The Honest Truth About ‘Free’ POS Software
No POS system is truly free. Every provider on this page makes money somewhere — the most common mechanism being a percentage fee applied to every card transaction you take. ‘Free’ means no monthly software subscription, at least on the entry tier. Whether that is genuinely cheaper than a paid plan depends almost entirely on your transaction volume.
Multiply your estimated monthly card sales by the transaction rate, and you have your monthly cost. At £2,000/month, a 1.75% fee costs £35. At £10,000/month, that same rate costs £175 — more than most paid plans. Run those numbers before you commit to any ‘free’ option.
This guide covers four providers that offer genuinely free POS software: Square, SumUp, PayPal Point of Sale, and Loyverse. Each earns its place for a different reason. Square is the strongest all-rounder. SumUp offers the lowest transaction fee. PayPal POS suits businesses already embedded in the PayPal ecosystem. Loyverse is the only provider here with a built-in free loyalty programme, kitchen display, and processor-agnostic payments — making it a serious option for cafés and independent restaurants that need more than a basic checkout.
All pricing is sourced directly from official brand pages and verified in March 2026.
Square Reader (2nd Generation)
SumUp Air Card Reader
Shopify Basic
Compare Top Providers at a Glance
All pricing is sourced from official brand pages and verified in March 2026.
| Feature | Square | SumUp | PayPal POS | Loyverse |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software monthly fee | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| In-person txn fee | 1.75% | 1.69% (free plan) | 1.75% | Depends on integrated processor |
| Starter hardware | £19 + VAT | £25 + VAT | £29 excl. VAT | Processor-dependent |
| Use own phone/tablet | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Inventory mgmt (free) | Basic | Basic | Basic | Basic (free) |
| Kitchen display (free) | ✗ Paid | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✓ Free |
| Online ordering (free) | ✓ Yes | ✗ Pro only | Via PayPal only | ✗ No |
| Multi-location (free) | ✓ Yes | ✗ Pro only | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
| Built-in loyalty programme | ✗ Paid add-on | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✓ Free |
| Bill splitting | ✓ Basic | ✗ Paid only | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
| Processor-agnostic | ✗ Square only | ✗ SumUp only | ✗ PayPal only | ✓ Yes |
| Support (free plan) | Mon–Fri 9–5 | Limited hours | Phone available | 24/7 online chat |
| Payout speed | 1–2 days | Next day 7am | Instant to PayPal | Via your processor |
| Best suited for | General SMEs | High-vol cafés/retail | PayPal businesses | Cafés & restaurants |
| Learn more | Visit Square | Visit SumUp | Visit PayPal | Visit Loyverse |
How I chose the best POS systems for small businesses
Our research methodology is based on a comprehensive framework that evaluates the effectiveness of each POS system via the key metrics that matter most to you.
Over the last six months, the Business Expert team have meticulously reviewed each POS system against a battery of performance indicators, including user-friendliness, reliability, and scalability.
We have also enriched our study by incorporating real-world feedback from actual SME’s. This qualitative data adds nuance to our quantitative metrics, ensuring a balanced view.
How to Choose: The Questions to Answer First
What is your monthly card turnover?
This single number has more impact on your real cost than any other factor. Multiply your estimated monthly card sales by the transaction fee, and you have your monthly fee spend. Here is what that looks like across the free-tier providers on this page:
| Monthly Volume | Square | SumUp | SumUp Plus | PayPal POS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £1,000/mo | £17.50 | £16.90 | £28.90* | £17.50 |
| £3,000/mo | £52.50 | £50.70 | £48.70* | £52.50 |
| £5,000/mo | £87.50 | £84.50 | £68.50* | £87.50 |
| £10,000/mo | £175.00 | £169.00 | £118.00* | £175.00 |
| Learn more | Visit Square | Visit SumUp | Visit SumUp | Visit PayPal |
* SumUp Payments Plus: £19/month subscription + 0.99% per in-person transaction. Breakeven vs free plan is approximately £2,700/month.
At £10,000/month, SumUp Payments Plus saves approximately £51/month versus SumUp’s free plan, and £57/month versus Square or PayPal POS on their free tiers. Over a year, that is a material saving. Run your own numbers before deciding.
What does your business actually need?
Free plans are optimised for simple, fast checkout. The more specialised your operation — table management, kitchen order routing, multi-location inventory, staff time tracking, loyalty programmes — the faster you will hit the ceiling of what each free tier can do. Square and SumUp are well-suited to general retail and food-to-go. PayPal POS suits micro-businesses that want simplicity. Loyverse stands out for café and restaurant operators who want a genuinely free kitchen display and loyalty system without paying add-on fees.
