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Best EPOS Systems for UK Businesses (2026)
Square and PayPal Point of Sale are the safe default: a free till app, a flat 1.75% and no contract. SumUp is cheaper once you take £2,500 a month on cards.
Square is the best starting point for most small UK businesses: the till software is free, the reader costs £19 and there is no contract.
That stops being true as your card takings, stock or table service grow. Above about £2,500 a month on eligible cards, SumUp’s 0.99% plan costs less than Square’s 1.75%. Past £15,000 a month, a negotiated terminal rate can beat both. Complex stock and busy restaurants need a different system altogether.
Square, or PayPal Point of Sale if you already invoice through PayPalSee Square POS →
Rising card takings
SumUp: 0.99% on its £19/month plan beats 1.75% above about £2,500 a monthSee SumUp POS →
Complex retail stock
Lightspeed: stock across sites from £75/month; card rate on quoteSee Lightspeed →
Online store plus a shop
Shopify POS: one stock and customer list; needs a Shopify planSee Shopify POS →
A managed, full till setup
Epos Now: £299 bundle, 1.7% on Visa and Mastercard, 12-month minimumSee Epos Now →
Delivery-led restaurant
YumaPOS: delivery apps built in; hardware and card rate on quoteSee YumaPOS →
Your own card processor
TouchBistro or Loyverse: both let you bring your own acquirerSee TouchBistro →
Everything below explains the picks and the trade-offs in full.
An EPOS system is two purchases in one: the software that runs your tills, and the payment processor behind every card transaction. Get the processor wrong and you overpay on every sale for as long as you stay.
Square and PayPal Point of Sale start free, charge 1.75% on every in-person card payment, and have most businesses taking payments within an hour. That rate works at low volume.
Above roughly £2,500 a month in card takings, SumUp’s 0.99% plan is cheaper than the flat-rate alternatives. Above £15,000, a negotiated terminal rate from Dojo or TakePayments is worth pricing against everyone on this list. Lightspeed and YumaPOS will not show their rate until you call.
Figures verified against provider websites, October 2026. Lightspeed and YumaPOS do not publish a UK card rate, so both need a direct quote. Shopify Payments transaction fee waived on Grow plan and above.
Best EPOS Systems
Match the system to your monthly card takings first, not the brand name. Under about £2,500 a month, Square or PayPal Point of Sale on their free tiers win outright: no monthly fee, and you are taking payments within the hour.
Between £2,500 and £15,000, SumUp Payments Plus at 0.99% on eligible consumer cards or a mid-tier EPOS starts to pay for itself. Above £15,000, a negotiated terminal rate from Dojo is worth pricing against everything here.
We ranked them on the card rate you actually pay across a year and the depth of the tools, not the headline monthly fee. Each pick below comes with the one condition that makes it the wrong call.
Best free-plan EPOS: Square vs PayPal Point of Sale vs SumUp vs Loyverse
Square POS. Free plan, £19 Reader, 1.75% flat on in-person payments with UK cards, no contract. The free app covers unlimited products, inventory, staff permissions, and a customer CRM. Most businesses are taking payments within an hour of signing up.
Not right if: card turnover regularly exceeds £10,000–£15,000/month; at that point the 1.75% flat rate is no longer the cheapest option.
PayPal Point of Sale (formerly Zettle). Same 1.75% rate, no contract, and a Reader 2 from £29 for new business customers. The reason to choose it over Square is the PayPal connection: if you already invoice through PayPal or run a PayPal-powered online store, it pulls in-person and digital payments into one dashboard.
Without that integration, Square is the better default: its Reader costs £10 less and its retail tools go further.
SumUp POS. 1.69% PAYG or 0.99% on the £19/month Payments Plus plan. At £10,000/month of card takings, 0.99% saves £76/month versus 1.75%, or £57 once you pay the plan fee. The Free POS tier has no floor plans or table management; POS Plus (£39/month ex VAT) adds them for hospitality.
The SumUp Register, the countertop till that runs SumUp POS, photographed front-on from the unit we hold. It is a fixed EPOS station rather than a phone-paired reader, which is why it suits a counter with a queue more than table-to-table service.
Loyverse. The software is permanently free and Loyverse charges no transaction commission. You bring your own payment processor: SumUp, PayPal Point of Sale, and Teya all integrate directly.
Free kitchen display and customer-facing screen are genuinely unusual at this price point. The trade-off is managing POS and payments as two separate relationships.
