Cheapest Card Processing Providers Reviewed
Eight providers earn a place on this page. The four affiliate partners (Revolut, Tide, SumUp and Square) lead because they win a clear use case on cost; the rest are here because they are genuinely competitive at a particular volume or payment type.
Every rate below was checked against the provider’s own pricing page on 14 June 2026.
Revolut Reader
0.8% + 2p in-person. £49 +VAT reader. Revolut Business account from £10/month. This is the lowest published in-person rate of any provider here, and it applies on every Revolut Business plan rather than only on a paid tier.
If you already run your money through Revolut Business, the Reader is the obvious next step: settlement lands straight in your Revolut balance with no transfer step. The catch is the Amex gap.
The Reader doesn’t accept American Express, and you do need a Revolut Business account, so it suits growing businesses that have already chosen Revolut rather than someone shopping for a standalone reader.
Get Revolut ReaderTide Card Reader
1.5% + 5p PAYG, or 0.89% + 3p on the £17.99 +VAT Sell In-Person plan. £99 +VAT reader. Tide gives you the lowest rate that comes packaged with a full business current account, which is why it suits anyone setting up banking and card acceptance together.
The plan rate beats pay-as-you-go once you take more than roughly £2,950 a month in card sales. Two things to weigh: the reader doesn’t accept Amex, and standard settlement is three working days unless you add Next Day Settlement for £2.99 +VAT a month. And you have to bank with Tide to use it.
That last one is the real gate.
Visit TideSumUp Air
1.69% PAYG, or 0.99% on the £19/month Payments Plus plan. £15 +VAT reader. Online and payment links 2.5%. SumUp is the cheapest way to start taking cards with no commitment: the lowest hardware cost here and no monthly fee on pay-as-you-go. Money settles the next morning by 7am.
It’s the right reader for a sole trader or new business that can’t yet forecast card volume, with a clear upgrade path to 0.99% once you pass roughly £2,700 a month. Cheapest to start, no strings.
Visit SumUpSquare Reader
1.75% in-person flat. Online 1.4% + 25p (UK cards) or 2.5% + 25p (non-UK). £19 +VAT reader. Free POS app. Square isn’t the cheapest on rate, but its free point-of-sale software is the best in class, and the 1.75% rate never changes with plan or volume, so there are no surprises.
Square also absorbs chargeback costs, which removes a fee that catches out small sellers elsewhere. Pick Square when you want a proper till system and predictable pricing rather than the absolute lowest rate.
Just watch the ceiling: 1.75% gets expensive above roughly £6,000 a month, when a sustained run of card sales starts to cost you real money against a sub-1% rival.
Visit SquareTyl by NatWest
1.39% + 5p on UK and European personal cards. £19.99/month terminal rental, first six months free, 12-month contract. Tyl is built for staffed shops and fixed retail sites trading year-round.
The hardware is proper retail kit with its own WiFi and 4G, faster and more reliable than a Bluetooth reader at volume, and Amex is available on most accounts. The six free months cover the contract break-even point.
The downside is the 12-month commitment and 1.99% + 5p on non-UK and European cards, so it is a poor fit for pop-ups and seasonal traders.
Stripe Terminal
1.4% + 10p in-person on EEA cards (2.9% + 10p non-EEA). Online 1.5% + 20p. Reader from £49 +VAT. Stripe Terminal makes sense when you already run your online payments through Stripe and want one dashboard for in-person and online.
The in-person rate is competitive, there is no contract, and you can build it into a custom checkout. It is more developer-focused than the plug-and-play readers, and there is an optional £7 per reader per month for cellular connectivity, so it rewards businesses with some technical resource.
Zettle by PayPal
1.75% card-present, 2.5% online and invoices, 2.75% keyed. £29 +VAT reader. No monthly fee. Zettle suits market stalls, mobile traders and pop-ups that want zero monthly cost and instant access to funds inside PayPal.
The Zettle Terminal, with built-in 4G at no ongoing SIM cost, is the strongest standalone mobile pick here. The trade-off is that money lands in PayPal first, so there is one extra transfer step before cash reaches your bank account.
Dojo (formerly Paymentsense)
Quote-based blended pricing. Fix plan £39.99/month covering up to £3,999 of monthly card turnover. From £20/month rental, 12-month contract. Dojo, which rebranded from Paymentsense, is aimed at hospitality and retail businesses already taking more than about £2,300 a month.