Do you need room to grow?
Check the upgrade path before you commit. Switching POS platforms mid-growth is disruptive and time-consuming. Square, SumUp, and Loyverse all offer clearly documented paid tiers. PayPal POS does not — there is a single free tier and no upgrade path within the POS product. If you expect to grow beyond the basics within 18 months, this is a material limitation.
Our Top Choices for Free POS Systems With No Monthly Fees
Square POS: Best over free POS for UK small businesses
| Transaction fee | 1.75% in-person; 1.4% + 25p online (UK cards) |
| Monthly software | £0 — no monthly or setup fee |
| Hardware from | £19 + VAT (Square Reader) — or use your own phone |
| Support (free) | Monday–Friday, 9 am–5 pm GMT |
| Best for | Startups, independent retailers, cafés, market traders |
What is included on Square’s free plan?
Square’s free POS app is available on iOS and Android and covers a broad range of features that most small businesses need from day one: basic inventory tracking with low-stock alerts, a customer list with simple CRM tools, digital receipts, and sales reporting. Uniquely among the free plans on this page, Square also includes basic online ordering (Square Online Ordering) and multi-location management at no extra cost — both features that SumUp and PayPal POS gate behind upgrades.
You do not need to buy hardware to get started. Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android allows contactless payments through the app on a smartphone you already own. When you are ready for a dedicated card reader, the Square Reader (£19 + VAT) is the entry-level option. The Square Terminal (£149 + VAT) and Square Register (£599 + VAT) are available for more established setups.
Square’s dashboard is well-designed and gives real-time access to sales metrics, best-selling products, and customer behaviour data — more analytical depth than either SumUp or PayPal POS on their free tiers.
How much does Square actually cost?
The in-person transaction fee is 1.75% for all contactless and chip-and-PIN payments. Online transactions through Square Online cost 1.4% + 25p for UK cards, and 2.5% + 25p for non-UK cards. Manually keyed-in payments via the Virtual Terminal are charged at 2.5%. There is no setup fee, no monthly account fee, and no PCI compliance charge on the standard plan.
For businesses processing over £200,000 in annual card sales, Square offers custom pricing. For those on a paid Square for Retail or Square for Restaurants plan, in-person transaction rates drop to 1.6%.
What are the limitations of Square’s free plan?
Customer support on the free plan is restricted to Monday–Friday, 9 am–5 pm GMT. If your card reader fails on a Saturday during a market, you will not get live support until Monday. Paid plans include 24/7 phone support.
Advanced retail features — barcode label printing, purchase ordering, and multi-location stock control — require Square for Retail Plus. Full-service restaurant tools, including floor planning, course management, and kitchen display, require Square for Restaurants Plus (from £69/month per location). The free plan covers basic counter-service food sales, but not table-service restaurant operations.
Bill splitting is available on the free plan, but limited to an even split — not by item or by seat — which is inadequate for full-service hospitality.
| Best for: Any UK small business starting out with card payments and wanting a solid, no-contract foundation they can build on. Ideal for independent retailers, cafés, market stalls, and service businesses processing under £5,000/month. Square’s free multi-location support also makes it the best free-tier choice for businesses with two or more sites. |
PayPal POS: Best free POS for simplicity and PayPal users
Note: PayPal was previously known as Zettle by PayPal. The rebrand took effect in November 2025. Existing Zettle accounts continue to work without any changes required.
| Transaction fee | 1.75% card and contactless; 3.4% + 20p manual card entry |
| Monthly software | £0 — no monthly or setup fee |
| Hardware from | £29 excl. VAT (first card reader); £69 each thereafter |
| Support | Phone support available; hours vary |
| Best for | Micro-businesses, sole traders, PayPal-native businesses |
What is included on PayPal POS’s free plan?
PayPal POS offers a clean, stripped-back free POS app that focuses on what micro-businesses need: quick checkout, basic product library management, discount tools, inventory tracking, and straightforward sales reporting. Its standout advantage over Square and SumUp is the PayPal ecosystem integration — all card and contactless payments flow directly into your PayPal Business account, which means invoicing, online sales, and in-person payments are unified in one place without any additional setup.
