How Much Does Zettle Cost UK Businesses in 2024?

How much Zettle costs in 2024 is an important question for businesses. Our research has found that Zettle’s pricing starts from £29 for its card reader and a 1.75% processing fee for each card transaction.

The first reader purchased costs £29, and for businesses that want to expand, additional readers will cost £59 each. Crucially, Zettle has no monthly fees, which should help your business’ balance sheet.

Below is a summary of the Zettle prices and features you can expect before we dive into all the specifics of taking transactions with the PayPal-owned merchant account provider.

What Are Zettle’s Transaction Fees?

• 1.75% for card payments and PayPal QR code transactions
• 2.5% for online payment links and invoices
• 3.4% + £0.20: for manual card entry (non-present card transaction)

Zettle’s fees are fairly low, with easy-to-grasp flat fee rates of 1.75% for card transactions and 2.5% for payment links and invoices. You’ll also pay 1.75% for PayPal QR code transactions, though for non-present card transactions, where you enter a customer’s card details yourself, you’ll face a higher 3.4% + 20p rate.

If you haven’t used Zettle for a while, it previously used a sliding scale for transaction fees between 2.75% to 1% like many other providers.

Still, Zettle does state that custom card payment rates are available. However, they are subject “to a specific agreement between the parties… entered into at [Zettle’s] sole discretion”. In other words, custom fees are for exceptional circumstances. This is believed to be for businesses taking over £10,000 in card payments every month, all year-round.

Does Zettle have any hidden fees or charges?

No, Zettle doesn’t have any extra or hidden fees. Zettle charges per transaction – 1.75% for card transactions, and 2.5% for payment links or invoices – and has no monthly fees.

It also doesn’t charge a fee for declined card transactions, which means you won’t lose any money if this happens. Nor does it charge for refunds. You’ll even have cover for up to £250 in chargebacks per month.

How Much Does Zettle Hardware Cost?

• Reader: £29
• Terminal: £149 or £199 with scanner
• Terminal + Printer & Dock: £199 or £249 with scanner

Zettle’s cheapest card reader, the Zettle Card Reader 2 costs £29 + VAT for the first reader, and any subsequent readers you purchase will cost £59 + VAT each. This is a one-off cost, so you will not have any monthly fees, which means you aren’t locked into a contract or subject to any hidden fees.

This makes it one of the cheapest card readers of the payment processors we compared, similar to low-cost hardware by Square at £19 + VAT, and beating Tyl, which has an ongoing fee of £9.99 per month for its cheapest card reader.

If you want a comprehensive EPOS setup, Zettle’s Payment Terminal starts from £149 + VAT. It consists of a touchscreen EPOS system and a payment terminal, which will better suit larger enterprises or businesses that are scaling, so you can manage an EPOS system and take card payments in one go. It offers a free EPOS system, which provides you with basic EPOS features, such as inventory tools, sales reporting and employee management, meaning you won’t have any additional fees to pay for software here.

You can use multiple hardware devices simultaneously on one Zettle account. Therefore, if you would like to add to your hardware options over time, that is possible, too.

Any supporting hardware for Zettle EPOS devices?

Zettle lists a range of accessories and supporting hardware that can be purchased to be used with Zettle EPOS devices. Here’s a list of them and how much they cost:

• Zettle Dock 2: £39 + VAT
• Compact Cash Drawer: £49 + VAT
• Barcode Scanner: £219 + VAT
• Zettle Tablet Stand: £99 + VAT
• Epson Mobile Printer: £189 + VAT
• Epson Stationary Printer: £249 + VAT
• Receipt Printer Star mPoP: £319 + VAT
• Receipt Rolls: £35 + VAT

It is worth pointing out that Zettle hardware is compatible with third-party devices, though there are some restrictions depending on the specific device.

How Does Zettle Pricing Compare With Other Merchant Account Providers?

Here’s a quick look at the prices and fees you can expect with other top-rated mobile merchant account providers.

Our in-depth research into the best mobile card machines found that Zettle’s transaction fees are competitive among the big players – albeit not the cheapest in the UK market.

For instance, in-person card transaction fees are often slightly cheaper with other providers, such as SumUp (1.69%), Tyl (1.39% + 5p), Stripe (1.4%) and Revolut (0.8% + 2p). Though, it does match Square at 1.75%.

But there’s more to it than just in-person card fees, so let’s compare a few providers with Zettle to illustrate how its pricing sits in the market.

Revolut vs Zettle Pricing

As we discuss in our merchant account comparison, Revolut offers the cheapest transaction fees, from 1% + 20p for online transactions and 0.8% + 2p for in-person transactions. However, its hardware is slightly more expensive than Zettle’s, costing from £49.

Revolut’s transaction fees are technically cheaper, but, depending on the size of the transaction, Zettle’s could take less of a cut if you have many small transactions. We’ve worked out that, for any transactions below £2.11, you’ll be better off with Zettle.

