Which Is Better for Sole Traders?
For a sole trader taking mostly UK debit, Lopay is the cheaper reader, and the only thing it asks of you is patience. On its Essential tier the rate is 0.79% against SumUp’s 1.69%, but the money only lands once a week, on a Thursday.
At £4,000 of monthly takings that works out near £31.60 with Lopay against near £67.60 with SumUp. For a market trader whose customers nearly all tap a debit card, £36 a month is hard to ignore.
The low rate holds only on plain UK cards and weekly payouts, though, and that is a narrower set of conditions than it first looks. Take Amex often, need the money before Thursday, or want software behind the counter, and SumUp is the steadier choice.
Which of those two profiles you fit is the whole decision, and the sections below price each one.
SumUp vs Lopay Fees and Charges
Card Transaction Fees
SumUp charges one flat rate in person: 1.69%, with Amex included at no extra. On the £19 a month plan, that drops to 0.99%.
Lopay starts lower, at 0.79%, but the rate is tied to how fast you want paying. It rises to 0.99% for next-day money and 1.79% for instant.
Lopay then adds 1% each for Amex, international and commercial cards, and those surcharges stack rather than replacing one another. An American visitor paying on a corporate Amex can therefore carry all three at once, which turns your cheapest reader into your dearest sale of the day.
There is a second charge underneath that one, and it matters most to tourist-facing trades. Lopay’s UK fee schedule adds 2% on any payment taken in a currency other than the one you are paid out in, which for a UK account means pounds, and that sits on top of the 1% international surcharge rather than inside it.
Taken together, an overseas card can cost several points over the headline rate, which is enough on its own to steer a tourist-heavy trade away from Lopay. We read both surcharges on Lopay’s own pricing page and UK fee schedule on 6 October 2026.
Monthly, Setup and Contract Costs
Neither charges a monthly fee on its entry tier, and neither ties you to a contract for a reader; Lopay’s Business Terminal rental is the exception, on a 12-month contract. SumUp’s optional plan is £19 a month, which buys the lower 0.99% rate, while Lopay keeps its software free on every tier.
Hardware is cheap on both sides: Tap to Pay on a phone with nothing to buy (Lopay adds 8p a sale for it), a SumUp Solo Lite at £25, or a Lopay reader from £35. Setup cost is not what decides this.
Other Fees to Watch
SumUp charges 2.50% on online payments, links and invoices, whatever plan you are on. That is steep, and Lopay’s payment links work out around 1.28%, so a business that sells mostly by link pays far less with Lopay.
Lopay’s instant tier is where that pricing logic becomes expensive. Same-day money costs 1.79%, a full point over the headline 0.79%, and what you are buying with that point is speed rather than any difference in how the payment is processed. On £4,000 of takings it is the difference between near £31.60 and near £71.60.
Fee Verdict: Who Costs Less
On plain UK cards with patient payouts, Lopay is clearly cheaper. For the classic market trader, it is the value pick.
SumUp closes the gap, and can overtake, once you add the £19 plan, take a fair share of Amex, or need the money before Thursday. Above roughly £2,714 a month on next-day payouts, the plan’s 0.99% matches Lopay’s next-day rate exactly, and at that point you are paying the same per tap while also getting the online store, the WooCommerce plugin and no Amex surcharge.
SumUp vs Lopay Payment Methods and Checkout Options
Cards, Wallets and Alternative Payment Methods
On the everyday methods, the two are level: chip and PIN, contactless, Apple Pay, Google Pay.
Premium cards are where the two part company. SumUp treats Amex like any other card, at its standard 1.69%, while Lopay charges its usual rate and then adds 1% on top.
That costs a salon or a cafe with a handful of Amex regulars its headline advantage one card at a time, which is why the card mix matters more here than the rate on the pricing page.
Checkout Experience
SumUp bundles a free online store, invoicing and payment links into one app, where Lopay keeps to payment links alone. Lopay’s app is quicker to learn because there is less of it, which suits a trader who only ever needs to take a payment, and leaves nothing to fall back on the day you want to sell something while the stall is shut.
For a business that wants to sell beyond the counter, SumUp is the fuller toolkit.
Methods Verdict
On plain UK debit at the counter, the two accept exactly the same things and Lopay does it for less. Add Amex, payment links or an online shop and SumUp pulls clear, because each of those is either surcharged or missing on Lopay’s side. The dividing line is card mix: if Amex, corporate and overseas cards are rare in your till, Lopay keeps its advantage, and if they are not, it does not.
Add Amex, links or an online store, and SumUp pulls clear. On card mix, we put plain debit with Lopay and anything richer with SumUp.
