Written by Zara Chechi Reviewed by Ruairi Shirlow Updated on November 5, 2022 On this page How Much Does Clover Cost? The Pros and Cons of Clover Clover’s key features explained How does Clover compare with its competitors? Does Clover have good customer reviews? Verdict Our Methodology: How We Reviewed Clover POS FAQs Expand Our site is reader-supported – by clicking our links, we can match you with a potential supplier, and we may earn a small commission for this referral. Clover scores a 4/5 in our in-depth POS research, coming seventh out of the 12 providers we compared. Clover offers great POS hardware and management tools but is this the right system for your business? Stay tuned for our in-depth review.Our research team focused on several areas, including hardware, price, and usability. We know how important these categories are for businesses when choosing the right POS system.If you want to compare other POS systems to Clover, you can use our free quote tool. By giving us a few brief details, we can match y Swipe right to see more 0 out of 0 backward forward Clover Square Vend Lightspeed Zettle 4.7 4.8 4.4 4.5 4.4 Price From $14.95-$129.85/month Price From $0-$165/month Price Lean – $69Standard – $119Advanced – $199 Price $89-$289/month Price $0/month Best For Best for professional hardware Best For Best for scaling and growing your business Best For Scalability Best For Driving repeat business and loyalty Best For Small-businesses Visit Square How Much Does Clover Cost?Clover’s average monthly cost for its POS system is around $9.95, with its highest price point being $29.95. This pricing is fairly average for POS systems, giving Clover a pricing score of 3.4/5 in our in-depth research. Square, Zettle, and Toast are the only providers that score higher than Clover, with Square and Zettle scoring a perfect 5/5 and Toast 4.8/5.Square and Zettle get this score because of their free POS apps, which provide core POS functions, such as reporting, inventory tools, and employee management. Square offers a comprehensive POS system than Zettle, which offers less features.Square is a good option for small businesses because it offers free POS software with all the necessary features. However, if your business is scaling up, Clover might be a better option as it offers features on its paid plans, such as marketing tools, managing customer feedback, and built-in customer loyalty. Swipe right to see more 0 out of 0 backward forward Package Clover Clover’s hardware costs $799 to $1799 for the full kit. You can download the Clover Go app on iOS and Android devices to access the POS system from your mobile phone or tablet. You’ll need to pair it with the Clover card reader ($49) to take payments.If you want a register stand, Clover’s Station Duo WiFi ($1799) is a comprehensive system with a register and receipt printer, suitable for retail stores and restaurants. A comparable system from a competitor would be Square’s Register ($799) which is cheaper but is only able to run Square apps which is limiting if you have other software you currently use.If your business doesn’t need such a comprehensive system, you can opt for the Clover Mini ($749), or the Clover Flex ($499), a handheld card reader. While these are more suited to processing payments than using the POS system, they work well for startups or small businesses that might not want the chunkiness of the full system.If you want to compare other POS providers to Clover, you can use our free quote tool. We’ll match you up with trusted suppliers that will contact you with obligation-free quotes so you can find a provider best suited to your needs. Pros Unlimited users across all plans Good for third-party integrations Cons Poor customer support No inter-store transactions The Pros and Cons of CloverPro – Unlimited users across all plans Clover allows for unlimited users across all of its plans. However, our research shows that this is fairly standard practice for POS providers as some do limit the number of users. Lightspeed’s starting retail plan at $69 per month only supports up to five employees, as does Talech’s starter plan. Shopify also has limits on user access, unless you purchase the Shopify Plus plan.Unlimited users means you won’t need to upgrade your plan as your team expands.Pro – Good for third-party integrations Clover offers good integrations for retail and restaurant specific software, making it easy to create a system suited to the needs of your business.While it’s fairly easy to integrate third-party software, the lack of built-in solutions, such as an ecommerce store, which can be found in Square and Shopify, means that you’ll need to rely on the integration working seamlessly.If you are looking for a free plan, Square offers both a free POS app and a free ecommerce store so you can start selling online and sync up both your online and offline orders. Square makes more sense if you’re a retailer wanting to sell online, but if you’re a restaurant or a store that only wants an informative website, you can easily get away with using an integrated website.Con – Poor customer supportClover