal
Monthly software: $0 plan. Contract: None.
Also: Most focused on service businesses
Pay the card networks' real cost plus a small published margin, with no monthly fee or contract
Monthly software: $0 plan. Contract: None.
Tied on this number: Lightspeed POS.
A point-of-sale system, or POS, is what you ring up a sale on and what takes your customer's card. For a small business it comes down to three questions: what does each card sale cost, what do I pay every month, and can I walk away if it does not suit me? We read each provider's own pricing pages on October 14, 2026 and put the numbers side by side. Most charge a percentage plus a few cents on every card sale (2.29% + 9¢ at PayPal, 2.6% + 15¢ at Square on its free plan). The real differences sit in the fine print: monthly plans that lower the rate but add a fee, hardware you pay for up front or finance over three years, and contracts that are hard to leave. A few providers do not publish a full price, and where that is true we say so instead of guessing.
| POS systems | In-person rate | Monthly software | Hardware | Contract | Suits | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.6% + 15¢ | $0 plan | From $59 | None | Most small shops | Oct 14, 2026 |
| 2.29% + 9¢ | $0 plan | From $29 | None | Lowest flat rate priced | Oct 14, 2026 |
| Interchange + 0.4% + 8¢ | $0 plan | From $199 | None | High card volume | Oct 14, 2026 |
 | 2.6% + 10¢ | $0 plan | From $54 | None | Pop-ups and new sellers | Oct 14, 2026 |
 | 3.09% + 15¢ | $0 plan | From $0 | 2 year agreement | Restaurants | Oct 14, 2026 |
 | 2.3% + 10¢ | From $16 (Retail Basic device plan, 2.6% + 10¢); 2.3% + 10¢ needs Retail Standard software at $84.95 | From $349 | 36 months if financed | Flexible hardware | Oct 14, 2026 |
 | 1.5% card-present only; not priced (no per-sale fee published) | From $89 | Not published | Not published | Stores with lots of stock | Oct 14, 2026 |
Each date is when we last checked the provider's own page. Rates and terms can change, so confirm with the provider before you apply.
Take a shop that gets paid by card, in person, in sales of $25 on average. This is what each provider would charge in a month: card fees plus the monthly price of one plan. Each row names the plan and its monthly price, and it is the plan that costs least at these volumes among those whose rate card the provider fully publishes. Hardware is not counted. Every rate comes from the provider's own pricing page, dated on its product page.
| Provider | Plan, monthly price and rate | $5,000 a month | $10,000 a month | $25,000 a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PayPal Point of Sale | Pay as you go plan, $0 a month, 2.29% + 9¢ | $133 | $265 | $663 |
| SumUp POS | Standard plan, $0 a month, 2.6% + 10¢ | $150 | $300 | $750 |
| Square POS | Free plan, $0 a month, 2.6% + 15¢ | $160 | $320 | $800 |
| Clover POS | Retail Standard software plan, $84.95 a month, 2.3% + 10¢ | $220 | $355 | $760 |
| Toast POS | Pay-as-you-Go (Starter Kit) plan, $0 a month, 3.09% + 15¢ | $185 | $369 | $923 |
| Helcim | Standard plan, $0 a month, 0.4% + 8¢, provider margin only | $36(margin only) | $72(margin only) | $180(margin only) |
Each total is the monthly card sales times the percentage, plus the number of sales (monthly card sales divided by $25) times the cents per sale, plus the monthly price of the plan in the row. For example, Clover POS at $10,000 a month: $230 in percentage fees + $40 in per-sale fees + $84.95 for the Retail Standard software plan = $355.
“Margin only” means the figure is the provider's own margin: it buys the card networks' cost at wholesale and passes it on, so your real total is higher and depends on which cards your customers use. Sales are assumed to be in person with the card present. Online and keyed-in payments cost more everywhere.
Not in the table, and why
Tell us what kind of business you run and a few providers will send you prices for your own sales volume. It takes about a minute and you are not obliged to pick any of them.
This form is run by Expert Market through our partner MVF. The details you enter go to them and to the providers they match you with, not to Financeradar (read their privacy notice in the form). We may earn a commission when you request quotes. It does not change how we rank or rate any POS system.
In ranking order. Each one lists the numbers that decide the choice, its main strengths and its main catches.