Its strengths are fast next-day settlement by 10am including weekends in year one, table-side ordering and tipping through Dojo Pocket, and integration with 450+ EPOS systems.
It is not the cheapest on a small ticket: the £0.05 per authorisation and £0.50 per refund add up, and the 12-month contract locks you in. Get a quote and compare it against the flat-rate providers before you sign.
Cheapest Card Processing by Monthly Turnover
The cheapest provider for you depends almost entirely on how much you take in card sales each month. A low-volume trader and a busy cafe should not pick the same reader, because monthly plan fees that look expensive at £500 a month become a bargain at £5,000.
Here is where each band lands once you do the maths.
Under £2,000 a month
Below £2,000 a month, a monthly plan fee rarely pays for itself, so you want the cheapest pay-as-you-go rate and the cheapest reader. SumUp wins on both counts: 1.69% with a £15 +VAT reader and no monthly cost.
At £1,000 of card sales that is roughly £16.90 in fees, against £17.50 on Square at 1.75%. The gap is small, but SumUp is consistently cheaper at this level and costs less to get started.
If your customers rarely pay by card and you want zero ongoing cost, Zettle by PayPal (1.75%, no monthly fee) is the other sensible pick, especially if you already use PayPal to get paid.
Visit SumUp£2,000 to £5,000 a month
This is the band where a plan starts to beat pay-as-you-go, and where the lowest published rates come into play.
Revolut Business charges 0.8% + 2p on every in-person transaction regardless of plan, so if you already bank with Revolut or are happy to pay from £10 a month for the account, it is the cheapest rate you can get.
Tide’s Sell In-Person plan (0.89% + 3p for £17.99 +VAT a month) is the next lowest and comes bundled with a full business current account.
If you do not want to switch your banking, Tyl by NatWest’s flat 1.39% + 5p on a six-months-free contract is a strong middle option, and SumUp’s Payments Plus drops you to 0.99% for £19 a month.
Visit TideOver £5,000 a month
Above £5,000 a month the rate matters more than the monthly fee, because every tenth of a percent is real money. Revolut at 0.8% + 2p and Tide at 0.89% + 3p stay cheapest on headline rate.
At £5,000 of card sales, Tide’s Sell In-Person plan costs roughly £62 all in, against about £87.50 on Square’s flat 1.75%.
At this level it is also worth getting a quote from a negotiated-rate merchant account.
Dojo (formerly Paymentsense), Takepayments and Worldpay all price per business rather than off a published rate card, and can undercut flat-rate providers once your volume is high and your average transaction is large.
The trade-off is a 12-month contract and rental hardware, so only commit once your volume is proven.
When Paid Card Processing Plans Become Cheaper
A monthly plan only saves you money once your card takings clear the fee. Below that break-even point, pay-as-you-go wins; above it, the plan pulls further ahead every month. These figures use the verified rates above and assume ordinary UK consumer cards.
| Plan | Monthly fee | Rate drop | Break-even card takings | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SumUp Payments Plus | £19 | 1.69% → 0.99% | ~£2,714/month | Worth it above ~£2,700 |
| Tide Sell In-Person | £17.99 +VAT | 1.5% + 5p → 0.89% + 3p | ~£2,950/month | Worth it if you bank with Tide |
| Square Plus | £29 | No rate change | Never breaks even on fees | Buy only for the software |
Read the Square row twice. Its £29 Plus plan buys extra point-of-sale features, not a lower rate, so it never pays for itself on processing cost alone. If you are chasing cheaper card fees at volume, Square Plus is the wrong lever; look to Revolut, Tide or a negotiated merchant account instead.
The pattern holds across every provider here: a plan fee is a bet that your card takings will stay above the break-even line. Win that bet and the plan quietly saves you money; lose it in a slow month and you’ve simply paid more to process less.
What Card Processing Really Costs
The headline rate is only part of the bill. Two providers quoting 1.75% can cost you very different amounts once you account for monthly fees, hardware, refunds and how fast you get paid. Here is everything that sits underneath the rate.
Transaction fees
This is the percentage (and sometimes a few pence) taken from each sale. Watch for the pence component: a 0.89% + 3p rate costs more than a flat 1% on small tickets, because the 3p is a bigger share of a £3 coffee than a £30 meal.