This integration is particularly valuable for businesses that already use PayPal for online sales or invoicing. If your customers pay you through PayPal.com and you also want to take in-person payments at events or markets, PayPal POS closes that loop without needing a second account or platform.
You can take contactless payments via Tap to Pay through the app on your phone without any hardware. The PayPal card reader costs £29 excl. VAT for the first unit (additional readers are £69 each), and the PayPal Terminal is £149 excl. VAT.
How much does PayPal POS actually cost?
The transaction fee is a flat 1.75% for all card and contactless payments. Manual card entry is significantly more expensive at 3.4% + 20p per transaction — avoid this unless it is an occasional necessity. There are no monthly fees, no setup costs, and no PCI compliance charges.
Unlike Square, PayPal POS does not offer a lower online transaction rate — online and payment link transactions through PayPal POS carry a separate rate structure via the broader PayPal platform rather than through a dedicated POS online tier.
What are the limitations of PayPal POS’s free plan?
PayPal POS has no paid upgrade path within the POS product itself. There is one tier — the free plan — and no route to unlock advanced features without moving to a completely different platform. This makes it unsuitable for any business that expects to grow beyond the basics within the next 12–18 months.
There is no floor planning, table management, reservations, or kitchen display integration. Most restaurants and structured cafés will need to look elsewhere. Mobile and QR code ordering is also absent — unlike Square and SumUp, which both support QR ordering on their free tiers.
Multi-location management is not supported at any tier. If you open a second site, PayPal POS cannot consolidate your reporting or inventory across both.
| Best for: Sole traders, pop-up stall holders, and micro-businesses that want the simplest possible setup and are already using PayPal for other parts of their business. If you invoice clients through PayPal and want to accept in-person payments at events without managing a separate platform, PayPal POS is the most frictionless option on this page. Not suitable for any business expecting to grow or needing features beyond basic payments. |
SumUp – Best free POS for the lowest transaction fees
| Transaction fee | 1.69% in-person (free plan); 0.99% with Payments Plus (£19/month) |
| Monthly software | £0 free plan; Payments Plus £19/month or £189/year |
| Hardware from | £25 + VAT (SumUp Air) — or use your own phone |
| Support (free) | Limited hours; priority support on Payments Plus |
| Best for | High-transaction cafés, fast retail, food trucks, mobile traders |
What is included on SumUp’s free plan?
SumUp’s free POS app covers the core transactional needs well: sales tracking, discount and promotion tools, a product catalogue with variants and modifiers, mobile and QR code ordering, and a free SumUp Business Account that delivers payouts by 7 am the next day — including weekends and bank holidays — which is faster than any competitor on this page.
A feature worth highlighting is the ‘park order’ function, which allows staff to hold a transaction and move to the next customer immediately. For a busy café or market stall, this significantly reduces queue time during peak periods.
The SumUp Air card reader (£25 + VAT) is the cheapest dedicated hardware on this page. As with Square and PayPal POS, you can also run the app on a smartphone or tablet you already own, using Tap to Pay for contactless payments.
How much does SumUp actually cost?
SumUp’s free-plan transaction fee is 1.69% for all in-person card payments — the lowest flat rate among the three free-tier providers on this page. Online payments are charged at 2.50% per transaction regardless of plan. International, corporate, and premium cards (including American Express) are charged at 1.69% on both the free plan and Payments Plus.
SumUp’s Payments Plus plan costs £19/month (or £189/year, saving 17%) and reduces the in-person fee to 0.99% for standard domestic consumer cards. SumUp’s own guidance is that Payments Plus makes financial sense once you are processing £3,000 or more per month. At that volume, the fee saving (£50.70 vs £48.70 including the monthly charge) has already covered the subscription cost, with savings growing as volume increases.
What are the limitations of SumUp’s free plan?
Bill splitting is not available on the free plan — a significant limitation for any hospitality business that expects customers to split bills at the table. It requires upgrading to SumUp Pro.
The free plan supports only a single point-of-sale location. Any business with more than one site needs SumUp Pro for centralised management. Online ordering beyond QR code and payment links also requires an upgrade, while Square includes basic online ordering at no cost.
Customer support on the free plan is limited in hours and availability. Priority support is only available to Payments Plus subscribers.