A free plan, simple card rates and no contract, built for small shops, salons and food trucks
Square is the easiest place to start for most small businesses. The Free plan costs $0 a month and you pay only when you take a payment: 2.6% + 15¢ for a card tapped, dipped or swiped, and 3.5% + 15¢ when you type the card number in.
Watch out
No monthly fee, a 2.29% + 9¢ in-person rate and a $29 first reader, from the company behind PayPal
PayPal Point of Sale, the product that was sold as PayPal Zettle in the US, is for sellers who want to take cards in person without any monthly cost. PayPal's pricing page says there are no monthly or setup fees.
Watch out
Pay the card networks' real cost plus a small published margin, with no monthly fee or contract
Helcim is the provider in this list that charges interchange-plus pricing: on every sale it passes through the card networks' wholesale cost and adds a small, fixed margin of its own.
Watch out
Low-cost card readers and a no-monthly-fee plan for new, seasonal and mobile sellers
SumUp is a good fit when you want to start small and keep fixed costs at zero. The default plan has no monthly fee, and you pay 2.6% + 10¢ for a card present in person, or 3.5% + 15¢ for online and keyed-in payments.
Watch out
A restaurant-first POS with a $0-a-month starter kit and a lower card rate on the traditional plan
Toast is built for restaurants, cafes, bars and food trucks, and it is the most restaurant-focused option in this list. Its pricing pages offer two ways in.
Watch out
Flexible countertop and handheld systems with rates from 2.3% + 10¢, and a 36-month plan you cannot cancel
Clover is a family of countertop and handheld devices, sold by Clover directly and through banks and other resellers, so the price and contract you get can depend on who sells it to you. Clover's own US pricing pages show the options.
Watch out
Retail and restaurant software with deeper inventory tools, sold as a monthly subscription
Lightspeed sells separate retail and restaurant systems, and both are subscription software first and payment processing second.
Watch out
Five questions, in the order they usually matter. None of them needs a salesperson.
Multiply your monthly card sales by the percentage, add the cents per sale times the number of sales, then add any monthly fee. On $10,000 a month in $25 sales, the flat-rate providers we could price land between $265 and $369 a month in total, so the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive is about $100. Toast's Pay-as-you-Go sits at the top of that range because its rate is 3.09% + 15¢, and Clover is next at $355 because its 2.3% + 10¢ rate needs a software plan at $84.95 a month. That is real money over a year, but smaller than the headline rates make it look.
Some providers sell a plan that lowers the card rate in exchange for a monthly fee. Square's Plus and Premium plans cut the in-person rate by 0.1 and 0.2 percentage points but cost $49 and $149 a month per location, so they only come out ahead above roughly $49,000 and $74,500 a month in card sales. Below that, the free plan costs less.
A card reader runs from $29 for a new PayPal business (the first one) to $199 at Helcim, with Square at $59 and SumUp at $54. A full counter system starts around $899 for a Square Register, $1,153 for Toast's Countertop Starter Kit on its traditional plan (it is $0 on Pay-as-you-Go, in return for a higher card rate) and $1,899 for a Clover Station Duo. Some vendors let you pay monthly over 36 months, which is in effect a loan on the hardware, and Clover says its subscriptions cannot be cancelled. Lightspeed does not publish hardware prices at all, so ask for them in writing.
Square pays out the next business day for free and offers instant transfer for 1.95%. SumUp pays out the next day, and Helcim deposits the next business morning. PayPal says funds reach your PayPal balance within minutes, and also that it can review, hold or delay transactions. Square can hold part of your card sales in a rolling reserve if it sees risk, for instance when you take payment well before delivering. Whichever you pick, keep a cash buffer for your first weeks.
Square, SumUp, PayPal and Helcim each say there is no long-term contract. Clover says its subscriptions are non-cancelable and not refundable. Toast sells its software on a 2 year agreement that renews each year, and leaving early costs $150 for each month left on Pay-as-you-Go or the remaining software fees. Lightspeed does not state contract length or early termination fees on its pricing pages. Before you sign anything, ask for the term and the cost of leaving in writing.
Restaurants and cafes need tables, menus and a kitchen screen: Toast is built for that, and Clover, Square and Lightspeed Restaurant also cover it. Shops with a lot of stock suit Lightspeed, Square or Clover. Markets, pop-ups and service businesses can start with SumUp, PayPal, Helcim or Square, all of which work from a phone or a small reader.
Products that do one thing unusually well, with the catch we would want to know before applying.
