Dojo pricing UK: the published 1.2% rate and the custom tier
Dojo now publishes its rate for smaller businesses and quotes custom above £100,000 a year of card turnover. Here is what each tier costs, what moves a custom quote up or down, and the arithmetic for deciding whether a Dojo deal beats what you pay now.
Dojo fees at a glance
- Transaction rate: published 1.2% blended rate under £100,000 a year of card turnover; custom quote above that (as low as 0.29% seen for high-turnover businesses)
- Hardware: buy upfront (Go Max £149 launch offer, usually £229; Pocket £239; Wired £179) or pay £15-£25/month; £0 arranged through MerchantSwitch. Tap to Pay on iPhone is free, no contract
- Setup fee: £0. Contract: 12 months, then monthly rolling; the first 30 days are commitment-free
- Leaving early:inside the 12-month term you pay the remaining costs of the contract; after it, one month's notice
- Software: Essential plan free; Plus plan £11.99/month per location, first month free
Rates checked: August 2026; Dojo figures read from dojo.tech, August 2026. MerchantSwitch is an independent comparison site and a Dojo partner; Dojo pays us a fee when a business we introduce completes a switch. Custom-tier rates are quoted per business, so always confirm with a current quote.
The two tiers: published under £100k, custom above
For businesses taking under £100,000 a year on cards (roughly £8,300 a month), Dojo charges a published 1.2% blended rateon every card payment: one number covering debit, credit and mobile wallets, printed on dojo.tech rather than hidden behind a sales call. That is a change from Dojo's older bespoke-only approach, and it makes the comparison with flat-rate readers a straight sum, which we run below.
Above £100,000 a year, pricing goes custom: a negotiated rate on a 12-month fixed plan or a 30-day rolling one. At that volume the true cost of processing varies enough with card mix and transaction size that a negotiated rate can beat any published number, and it is why a busy restaurant can be quoted a rate no flat-rate reader will ever match. We have seen quotes as low as 0.29% for high-turnover businesses.
What drives a custom-tier quote
- Monthly card turnover. The biggest lever by far. More volume, lower rate: the published 1.2% is the sensible ceiling to judge a quote against, and the 0.29% quotes we have seen went to genuinely high-turnover businesses.
- Average transaction value. Lots of small payments cost more to process per pound than fewer large ones, so a coffee shop and a furniture store with identical turnover get different rates.
- Card mix. UK consumer debit is cheap to process; commercial, premium and international cards are not. A tourist-heavy or B2B customer base nudges the quote up.
- Sector risk. Underwriters price chargeback-prone sectors more cautiously.
If you want to see the machinery underneath these levers, our guide to reading a merchant statement shows how to work out the effective rate you pay today, which is the number any Dojo quote has to beat.
Hardware: buy it, pay monthly, or get it free through us
Going to Dojo direct you either buy the terminal upfront or pay monthly: the Dojo Go Max is £149 on the current launch offer (usually £229) or £25/month, the Dojo Pocket is £239 or £20/month, and the Dojo Wired is £179 or £15/month. Tap to Pay on iPhone costs nothing and carries no contract. On the monthly plan a Go Max is £300 a year before the transaction fees start. Arranged through MerchantSwitch, the terminal is free: £0 upfront and no monthly cost for the life of the contract, not an introductory period.
Said plainly, because a partner site should say it plainly: the free-terminal arrangement is funded by the fee Dojo pays us on a completed switch, and it does not change the transaction rate you are quoted. A free terminal attached to a poor rate is a poor deal. Judge the quote on the rate first, and treat the terminal as the bonus. The mechanics are on the free Dojo card machine page.
Worked examples at £5,000 and £20,000 a month
Both examples use Dojo's published 1.2% rate and the Go Max on the £25/month hardware plan, with the arithmetic shown so you can rerun it on your own numbers. The first sits in the published tier; the second is over the £100,000-a-year threshold, so 1.2% is its worst case.
A cafe taking £5,000 a month on cards
- Dojo direct (published 1.2% + £25 hardware): £5,000 × 1.2% = £60, plus £25 hardware = £85/month
- Dojo via MerchantSwitch (1.2%, free terminal): £5,000 × 1.2% = £60/month
- SumUp at 1.69% flat: £5,000 × 1.69% = £84.50/month, no monthly fee
- Square at 1.75% flat: £5,000 × 1.75% = £87.50/month, no monthly fee
Notice how close it is. At £5,000 a month, Dojo on the monthly hardware plan beats Square by £2.50 and actually loses to SumUp by £0.50. This turnover sits right at the crossover, and on the monthly plan the honest advice is: do the sum, do not assume Dojo wins. Take the £25 hardware line out, by buying the terminal upfront or through the free-terminal arrangement here, and Dojo's £60 clearly beats both readers.