Tyl vs Zettle Pricing

Tyl offers appealing flat 1.39% +5p transaction fees for UK/European card payments, both online and in-person, that better Zettle’s flat-fee pricing.

However, its hardware starts from just £9.99 per month. That’s a little pricey compared to Zettle’s one-off fee of just £29. Though Tyl does allow you to take payment through a smartphone where only transaction fees apply, which could appeal to mobile businesses in particular.

Does Zettle Offer Good Value Overall?

Comparing pricing with other merchant accounts and card reader providers is one thing. However, assessing whether Zettle’s overall service is good value for money is another.

What features does Zettle offer as a merchant account?

Zettle performed very well in our testing as a merchant account. Namely, it has a comprehensive and free EPOS system for users, advanced inventory management and sales analytics for its flexible payment options (contactless, chip & pin, mobile wallets, invoicing, etc.) and multi-currency support. Plus, there’s no contract tying you down.

Being a huge company with an international audience, PayPal’s Zettle is highly compliant, too, with strong security measures that mean you shouldn’t worry about the safety of your finances. It also has excellent customer support options (phone, email and online help centre) for similar reasons, providing round-the-clock care.

Zettle also has a wide range of integration options, including with other POS systems such as Lightspeed and Goodtill, accounting software like Xero and Quickbooks, and e-commerce platforms such as Shopify or WooCommerce. By comparison, options such as Tyl have limited compatibility with third-party apps and services, which could restrict your ability to streamline operations across different business tools.

Where did Zettle’s card reader perform well in our user testing?

An important thing to consider is the usability of Zettle’s hardware. After all, its card readers will be crucial to securing in-person purchases from your customers.

• Our testers were most impressed by the lightweight and portable feel of the Zettle Card Reader 2, suitable for on-the-go business operations, while also retaining a modern and sleek look.
• Users also highlighted the simplicity of the information architecture and how shallow each menu option was for the user. This could help reduce the total service time of each transaction, and time is money after all.
• Third, our testers also enjoyed having the bevelled buttons as opposed to a touchscreen to help provide feedback that they were entering their pins. This could be especially important for the more than 2 million people in the UK who have a visual impairment, according to RNID.

Could Zettle’s card reader improve its usability?

There were also some downsides to the hardware, as reported during our usability testing. These are some areas that you may need to consider:

• A significant number of participants noted the lack of privacy when entering a pin on the Zettle Reader, unlike other competitors such as Barclaycard.
• Navigation naming was found to be a little confusing and unfamiliar for some users, noting that it wasn’t always immediately obvious what was being clicked on in the accompanying POS app.

What businesses are best suited to Zettle?

Because of its streamlined software functionality, Zettle offers a simplified and user-friendly EPOS system, making it ideal for food trucks with a limited number of items and little need for complex features.

Its 100% iPad or phone-based interface is perfect for on-the-go businesses, providing all the necessary tools to start selling. And given its free EPOS system, it’s a low-cost option for owners who want to sell without ongoing fees.

On the other hand, Zettle’s hardware lacks offline payments, which isn’t ideal for more remote businesses where Wi-Fi or cellular connections could falter. Its lack of variable transaction fees could mean that other merchant accounts offer better value in certain ways, too.

Final Thoughts: Is Zettle For You?

Our in-depth research into the merchant accounts votes Zettle as a top pick in several key areas, including a range of integrations, reporting tools and strong compliance and security measures.

Zettle isn’t the cheapest option purely in terms of transaction fees, though we still think they remain competitive in the UK market. Especially since it has a free EPOS store, no on-going fees and some of the cheapest hardware around. The lowest price transaction fees can be found with Revolut.

If you want to compare the fees of other merchant accounts, use our free quote tool. With a few brief details about your business, we will match you up with compatible payment processors. These trusted providers will then contact you with obligation-free quotes.

How We Test Merchant Account Providers Such As Zettle

We tested 18 merchant account providers, using our findings to rank the best merchant accounts on the UK market – and that included Zettle among our selection of providers. We assessed each provider across five main areas of investigation, and 23 subcategories.

Here’s what we looked at:

• Hardware: we looked at each merchant account’s card machine size, weight and portability, and assessed its connectivity, interface, receipt printing and battery life.
• Software: we tallied up how many payment types each merchant account accepted, looked at payout times, reporting and security features, EPOS functionality and what systems it integrated with.
• Help and support: we assessed merchant account providers based on how many different support types they offered, and how available and responsive the support team was.
• Pricing: we compared monthly fees, card machine costs, transaction fees and contract lengths against the features of each merchant account’s card reader(s), to determine the value for money of each.
• Ease of use: we had several different average users test each card machine to see how intuitive each one was to use and how quickly everyday tasks could be completed.

We then gave each merchant account an overall score based on how well they fared in the above assessment categories.