Clover Review (2026): Our Top-Rated POS Hardware

Clover is a top-tier EPOS system best suited for established retail and hospitality businesses that require proprietary hardware, automated offline payment safeguards, and built-in inventory tracking with live margin analysis.

However, its opaque, quote-based pricing and high initial hardware costs make it less economical for new or small businesses with tighter budgets.

Read on for the full breakdown of Clover’s strongest features, notable quirks and any hidden costs to consider, compared with the competition.

What Are Clover’s Key Features?

Clover’s core features centre on built-in inventory management with live margin tracking, fail-safe offline payment processing with manager-set transaction caps, integrated kitchen display systems (KDS), and dynamic table layout mapping.

However, the range of features available can depend on the plan and setup, so businesses should check that their preferred tools are included before committing.

Real‑time inventory and profit tracking (built in, top‑scoring)

With Clover, every inventory control is baked in rather than bolted on as add-ons or via third parties. You can bulk‑upload SKUs, set low/no‑stock alerts, build modifier groups and even see cost‑and‑margin per item live on the dashboard.

Meanwhile, multi‑store owners get instant stock sync and automated re‑order points across locations, so you’re far less likely to oversell or sit on dead stock. Competitors can match some of these functions, but often through paid add‑ons (Square) or third‑party apps (Epos Now). Clover offers them out of the box, which keeps workflows simpler and ongoing costs clearer.

However, Clover does not support native nested bills of materials (BOM) or automated recipe ingredient deduction, treating bundled items as separate SKUs.

Always‑on sales via automatic offline mode with safeguards

Clover processes transactions continuously during network outages through an automated offline mode equipped with custom manager-defined limits.

Better still, it has two extra safeguards: the mode is automatic (no staff toggle required) and managers can set transaction‑size limits to reduce risk.

Square, by contrast, needs a manual switch and offers no built‑in limits. While PayPal POS has an offline mode, the per-transaction limit is £1,000 (or equivalent in supported currencies), and you must reconnect your POS device to the internet within 24 hours of taking your first offline payment (otherwise the features pause until you reconnect).

Table plans and kitchen screens in sync with drag‑and‑drop floor editors

Front‑of‑house teams can build or tweak Clover’s floor plan right on the terminal: drag tables into place, change their shape, size, or label, then seat guests with a tap.

Once tickets are fired, they pop up on Clover’s built‑in KDS (should you have purchased one), which also earned a perfect score for offering native routing, layout editing and real‑time ticket‑time reports (without any paid add-ons or third‑party tablets).

Deep reporting and analytics out of the box

Clover delivers the full reporting slate, including sales summaries, item / category breakdowns, staff shift data, discount/void tracking, and refund logs – all live in the core dashboard.

As a result, multi‑store owners can filter every report by location, register or employee without an add‑on, matching Lightspeed and outpacing Square’s pay‑extra Advanced pack.

It’s also possible to export raw data to spreadsheets and schedule emailed reports with Clover, although rivals Lightspeed and Shopify also include this feature.

Which Business Apps Integrate with Clover’s POS App Market?

Clover has a marketplace of 200+ apps covering everything from payroll software and accounting tools (such as QuickBooks) sync to delivery apps (such as Deliveroo) and WooCommerce/Shopify ecommerce integration.

That breadth lets you tailor Clover to your workflows. For instance, automatic sales‑tax payments or a bespoke customer relationship management (CRM) platform can be integrated without waiting for Clover to create similar in-house tools.

However, the trade‑off could be budget creep. Many marketplace apps carry their own monthly fees, so while Clover’s base software is feature‑rich, stacking integrations can push total cost above what Square’s free or Shopify’s baked‑in tools might deliver. Still, for merchants who value having a plentiful supply of potential add-ons for their point-of-sale system, Clover’s marketplace is second to none.

Robust staff management with fingerprint login (but tip pooling is manual)

Clover lets you build granular staff roles, toggle permissions in a few taps and clock employees in with the built‑in fingerprint scanner on the Station and Flex devices. That overall depth earned Clover high marks for employee management, sitting just behind Square’s perfect score.

