Best online payment processing solutions in the UK (August 2026)

At a glance

Choosing the right payment processing solution can make a real difference to your costs and cash flow.

With SumUp, you can start with no monthly fee or long-term contract, choose from a range of card payment options and receive payouts to your free SumUp Business Account by 7am the next day, including weekends and bank holidays.

Below, we compare SumUp with PayPal, Square, Stripe, Shopify, Worldpay, Revolut Business, Dojo, myPOS, Lopay and Teya across fees, hardware, payout speeds and other key features.

What is a payment system?

A payment system (sometimes called a payment processor or payment gateway) is what moves money from your customer’s bank or card into yours.

It authorises the transaction, checks it’s legitimate, and gets the funds settled into your account. Most providers now bundle this together with hardware, an app and some business banking tools, so “payment system” has come to mean the whole package: reader, software and payout, all in one.

SumUp

What it is: SumUp gives you everything you need to get paid, in person or online, without locking you into a contract. Choose from a lineup of card readers - the pocket-sized Solo Lite, the standalone Solo, or the all-in-one Terminal - or take payments straight from your phone with Tap to Pay.

How much does it cost?

• Pay as you go: 1.69% flat for every in-person card type, including Amex and international cards, 2.5% online — no monthly fee, no minimum turnover

• Payments Plus: £19/month, reducing eligible in-person transaction fees to 0.99%

• Hardware: from £25 + VAT (Solo Lite), £79 (Solo, with built-in 4G SIM and free unlimited data), up to £135 (Terminal, with built-in printer)

What you get:

• A free SumUp Business Account with next-day payouts by 7am, weekends and bank holidays included; 1–2 business days to an external bank account

• No contracts, no setup fees, no exit fees

• A 30-day money-back guarantee on hardware

• A growth path to SumUp Register (£399), a dual-screen countertop POS, plus Kiosk and accessories as you scale

Best for: Sole traders, market sellers, cafés and growing small businesses who want low, predictable fees without signing anything long-term.

PayPal Point of Sale (formerly Zettle)

What it is: PayPal’s in-person payment system, ideal for businesses that already live inside the PayPal ecosystem.

How much does it cost?

• 1.75% per in-person transaction, no monthly fee.

• Reader from £29 for the first device (£69 for additional readers); Terminal from £149.

• Online and invoice payments cost 2.5%.

What you get:

• Funds available in a PayPal balance within minutes of a sale

• No monthly fee, no contract

• A PayPal Business debit card, but no dedicated free business account beyond that

• No monthly plan to bring the rate down as your volume grows

Best for: Businesses already banking, invoicing or trading through PayPal.

Comparison: See how SumUp compares to PayPal here.

Square

What it is: Square combines a variety of hardware with a free EPOS system - stock, staff and real-time reporting. Popular with retail and hospitality.

How much does it cost?

• 1.75% for in-person payments, no monthly fee.

• Reader from £19; Terminal £149; Square Register £699.

• 1.4% + 25p for online payments with UK cards (2.5% for international cards)

What you get:

• Free EPOS system - stock, staff and real-time reporting included

• Competitive online fees for UK cards

• No published plan for lowering in-person fees as volume grows

• No free business account

Best for: Retail and hospitality businesses that split sales between in-person and online and want free EPOS software.

Comparison: See how SumUp compares to Square here.

Stripe

What it is: Financial infrastructure built for software-led and online businesses, typically integrated by a developer rather than used as an off-the-shelf card reader.

How much does it cost?

• 1.5% + 20p for standard UK cards (1.9% + 20p for premium UK cards), rising to 2.5% + 20p for EEA cards and 3.25% + 20p for international cards. No monthly fee.

• Hardware (Reader S700, WisePOS E, WisePad 3) is priced and ordered through the Stripe Dashboard rather than sold at a published retail price.

What you get:

• Broad currency and payment method support across 195 countries

• A strong fit for subscriptions, marketplaces and platforms

• A published 7–14 day hold on your first payout, then rolling settlement

• Instant payout only after 60 days’ account history, for a 1% fee

• No retail business account

Best for: SaaS, subscription and marketplace businesses with developer support, or online platforms building payments into their own product.

Comparison: See how SumUp compares to Square here.

Shopify

What it is: An ecommerce platform with POS tools available on top of a paid monthly plan — built for businesses that want to manage online and in-person sales through one system.

How much does it cost?

• From £19/month (Basic, annual billing) plus in-person transaction fees from 2.0% + 25p (Basic) down to 1.5% + 25p (Advanced) with Shopify Payments.

• Hardware: WisePad 3 (£59), POS Terminal (£239), Verifone Victa Mobile (£332).

What you get:

• Real-time inventory synced across online and in-person channels

• A deep ecommerce feature set built around your Shopify store

• A required monthly subscription on top of transaction fees

• A minimum 3 business day settlement, excluding weekends and public holidays

Best for: Businesses already running (or planning to run) a Shopify online store who want one platform across every channel.

Comparison: See how SumUp compares to Shopify here.

Worldpay

What it is: One of the UK’s largest payment processors, built around rental hardware and bespoke pricing rather than published rates.

How much does it cost?

• Worldpay doesn’t publish standard online pricing - quote needed.

• Publicly available information suggests rates for smaller businesses may start from around 1.50% (Simplicity Plan), with terminal rental from £15/month.