Best for retail (multi-location): Lightspeed Retail
Lightspeed Retail runs from £75 to £189/month. Every plan includes centralised inventory across all locations, purchase-order management, and a built-in eCommerce storefront. Multichannel selling across Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Google Shopping comes included at every tier.
If you manage stock across two or more sites, Lightspeed does things that Square, SumUp, and PayPal Point of Sale cannot. Lightspeed does not publish its UK card-present rate, so you only learn what processing costs when you ask for a quote.
Best for hospitality with delivery integrations: YumaPOS or Epos Now
YumaPOS has Just Eat, Uber Eats, and Deliveroo built directly into the platform, no middleware needed. Software starts at £35/month plus VAT, and hardware is priced on request.
The catch is that you cannot work out what you will actually pay before speaking to sales. Card rate and hardware terms are both quote-only.
Epos Now publishes a 1.7% Visa/MC rate for its integrated payments and a hardware bundle from £299. Its separate Payments Lite product, which needs no POS system, is priced differently.
The 12-month minimum and £54/month care plan are the main friction points. Its delivery integrations (Deliveroo, Order & Pay) also come through the app marketplace rather than being built in.
Not right if: you need pricing transparency before committing (YumaPOS) or want to avoid minimum contracts (both).
Best for e-commerce + physical retail: Shopify POS
Shopify POS is the only system where online and in-person inventory, orders, and customers are genuinely unified without middleware. POS Lite is free with any Shopify eCom plan (from £25/month).
POS Pro (£69/month per location) adds staff permissions, exchange-only returns, and unlimited registers. Shopify Payments is the built-in processor; using a competitor adds a 0.6–2% surcharge on every sale.
Not right if: you are starting in-person-first without an online store (the mandatory eCom plan fee is a sunk cost until online sales develop).
Here is the detail behind each pick: what you get, where it falls short, and our verdict. If your shortlist is down to two, this is where you split them.
Square Reader
Top Pick
Top Pick
Square Reader
The right reader for any business that cannot honestly forecast its card volume a year out.
Best for: Small businesses wanting a free POS app and no monthly fees
Watch out: The standard 1.75% rate can become expensive as volume grows, though Square offers potential custom pricing above £200,000 annual card sales
Not ideal if: High-volume sellers who would benefit from Dojo or other negotiated per-transaction rates
Transaction fee1.75% UK cards (incl. Amex); +1.5% on non-UK cards
Monthly feeNone
Hardware cost£19 +VAT
SettlementNext day, weekends included (free); instant 1.5%
ContractNo lock-in
Amex acceptedYes: same 1.75% rate
Eligibility: UK businesses: sole traders, partnerships, and limited companies. Account holders must be 18 or over. Custom rates available for businesses processing over £200,000 annually. Prohibited categories include firearms and other restricted activities: see Square’s Acceptable Use Policy.
Not ideal if: High-volume sellers who would benefit from Dojo or other negotiated per-transaction rates
Watch out: The standard 1.75% rate can become expensive as volume grows, though Square offers potential custom pricing above £200,000 annual card sales
No monthly fee and no contract, so the commitment is low if you want to test card acceptance
Free POS app usable from day one; online signup and setup are designed to be quick
Amex accepted at the same 1.75% rate: no surcharge or separate policy needed
Software ecosystem (online store, invoices, appointments) on the same account, no extra fees
1.75% flat can get expensive as volume grows, though custom pricing is offered above £200,000 annual card sales
Standard settlement is next day, weekends and holidays included, at no cost; only an instant transfer costs 1.5%
Bluetooth-to-phone means a flat battery or dropped app stops checkout
Square POS free plan: inventory, CRM, analytics and team management included from day one
Offline mode: Square Reader and Stand take payments for up to 24 hours without internet; every device must upload them within 72 hours
Hardware range from £19 Reader to £699 Register: scalable as the business grows
Payment links, invoices and online store included: all feed into the same Square account
PayPal Point of Sale
No monthly fee
No monthly fee
PayPal Point of Sale
Best if PayPal is already part of how your business gets paid.
Best for: Market stalls, mobile traders, pop-ups, and small retail or food businesses wanting zero monthly fees and no contracts. The PayPal Terminal suits mobile sellers because its 4G is built in at no ongoing cost.