SumUp vs Lopay Hardware, POS and In-Person Payments
Card Readers and Terminals
Both start with Tap to Pay on a phone and nothing to buy (Lopay adds 8p a sale for it), then diverge on the reader itself: SumUp sells a wider range outright, while Lopay keeps to one reader and a rentable terminal.
| SumUp | Lopay | |
|---|---|---|
| Free option | Tap to Pay on a phone | Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android, +8p a sale |
| Entry reader | Solo Lite, £25 | WisePad, from £35 |
| Mid tier | Solo, £79 | None |
| Terminal | £135, owned, with printer | Rent £15/mo (12-month contract) or buy £270 |
| Verified 5 October 2026. | ||
Connectivity is the catch for a market or rural trader. Lopay says its Business Terminal needs Wi-Fi, and we found no published offline mode for either its reader or its terminal, so a stall at the far end of a car park or a pitch with one bar of signal is a queue you cannot take money from.
POS Software and Hardware Add-ons
SumUp’s POS Lite runs inventory and reporting properly, so it works as a real till rather than merely a reader. Lopay’s app covers sales, tipping and digital receipts, and stays deliberately simple.
If you need stock levels and sales reports in the same place as the card payments, SumUp is the only one of the two that gives you them. Lopay has decided not to compete there, and for a trader selling a dozen lines off a table that is a reasonable thing to have decided.
In-Person Verdict
For taking money as cheaply as possible, Lopay’s rate and its £35 reader are hard to beat. A counter that needs a till behind it, with stock and staff and reporting, needs SumUp instead, and the extra 0.9 of a percentage point is the price of that.
SumUp vs Lopay Online Payments and Integrations
Hosted Checkout, Payment Links and APIs
SumUp gives you a hosted store, payment links and invoicing, billed at 2.50% online. Lopay offers links at an effective 1.28% but no real storefront, so it is cheaper per link and thinner for a full web shop.
Platform Integrations
Both connect to Xero and QuickBooks, so neither leaves you typing takings into a spreadsheet. SumUp pushes the previous day’s sales into Xero at 4am, which means that by the time you sit down to a VAT return the figures are already there and reconciled rather than waiting to be imported, and Lopay adds Xero invoicing at 0.29% + 10p. Where they separate is the shop: SumUp has a WooCommerce payment plugin and a storefront of its own, and we found nothing on Lopay’s pages beyond payment links.
Online Verdict
If you sell through a web shop, SumUp is the only real answer of the two, and its 2.50% online rate is the cost of having one. On the narrower job of getting takings into your accounts both reach Xero and QuickBooks, and Lopay’s links at around 1.28% undercut SumUp’s 2.50% by more than a point.
SumUp vs Lopay Payouts, Contract Terms and Account Risk
Settlement Speed and Payout Schedule
Lopay ties price to speed: 0.79% pays weekly on a Thursday, 0.99% next day, 1.79% instant. SumUp pays by 7am the next day, weekends included, into its free SumUp Business Account.
So Lopay is the only one of the two that will get money into your account the same day, and the 1.79% is what that costs. SumUp’s next-day payout, by 7am into its own Business Account, is fast enough for most trades, but it is not cash today.
Contract Length and Exit Terms
Both are pay-as-you-go, with no lock-in and no exit fee on standard terms. The only ongoing commitment is SumUp’s optional £19 plan or a Lopay terminal rental, which runs on a 12-month contract before it rolls monthly.
Both open quickly, and both check you first. SumUp asks for identity verification, proof of address, bank account details, and business registration documents where these apply, so a limited company has more to gather than a sole trader does.
Lopay verifies identity in the app: you submit a photo ID, a passport or driving licence, and take a live selfie. Have those ready and sign-up takes minutes.
Reserves, Holds and Account Stability
Both providers can freeze your money, and the mechanism differs in a way that matters when it happens to you.
SumUp can freeze an account during a chargeback or a sudden spike in takings, and reviewers report it being slow to put right once it has. At least the company holding the money is the company you can phone.
Lopay carries a subtler version of the same risk. Because it resells Stripe, a Stripe hold can lock your funds, and Lopay support cannot lift it. The decision sits one rung above them.
On stability, Lopay is young: founded in 2022 and backed by investors including BackedVC and Portage. That backing makes it a credible business, but it is not the fourteen-year trading record SumUp can point to, having started in 2012.
Because Lopay processes on Stripe, your account sits under Stripe’s prohibited-business rules, broadly the same restrictions SumUp and other major processors apply. If your trade is near a grey area, read Stripe’s restricted-business list before you sign up.
SumUp vs Lopay Customer Reviews and Reputation
Trustpilot and Independent Review Themes
SumUp holds 4.2 out of 5 on Trustpilot across more than 58,000 reviews, which is the kind of base a single bad month cannot move.
Lopay sits at 4.7 out of 5 on a far smaller base of about 3,000 reviews, praised hardest for rock-bottom fees and a simple app.
We read the recent reviews on both, and found the same warning: automated fund holds, and the grind of chasing released money. SumUp also draws steady complaints about Bluetooth pairing.
Support Channels and Response Times
Lopay gives you more ways in. It lists in-app, email and phone support plus a help centre, where SumUp offers live chat once you have logged in, a support centre and phone support through the app for some topics, but nothing by email at all.
