SumUp Pricing: Is It Good Value for Money?

SumUp is a popular payment processor for small businesses, serving 4 million businesses across Europe – and that makes sense considering there are zero monthly fees on the provider’s pay-as-you-go plan. However, that’s not the long and short of SumUp’s pricing, and in this article, we’ll delve further into the details.

As a quick overview, you should know that SumUp’s cheapest card reader, the SumUp Air, starts at £39 + VAT but rises to £49 if you want a charger too. We think it’s a pretty good option, which is why it made it into our list of the best card readers for UK small businesses.

Meanwhile, standard transaction fees are 1.69%, but go down down to 0.99% with a SumUp One subscription. In this article, we’ll give you a full breakdown of all of SumUp’s pricing, from the cost of its card machines to every transaction fee you might incur. We’ll also let you know how SumUp’s costs compare to competitors so that you can get the best deal.

How Much Do SumUp Card Machines Cost?

Range: £39-£139 + VAT

SumUp offers three readers, all of which are a one-off purchase:

• SumUp Air: £39 + VAT (+£10 for charger)
• SumUp Solo: £79 + VAT
• SumUp Solo & Printer: £139 + VAT

SumUp charges a one-off fee for all its card machines, making it cheaper in the long term than providers who charge monthly rental fees for their card machines, like takepayments or Worldpay.

Other mobile card reader providers, such as Square, and Zettle, also charge one-off fees for card machines, but their starting price is cheaper than SumUp’s.

Zettle’s card reader starts at £29, while Square’s card machines start at £19. And, at two years, Square’s warranty is longer than SumUp’s one year.

SumUp Air vs SumUp Solo vs SumUp Solo and Printer

Here’s a quick overview of the differences between each SumUp card reader:

The main differences between SumUp’s cheapest card reader, the £39 SumUp Air and the other two models is that it can only be used when connected via Bluetooth to the free SumUp app on your phone, while the two Solo models are standalone card machines. The SumUp Air also doesn’t come with a charging dock outright, and it’ll cost you an additional £10 + VAT if you want one.

That said, the SumUp Air has a longer battery life than the other two, 12 hours instead of 8 hours, which comes in handy if you’re a mobile business owner relying on your phone’s signal to take payments.

In comparison, the SumUp Solo and Solo Printer come equipped with Wifi connectivity, a built-in SIM card with unlimited free data, and a charging dock. So, despite their shorter battery life, these models can easily be charged on a countertop or table when they’re not in use, and they don’t rely on being connected to a smartphone to accept payments.

The main difference between the SumUp Solo and Solo and Printer is that the latter comes with a built-in receipt printer, and charges faster. If receipts are essential to your business, then it could be a good option.

Overall, however, the £79 + VAT SumUp Solo card reader offers the best value for money. You get a machine that can take payments anywhere there’s internet or a phone signal, plus you don’t need to pay extra for a charging dock.

SumUp Fees Explained

Before we get into SumUp’s transaction fees in more detail, here’s a quick summary of the fees you can expect to pay for different types of payments:

SumUp Transaction Fees

Range: 0.99%-2.5% per transaction

On the pay-as-you-go plan

On SumUp’s no contract, pay-as-you-go plan, you’ll pay transaction fees of 1.69% for in-person transactions, and 2.5% for all card-not-present payments (keyed-in, online, and invoices).

SumUp’s pay-as-you-go transaction fees are on the pricier end compared to the providers we researched when assessing the best merchant accounts in the market. For example, while SumUp’s pay-as-you-go in-person transaction fee is cheaper than Zettle’s and Square’s, both of which charge 1.75%, it’s more expensive than Stripe (1.4% +10p), or Tyl’s (1.39%).

For this reason, SumUp’s pay-as-you-go offering is a poor choice for businesses that deal with a high volume of card transactions (like busy bars and coffee shops), as they’re bound to build up and turn into a great expense.

With a SumUp Account or SumUp One subscription

There are two ways you can lower transaction fees with SumUp:

• SumUp Business Account: if you open a free account, you’ll pay transaction fees of 1.49% for in-person purchases (card-not-present transaction fees stay at 2.5%).
• SumUp One subscription: for £19 per month, you’ll pay transaction fees of 0.99%, on both in-person and card-not-present transactions on domestic cards (international, AMEX, and commercial cards have a 1.99% fee)

With a SumUp Business Account, SumUp’s 1.49% in-person transaction fee brings it more in line with Stripe and Tyl’s fees. And, to its credit, unlike Stripe, SumUp doesn’t charge a fee for unsuccessful transactions.