Premium, commercial and non-UK cards almost always cost more than the headline rate, so check the small print if your customers pay with business or overseas cards.
Monthly fees
Plans like SumUp Payments Plus (£19), Tide Sell In-Person (£17.99 +VAT) and Square Plus (£29) charge a fixed monthly fee in exchange for a lower rate or extra features. Revolut requires a Business account from £10 a month. Pay-as-you-go providers (SumUp, Square, Zettle) charge nothing monthly.
Always test the monthly fee against your real volume before committing, because a plan that saves a high-street shop money will quietly drain a quiet one.
Hardware costs
Readers range from £15 +VAT (SumUp Air) to £99 +VAT (Tide) to monthly rental on Tyl and Dojo. Buying outright is cheaper over time; rental ties you to a contract but spreads the cost and usually includes support.
The Zettle Terminal and myPOS-style standalone units cost more upfront but include built-in 4G, so you do not need to pair a phone.
Refund, chargeback and authorisation fees
These are the fees that do not show up in the headline rate. Dojo charges £0.05 per authorisation and £0.50 per refund; some merchant accounts add monthly minimums and PCI compliance fees. Square, by contrast, absorbs chargeback costs.
SumUp, Square, Tide, Revolut and Zettle do not charge authorisation or refund fees on their published prices, which is one reason flat-rate providers are simpler for low-volume businesses.
Business, Amex and international card fees
The headline rate almost always covers standard UK consumer cards only. Business, corporate and premium cards cost more, and American Express is dearer again where it is accepted at all: the Revolut and Tide readers do not take Amex, and Tyl treats it as a separate agreement.
Cards issued outside the UK carry a surcharge too. Stripe jumps from 1.4% + 10p on EEA cards to 2.9% + 10p elsewhere, and Tyl moves from 1.39% + 5p to 1.99% + 5p on non-European cards.
If a real slice of your customers pay on a company card or an overseas card, the rate you actually pay can sit well above the number on the pricing page. Weigh your own card mix, not just the headline.
Cheapest Card Processing by Payment Type
The cheapest provider also depends on how you take payment. A face-to-face rate does not apply when you send an invoice or sell online, and the gaps between channels are wide, so match the provider to the way your customers actually pay.
In-person card processing
For tap, chip and PIN in front of the customer, Revolut (0.8% + 2p) and Tide (0.89% + 3p on plan) are cheapest on rate, SumUp (1.69%) is cheapest with no commitment, and Tyl (1.39% + 5p) is the best fixed-terminal option for a busy shop.
This is the channel with the lowest rates, so take as much in person as you can.
Online card processing
Selling on a website costs more than in person. Stripe (1.5% + 20p) and Square (1.4% + 25p on UK cards) are the cheapest mainstream options; SumUp and Zettle both charge 2.5% online.
If most of your sales are online, choose on the online rate, not the in-person headline, because that is the number you will actually pay.
Payment links and invoices
For a link or invoice you send to a customer who pays remotely, SumUp and Zettle charge 2.5%, Square charges its online rate, and Tide offers payment links from within its app. Dojo includes payment links, hosted checkout and a virtual terminal on its plans.
These rates sit between in-person and full e-commerce, so they suit occasional remote billing rather than high online volume.
Phone payments and virtual terminals
Taking a card number over the phone or typing it into a virtual terminal is the priciest way to get paid, because the card isn’t present and the risk sits with you. Zettle charges 2.75% keyed, and Square applies its higher manually-entered rate.
Dojo and Stripe both run a proper virtual terminal for phone and mail orders, which suits trades and B2B sellers who invoice by phone. SumUp lets you key a payment inside its app rather than run a separate terminal.
Keyed rates are worth avoiding where you can. If a customer can tap a payment link instead, you will usually pay less and chase fewer disputes.
How to Choose the Cheapest Card Processor
The cheapest reader on paper is rarely the cheapest for your business. Four checks separate a genuine bargain from a headline rate that quietly costs you more.
Match pricing to monthly card turnover
Start with what you actually take in card sales each month, because that single number decides almost everything.
Under about £2,000 a month, a no-fee pay-as-you-go rate wins; above it, a paid plan or a sub-1% rate starts to pull ahead. Work out your own figure before you compare a single reader.
