The best card machine depends on one number: your monthly card volume
So instead of star ratings, here is the first-year cost of each machine at four real volumes, computed from published rates and hardware prices. At £2,000 a month the flat-rate readers are separated by about £20 a year; at £5,000 the picture changes completely.
Rates and prices checked 25 August 2026against each provider's own pricing pages. Corrections are logged publicly.
| Monthly card sales | SumUp | Square | Zettle | Dojo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £2,000 | £431 | £439 | £449 | £480 |
| £5,000 | £1,039 | £1,069 | £1,079 | £600 |
| £10,000 | £2,053 | £2,119 | £2,129 | Quote |
| £20,000 | £4,081 | £4,219 | £4,229 | Quote |
"Quote" means the provider does not publish a price at that volume: Dojo's Fix plan is only available to businesses with annual card turnover below £100,000 (about £8,300 a month). Above it, and at every traditional acquirer, pricing is negotiated, which is usually where the biggest savings live. On the custom plans (Flex and Pro) Dojo quotes a rate per business, tailored to card turnover. We have seen quotes as low as 0.29% for high-turnover businesses.
The working, so you can check it
First-year cost = hardware + (monthly card sales × 12 × published in-person rate). At £5,000 a month, that is:
- SumUp: £25 + £60,000 × 1.69% = £1,039
- Square: £19 + £60,000 × 1.75% = £1,069
- Zettle: £29 + £60,000 × 1.75% = £1,079
- Dojo Fix: £0 + (£39.99 + 1% × £1,000) × 12 = £600
Dojo's Fix plan is £39.99/month covering card turnover up to £3,999 a month, then 1% flat on turnover above £4,000 a month; the £0 hardware is the free terminal through MerchantSwitch (bought direct from Dojo it is from £179 upfront). Break-evens against the flat rates: ~£2,370/month card turnover (Fix plan vs SumUp 1.69%); ~£2,290/month card turnover (Fix plan vs Square/Zettle 1.75%).
What the table leaves out, deliberately, because the providers price them differently per business: keyed and online rates (higher everywhere), SumUp's Payments Plus plan, and acquirer extras like authorisation fees and PCI charges. Those extras are why a statement tells you more than any table; we read those free.
The short verdict on each
Dojo
Best value above roughly £2,400 a month- Fix plan for businesses with annual card turnover below £100,000: £39.99/month, covering card turnover up to £3,999/month, then 1% flat above £4,000/month; Amex and the platform fee included
- Next-day settlement as standard; weekend and bank holiday payouts available with the 7-day upgrade
- Terminals from £179 upfront direct from Dojo, or free through MerchantSwitch (£0 upfront, no monthly rental)
- 30-day no-commitment trial, then the Fix plan is a 12-month price-locked plan
- 4.3 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 5,542 reviews (checked August 2026)
SumUp
Cheapest way to start taking cards- Solo Lite reader £25 ex VAT, no contract, no monthly fee
- 1.69% flat on in-person payments
- Payments Plus (£19/month): 0.99% on domestic in-person cards; pays for itself above about £2,700/month
- The 0.99% applies to domestic debit and credit cards; premium, international and Amex cards stay at 1.69%
Square
Simplest all-in-one setup- Reader £19 + VAT, no contract, no monthly fee
- 1.75% flat on in-person payments
- Free point-of-sale app; hardware range grows with the business
Zettle by PayPal
PayPal businesses- First reader £29 (full price £69), no contract
- 1.75% flat on in-person payments
- Terminal £149, or £199 with built-in scanner
Negotiated acquirers (Worldpay, Barclaycard, Lloyds Cardnet, Elavon...)
Higher volume, quote-based pricing- No published rate cards: pricing is quoted case by case against your statement
- The lowest negotiated rate we have seen quoted is 0.29%, at high turnover
- Contracts and notice periods apply; read the exit terms before signing
Questions people ask
What is the best card machine for a small business in the UK?+
At low volume the flat-rate readers are close enough that hardware and habit decide it: SumUp (Solo Lite £25 ex VAT, 1.69%), Square (£19 + VAT, 1.75%) and Zettle (first reader £29, 1.75%) are all within about £20 of each other in year one at £2,000 a month. Above roughly £2,370 a month of card sales, Dojo's Fix plan (£39.99/month covering card turnover up to £3,999 a month, then 1% flat above £4,000 a month) beats SumUp's flat rate; below that, stay pay-as-you-go.
Which card machine has the lowest fees?+
It depends on volume, because Dojo no longer publishes a single percentage. Of the flat rates we track: SumUp at 1.69%, then Square and Zettle at 1.75%. Dojo's Fix plan (£39.99/month + 1% flat on card turnover above £4,000 a month, for businesses with annual card turnover below £100,000) works out at a 1.0% effective rate at £5,000 a month, but a 2.0% effective rate at £2,000 a month. SumUp's £19/month Payments Plus plan drops domestic in-person cards to 0.99%, which pays for itself above roughly £2,700 a month of card sales. On negotiated acquirer pricing the lowest quote we have seen is 0.29%, at high turnover.
Do the best card machines need a contract?+
Square, SumUp and Zettle are pay-as-you-go with no contract. Dojo starts with a 30-day no-commitment trial; after it, the Fix plan is a 12-month price-locked plan. Traditional acquirers typically contract for 12 months or longer; check the term and the exit fee before signing, both are in the contract summary.
Which providers settle fastest?+
Dojo settles next day as standard, with weekend and bank holiday payouts available on its 7-day upgrade. The pay-as-you-go readers typically settle on the next working day. If weekend cash flow matters, for a pub or restaurant taking most of its money Friday to Sunday, that difference is worth more than a small rate gap.
Is a free card machine actually free?+
Sometimes, and it depends what you sign. Offers that include hardware usually sit inside a contract, so the question to ask is the total first-year cost: rate x your volume, plus any monthly fees, minus what you save on hardware. Our fees calculator does that sum for you. Through MerchantSwitch, Dojo's switcher deal includes the terminal and up to £3,000 towards your old provider's exit fees (arranged through MerchantSwitch; eligibility confirmed at quote).
How do you rank these providers?+
By total first-year cost at your card volume, computed from published rates and hardware prices, with the date each was checked shown on the page. We do not use editorial star ratings, and providers cannot pay for positions. Where a provider only quotes case by case, we say "quote" instead of guessing.
Two minutes on the phone beats an afternoon of tabs
Tell us your volume and current provider and we price the realistic options against each other, including the negotiated rates no table can show. Mon to Fri, 9am to 5:30pm.