EPOS systems UK: 10 tills compared on published prices
The cheapest EPOS system with published UK pricing is a free plan from SumUp or Square, where you pay only card fees: £84.50 a month on a £5,000 a month shop. Paid tills from Lightspeed (£75 to £219 a month) and Toast (£80 to £150 a month) earn their fee only if you need multi-site, kitchen or table-service features, and neither publishes its card rate.
Every price below was read from the vendor's own UK website on 1 November 2026. Where a vendor prices only by demo or quote we say "Not published" rather than guess. There are no affiliate links on this page.
The comparison: software, hardware, card rate and contract
| EPOS system | Software from | Hardware from | In-person card rate | Payments tie-in | Contract |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Square POS Retail, restaurants and services, with separate Square for Retail and Square for Restaurants apps | £0/month (Free plan) | £19 + VAT (Square Reader); Register £699 + VAT | 1.75% UK cards in person; non-UK cards pay 1.75% + 1.5% | Square processes the payments; the software and rate come together | No long-term contract; Square says cancel any time and you can drop from Plus to Free |
| Epos Now Retail and hospitality, sold as hardware bundles with a payments and support subscription | From £25/month (12-month payments and support subscription) | Complete Solution bundle "from £299" (promotional; other bundle prices on the same site differ) | 1.70% Visa and Mastercard flat rate through Epos Now Payments; Amex, JCB, Diners, Discover and UnionPay are opt-in at a second flat rate that is not published | The discounted bundle requires the 12-month Epos Now payments and support subscription | 12 months on the discounted bundle; the pricing page itself is quote only |
| Lightspeed Retail (Lightspeed Retail) and hospitality (Lightspeed Restaurant, priced by number of till licences) | £75/month (Retail Basic); £79/month (Restaurant Basic) | Not published | Not published Lightspeed Payments is promoted but no rate is published | Lightspeed Payments is offered on every plan; the rate is not published (Restaurant Core and Pro are "custom") | Not published (no term stated on the pricing pages); extra Restaurant registers £39/month each |
| SumUp POS (formerly Goodtill) Small cafés, shops and hospitality, from a free app up to the Goodtill-based POS Pro | £0/month (Free POS) | £399 ex VAT (Register); £599 ex VAT (Full POS Kit) | 1.69% pay as you go, in person, including Amex and premium cards | Card payments run through SumUp devices at SumUp rates | POS Pro: "No long-term contracts"; Free POS has no subscription |
| Shopify POS Retailers who also sell online through a Shopify store | £25/month (Basic plan, "starting at") | £59 (WisePad 3 card reader, VAT not stated) | 1.7% in person on the Basic plan with Shopify Payments | Shopify Payments; using a third-party processor adds a 2% (Basic), 1% (Grow) or 0.6% (Advanced) fee | Monthly on Basic and Grow; POS Pro add-on is £69/month per location billed yearly; Advanced on a 1 or 3 year term |
| Zonal (Aztec EPOS) Pubs, bars and restaurant groups; Zonal also sells Akru for independent operators | Not published | Not published | Not published | Integrated payments offered; terms by demo and quote | Not published (Akru is described as having "no lock-ins") |
| Tevalis Hospitality: pubs and bars, restaurants, hotels, stadia, theatres, attractions and clubs | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published; pricing by demo | Not published |
| Toast Restaurants only | £80/month (Starter, "starting at") | Not published | Not published Toast says "per transaction flat rate" but publishes no figure | Payment processing is integrated with the POS on every plan; Toast advises against using your own hardware | Not published |
| Loyverse Small shops and cafés that want a free app on their own phone or tablet | £0/month (paid add-ons per store, prices excl. taxes) | £0 (runs on an iOS or Android phone or tablet you own) | Not published Loyverse lists SumUp and Zettle among its payment integrations; you pay that provider's rate | None: connect a listed provider (SumUp, Zettle and others) or record card payments manually | None on the free app; add-ons monthly or yearly |
| ICRTouch (TouchPoint and TouchOffice Web) Hospitality, retail, takeaways, pubs, clubs and attractions, sold through local authorised partners | Not published | Not published | Not published ask the authorised partner which card providers they integrate | Sold through authorised partners, who set the price and the payment options | Not published (set by the partner) |
Checked 1 November 2026 on each vendor's UK pricing page. VAT wording is the vendor's own: Square hardware is quoted "+ VAT", SumUp hardware and POS Pro "ex VAT", Loyverse "excl. taxes", and most software plan prices do not say. Card transaction fees are VAT exempt. Prices marked "starting at" are the vendor's wording.