Among the providers we could price in full, it was the cheapest at every volume we modeled, with a $29 first reader and no monthly fee. The trade-off: PayPal says it can review, hold or delay transactions, and the software is lighter than a full retail or restaurant system.
Read the reviewHelcim passes the card networks' real cost straight through and adds 0.40% + 8¢ under $50,000 a month, falling to 0.15% + 6¢ above $1 million, with no monthly fee or contract. Helcim says most merchants pay near or below 2% in person all in. That is its own estimate, so check it against a month of your own sales.
Read the reviewBuilt around tables, menus and offline mode, with support included around the clock. Its starter kit page lists the kit at $0 on Pay-as-you-Go or $1,153 on the traditional plan, plus the extras, but a custom setup is quoted. The software comes on a 2 year agreement that renews each year, and leaving early costs $150 for each month left on Pay-as-you-Go, so read the agreement before you decide.
Read the reviewWe weigh what a POS system costs a small shop to run, how clearly the price is published, how easy it is to leave, and how much the software does for the money. It is an editorial order, not a score, and the cost example shows where it differs from the cheapest. Every rate, plan price, hardware price and contract term is read from the vendor's own pages and carries the date we checked it. A commission never changes the order.
Providers cannot pay to change this order. If a paid placement ever appears in a list, it is labeled Sponsored and never carries a “best for” label.
The in-person rate, as a percentage plus cents per sale, read on the vendor's pricing page.
The price of each plan, including free plans, and whether it is charged per location.
What the reader or register costs, how you pay for it, and what leaving costs. Where a vendor does not publish it, we say so.
How fast sales reach your bank account and whether the vendor can hold funds.
Date of the newest vendor-page stamp
It depends on how you sell. Square is our starting point for most small shops because its Free plan has no monthly fee or contract and it covers retail, services and food. For the lowest flat rate we could price, PayPal Point of Sale was the cheapest of the providers we could price in full. Toast is built for restaurants, and Helcim suits businesses that take a lot of cards.
The monthly software price runs from $0 (Square's Free plan, SumUp, PayPal Point of Sale, Helcim and Toast's Pay-as-you-Go) up to $289 a month for Lightspeed Retail Plus with annual billing. On top of that you pay a percentage and a few cents on each card sale. On $10,000 a month of in-person card sales, in sales of $25, the flat-rate providers we could price cost between $265 and $369 a month in total, hardware not included (Toast's Pay-as-you-Go is the $369, at 3.09% + 15¢ with no monthly fee, and Clover's 2.3% + 10¢ rate needs a software plan at $84.95 a month, which is part of its $355). Prices checked on October 14, 2026.
Among the providers we could price in full, in our example of $10,000 a month in $25 in-person sales, PayPal Point of Sale cost about $265 a month, SumUp about $300, Square's Free plan about $320, Clover about $355 (its Retail Standard software plan, $84.95 a month, is included) and Toast's Pay-as-you-Go about $369 (3.09% + 15¢, no monthly fee). Helcim's margin on the same sales is $72, but the card networks' own cost comes on top, so its total is higher and depends on the cards your customers use. Lightspeed shows only a 1.5% card-present rate and no per-sale fee, so we could not price it and it is not in this comparison.
Square (Free plan), SumUp (default plan), PayPal Point of Sale and Helcim have no monthly fee, and Toast's Pay-as-you-Go starter kit has none for the basic software. Clover and Lightspeed are sold as paid plans.
Square, SumUp, PayPal Point of Sale and Helcim each say there is no long-term contract. Clover says its subscriptions are non-cancelable and not refundable. Toast sells its software on a 2 year agreement that renews each year, and ending it early costs $150 for each month left on Pay-as-you-Go or the remaining software fees. Lightspeed does not state contract terms on its pricing pages, so ask for them in writing, including any early termination fee.
Every card payment has a wholesale cost set by the card networks, called interchange. A flat-rate provider folds that cost and its own margin into one percentage, so you always know the rate. An interchange-plus provider such as Helcim passes the wholesale cost to you at face value and adds a small published margin on top, so the total changes with the card used, a premium rewards card costing more than a debit card.
We only list providers whose US prices we could read on their own pages. When we checked, Shopify's and Stripe's pages showed euro prices and rates for another region, so we could not verify the US numbers and left them out for now.
Best POS Systems for Small Business was last updated in October 2026 and uses rates and fees we verified against each provider's own page. Spot something out of date? Tell us.