scores a 3/5 for its customer support, which is fairly average when compared with the providers in our research. While Clover offers set-up help and ongoing phone and email support, it doesn’t offer a live chat option. This is frustrating as live chat support is a handy and easy way to discuss issues or ask questions you might have without having to be on the phone, or wait for an email back.Square, Vend, and TouchBistro all score 5/5 for customer support, as they offer email, live chat, and phone support. In addition to customer support, Square has the highest overall score of all the POS systems we compared (4.8/5), making it the best of the bunch. However, Clover offers marketing tools and employee tracking, so if you want to scale quickly with a comprehensive system, Clover is a good choice.Con – No inter-store transactions The lack of inter-store transactions means that Clover isn’t the best option for businesses with multiple locations. This is one of the reasons Clover has a low business development score in our research (3/5). It also has limited built-in inventory capabilities and more comprehensive inventory can be found through third-party integrations.Lightspeed has a higher score for business development (4/5) and a higher score overall (4/5). Lightspeed has inter-store transactions, making it suitable for multiple locations and it comes with comprehensive inventory management. It must be noted that Lightspeed is a more expensive option, with its average software costing $129, much higher than Clover’s average of $9.95. If you only have one store, Clover’s cheaper POS software works just as well. Compare Prices from Leading POS Suppliers GET FREE QUOTES Clover’s key features explainedClover Flex Clover Flex is a handheld POS system that allows you to take payments, orders, and track sales. You can purchase just this piece of hardware and have a complete POS system, you can pair it with other Clover hardware, or it can be used alongside the Clover Go app on your phone or tablet.The Flex accepts chip, swipe, and contactless payments, which is suitable for mobile businesses or businesses that want to be able to take payments and orders away from the counter, such as a bar or restaurant.A cheaper alternative to this would be to opt for an iPad-based POS system, such as Square or Zettle. This way you won’t have to purchase new hardware and can use the software on an existing device. Another plus is that both providers offer free POS systems. Square and Zettle make sense if you’re cost-conscious, although Clover Flex includes a built-in printer, camera, and barcode scanner.Offline payment mode While most of the providers in our research offer the functionality to take payments offline, with Clover, you can take payments offline for up to seven days. This is useful if you’re a mobile business, or you’re in a location that has a spotty connection. Swipe right to see more 0 out of 0 backward forward Clover Square Vend TouchBistro 4.7 4.9 4.4 4.0 Best For Best for professional hardware Best For Growing your bar business Best For Scalability Best For Easiest hospitality POS system to operate Features Not yet rated Features Not yet rated Features Not yet rated Features Not yet rated Cons Hardware is expensive Cons Cons Shopify integration does not always work well Cons Difficult to get out of contract How does Clover compare with its competitors?Price Although Clover scores an above average 3.5/5 for price, its software plans are some of the lowest cost out of the providers in our research. Clover is beaten by Square and Zettle, which each score a perfect 5/5 because they both offer free POS software.Despite its low price point, Clover is a good choice for businesses that want built-in tools, such as marketing and employee tracking, which are both only available with Square as a paid add-on. If you’re a small business, Square or Zettle are better cost-conscious options, especially Square, which offers more POS features than Zettle.However, if you’re a business that’s looking to scale quickly, Clover’s comprehensive, built-in features make more sense as you won’t need to purchase add-ons.Features Clover has capabilities for retail and restaurant industries. This is because it offers you the ability to tailor its POS software and hardware for several kinds of businesses, including full-service dining, quick-service dining, and retail stores. The tailored systems mean you can opt for a solution designed specifically for your business.Almost all of the providers we compared in our research offer delivery support, except Vend and Zettle. Clover offers the ability to create an online ordering page for free, plus, the POS system will show you online orders on a separate screen, allowing you to organize these orders efficiently. TouchBistro offers the same delivery capacity as Clover and displays the delivery route, which is helpful if you want to be able to keep an eye on your delivery drivers.TouchBistro is much pricier than Clover and is an iPad-based system, so does not offer any POS-specific hardware. If you want comprehensive POS hardware, Clover would be