Compare percentage-plus-pence fees
A rate written as “0.89% + 3p” is two charges, not one, and the pence part bites hardest on small tickets.
On a £3 coffee, 3p is a full percentage point on its own; on a £30 order it barely registers. If your average sale is small, a flat percentage can beat a lower rate that carries a per-transaction fee.
Check contract and hardware costs
A low rate behind a 12-month contract isn’t the bargain it looks. SumUp, Square, Zettle, Stripe and Revolut let you stop any time and own the reader outright; Tyl and Dojo rent you the hardware on a year’s commitment.
Add the reader cost and any rental to the rate before you judge which is genuinely cheapest across a full year.
Check payout speed and extra charges
The rate is not the whole bill. SumUp settles next morning by 7am and Dojo next day including weekends, while Tide takes three working days unless you pay £2.99 +VAT a month to speed it up.
Watch too for the fees that hide off the price list: Dojo charges 5p per authorisation and 50p per refund, where the flat-rate providers charge neither.
How to Reduce Card Processing Costs
Even on the right provider, a few habits shave real money off your card bill over a year.
- Take payment in person where you can. Face-to-face rates are the lowest on every provider here; the same sale online or keyed can cost you almost twice as much.
- Move onto a plan only once your takings clear the break-even line. Below it, a monthly fee just drains a quiet month. Re-check the maths whenever your volume shifts.
- Buy the reader outright instead of renting. A £15 to £99 reader you own beats £20 a month on a 12-month contract for most low-to-mid volume businesses.
- Nudge customers toward cheaper cards. A payment link usually costs less than a keyed phone payment, and a UK debit card costs less than a corporate or overseas card.
- Get a quote before you sign a negotiated deal. Above roughly £5,000 a month, Dojo, Takepayments and Worldpay will often undercut a flat rate, but only ask once your volume is proven.
- Review your provider once a year. Rates and plans move, and no-contract providers make switching cheap. Loyalty rarely earns you a lower rate.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest card processing rate in the UK?
The lowest published in-person rate is Revolut Business at 0.8% + 2p, which applies on any Revolut Business plan. Tide’s Sell In-Person plan at 0.89% + 3p is next, and comes with a full business account. Both require a monthly account or plan fee; if you prefer pay-as-you-go with no commitment, SumUp at 1.69% is the cheapest no-strings option.
Are there card readers with no monthly fee?
Yes. SumUp, Square, Zettle and Stripe all offer card acceptance with no monthly fee on pay-as-you-go. Your rate is higher than on a paid plan, but there is no commitment and no minimum, which suits businesses taking card payments only occasionally.
Does the lowest rate mean the lowest total cost?
Not always. A 0.89% rate with a £17.99 plan fee costs you more overall than 1.69% pay-as-you-go below roughly £2,950 a month in card sales. Always model your actual monthly card volume against the plan fee before you commit, and factor in hardware, refund fees and settlement speed.
Is Paymentsense still a separate company from Dojo?
No. Dojo was launched by Paymentsense and the group now trades as Dojo, so the live card-machine product you sign up for today is Dojo, not a separate Paymentsense offering. If you are searching for Paymentsense card machine pricing, the current equivalent is Dojo’s quote-based plans.
What is the cheapest way to take card payments online?
For online sales, Stripe (1.5% + 20p) and Square (1.4% + 25p on UK cards) are the cheapest mainstream options. SumUp and Zettle both charge 2.5% online. Online rates are higher than in-person rates across the board, so if you sell on a website, choose your provider on the online rate rather than the in-person headline.
How We Ranked the Cheapest Card Processing Providers
How we checked and ranked these providers
Ranking criteria. We rank on cost first, then contract flexibility, hardware and payout speed. Cost carries the most weight because it bites every business, but a low rate behind a 12-month contract isn’t a real bargain. Terms matter too.
Data sources. We pulled every rate, fee and contract length from providers’ own pricing pages on 14 June 2026, then totted up the real annual cost on a typical month’s takings, not a best case. Where a provider won’t publish a rate (Dojo prices per business), we say so.
What that means for you. The figure we quote is what you’d actually pay across a year, so a cheap headline rate with a fat monthly fee doesn’t jump the ranking.
Update cadence. We re-verify every provider here at least monthly, and whenever one changes pricing, eligibility or terms. The verification date reflects the most recent full review. Some links on this page are affiliate links, see our editorial policy.