Watch out: Money lands in PayPal first: one extra transfer step before cash reaches your bank account
Not ideal if: Businesses wanting settlement direct to a bank account: PayPal transfer step adds a day to cash position
Transaction fee1.75% flat (all cards incl. Amex)
Monthly feeNone
Hardware cost£29 +VAT (Reader, new business users); £149 +VAT (Terminal with 4G)
SettlementMinutes to PayPal; up to 30 minutes (instant) or 3-5 working days (standard) to bank
ContractNo contract
Amex acceptedYes
Not ideal if: Businesses wanting settlement direct to a bank account: PayPal transfer step adds a day to cash position
Watch out: Money lands in PayPal first: one extra transfer step before cash reaches your bank account
Minutes-to-account settlement into PayPal: the fastest non-myPOS option here
1.75% flat including Amex: matches Square on the in-person rate
Useful for businesses with an existing PayPal invoicing or e-commerce flow
Money sits in PayPal, not a business bank account: one more transfer step before cash is usable
POS app is thinner than Square’s: fine for simple retail, weaker for hospitality
No volume discount structure exists
PayPal Point of Sale app (free): item library, inventory tracking, sales reports and team management included at no extra cost
Fast PayPal settlement: funds typically reach your PayPal Business balance within minutes of each sale, with no working-day delay
Hardware range from the £29 PayPal Reader to the all-in-one PayPal Terminal, with a printer dock sold separately: flexible setup for any counter
PayPal-integrated checkout: customers can pay via PayPal QR at the till, and PayPal online transactions feed into the same merchant account
Built-in product variants, discounts and gift cards: works for retail, hospitality and service businesses out of the box without add-on subscriptions
Best for: Small hospitality and retail businesses wanting low-cost full POS software with integrated payments. The Free POS suits very simple setups. POS Plus at £39/month ex VAT adds floor plans and table management. SumUp names a POS Pro plan but shows no price for it.
Best for: Retail and hospitality businesses wanting a full out-of-box POS bundle with integrated payments, cloud back office, and app ecosystem. Particularly suited to SMEs needing inventory management, staff reporting, and a fixed-location counter setup.
Transaction fee1.70% flat (Visa/Mastercard via Epos Now Payments)
Monthly feeFrom £54/month (care plan with bundle)
Hardware costFrom £299 (complete POS bundle with 12-month subscription)
SettlementNext working day (same-day available as paid upgrade)
Contract12-month minimum, auto-renewing annually
Amex acceptedYes: opt-in, at a separate unpublished rate
Eligibility: Open to UK retail and hospitality businesses with no published credit or turnover threshold, but eligibility comes with contractual strings worth reading first: the discounted hardware bundle requires a 12-month minimum care-and-support subscription (£54/month), and some finance bundles run far longer. Trustpilot and Reddit complaints cite terms of up to 60 months that auto-renew into new 36-month periods unless 30 days’ written notice is given. Integrated Epos Now Payments is subject to a standard merchant underwriting check. Confirm your exact contract length before signing.
1.70% flat rate for integrated Epos Now Payments: no variation by card type (Amex excepted)
Full POS bundle from £299: touchscreen terminal with built-in printer, software and installation in one price
Cloud back office with real-time inventory, staff management and multi-location reporting
100+ app integrations including Xero, QuickBooks, Shopify and Deliveroo
Hospitality add-ons include KDS, table management, online ordering and tableside payment
12-month minimum contracts auto-renew annually: missing the 30-day notice window locks you in for another year
Some bundles carry 36-month contracts with heavy early termination penalties
Add-on costs stack up: accounting, loyalty and online ordering each add £15–£25/month
Amex, JCB, Diners, Discover and UnionPay are charged at a separate flat rate that Epos Now does not publish for integrated payments
Trustpilot and Reddit complaints cite aggressive sales practices and difficult cancellation
Complete out-of-box POS bundle: terminal with built-in printer, software and installation included
Cloud back office with real-time inventory, staff management and multi-location reporting
Hospitality add-ons: KDS, table management, order and pay (Yoello), online ordering
100+ app integrations: accounting, eCommerce, delivery and loyalty tools
Best for: Retail or hospitality businesses wanting a deeply integrated POS, payments, and eCommerce platform, particularly multi-location operators who need centralised inventory and reporting.
