Dojo card machines UK: pricing, review and the free terminal offer
One page for everything Dojo: what the bespoke pricing really costs, which terminal fits your business, who should pick Dojo and who genuinely should not, plus the offer we can arrange as a Dojo partner.
MerchantSwitch is an independent comparison site and a Dojo partner. We are not Dojo, and this is not an official Dojo page: Dojo pays us a fee when a business we introduce completes a switch, and everything below is our own assessment. Rates checked: August 2026. Looking for the data-style provider profile instead? See the Dojo provider profile.
The free Dojo terminal, arranged through us
- Free Dojo terminal: £0 upfront and no monthly terminal rental for the life of your contract when arranged through MerchantSwitch. Going direct, hardware is £149-£239 upfront or £15-£25/month.
- Up to £3,000 contract buyout: Dojo pays up to £3,000 towards your existing provider's exit fees when you switch (Dojo's switcher offer; eligibility confirmed at quote).
- We respond in under 5 minutes.
Partner disclosure: the offer is funded by the fee Dojo pays us on a completed switch. It waives the hardware cost; your transaction rate is quoted bespoke exactly as it would be going direct. Full detail on how the free Dojo card machine works.
The honest quick verdict
Our full Dojo card machine review scores Dojo 4.5 out of 5, and being a partner does not change the arithmetic behind that number. Dojo's published 1.2% rate undercuts every flat-rate reader, settlement runs seven days a week, and the combination is the strongest terminal-led package we track for businesses taking roughly £3,000+ a month on cards.
The half point we hold back is for the contract: a 12-month initial term whose early closure fee equals the remaining contract costs (waived only in the commitment-free first 30 days), and above £100k a year of card turnover pricing goes back behind a custom quote. Below the volume crossover, Dojo is often the wrong answer entirely. More on that below.
Dojo pricing in one paragraph
Under £100,000 a year of card turnover, Dojo publishes its rate: 1.2% blended on every card transaction. Above £100,000 the rate is a custom quote, and we have seen quotes as low as 0.29% for high-turnover businesses. Hardware is £149-£239 upfront or £15-£25/month going direct, waived when the deal is arranged through us. Setup is £0 and the core software plan is free.
How the quote is built, worked examples at two turnover levels, and where the pay-as-you-go crossover sits: Dojo pricing UK, explained in full.
The terminals: Go Max, Pocket, Wired and Tap to Pay on iPhone
Dojo's current lineup (per dojo.tech, checked August 2026) covers four ways to take a payment, each available to buy upfront or pay monthly. Dojo Go Max (£149 upfront on the launch offer, usually £229, or £25/month) is the portable all-rounder: touchscreen, roughly 10-hour battery, built-in thermal printer, and automatic WiFi or 4G connectivity so a dropped connection does not stop payments. Dojo Pocket (£239 or £20/month) is the slim handheld for table service, taking orders and payments on one device with digital receipts. Dojo Wired (£179 or £15/month) is the countertop option for till-side trade, and Tap to Pay on iPhone is free with no contract at all.
Full spec table and which machine fits counter service versus table service: the Dojo card machine lineup compared.
Who Dojo suits, and who it does not
A good fit if you:
- Take roughly £3,000+ a month on cards (buying the terminal upfront) or £5,000+ on the monthly hardware plan, where the 1.2% rate beats the flat-rate readers
- Run hospitality or retail and care about next-day settlement, including weekends
- Want out of a long acquirer contract: the up-to-£3,000 buyout is built for exactly that
- Need pay-at-table or EPOS-integrated hardware
Look elsewhere if you:
- Take under roughly £3,000 a month on cards. A pay-as-you-go reader at 1.69-1.75% flat with no contract is usually the simpler, cheaper answer, free Dojo terminal or not
- Trade seasonally or sporadically, where a 12-month term and idle hardware punish any fixed setup
- Will not commit to 12 months: the early closure fee is real once the 30-day commitment-free window passes
We say this on every Dojo page because it is true and because it is the test of whether you can trust the rest: below the crossover, do not get a Dojo terminal, however free it is. Our small business card machine guide covers the low-volume options properly.