EPOS system cost for a £5,000 a month shop
This is the monthly running cost of each plan where the vendor publishes both the software price and the card rate: software fee plus £5,000 of in-person card sales at that plan's rate. Hardware is a one-off and sits on the POS hardware page.
| Plan | Software | Card fees (arithmetic) | Total a month | Total a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SumUp Free POS | £0.00 | £5,000 × 1.69% = £84.50 | £84.50 | £1,014.00 |
| Loyverse free + SumUp reader | £0.00 | £5,000 × 1.69% = £84.50 | £84.50 | £1,014.00 |
| Square Free | £0.00 | £5,000 × 1.75% = £87.50 | £87.50 | £1,050.00 |
| Epos Now (from) | £25.00 | £5,000 × 1.70% = £85.00 | £110.00 | £1,320.00 |
| Shopify Basic | £25.00 | £5,000 × 1.7% = £85.00 | £110.00 | £1,320.00 |
| SumUp POS Plus | £39.00 | £5,000 × 1.69% = £84.50 | £123.50 | £1,482.00 |
| Square for Retail Plus | £49.00 | £5,000 × 1.6% = £80.00 | £129.00 | £1,548.00 |
| Shopify Grow | £65.00 | £5,000 × 1.6% = £80.00 | £145.00 | £1,740.00 |
| Square for Restaurants Plus | £69.00 | £5,000 × 1.75% = £87.50 | £156.50 | £1,878.00 |
Epos Now's software figure is the "starting at" price of its 12-month payments and support subscription; Shopify's are "starting at" plan prices. Loyverse is free software paired with a SumUp reader at SumUp's published rate. Not priced, because the card rate is not published: Lightspeed, Zonal (Aztec EPOS), Tevalis, Toast, ICRTouch (TouchPoint and TouchOffice Web).
The verdict for this shop: SumUp Free POS at £84.50 a month is the cheapest published setup, and Square for Restaurants Plus at £156.50 the dearest of the plans we can price: a gap of £864.00 a year. On free plans the only cost is the card rate, so the difference between them is pence: SumUp's 1.69% against Square's 1.75% is £3.00 a month at this volume.
When a paid plan pays for itself: Square for Retail Plus charges £49 a month and drops the rate from 1.75% to 1.6%. The 0.15% saving covers the fee at £49 ÷ 0.15% = £32,667 a month of card sales. A £5,000 shop is nowhere near that, so it should stay on Free unless it needs Plus's stock and reporting tools. SumUp POS Plus keeps the same 1.69% rate, so its £39 a month buys features only.
Don't switch tills to save on card fees alone. If your EPOS is working and you are on a free or cheap plan, a new till changes the software bill; the bigger lever at most volumes is the card rate, which you can test against a quote using a free statement review.
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Is the card machine tied to the EPOS?
This is the term that costs most over time, because it decides whether you can ever shop around on card fees. There are three set-ups in the table above:
- Software and payments from one company (Square, SumUp, Toast, Shopify Payments): the rate is whatever that company charges, and the only way to change it is to change plan or till. Shopify does allow third-party processors but adds a fee of up to 2% on Basic for doing so.
- Bundle linked to a payments subscription (Epos Now): the discounted hardware requires a 12-month payments and support subscription from £25 a month, with Visa and Mastercard at 1.70%.
- Choose your own processor (Loyverse, EPOS Direct): the till and the card machine are separate purchases, so you can move card provider without touching the till.
Lightspeed sits between the first two: Lightspeed Payments is offered on every plan, with a "default" rate on Restaurant Basic and "custom" rates on Core and Pro, none of them published.
Best POS system for small business, by situation
Our basis is the published pricing above, not hands-on testing or user ratings.