Transaction feeNot published; one flat rate quoted by sales
Monthly feeFrom £75/month (Retail Basic) or £79/month (Restaurant Basic)
Hardware costNot published: quote required
SettlementNot published: contact Lightspeed to confirm
ContractAnnual or monthly billing available
Amex acceptedYes
Eligibility: Open to UK-registered businesses, with a standard onboarding and merchant underwriting check before Lightspeed Payments is activated. No published minimum turnover, but the platform is priced and built for established, multi-terminal operators. Restaurant software starts at £79/month before hardware, so it suits venues with the volume to absorb a fixed monthly licence rather than a single-till café. Integrated Lightspeed Payments is UK-only; custom and enterprise plans require a sales consultation.
Deeply integrated POS, payments and eCommerce on one platform: no third-party bridge needed
Multi-location inventory management from a single back-office with stock transfers between sites
One flat rate for Lightspeed Payments whatever the card type (rate quoted by sales)
100+ integrations including Xero, QuickBooks, Deliverect and Uber Eats
Cloud-based with offline mode: continues processing if internet connectivity drops
Monthly fees from £75 rising to £219/month: higher entry cost than standalone card reader options
Hardware prices not published: a quote is required before knowing total setup cost
Payouts on request, with same-day deposits that can land within a few hours; instant payouts for eligible merchants only
Annual contracts have unclear early termination terms: check before signing
UK transaction rates sourced from third-party reviews: not directly published by Lightspeed UK
Unified POS, payments and eCommerce: in-person and online sales on one platform
Multi-location inventory with transfers, reorder automation and supplier management
Built-in eCom on all Retail plans: multichannel selling to Amazon, eBay, Instagram, TikTok
Advanced reporting with staff commission tracking and forecast replenishment mode
Best for: Hospitality businesses (restaurants, cafes, bars, takeaways, bakeries, fast food) wanting an integrated EPOS with delivery platform integrations (Just Eat, Uber Eats, Deliveroo)
Watch out: The software licensing agreement is governed by New York law (the general terms name England and Wales), and fees are non-refundable on termination; card rates and settlement timing are not published, confirm both in writing before signing.
Not ideal if: Retailers, or any business that needs published card-processing rates and confirmed settlement terms before committing.
Transaction fee0% commission (card rate via third-party processor: quote required)
Monthly feeFrom £35/month (primary EPOS licence)
Hardware costSold separately; prices by quote, flexible payment options
SettlementYumaPOS does not publish this Ask for it in writing before you sign
Contract30 calendar days notice to cancel
Amex acceptedYumaPOS does not publish this Ask for it in writing before you sign
Eligibility: UK hospitality of any size, restaurants, cafes, bars, pubs, takeaways, bakeries and food trucks, through to enterprise chains and franchises. No published trading-history or turnover minimum; onboarding runs through a sales enquiry rather than instant signup.
Not ideal if: Retailers, or any business that needs published card-processing rates and confirmed settlement terms before committing.
Watch out: The software licensing agreement is governed by New York law (the general terms name England and Wales), and fees are non-refundable on termination; card rates and settlement timing are not published, confirm both in writing before signing.
0% commission on transactions: card processing cost is the only variable charge
Just Eat, Uber Eats and Deliveroo integrations built in: no middleware required
Full add-on suite: waiter app, kitchen display, self-serve kiosk and customer app on one platform
30-day notice to cancel: no long minimum contract term published
Card processing rates not published: the cost of taking payments requires a direct enquiry
Settlement timing not confirmed on the primary source: check before signing
Amex acceptance not confirmed: businesses with corporate customers should verify
Contract governed by US law despite UK operations: legal recourse may be more complex
Fewer published independent reviews than larger EPOS rivals
Native integrations with Just Eat, Uber Eats and Deliveroo: no middleware needed
Waiter app, kitchen display and self-serve kiosk available as modular add-ons
0% platform commission on transactions: no revenue share on sales volume
YUMAPay standalone terminal: 4G, WiFi and Bluetooth in one device
Shopify POS
Best for Ecommerce
Best for Ecommerce
Shopify POS
Shopify POS Lite makes sense as a free add-on for businesses already paying for Shopify online.
Best for: Retailers who already use or plan to use Shopify for eCommerce and want unified web + in-store stock management. Unmatched for omnichannel retail. Not suited to businesses wanting payment processor flexibility or those processing primarily card-not-present transactions at scale.
Watch out: Third-party processor surcharge (0.6–2.0%) effectively forces Shopify Payments use. POS Pro costs £69/month per location on top of the eCommerce plan.
Not ideal if: Businesses without a Shopify eCommerce subscription, or those wanting processor flexibility.