However, while Clover supports on‑screen tip prompts and detailed gratuity reports, it won’t redistribute tips automatically across staff. Instead, you’ll need to pull the report and pool tips manually, unlike Square or Toast, which automate the split and payout.

Built‑in loyalty, gift cards and email/SMS marketing

Clover gives merchants most engagement tools out of the box: you can launch a points‑based loyalty programme without extra fees, sell and redeem digital or physical gift cards, and run email or SMS campaigns straight from the dashboard.

The slight downside is usability. While the front-end was slick and responsive, I found loyalty, discounts, and promotions were disjointed, with key actions hiding in different corners of the back office. I also expected to apply discounts at the payment level rather than the order level.

So, while Clover packs more engagement punch than most rivals, staff may need a jot of extra training to make those features run smoothly day to day.

How Much Does Clover Cost?

Clover offers custom price plans, which means pricing information is only available via quote. This applies to both software and hardware pricing.

This can be frustrating for businesses that value transparent pricing. If that’s you, providers such as Square, Shopify, or SumUp, which detail all their pricing, including the price of add-on features, are better options.

Clover does advertise its pricing in other regions, notably in the US. If those figures are anything to go by, Clover is an expensive option, with its hardware in particular costing over $1,000 USD on average (£750), more than what rivals Square and SumUp charge.

What are Clover’s card processing fees?

Clover’s card processing fees start at 1.49% per in-person transaction, which is less than what most rivals charge. Square charges 1.75%, while SumUp charges 1.69%.

It’s also possible to get custom transaction fees with Clover, which are likely to be lower than the 1.49% advertised if your business processes a high volume of card transactions per month.

What are Clover’s Contract Lengths and Cancellation Fees?

A typical contract with Clover is 12 to 36 months, which rolls into monthly rolling or 12-month auto-renewal unless written notice is given.

Exiting a contract with Clover early will trigger Early Termination Fees (ETFs). Because hardware is on a fixed-term hire agreement, leaving before your contract expires requires paying the full remaining monthly rental charges.

Additionally, under Clover’s standard merchant conditions, a flat £200 cancellation fee may be charged if you exit the within the initial period (often triggered if terminated within the first 6-12 months).

What Hardware Does Clover Offer and How Does It Perform?

Clover stands out for its hardware more than any other EPOS system I’ve tested: every core component (station, handheld, printer, kitchen display system (KDS)) is Clover‑built, sold as a bundle and plug‑and‑play.

Merchants can mix a 15″ Station Duo with a fingerprint‑login register for speed, add Clover Flex handhelds for table‑side or queue‑busting sales and slot in own‑brand USB/Ethernet/Bluetooth printers. No third‑party workarounds are needed.

Unlike most rivals, Clover lets you load branded promos or custom screensavers, so any upselling opportunities and loyalty callouts are front and centre while the guest taps to pay.

Plus, every system (frontend, backend; on devices or on the web) is synced near-instantaneously. Add a product once, and it appears in real time on every register, the cloud dashboard and your branded web shop. The likes of Square and Lightspeed also sync inventory, but only Clover pre‑configures the online storefront at no extra software cost.

In short, if premium, cohesive hardware (and the polished look and functionality that comes with it) is a must, Clover is in a league of its own.

What Customer Support Options and Response Times Does Clover Provide?

Clover offers six of the eight support channels, which are as follows:

• Round‑the‑clock phone support
• Email
• Live chat
• In‑platform quick help
• Video tutorials
• Searchable knowledge centre

It also provides a full training mode so new staff can practise on a testing system without risking real data, something Square still lacks.

The two areas it is missing for support coverage are a public community forum and dedicated social media support (e.g. via X/Twitter or Facebook DMs). Still, that’s a solid array of coverage, and the 24/7 availability of its phone line should hopefully mean any community support isn’t required.

How does Clover’s customer support perform?