See what Dojo would quote your business
Free Dojo terminal (no rental) through MerchantSwitch, and up to £3,000 towards exit fees if you are switching. We respond in under 5 minutes.
Dojo against every provider we track
Fifteen head-to-heads, each costed at multiple turnover levels. Dojo does not win all of them, which is rather the point of publishing them.
Getting Dojo: eligibility and setup
Dojo underwrites each application like any acquirer, so the process is: application, approval, terminal delivery. A contracted acquirer switch typically takes 1-4 weeksend to end, with approval commonly inside 24-48 hours and the terminal arriving a day or two later. If you are leaving another contract, the 30-90 day notice period on the old provider runs in parallel, and Dojo's buyout can cover up to £3,000 of the exit fees.
Who qualifies, what documents to have ready, and the week-by-week timeline: Dojo eligibility and setup.
Dojo card machine FAQs
How much does a Dojo card machine cost?
Under £100,000 a year of card turnover, Dojo publishes its rate: 1.2% blended on every card transaction. Above £100,000 the rate is a custom quote, and we have seen quotes as low as 0.29% for high-turnover businesses. Hardware is bought upfront (Dojo Go Max £149 on the current launch offer, Dojo Pocket £239, Dojo Wired £179) or paid monthly (£25, £20 and £15 respectively); arranged through MerchantSwitch the terminal comes with £0 upfront and no monthly rental for the life of your contract. Setup is £0 and the core software plan is free.
Is the free Dojo terminal offer genuine?
Yes. Arranged through MerchantSwitch, the Dojo terminal comes with £0 upfront and no monthly terminal rental for the life of your contract, which removes up to £300 a year against the £15-£25/month direct hardware plans. To be clear about how we are paid: MerchantSwitch is a free comparison service and Dojo pays us a fee when a match completes. The offer waives the hardware cost; it does not change the transaction rate, which is 1.2% published under £100k/year turnover or your custom quote above it.
Is Dojo any good?
Our editorial review scores Dojo 4.5 out of 5. The case for: a published 1.2% rate that beats every flat-rate reader (SumUp 1.69%, Square 1.75%), next-day settlement including weekends, strong hardware you can buy or rent, and a 30-day commitment-free trial window. The case against: a 12-month initial term whose early closure fee equals the remaining contract costs, and on the monthly hardware plan a no-contract reader stays cheaper below roughly £5,100 a month of takings.
What is the difference between Dojo Go Max and Dojo Pocket?
Dojo Go Max is the portable all-rounder: touchscreen, roughly 10-hour battery, built-in thermal receipt printer, and automatic WiFi or 4G connectivity. It costs £149 upfront on the current launch offer (usually £229) or £25/month. Dojo Pocket (£239 or £20/month) is a slimmer handheld built for hospitality: staff take orders and payments at the table on one device, receipts go out digitally by email or QR code rather than from a built-in printer, and it connects to EPOS systems. Specs and prices per dojo.tech, checked August 2026.
Does Dojo tie you into a long contract?
The standard deal for businesses under £1m of card turnover is 12 months, then monthly rolling. The first 30 days are commitment-free (cancel with no early closure fee); leave later inside the initial term and the fee equals the remaining costs of the contract; after 12 months you can go with one month's notice. Setup is £0. If you are currently stuck in a longer acquirer contract, Dojo pays up to £3,000 towards your existing provider's exit fees when you switch (Dojo's switcher offer; eligibility confirmed at quote).
Is MerchantSwitch part of Dojo?
No. MerchantSwitch is an independent UK comparison site and a Dojo partner. We are not Dojo, we do not speak for Dojo, and we compare Dojo against the rest of the market on the same terms as every other provider we track. Dojo pays us a fee when a business we introduce completes a switch, which is how the free-terminal arrangement is funded. The comparison service is free to you and there is no obligation.
MerchantSwitch is an independent comparison site and a Dojo partner; Dojo pays us a fee when a business we introduce completes a switch. We are an introducer, not a lender or acquirer, and we are not regulated by the FCA. Pricing figures are typical ranges checked August 2026; bespoke rates are quoted per business, so always confirm with a current quote.