Card transaction fee1.7% (in-person, Basic plan)
Monthly platform fee£25 (Basic Shopify required)
HardwareWisePad 3 from around £59
SettlementAbout 3 business days, plus 1 to 3 days to reach the bank
ContractPay monthly; cancel anytime
Amex acceptedYes
Eligibility: UK businesses with an active Shopify storefront subscription (Basic Shopify £25/mo and above). Standard underwriting applies. Hardware ships to mainland UK addresses; Northern Ireland and Channel Islands check at checkout. Some high-risk product categories restricted.
Not ideal if: Businesses without a Shopify eCommerce subscription, or those wanting processor flexibility.
Watch out: Third-party processor surcharge (0.6–2.0%) effectively forces Shopify Payments use. POS Pro costs £69/month per location on top of the eCommerce plan.
Native integration with Shopify online store and inventory
Unified order management across in-person, online, and Etsy/Amazon channels
Shop Pay accelerated checkout extends to in-person via QR
WisePad 3 reader costs £59 on Shopify’s UK hardware store
Requires an active Shopify subscription: not usable standalone
Penalty fee of up to 2% applies if you use a third-party gateway instead of Shopify Payments
Hardware ecosystem narrower than Square or PayPal Point of Sale for retail-only use cases
International card rates are higher than Stripe (3.1% + 25p on Basic plan)
Shopify POS Lite included with all Shopify plans
Shopify POS Pro adds advanced retail features (£69/month per location)
WisePad 3: contactless and chip-and-PIN, pairs to the POS app over Bluetooth
Shopify POS Terminal: wired countertop reader for fixed locations
Shop Pay one-tap checkout extends to QR-based in-person checkout
TouchBistro POS
Best for Restaurants
Best for Restaurants
TouchBistro POS
The sit-down restaurant pick when you want your own card rates and a till that survives broadband drops.
Best for: UK sit-down restaurants, pubs, and cafes needing detailed table management, detailed ingredient-level inventory, and payment processor freedom. Local network architecture is a significant advantage for venues with unreliable broadband.
Watch out: Apple-only hardware, and no published UK price or contract term. Ask for both in a quote.
Not ideal if: Retailers, or anyone wanting integrated payments and the lowest total cost.
Transaction feeSet by your own acquirer (processor-agnostic)
Monthly feeNo UK price published (US page: $69/month)
Hardware costBring your own iPad (£400–£800)
SettlementDepends on chosen acquirer
ContractNot published
Payment processorBring your own (agnostic)
Eligibility: Open to UK hospitality businesses, but with two practical gates. First, TouchBistro runs exclusively on Apple hardware, you supply the iPads (and, for larger sites, a local network and server), so you need to be ready to invest in iOS kit. Second, TouchBistro publishes no UK price, so you need a quote before you can compare it with other systems. Because the POS is processor-agnostic, you also need a separate merchant account with your chosen acquirer in place before you can take card payments.
Not ideal if: Retailers, or anyone wanting integrated payments and the lowest total cost.
Watch out: Apple-only hardware, and no published UK price or contract term. Ask for both in a quote.
Deeply specialized for hospitality sector
Free 24/7 technical customer support
Extensive hardware compatibility
Flexible third-party payment integrations
No UK price or contract term published
You supply the iPads and peripherals, which add to the cost
iOS only, no Android hardware option
No native purchase ordering; card processing needs a separate acquirer
Best for: Startups, micro-businesses, market stalls, small cafes, and food trucks with very limited budgets. The free KDS and loyalty system make it surprisingly capable for simple hospitality setups. Cost scales predictably as the business grows.
Best for: Businesses that want Clover hardware, software and card acquiring from one provider, First Data Europe Limited (Fiserv). The 150+ apps and integrations provides flexibility for businesses with specific integration needs.
Transparent hardware leasing
No minimum monthly transaction charges
No PCI compliance fees
Free Faster Funding available
UK-based customer support
Range of POS hardware models
Accepts major digital wallets and cards
24/7 dashboard sales tracking
Industry-specific software modules
API developer tools
How to Choose the Best EPOS System
Three questions settle most of this, and they have nothing to do with the feature list a sales rep will show you. Work through them in order before signing anything, because the cost of getting them wrong compounds every month you stay.
Will you outgrow the flat rate, and when? A free flat-rate plan (Square, PayPal Point of Sale) is the cheapest start, but every system has a turnover where a paid plan or a negotiated rate takes over.