Small shop or café, one till
A free plan. SumUp Free POS (1.69%) or Square Free (1.75%); Loyverse if you already own a tablet and want to pick your own card reader. What free POS really costs
Retail with an online shop
Shopify POS if your online store is already on Shopify (Basic from £25 a month, 1.7% in person); otherwise Square for Retail or Lightspeed Retail. Retail POS systems compared
Restaurant, pub or bar
Square for Restaurants (free, or £69 a month on Plus) or SumUp POS Pro (£49/month ex VAT) to start; Toast, Lightspeed Restaurant, Tevalis or Zonal for larger table-service operations, on a written quote that states the card rate. Restaurant EPOS systems compared
You want to own the till outright
EPOS Direct (no ongoing software fee, any card provider), or an ICRTouch system through a local authorised partner on a written quote. Compare card machines
What an EPOS system is, and the hardware you need
An EPOS (electronic point of sale) system is the till software that records each sale, tracks stock and reports takings, plus the screen, printer and card machine it runs on. A card machine on its own only takes the payment. Our what is a POS system explainer covers the types, and the POS hardware guide prices every device from a £19 + VAT Square Reader to a £699 + VAT Square Register.
Other EPOS brands UK businesses ask about
Of the 10 other brands below, 4 publish a price (Vend, blinq, EPOS Direct, Xepos) and none publishes a card rate of its own. Get the rate in writing before you compare any of them with a free plan from the table above.
| Brand | What it is | UK pricing | Worth a quote when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vend (now Lightspeed Retail) | Retail POS. Lightspeed says Vend "is now part of the Lightspeed family" and calls it Lightspeed Retail (X-Series); vendhq.com now redirects to Lightspeed. UK: Lightspeed sells Lightspeed Retail on its UK site with prices in pounds. Lightspeed's UK retail pricing page does not mention Vend or X-Series, so ask which version a new UK account gets. | Lightspeed Retail UK plans from £75/month (Basic); card rate not published | You were a Vend user, or run several shops and need shared stock control. |
| blinq | Hospitality POS from blinq Ltd for restaurants, cafés, bars and clubs, with tableside ordering, a kitchen display and phone ordering add-ons. UK: Prices in pounds; the company trades as blinq Ltd. One of the few brands in this list that publishes a monthly software price. | £39/month (One Device) or £69/month (Unlimited Devices), VAT not stated; card rate and hardware not published | A café or bar wants table ordering at a fixed monthly fee; get the card rate before you sign. |
| EPOS Direct | Touchscreen till and EPOS software sold as one package to UK shops, cafés, takeaways, pubs and hotels, with no monthly software fee. UK: Lists a Loughton address and a UK-based support team. States "Use any card provider": the till is not tied to one payments company. | From £799 outright (VAT not stated), or £66.99/month for 12 months, then £0 | You want to own the till outright and keep shopping around on card rates. |
| Xepos | EPOS supplier for retail, hospitality and takeaways, with Glossa software for clinics and salons and a card payments service called XEPAY. UK: Prices in pounds and UK phone numbers. Its homepage shows more than one sale price for the same all-in-one system, so confirm the price on a written quote. | Retail, hospitality and takeaway software from £20/month; XEPAY card rate not published | You want cheap monthly software and will compare the XEPAY rate against your current statement. |
| 3S POS | Hospitality EPOS for restaurants, pubs, takeaways, cafés and hotels, with kiosks, kitchen display, online ordering and a payments product called 3S PAY. UK: Software Solution Systems Limited, registered in England (No. 05387562), London NW9. Says it has supplied EPOS to hospitality "for over 20 years". | Not published | A restaurant or takeaway group wants kiosks and online ordering from one supplier. |
| Oracle MICROS (now Oracle Simphony) | Oracle's POS (cloud or on-premise) for restaurants, hotels, stadiums, cruise ships and retail. Oracle's UK MICROS address now opens its Simphony POS page. UK: Oracle publishes a UK page for Simphony. Oracle says Simphony has customers in more than 180 countries. | Not published in pounds | You run a hotel, venue or large chain; a single café would pay for features it never uses. |
