How much does a POS system cost in the UK? Anywhere from £19 once to £150+ a month, which is why the question annoys people. The spread is not dishonest - it reflects four separate costs that providers quote selectively. Here is the full bill, so you can compare like with like.
The short answer
A one-person business can take card payments for a £19-£40 reader and no monthly fee, paying only a percentage per sale. A small shop or cafe running proper EPOS typically lands between £30 and £80 a month all-in for software and spread-out hardware, plus transaction fees. A multi-till hospitality setup runs £100+ a month before you have poured a pint.
Any quote you get sits somewhere on that line. The trick is knowing which of the four cost layers it includes - and which it conveniently leaves out.
The four costs that make up every POS quote
Every POS price is these four things added together. When a provider leads with one number, they are usually quiet about another.
- Hardware: £19-£120 for a card reader; £150-£300 for a standalone terminal; £300-£800+ for a till screen, printer and cash drawer. Watch for 'from £X a month' hardware rental that quietly outstrips buying it within a year.
- Software: £0 for the free apps (Square, SumUp, Zettle) up to £70+ a month per till for dedicated EPOS (Epos Now, Lightspeed, TouchBistro). Per-till pricing matters - two tills often means two subscriptions.
- Transaction fees: 1.4%-1.75% per tap for most small-business providers. This is usually the biggest number of the lot once you are trading properly.
- Extras: receipt paper, kitchen printers, accounting integrations on 'higher tiers', phone support, and exit fees on contracted systems. Individually small, collectively real.
Realistic monthly totals by setup
Take a business doing £5,000 a month on cards at a typical 1.69% flat rate - that is £84.50 a month in transaction fees before any subscription. Now the setups:
- Reader + free app (SumUp, Square, Zettle): ~£85/month all-in at £5k of card sales, after a one-off £19-£120 for the reader. Cheapest route and genuinely fine for simple selling.
- iPad EPOS on a paid plan: add £25-£40 software - ~£110-£125/month. Buys stock control, staff accounts and proper reporting.
- Dedicated EPOS till (Epos Now, Lightspeed): add £40-£70 software and £400+ hardware - ~£125-£155/month plus the kit. For counters where speed and stock matter all day.
- Contracted terminal + EPOS (Dojo and similar): often lower percentage rates that beat flat-rate pricing at higher volumes - but check the contract length and exit terms before signing anything.
The costs nobody puts on the pricing page
Three recurring offenders. First, per-till and per-location pricing - the £39 headline becomes £78 the day you add a second screen. Second, feature gating: stock control or accounting sync locked behind the next tier up, announced after you have migrated your products. Third, card rate 'reviews' on contracted providers - the rate that won you over can drift upwards a year in unless you renegotiate.
None of these are scams; they are just not volunteered. Ask all three questions before you sign and you will be ahead of most buyers. Our switching checklist covers what to check before you move.
Cheap vs actually good value
The cheapest monthly price is not the cheapest system. At low volume, no-monthly-fee wins outright: £500 of card sales a month costs you about £8.50 in fees and nothing else. But at £15,000 a month, the difference between 1.69% and a negotiated 1.1% is over £1,000 a year - a £40 subscription with better rates beats a free app comfortably.
This is exactly what our fee calculator is for: put in your real monthly card turnover and average sale, and it shows the true monthly cost per provider. Two minutes there saves the classic mistake of choosing a till by its subscription price alone. If you want a shortlist matched to your business, the 60-second quiz does that too.
FAQs
What is the cheapest POS system in the UK?
For pure cost, a no-monthly-fee reader with its free app - SumUp, Square or Zettle - from about £19 one-off plus roughly 1.69%-1.75% per transaction. Cheapest overall depends on your volume: at higher turnover, paid plans with lower rates win.
Are 'free' POS systems actually free?
The software genuinely is; the money is made on transaction fees. That is a fair deal at low volume and an expensive one at high volume. There is no free lunch, but there is a correctly priced one for your turnover.
Should I rent or buy POS hardware?
Buy if you can. Rental spreads the cost but usually exceeds the purchase price within 12-18 months and can tie you into the provider. The exception is contracted packages where 'free' hardware is priced into decent card rates - just do the maths over the full term.
How much should a small cafe budget for POS?
Realistically £100-£160 a month all-in at typical cafe card volumes: an iPad or till, a £25-£45 software plan and transaction fees on the majority of sales being card. The fees are the biggest line, which is why the percentage matters more than the subscription.