Decide whether you are buying for this year’s volume or next year’s: switching processor later means new hardware and re-training staff. The exact breakpoints are in Fees and Costs to Watch below.
How long are you willing to be locked in? Square, PayPal Point of Sale, SumUp, and Loyverse have no contract. Shopify POS is month-to-month on its eCom plan. Epos Now requires a 12-month minimum.
YumaPOS gives 30 days’ notice, though its store software licence is with a US company and names New York law. Start no-contract while your model is still settling, and commit only once volume and workflow are stable.
Do you want to keep your own card processor? Square, PayPal Point of Sale, and Lightspeed lock you to their own. Shopify POS does too, and adds a 0.6 to 2% surcharge if you process through anyone else.
TouchBistro and Loyverse are payment-agnostic, so you negotiate your own rate and switch acquirers when you get a better offer. Epos Now defaults to its own Payments service but accepts third-party terminals.
This last point matters more as you grow: being locked to 1.75% when you could negotiate 0.7% costs roughly £1,050 a month on £100,000 of turnover.
Check the connection before the analogue switch-off. The UK PSTN and ISDN phone network is being switched off by 31 January 2027, and BT lists card machines among the affected kit. If an older EPOS dials out over a copper phone line, confirm it runs on a digital connection.
Fees and Costs to Watch
Total the first year, not the sticker price: hardware, software, and a year of card fees at the volume you actually take. The cheapest line on the brochure is rarely the cheapest system once it is running.
Break-even: what card payments cost each month at four levels of takings. Each figure is card fees plus the plan fee the provider publishes, with every payment treated as an eligible UK consumer card.
Monthly card takings
Square (1.75%)
SumUp pay-as-you-go (1.69%)
SumUp Payments Plus (0.99% + £19)
Epos Now (1.7% + £54 care plan)
£2,000
£35
£33.80
£38.80
£88
£5,000
£87.50
£84.50
£68.50
£139
£10,000
£175
£169
£118
£224
£20,000
£350
£338
£217
£394
Rates and plan fees from Square, SumUp and Epos Now, read 12 October 2026. Our arithmetic.
SumUp Payments Plus overtakes Square at £2,500 a month, because £19 divided by the 0.76-point rate gap is £2,500. It overtakes SumUp’s own pay-as-you-go rate at about £2,700. The 0.99% rate covers eligible cards only. American Express, premium and international cards cost more, so if many of your customers pay that way, your own crossover sits higher.
Above £15,000 a month, flat-rate EPOS is rarely the cheapest route. A terminal rate from Dojo, TakePayments or a bank acquirer is quoted at that volume, not published. Epos Now at 1.7% on £15,000 costs £255 a month in processing alone. If you negotiated 0.8%, the same volume would cost £120. At that scale, compare the platform fee, not the headline card rate.
Year one for one till taking £5,000 a month on cards. Hardware is shown before VAT. A provider that publishes no card rate or hardware price cannot be totalled, and we have not guessed one.
Provider
Hardware
Software and plan fees
Card fees
Year-one total
Square
£19
£0
£1,050
£1,069
PayPal Point of Sale
From £29
£0
£1,050
From £1,079
SumUp pay-as-you-go
£25
£0
£1,014
£1,039
SumUp Payments Plus
£25
£228
£594
£847
Epos Now
£299 bundle
£648
£1,020
£1,967
Shopify POS
Reader price not confirmed
£300 (Basic plan)
£1,020
£1,320 plus the reader
Lightspeed
Quote only
£900 (Retail Basic)
Quote only
Cannot be totalled
YumaPOS
Quote only
£420
Quote only
Cannot be totalled
Software and plan fees from Shopify, Lightspeed, YumaPOS, PayPal Point of Sale and the providers named above, read 12 October 2026. Shopify’s Basic plan is the one an online store needs anyway. Our arithmetic.
The cheapest first year is SumUp Payments Plus at £847, then pay-as-you-go at £1,039 and Square at £1,069. Epos Now costs about £900 more in year one for the same takings. What that extra buys is a full till and a support plan, so it only makes sense if you need those.
The costs that hide off the pricing page. Epos Now adds a £54/month care plan on its 12-month minimum. Delivery integrations often run through middleware: Deliverect starts from £79/month, billed separately and easy to miss.