SumUp does not accept businesses in certain high-risk categories — check their terms if your business type could qualify.
| Best for: Businesses where transaction volume and checkout speed are the priority. Coffee shops, food stalls, and independent retailers taking a high frequency of smaller transactions will benefit most from SumUp’s lower fee. If you are consistently processing £3,000+ per month, the Payments Plus upgrade makes SumUp the cheapest option on this page by a clear margin. |
Loyverse POS – Best free POS for cafes, restaurants, and multi-location businesses
| Transaction fee | £0 from Loyverse — set by your chosen payment processor |
| Monthly software | £0 for core POS, KDS, loyalty, and customer display |
| Paid add-ons | Employee management: $25/month; Sales history: $5/month (per store) |
| Hardware | Independent cafés, restaurants, bars, bakeries, and multi-location food businesses |
| Best for | Independent cafés, restaurants, bars, bakeries, multi-location food businesses |
What is included on Loyverse’s free plan?
Loyverse’s free core software is genuinely broad. The POS app (iOS and Android) handles sales, modifiers, variants, discounts, refunds, and basic inventory with stock alerts. It supports multiple stores under a single account — including centralised product management and sales analytics across all locations — at no charge. That alone makes it competitive with paid tiers on Square and SumUp.
Two features make Loyverse stand out from every other provider on this page:
Kitchen Display System (KDS) — Loyverse’s kitchen display app is free. Orders placed through the POS immediately appear on a dedicated screen in the kitchen without any subscription or add-on fee. Square’s equivalent (Square KDS) requires a Square for Restaurants Plus subscription from £69/month per location. SumUp has no native kitchen display at any tier.
Built-in loyalty programme — Loyverse includes a fully functional customer loyalty scheme at no cost, allowing you to issue loyalty points for purchases and reward returning customers. The loyalty programme integrates with a customer display app (also free) that shows pricing and points information to customers at the point of sale. Square charges a separate monthly fee for its loyalty product; SumUp and PayPal POS do not offer loyalty tools at any tier.
Loyverse also includes open order management — the ability to create, save, and edit orders with customers paying when convenient — which is standard in hospitality POS systems but absent from the free tiers of Square, SumUp, and PayPal POS.
How much does Loyverse actually cost?
The Loyverse POS software itself charges zero transaction fees. Your card processing cost is set entirely by whichever integrated payment processor you choose. Loyverse supports SumUp, PayPal (Zettle), Smartpay, and others in the UK — meaning you can take SumUp’s 1.69% free-plan rate, or a negotiated custom rate, while running Loyverse’s free software on top.
The core software, KDS, customer display, loyalty programme, and multi-store management are all permanently free. Optional paid add-ons are available for businesses that need them: Employee Management costs $25/month per store (covering access rights, time clock, and sales-by-employee reporting) and Unlimited Sales History costs $5/month per store. Advanced Inventory (purchase orders, supplier management, and stock transfers) is also a paid add-on — pricing is per store per month, available on the Loyverse pricing page. All add-ons include a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.
What are the limitations of Loyverse’s free plan?
Loyverse’s employee management tools — access rights, time clock, and performance tracking — are behind a paid add-on. For a sole trader or small team that does not need staff controls, this is irrelevant. For a café with multiple employees and shift management needs, it adds a monthly cost.
Sales history is limited to a rolling period on the free plan. Accessing reports beyond that window requires the Unlimited Sales History add-on ($5/month per store). For most small businesses in their first year, this is unlikely to be a pressing limitation.
Loyverse does not have a proprietary payment processor. This is a feature (full rate flexibility) but also means there is no single-provider simplicity — you need to separately set up and manage your payment processing account. For a business owner who wants everything in one place, Square or SumUp is a simpler starting point.
Online ordering and e-commerce integration are not included in the free plan. If you need a direct online sales channel alongside in-person payments, Square’s free online ordering is more suitable.
| Best for: Independent cafés, restaurants, bars, bakeries, and food-service businesses that need a kitchen display and loyalty programme without paying for them separately. Also well-suited to multi-location businesses wanting centralised management on a free plan. The processor-agnostic model means you can pair Loyverse’s free software with the most competitive card rate you can negotiate — a combination that can significantly reduce your overall cost versus any single-provider free plan. |
Which Provider is Right for Your Business?
Here is a scenario-by-scenario guide based on common UK small business profiles:
- Market stall or sole trader: SumUp for the lowest transaction fee with no commitment. PayPal POS if you are already in the PayPal ecosystem and want a single unified view of your in-person and online sales. Square if you want room to grow without switching platforms.
- Independent coffee shop (counter service): SumUp for high-frequency, lower-value transactions where the 1.69% rate makes a real difference. Loyverse if you want a kitchen display and loyalty programme without monthly add-on fees — pair it with SumUp as your processor to keep the lowest rate.
