In short. Free tills exist (Square, PayPal POS, Loyverse), and then you pay about 1.75% on each card sale at the counter. The paid plans in the table ran from £19 a month (Shopify’s Basic plan, billed yearly) to £229 (Lightspeed Retail’s top plan, billed monthly).
On this page
We make Talstok, and it is in this list, marked as ours. The other seven are in alphabetical order, and their figures were read from their own UK pages on 5 October 2026. Prices change: follow each link before you decide.
This list is for shops that sell goods over a counter, online, or both. Cafés and restaurants need table service and kitchen tickets, and are not covered here.
At a glance
| System | Monthly price | Card fees | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Epos Now | Not published. Its discounted hardware bundle needs a 12-month subscription from £54 a month | 1.70% in person (Visa and Mastercard); 1.4% + 15p online through Epos Now Online (domestic cards) | Shops that want countertop hardware supplied with the software |
| Lightspeed Retail | £89 a month (£75 billed yearly) to £229 (£189 yearly) | Not published; £15 chargeback fee | Larger shops and chains, with repairs as an extra module |
| Loyverse | Free; add-ons £5 to £20 a month per store | Not on its pricing page | A very small shop on a tight budget |
| PayPal POS (Zettle) | App free | 1.75% per card payment | Low-volume sellers who already use PayPal |
| Shopify POS | Basic plan £25 a month (£19 yearly); POS Pro £69 a month per location | 1.7% in person; 2% + 25p online (Basic) | Shops whose online shop is the main business |
| Square | Free; Square for Retail Plus £49 a month per location | 1.75% in person; 1.4% + 25p online (UK cards) | A new shop that wants a free till and a free online shop to start |
| SumUp POS | Point of Sale Pro £49 a month, plus VAT | 1.69% in person; 2.5% online (pay as you go) | Small shops that started with a SumUp card reader |
| Talstok (ours) | From £20 a month per shop that takes real money; what each plan includes is being decided; test shops free | Stripe’s own online (1.5% + 20p, standard UK cards); your card machine’s at the counter | Independent shops that sell in person and online from one stock count, including second-hand shops that keep each item one by one |
Each one in brief
Epos Now
Best for: shops that want countertop hardware supplied with the software. The software price is not on its pricing page, and its hardware offers differed between its own pages on the day we read them, so ask for a written quote.
Lightspeed Retail
Best for: larger shops and chains, with repairs as an extra module. Prices are with Lightspeed Payments. Each plan has one register; more registers and locations are quoted. Repairs are its Service Orders module, priced through an account manager. Contract terms are not on its pricing page.
Loyverse
Best for: a very small shop on a tight budget. The free plan reports on the last 31 days of sales. The add-ons are a longer sales history (£5 a month), staff management (£20) and advanced inventory (£20), each per store with a 14-day free trial. Prices exclude taxes, and the currency follows your region.
PayPal POS (Zettle)
Best for: low-volume sellers who already use PayPal. It says there are no long-term commitments.
Shopify POS
Best for: shops whose online shop is the main business. Selling in person is in every plan; POS Pro adds the fuller till. Shopify’s own pages disagree on POS Pro’s yearly price (one says £52 a month on a 12-month term). Using a payment provider other than Shopify Payments adds 2% on Basic. Second-hand buying and repairs come from apps.
Square
Best for: a new shop that wants a free till and a free online shop to start. It sells its own card hardware: Reader £19, Terminal £149, Register £699, each plus VAT. Keyed-in payments and invoices cost 2.5%. It says you can cancel anytime.
SumUp POS
Best for: small shops that started with a SumUp card reader. Its general pricing page showed POS Plus at both £29 and £39, so check the price on the day.
Talstok (ours)
Best for: independent shops that sell in person and online from one stock count, including second-hand shops that keep each item one by one. Where the others are ahead: it does not connect to card readers, print receipts or work offline, it has no gift cards or loyalty, and it does not record a purchase from a member of the public or track a repair job (for repairs it keeps a price list of jobs that a website built on its public catalogue can show; the online shop it runs does not show the list yet). Signing up on this site is not open yet. A shop starts by writing to contact@talstok.com for a free test shop.
Also looked at
Clover publishes no prices on its UK site (it uses a quotation tool), so it is not listed with figures.
How to choose
- Add up a year: the monthly fee, the equipment, and the card fees on what you expect to take. On £4,000 a month of card sales at the counter, 1.75% is £70 a month and 1.69% is £67.60.
- Match it to your shop: second-hand buying, batches and dates, repairs, an online shop, several locations.
- Read the agreement: monthly, or a 12-month term tied to equipment.
- Try it first with your own products.
New to all this? Start with what EPOS is and what it costs.