• Custom rates available above £75,000 in annual card turnover.

What you get:

• Recognised acquirer status with 30+ currencies supported

• Extensive enterprise integrations and fraud prevention tools

• Rental-only card machines, with no option to buy outright

• An 18-month minimum contract

Best for: Established or larger businesses with international operations and more complex payment needs.

Comparison: See how SumUp compares to Worldpay here.

Revolut Business

What it is: A multi-currency business account with card payment acceptance available as an add-on to a paid plan, rather than a payments-first product.

How much does it cost?

• Requires an active Revolut Business plan from £10/month to accept payments.

• In-person fees start from 0.8% + 2p for domestic and European cards, rising to 1.7% + 2p for Amex and 2.6% + 2p for international cards.

• Hardware: Lite Terminal (£129), Terminal (£169).

What you get:

• Settlement within 24 hours, including weekends

• Multi-currency accounts and FX tools across 25+ currencies

• Card sales settle into a separate Merchant account first, needing a manual or automatic transfer to your Business account

• No free tier - a paid plan is required just to accept payments

Best for: Multi-currency sellers and businesses already banking with Revolut.

Comparison: See how SumUp compares to Revolut Business here.

Dojo

What it is: A card machine and POS provider built around a monthly subscription rather than pay-as-you-go pricing.

How much does it cost?

• For businesses with annual card turnover below £100,000, £39.99/month covers in-person transactions up to £3,999/month, with 1% charged above that threshold.

• Businesses over £100,000 annual turnover receive a custom quote.

• Hardware: Dojo Go Max from £149 upfront or £25/month.

What you get:

• A predictable subscription cost for steady, higher card turnover

• Standalone devices across the whole range

• No free business account - external bank only

• A subscription that can cost more than pay-as-you-go pricing for lower-volume sellers

Best for: Restaurants, cafés and pubs with predictable, higher card turnover that prefer subscription pricing.

Comparison: See how SumUp compares to Dojo here.

myPOS

What it is: A payment processor with tiered, card-type-based pricing and a fast-access business account.

How much does it cost?

• From 1.10% + 7p for domestic consumer cards, rising to 2.85% + 7p for other card types. No monthly fee.

• Hardware: myPOS Go 2 (£29), Go Combo (£169), Ultra (£229).

What you get:

• Funds available “in seconds” in the myPOS Business Account

• Support for unattended payments — vending, parking, ticketing

• No dedicated countertop POS system

• Fees that vary more by card type than flat-rate competitors

Best for: Businesses with higher average transaction values (published pricing suggests domestic-card costs become roughly comparable to flat-rate providers around £12 per transaction) and those needing unattended payment devices.

Comparison: See how SumUp compares to myPOS here

Lopay

What it is: A card reader provider with pricing linked to how quickly you want access to your funds, processed via Stripe.

How much does it cost?

• From 0.79% (Essential, weekly Thursday payouts) up to 1.79% (Instant to Bank, 24/7 payouts), plus 1% extra for Amex, corporate and international cards. No monthly fee.

• Hardware: Card Reader/WisePad 3 (£35 first device), Business Terminal (£270 upfront or £15/month rental).

What you get:

• A low headline rate for businesses happy to wait for weekly payouts

• An Expense & Rewards Card for money management

• A cost that rises quickly for faster payouts or non-standard card types

• No flat, card-type-agnostic rate

Best for: Businesses mostly taking UK consumer Visa and Mastercard payments that are comfortable with payout-linked pricing.

Comparison: See how SumUp compares to Lopay here.

Teya

What it is: A card machine and business account provider with published, card-type-based rates for lower-turnover businesses.

How much does it cost?

• On the Start plan (monthly card turnover £0–£7,500): 1.59% on Visa/Mastercard consumer cards, 1.90% on international, business and Amex cards.

• A £29.99/month fee applies if turnover falls below £2,500; a £20 chargeback fee applies per dispute.

• Hardware: Teya Pro (£179).

What you get:

• Settlement by 9am the next day, every day, including weekends and bank holidays

• Integration with 50+ existing EPOS systems

• Rates that rise for Amex, international and business cards

• Just one hardware option in the UK

Best for: Businesses with predictable turnover above £2,500/month that already have an EPOS system and want to add payment processing to it.

Comparison: See how SumUp compares to Teya here.

How to choose the right payment system

A few questions worth asking before you commit:

How do most of your customers pay?

Mostly in person, online, or a mix of both — some providers are cheaper for one than the other.

How much do you turn over each month, and in what card types?

Flat-rate pricing (like SumUp’s) is simpler to predict; tiered pricing by card type or payout speed (like myPOS, Lopay or Teya) can work out cheaper or more expensive depending on your customer mix.

Do you want to own your hardware or rent it?

Owning outright (SumUp, PayPal POS, Square, myPOS, Lopay’s reader) avoids long contracts; rental models (Worldpay, Dojo) can lower the upfront cost but tie you in.

How quickly do you need access to funds, and where?

Payout speed and destination vary a lot — from PayPal’s minutes-to-balance, to SumUp’s 7am next day including weekends, to Shopify’s minimum 3 business days.

What else do you need alongside payments?

A free business account, invoicing, loyalty tools or Making Tax Digital support can save you juggling several apps.