a better option. Does Clover have good reviews?Clover has a mix of reviews, with some users finding the system easy to use and intuitive. Other users have found that Clover can be sneaky with their fees, making it hard to cancel contracts and charge surprise fees. Customer review “Overall Quick customer service, and an excellent interface, clover make POS a great option.Pros: Easy to learn and use, with great ability to track inventory and customers.Cons: The clover monthly pricing nearly doubled in the span of a month, backing out cafe into a corner. I’m still frustrated to be paying for the same features with a $50/month increase.” (sic) Jeremy K, Capterra.com - 25 September 2022 Customer review “Overall: I like thier hardware and software but they could improve with their customer service…being quicker and easier to contact.Pros: I like that it is always reliable. In 2 years I haven’t had any issues of errors either with the software or the machine itself.Cons: It is hard to contact customer service in the rare event that you need them” (sic) Tracey J, Capterra.com - 5 August 2022 Verdict We recommend Clover for established businesses looking to scale quickly. Clover’s lack of free plans means you’ll need to be in a position to invest in a POS system, for small businesses or startups, Square or Zettle will be a better fit.Clover offers specialized systems for retail and restaurant businesses, with features such as a CRM system, bill splitting, and menu editing. It lacks inventory capabilities, but this can be remedied via third-party integration.If you want to compare other POS providers with Clover, you can use our free quote tool. With a few brief details about your business, we can match you up with trusted suppliers that will contact you with obligation-free quotes. Compare Prices from Leading POS Suppliers GET FREE QUOTES Our Methodology: How We Reviewed Clover POSThe Expert Market team tested and assessed 20 different POS systems to bring you this list. We spend around 160 hours researching POS platforms, and over 20 hours testing them. During that time, we used our learnings to evaluate how each POS system fared in six categories that are important to businesses, broken down into up to 12 subcategories, in order to get an impartial ranking.Here’s what we looked at:POS software: The breadth of features included in the POS software, and how valuable they are to the average business, including inventory management, menu/product creation, customer engagement tools, and table management.Hardware/equipment: The variety of equipment available to purchase or rent, with special importance given to key items, such as physical terminals, customer displays, and accessories.Ease-of-use: How easy each system is to use, based on feedback from several average users who were assigned basic tasks to complete on each system, such as menu/item creation, accessing reports, or applying a discount.Help and support: How effective and reachable the customer support teams are, with bonus points given to POS systems with help centers and training modes.Costs: The price of the system, how it compares to competitors, and whether it's good value for money.User experience: Whether everyday users know and like the system, whether they’d recommend it, and what they say about it in online reviews.The score of each of these areas was combined to create an overall score for each of the different types of POS systems. FAQs Is Clover safe for payment? Yes, Clover is safe for payments. Clover processes payments through its parent company, Fiserv, which offers end-to-end encryption, ensuring transactions are secure and PCI compliant. What percentage does Clover take? Clover’s transaction fees depend on the package you opt for. The higher the paid plan, the lower the transaction fees. Transaction fees differ depending on whether they’re taken in-person or keyed-in. The highest card-present fee is 2.6% +10c and the lowest is 2.3% +10c. What’s the best POS system? Out of the 12 providers in our in-depth research, Square tops the list with a score of 4.8/5. Its affordability, ease of use, and range of features secures its number one spot. It also offers a free POS app. Written by: Zara Chechi Business Services Expert Zara is a Payments Expert, specialising in writing about Point of Sale systems. With a Law Degree from City University of London, she has used her legally-honed research and analytical skills to develop expertise in the Business Services world. Featured in FinTech Magazine, she quickly became an expert in payroll, POS systems, and merchant accounts. Reviewed by: Ruairi Shirlow Business Services Researcher Ruairi uses his 3+ years of research experience to uncover insights which can help Expert Market provide the best business solutions for their users. He has done this by meeting with business owners to find out what is important to them and what challenges they face on a daily basis. Ruairi specialises in tools that can be used to grow your business and has done research for a wide range of categories on Expert Market, such as EPOS, Website Builders, and Merchant Accounts.