SumUp’s scale cuts both ways: plenty of help articles, but slow queues when a hold needs a human. Lopay’s smaller team often replies quicker, though it is powerless over a Stripe freeze.
Reputation Verdict
SumUp has the longer record and Lopay the louder fans on price, and neither reputation should decide this for you. Both are reliable enough for daily takings on the published evidence, and both can hold your money without warning, so keep enough cash elsewhere to cover a week of wages either way.
SumUp vs Lopay for Instant Payouts
Lopay is the only one of the two that can pay you the same day. Its instant tier releases the money 24/7 at 1.79%, a full point above the 0.79% you would pay for waiting until Thursday, and that point is the entire product: nothing else about the transaction changes.
Its instant tier releases the money the same day, for 1.79%. That is roughly a 1% premium over its base rate.
SumUp has no true instant option. The fastest it manages is 7am the next day into a SumUp account.
For a trader who genuinely cannot wait, Lopay wins, as long as you accept what the speed costs.
Downsides of SumUp and Lopay
Downsides of SumUp
SumUp’s 2.50% online rate is its real weakness. Its risk system will freeze an account during a chargeback, and reviewers describe slow going getting that reversed. Reviewers also report a recurring Bluetooth pairing gripe with its readers.
SumUp’s Booking Services are not built for professions with a duty of confidentiality. If you work in tax, health, law, auditing or journalism, be careful using the booking tool for anything sensitive, as it is not designed to hold that kind of protected client data.
Downsides of Lopay
Lopay’s 1% surcharges on Amex, international and commercial cards stack rather than replacing each other, and the 2% charge on any payment taken in a foreign currency sits on top again, so a single overseas corporate card can cost several points over the 0.79% headline. Beyond payment links it offers nothing for an online shop. And because it processes on Stripe, a Stripe compliance hold freezes your money with Lopay unable to step in on your behalf.
Alternatives to SumUp and Lopay
If you already bank with Tide, its card reader undercuts both on the Premium plan, at 0.69% + 3p. That is the cheapest rate on this page, and it assumes you want your banking and your card machine from the same company.
Square throws in a free online store and takes Amex at no surcharge.
For cross-border takings, Airwallex settles in the currency you were paid, rather than forcing it back to pounds.
Final Verdict: SumUp or Lopay?
For the UK-debit sole trader who can wait for a Thursday payout, Lopay is the pick. At 0.79% it costs you roughly half what SumUp does on the same takings, and if your customers almost never hand over an Amex or an overseas card, nothing on the surcharge list ever reaches you.
For everyone else, SumUp is the pick, and the reason is that its price does not move when your customers change. At a flat 1.69% it costs more per tap than Lopay’s best rate, and that rate holds whether the card is a local debit card or an American Express, the money arrives the next day rather than on Thursday, and the till app and WooCommerce plugin are there when you start selling away from the counter. The broader your card mix gets, the more of Lopay’s advantage disappears into surcharges, and SumUp’s number stays where it was.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is SumUp or Lopay cheaper?
For a UK sole trader taking mostly debit cards who can wait for weekly payouts, Lopay is much cheaper at 0.79% against SumUp’s 1.69%. On £4,000 a month that is roughly £31.60 versus £67.60. SumUp closes the gap with its £19/month plan (0.99%) and wins outright once you take a fair share of Amex or international cards.
How do Lopay’s payout tiers work?
Lopay charges 0.79% if you accept weekly payouts on a Thursday, 0.99% for next-business-day payouts, and 1.79% for same-day instant payouts. The faster you want your money, the higher the rate, so the cheapest tier suits traders who can wait.
Do SumUp and Lopay charge extra for American Express?
SumUp accepts Amex at its standard 1.69% with no surcharge. Lopay accepts Amex but adds a 1% surcharge, and the same 1% applies to international and commercial cards. If Amex is common in your trade, SumUp is usually cheaper overall.
Which is better for selling online?
SumUp, comfortably. It offers a free online store and a WooCommerce payment plugin, though its online rate is 2.50%. Lopay has payment links at around 1.28% and links to Xero and QuickBooks, but no real storefront.
Is Lopay a stable company to rely on?
Lopay launched in 2022 and is a newer entrant, and is backed by investors including BackedVC and Portage. It processes on Stripe’s infrastructure, which is established, though that also means Stripe’s risk checks can hold funds.
How we compared SumUp and Lopay
Ranking criteria. We compared SumUp and Lopay on transaction fees, payout speed, card surcharges, monthly and hardware costs, payment methods, integrations and account risk, weighted by what matters to a UK sole trader.
Data sources. Fees, payouts and hardware prices were checked against SumUp’s and Lopay’s own pages and help centres on 5 and 6 October 2026. Review scores come from Trustpilot, and the Xero sync time from SumUp’s Xero app listing. No comparison-site data and no affiliate material.
Update cadence. We re-check both providers when either changes pricing, eligibility or terms, and the date on the page reflects the most recent full review. Some links on this page are affiliate links, see our editorial policy.