Shopify POS adds that 0.6 to 2% surcharge on every sale unless you use Shopify Payments. Lightspeed and YumaPOS do not publish their card rates at all, so neither annual total can be confirmed before you request a quote.
YumaPOS gives 30 days’ notice. Its store software licence is with Yumasoft Inc. and names New York law, while the UK company’s general terms name England and Wales. Lightspeed is annual or monthly, but early-termination terms are not published: ask before committing.
Start no-contract if your business model is still settling. Move to a contracted platform only once volume and workflow are stable enough to commit to 12 months or more.
Payment processor lock-in
Square, PayPal Point of Sale, and Lightspeed lock you to their own processor. Shopify POS does the same but adds a 0.6–2% surcharge if you use a different one.
TouchBistro and Loyverse are payment-agnostic: you negotiate your own rates and can switch acquirers when you get a better offer.
Epos Now defaults to its own Payments service at 1.7% but also accepts third-party terminals. YumaPOS routes through a third-party processor but does not publish which one or its rates.
Fees and hardware prices verified against provider websites, October 2026. Epos Now rate confirmed at 1.7% (Visa and Mastercard) for integrated payments.
Lightspeed UK card rate and YumaPOS card rate are not published; both require a direct quote. This page is editorial content, not regulated financial advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between POS and EPOS?
POS stands for point of sale and covers any system where a transaction completes, from a cash register to a card reader. EPOS (electronic point of sale) means a computerised till. In practice, all modern systems are electronic, so the label won’t help you choose. What matters is whether the software covers stock management, reporting, and the integrations your business relies on. Clear reports are what you’ll notice when you file your accounts.
Which EPOS system is cheapest for a new business?
Square, PayPal Point of Sale, and Loyverse all offer permanently free POS software. Square Reader is £19+VAT and PayPal Point of Sale Reader 2 is from £29+VAT for new business users: both charge 1.75% per in-person transaction with no monthly fee. That’s the rate you’ll pay on every sale. Loyverse takes no commission but needs a separate payment processor: SumUp at 1.69% pay-as-you-go is the most cost-effective pairing, though you’ll need to budget for compatible hardware on top. At 500 card transactions a month, a 0.06% rate difference starts to compound. Below that level, Square is simpler.
Can I use my own payment processor with an EPOS system?
TouchBistro and Loyverse are both payment-agnostic: you negotiate rates with your own acquirer, which means you can switch when you receive a better quote. Clover UK requires a reseller bank, limiting your options in practice. Square, PayPal Point of Sale, Lightspeed, and Shopify POS lock you into their own processor. Epos Now defaults to Epos Now Payments but also supports third-party terminals.
Which EPOS systems work offline?
TouchBistro is the most reliable for offline use: it runs on a local network, so a dropped connection doesn’t stop you taking orders. Square and PayPal Point of Sale process payments offline and sync when connectivity resumes. Lightspeed has an offline mode that syncs on reconnect. Epos Now and YumaPOS are cloud-dependent. The real cost is downtime when your customer is ready to pay.
Which EPOS systems integrate with Just Eat, Uber Eats, and Deliveroo?
YumaPOS has all three platforms built in natively, so if delivery is central to your operation it’s the cleanest option. Epos Now routes delivery orders through Yoello, and Lightspeed Restaurant connects via Deliverect middleware. The catch is the monthly middleware bill. Deliverect starts from £79 a month, which is easy to miss when you pay for it separately from your EPOS software. Square for Restaurants supports third-party integrations but not native delivery-platform routing. TouchBistro handles delivery via its Delivery add-on.
How we reviewed Best EPOS System UK
Ranking criteria. We ranked providers on cost, eligibility, features, and ease of access. Total cost and operational fit carry the heaviest weight because they decide the buying outcome for almost every business type.
Data sources. We checked each provider’s published pricing page and product docs directly in October 2026, and modelled each rate against real turnover breakpoints ourselves. That confirmed Epos Now’s 1.7% Visa and Mastercard rate for integrated payments.
Update cadence. We re-check provider prices and terms at each update of this page and whenever a provider changes them. The verification dates on the page show when the figures were last checked against provider websites. Some links on this page are affiliate links, see our editorial policy.
Square Reader
Top Pick
PayPal Point of Sale
No monthly fee
SumUp POS
Epos Now
Lightspeed Payments
YumaPOS
Shopify POS
Best for Ecommerce
TouchBistro POS
Best for Restaurants
Loyverse POS
Clover UK