A restaurant taking £20,000 a month on cards
- Dojo direct, worst case (1.2% + £25 hardware): £20,000 × 1.2% = £240, plus £25 hardware = £265/month
- Dojo via MerchantSwitch (1.2%, free terminal): £20,000 × 1.2% = £240/month
- PAYG reader at 1.75% flat: £20,000 × 1.75% = £350.00/month
At £20,000 a month this business turns over £240,000 a year on cards, well past the £100,000 threshold, so it gets a custom quote and 1.2% is the ceiling to judge it against. Even at that ceiling the gap is £85.00 a month against the flat-rate reader, roughly £1,020.00 a year, and every 0.1% negotiated below 1.2% is worth another £20 a month. This is the volume bracket custom pricing is built for, and where the 0.29% floor quotes start to become conceivable at the top end of turnover.
The pay-as-you-go crossover
At the published 1.2% with £25/month hardware, the break-even points are exact: Dojo beats SumUp (1.69% flat) above ~£5,100/month card turnover (direct, £25/month hardware plan) and Square (1.75% flat) above ~£4,550/month card turnover (direct, £25/month hardware plan). Below those volumes the no-monthly-cost reader costs less on the monthly hardware plan. Buying the terminal upfront, or taking the free terminal through us, removes the £25 monthly line and pulls the crossover down to roughly £3,000 a month of card takings. The full market picture is in our UK card machine rates table.
How to get a real quote
- Work out your monthly card turnover and, if you can, your current effective rate (total card fees divided by card turnover, off your last statement).
- Ask us for the quote: the two-minute form or 0333 041 3933. We respond in under 5 minutes, and the terminal comes free.
- Judge the quote against your current effective rate, the published 1.2% and the 1.69-1.75% flat benchmark. Get it in writing before you sign anything.
Get your Dojo quote
Free Dojo terminal (no rental) through MerchantSwitch. We respond in under 5 minutes.
Dojo pricing FAQs
What are Dojo’s transaction fees?
Dojo publishes its rate for smaller businesses: a 1.2% blended rate on every card payment for businesses taking under £100,000 a year on cards. Above £100,000 a year the rate is a custom quote, on a 12-month fixed plan or a 30-day rolling one, and we have seen quotes as low as 0.29% for high-turnover businesses. The useful preparation before asking for a custom quote is knowing your current effective rate so you can judge the offer when it arrives.
Does Dojo publish its prices?
Yes, for businesses under £100,000 a year of card turnover: a published 1.2% blended rate, which is a change from Dojo’s older bespoke-only approach. Above £100,000 a year pricing goes custom, because at that volume the underlying processing cost varies enough with card mix and transaction size that a negotiated rate can undercut any published one. The upside of the custom tier is that high-volume businesses get rates flat-rate readers cannot touch.
How much does the Dojo card machine cost?
You either buy the hardware upfront or pay monthly: the Dojo Go Max is £149 upfront on the current launch offer (usually £229) or £25/month, the Dojo Pocket is £239 or £20/month, and the Dojo Wired is £179 or £15/month. Tap to Pay on iPhone is free with no contract. Arranged through MerchantSwitch, the terminal comes with £0 upfront and no monthly cost for the life of your contract. Disclosure: we are a Dojo partner and Dojo pays us a fee on completed switches, which is how the arrangement is funded. The free terminal does not change the transaction rate you are quoted.
Does Dojo charge setup or exit fees?
Setup is £0. Exit is where you need to read the terms: the standard contract runs 12 months and then rolls monthly (for businesses under £1m a year of card turnover). The first 30 days are commitment-free, so cancelling inside a month of signup costs nothing. Leaving after that but inside the 12-month term triggers an early closure fee equal to the remaining costs of the contract. Once the initial term is done, you can leave with one month’s notice.
Is Dojo cheaper than SumUp or Square?
On the published 1.2% rate with £25/month hardware, Dojo works out cheaper than SumUp (1.69% flat) above roughly £5,100 a month of card takings, and cheaper than Square (1.75% flat) above roughly £4,550 a month. Below those volumes the no-monthly-cost reader wins: at £2,000 a month, Dojo costs £24 in fees plus £25 hardware (£49) against Square’s £35. Buying the hardware upfront, or taking the free terminal through MerchantSwitch, removes the monthly cost and pulls the crossover down to roughly £3,000 a month.
What is the lowest rate Dojo offers?
We have seen quotes as low as 0.29% for high-turnover businesses on the custom tier. Treat that as the floor we have observed, not a rate to expect: it goes to businesses with serious card volume and favourable card mix. Under £100,000 a year of card turnover the rate is the published 1.2%. If your turnover is above that, mention it up front; it is the single biggest lever on the quote.
Compare Dojo at your volume
Free and no obligation. Have your monthly card turnover to hand; it decides most of the answer.
Keep researching
- The Dojo hub - review verdict, hardware and every comparison in one place.
- The Dojo terminal lineup - Go Max, Pocket, Wired and Tap to Pay on iPhone compared.
- UK average card processing fees - the benchmarks to judge any quote against.
- The full Dojo review - our 4.5/5 verdict with the reasoning shown.