Quality, not availability, is where Clover trails the leaders. During a live chat test (asking questions such as “How can I view my sales and revenue reports?”), a human agent replied after 30 seconds and supplied a mostly accurate answer.

That said, I did find Square’s POS AI bot answered the same question almost instantly, and Lightspeed’s human chat hit the same accuracy in under 10 seconds.

Meanwhile, the knowledge centre usually surfaces relevant articles on the first page, but still requires more clicks than Shopify’s or Lightspeed’s by comparison.

Overall, you can reach Clover 24/7 and train staff safely, but expect a brief wait for live‑chat help and be ready to dig a little deeper in the help docs compared with the fastest‑responding rivals.

How Does Clover Compare With Its Competitors?

Clover competes with a wide range of EPOS providers – from affordable, easy-to-use systems for small businesses to more advanced platforms designed for established retailers and hospitality venues.

While its main selling points are its purpose-built hardware, comprehensive stock management tools and flexible app marketplace, its higher costs and lack of transparent pricing make it harder to assess its value upfront.

To see how Clover stacks up, it’s worth comparing its pricing and features with those of its closest competitors.

How does Clover’s pricing compare with other EPOS systems?

Since Clover offers quote-based, custom pricing, it’s hard to compare it with competitors.

Based on research, Clover is generally a more expensive option than small business favourites Square and SumUp, especially when it comes to hardware. Its software pricing is generally in line with providers such as Toast and Lightspeed, which cater to more established businesses with larger budgets.

That said, Clover offers cheaper card processing fees than most rivals, at 1.49% compared to Square’s 1.75%, Shopify’s 1.7%, and SumUp’s 1.69%.

How does Clover compare with other EPOS systems on features?

Clover’s own‑brand hardware line‑up, built‑in inventory with live margin tracking, automatic offline mode and a vast app marketplace place it in the top tier, alongside Lightspeed and Square for retail, and Toast and Lightspeed in hospitality.

However, Clover falls short is just in its final finesse. For instance, tip pooling is still manual (Square and Toast automate it), and some loyalty/discount workflows feel more scattered than Square’s streamlined flows.

If you need seamless tip automation, on‑the‑house exports or the very slickest front‑end for promotions, Square or Toast may edge ahead. But for merchants who value cohesive hardware, deep stock tools and “there’s‑an‑app‑for‑that” flexibility, Clover remains one of the most capable all‑rounders on the UK market.

Our Methodology: How We Reviewed Clover POS

The Expert Market team has tested and assessed 11 different EPOS systems to bring you this list, along with the other POS reviews you can find on our site. We’ve spent over 160 hours researching these EPOS platforms and over 20 hours testing them.

During that time, we used our learnings to evaluate how each EPOS system fared in six core areas that are important to businesses. These areas (explained in greater detail below) were broken down into around 12 subcategories each. Scores in each of these subcategories were subsequently amalgamated to arrive at an impartial, overall ranking for each provider.

Here’s what we looked at:

• Software (30% Retail/30% Hospitality): The breadth of features included in the EPOS software and how valuable they are to the average business, including inventory management, marketing and customer engagement tools, and refund management.
• Usability (25% Retail/20% Hospitality): User testing task completion scores, workflow speed for placing orders and splitting bills, interface navigation intuitiveness (via card sorting), and task emotion/satisfaction metrics.
• Hardware/equipment (10% Retail/15% Hospitality): The variety of equipment available to purchase or rent, with special importance given to key items, such as physical terminals, customer displays and accessories.
• Help & support (15% Retail/15% Hospitality): How effective and reachable the customer support teams are, with bonus points given to EPOS systems with help centres and training modes.
• Pricing (10% Retail/10% Hospitality): The price of the system, how it compares to competitors and whether it’s good value for money.
• Reputation (10% Retail/10% Hospitality): Aggregate user sentiment from verified review ecosystems (Reddit, Trustpilot, G2, Capterra), likelihood-to-recommend scores from hands-on testing, and brand search volume/market adoption.