| Till Point | Local EPOS supplier for retail and hospitality, from pubs and takeaways to garden centres and salons, offered to buy, lease or rent. UK: Based in Renishaw, Sheffield, covering Sheffield, Chesterfield, Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster. Lists card payment integration with Dojo, Barclaycard, Stripe and Worldpay. | Not published | You trade in South Yorkshire and want on-site installation and local support. |
| EPOS Cubed | Cloud retail EPOS and stock software for independent retailers such as farm shops, garden centres and pet stores. UK: EPOS Cubed Ltd lists a London address. Prices only through a callback request. | Not published | A farm shop or garden centre has a large, changing stock list. |
| EPOSability | UK hospitality technology provider: POS, payments, kiosks and online ordering for restaurants, bars, cafés and hotels. UK: Says "500+ businesses in the UK" use it; UK phone number. Describes itself as "the sole UK vendor for Lightspeed K-Series for over 10 years". | Not published | You want a Lightspeed system installed and supported by a reseller; ask how its price compares with Lightspeed direct. |
| pointOne | EPOS, kiosks and mobile order and pay for theatres, museums and cultural venues, plus wider hospitality; trades as pointOne EPoS. UK: Self-Service Software Ltd, Langstone Business Park, Newport. Working on EPoS "since 2001" and lists itself as "Part of ClearCourse". | Not published | A theatre or arts venue needs interval ordering and ticketing links; other venues can use a general till. |
Read from each brand's own website on 1 November 2026; the link under each name is the page we used. Left out because we could not confirm it currently sells in the UK: TouchBistro.
Leaving a Clover agreement instead? Our Clover cancellation guide covers the exit steps.
EPOS reviews
- Square POS review
- Epos Now review
- Lightspeed review
- SumUp POS (formerly Goodtill) review
- Shopify POS review
- Zonal (Aztec EPOS) review
- Tevalis review
- Toast review
- Loyverse review
- ICRTouch (TouchPoint and TouchOffice Web) review
Frequently asked questions
What is the best EPOS system in the UK?
On published prices, the cheapest working setup for a small business is a free plan: SumUp Free POS at 1.69% or Square Free at 1.75%, with no monthly software fee. On a £5,000 a month shop that is £84.50 a month. Pay for Lightspeed, Toast, Zonal or Tevalis only when you need multi-site, kitchen or table-service features the free apps lack, and ask for the card rate in writing first because none of the four publishes one.
How much does an EPOS system cost per month?
Software runs from £0 (Square, SumUp, Loyverse) to £344 a month (Shopify POS Advanced) on published UK prices, checked 1 November 2026. Card fees come on top: at £5,000 a month of card sales the published rates add between £80.00 and £87.50 a month.
Can I use my own card machine with an EPOS system?
With some. Loyverse lets you connect a listed provider or record card payments by hand, EPOS Direct lets you choose your own processor, and Shopify allows third-party processors for an extra fee of up to 2% on Basic. Square, SumUp and Toast run payments through their own processing, Epos Now's discounted bundle requires its 12-month payments and support subscription, and ICRTouch partners set their own payment options.
Is an EPOS system worth paying for over a free plan?
Only if you use the extra features. Square for Retail Plus costs £49 a month per location and cuts the in-person rate from 1.75% to 1.6%, so the rate cut alone covers the fee at £32,667 a month of card sales. Below that you are paying for stock and staff tools, not saving money.
Do EPOS systems tie you into a contract?
Some do. Square states no long-term contract and SumUp POS Pro says "no long-term contracts"; Epos Now's discounted bundle needs a 12-month subscription; Shopify Advanced runs on a 1 or 3 year term. Lightspeed, Toast, Zonal, Tevalis and ICRTouch publish no contract terms, so get the term and exit fee in writing before you sign.
What happened to Vend POS?
It became part of Lightspeed. Lightspeed says Vend "is now part of the Lightspeed family" and calls the product Lightspeed Retail (X-Series), and vendhq.com now redirects to Lightspeed. In the UK, Lightspeed Retail starts at £75/month on Lightspeed's own pricing page, which publishes no card rate, so get the Lightspeed Payments rate in writing before you move.
Is Oracle MICROS still sold in the UK?
Oracle now markets it in the UK as Oracle Simphony. Oracle's UK MICROS web address now opens its Simphony POS page, aimed at restaurants, hotels, stadiums and retail, and Oracle publishes no UK price. A single-site café can start instead on a free plan such as SumUp Free POS at 1.69% with no monthly software fee.