- Independent café or restaurant with table service: Loyverse. It is the only provider on this page that includes a kitchen display, open order management, and a loyalty programme on the free plan. No other free-tier option provides all three.
- Pop-up or events trader: PayPal POS or SumUp. Both offer very low setup friction and the cheapest hardware on the page. SumUp’s park order function is useful in queuing situations. PayPal POS is the better choice if you invoice separately through PayPal between events.
- Independent retailer, single site: Square for its richer feature set at no extra cost — online ordering, multi-location readiness, and stronger dashboard analytics. SumUp Payments Plus if card volume makes the fee savings a priority.
- Business with multiple locations: Square or Loyverse — both support multi-location management on their free plans. SumUp and PayPal POS do not.
- Business wanting processor flexibility: Loyverse. It is the only provider on this page that lets you choose and change your payment processor independently of the POS software.
Is a Free POS Plan Actually Worth It?
For businesses processing under £3,000/month in card payments, yes — the free plans from Square, SumUp, and Loyverse deliver genuine value with no upfront commitment beyond optional hardware.
As volume grows, the calculus shifts. At £10,000/month, Square and PayPal POS cost £175/month in transaction fees. SumUp Payments Plus costs £118/month. Loyverse with SumUp as the integrated processor also costs £118/month, with the added benefit of a kitchen display and loyalty at no extra charge. Factor in all costs, not just the headline ‘free’ label.
The features question is equally important. Every provider on this page withholds certain tools from the free tier. Know your upgrade trigger before you hit it — ideally before a busy period when the timing is worst to deal with a platform switch.
Free POS System FAQs
Which free POS has the lowest transaction fees?
SumUp, at 1.69% for all in-person consumer card payments on the free plan. Square and PayPal POS both charge 1.75%. Loyverse charges no transaction fees of its own — your rate depends on the payment processor you integrate. If you pair Loyverse with SumUp, you pay SumUp’s 1.69% rate while using Loyverse’s free software. SumUp’s Payments Plus plan (£19/month) reduces in-person fees further to 0.99%, making it the lowest rate available once you process above approximately £2,700/month.
Can I use any of these systems without buying hardware?
Yes — all four providers support Tap to Pay on compatible iOS and Android smartphones, allowing contactless payments through the app alone. You will need a card reader to accept chip-and-PIN payments. Current hardware prices: SumUp Air £25 + VAT, Square Reader £19 + VAT, PayPal Reader £29 excl. VAT (first unit). Loyverse is software only — hardware is sourced separately and depends on your chosen payment processor.
What happened to Zettle? Is it still available?
Zettle by PayPal was rebranded as PayPal Point of Sale in November 2025. The product is functionally identical. Existing Zettle accounts continue to operate without any required changes. New users sign up through paypal.com/uk/business/pos-system.
Does Loyverse really charge no transaction fees?
Correct. Loyverse’s POS software does not charge any transaction fees. You process card payments through a separately integrated payment provider — SumUp, PayPal POS, Smartpay, or others — and pay that provider’s standard rate. Loyverse’s revenue comes from optional paid add-ons (Employee Management at $25/month per store, Unlimited Sales History at $5/month per store) rather than a cut of your transactions.
Which free POS works best for a café or restaurant?
Loyverse is the strongest free option for food service businesses. It is the only provider on this page that includes a kitchen display system (KDS) and a customer loyalty programme on the free plan — both features that other providers either charge for or do not offer at any tier. Square’s free plan covers basic counter-service food and drink well, but requires a paid Square for Restaurants Plus subscription (from £69/month per location) for floor planning and full kitchen display functionality.
Can I switch POS providers later if I need to?
Yes, but switching has a real cost in time and disruption: you will need to export and re-import your product catalogue, customer data, and sales history; retrain staff; and potentially purchase compatible hardware. Before committing to any provider, check their data export tools and ensure you can extract everything you need. Square, SumUp, and Loyverse all offer CSV export. PayPal POS offers export via the PayPal Business dashboard.
Are there any genuinely hidden fees on these free plans?
Square, SumUp, and Loyverse are transparent in their pricing with no hidden fees on the base plan. PayPal POS has no hidden fees, but note the manual card entry rate (3.4% + 20p) is significantly higher than the contactless rate (1.75%) — an important distinction if you take phone payments. As with any provider, always read the current full terms directly from the official website before signing up.