The 0.99% you’ll get with the £19 per month SumUp One subscription is decent, but you’re likely to get even lower fees with takepayments or Worldpay if you’re a high-volume seller. Worldpay’s transaction fees are as low as 0.75%.

SumUp Monthly Fees

Range: £0-£19 per month

If you opt for SumUp’s pay-as-you-go plan, you’ll pay zero monthly fees. To use it, you only need to buy one of its readers and the rest of your expenses will be transaction fees.

If you’re a small business owner with low transaction volume, you’ll benefit from lower monthly overheads, although your transaction fees will be higher than they would be with a SumUp subscription.

If you subscribe to SumUp One, you’ll pay a monthly fee of £19 per month. What you’ll get in return are:

• Lower transaction fees (from 0.99%)
• 7 am next-day payouts (compared to 3-5 working days on pay-as-you-go)
• 50% off SumUp card readers
• Access to SumUp’s advanced invoicing software

SumUp One is designed for businesses that process over £30,000 in card payments a year (over £2,500 a month). It’s a good option for cashless small businesses, such as cafes or independent stores, or ones with a lot of card-paying customers, such as restaurants, pubs and bars.

Although the SumUp One comes with a monthly fee, it’s contract-free, unlike offers from traditional card machine providers such as takepayments and Worldpay. You can cancel your SumUp One subscription anytime, and there’s no cancellation fee.

SumUp Fees for Selling Online

Range: £0 per month + transaction fees

SumUp doesn’t charge any extra monthly service fees for selling online through its payment gateway. The only charges you’ll pay are transaction fees, which are 2.5% on the pay-as-you-go plan, and 0.99% on SumUp One.

There are several ways to sell online with SumUp’s payment gateway:

• Payment links: send links to customers by email, messaging app, SMS, or QR code, which takes them to a payment page.
• Online store: build a free online store with SumUp, which comes with a built-in payment gateway
• Payment gateway integration: integrate SumUp’s payment gateway into your existing online store (plugins for WooCommerce, Wix and Prestashop, or use API or widgets).

This breadth of ways to take payments online landed SumUp a spot on our list of the UK’s best payment gateway providers.

SumUp Virtual Terminal Fees

Range: £0 per month + transaction fees

There are no extra charges for taking payments over the phone with SumUp’s virtual terminal. However, because this is considered a risky transaction, the transaction fees are higher, at 2.95% + 25p.

If your business takes a lot of payments over the phone and you want to keep fees down, you’ll be better off with Square. Like SumUp, Square doesn’t charge monthly fees for using its virtual terminal, but its transaction fees are lower at 2.5%.

See our list of the best virtual terminals for the full range of options.

How Much Do SumUp’s EPOS Systems Cost?

Range: £0/month to £49/month +£399 (one-off fee)

In addition to offering payment processing services and card machines, SumUp also offers EPOS systems, providing both software and hardware.

Here’s what you can get with SumUp:

• Free POS App: £0. If you have an existing tablet (Apple or Android), you can download and use SumUp’s basic EPOS app for free with no monthly costs. It comes with basic sales reporting and product cataloguing features. This option has no hardware, although you’re free to purchase a SumUp card reader separately.
• POS Lite: From £0/month + £299 (one-off fee). You’ll pay a £299 one-off fee for 13 inch HD touchscreen terminal and the SumUp Solo card reader, and pay no monthly fees for the free SumUp POS app (features are basic)
• POS Pro: From £49/month + £399 (one-off fee) You’ll pay a £399 one-off fee for the 13-inch HD touchscreen terminal, SumUp Solo card reader, cash drawer, and receipt printer. For £49 per month, you’ll also get access to more advanced EPOS software, with features tailored to the retail or hospitality sector, depending on which you select.

Providers such as Square and Tyl also offer free EPOS apps, so SumUp is by no means an outlier in this regard, nor does it offer the best free EPOS software.

Square’s free EPOS app comes with far more features than SumUp’s. For example, if you’re a restaurant, you won’t be able to manage your table plan on SumUp’s free plan, whereas you can on Square’s. So, if you’re looking for a cheap EPOS solution for your restaurant or store, we’d suggest going with Square. Like SumUp, it allows you to upgrade to paid plans once you outgrow the free version.

You can find out what the best EPOS systems in the UK are by looking at our official ranking.

Does SumUp Have Any Hidden Fees?

SumUp is very transparent with its costs, so you’re unlikely to get any surprise charges.

Its transaction fees are flat-rate and cover interchange fees, which are the processing charges the merchant account pays out to the banks of your customers. This means what you see advertised is what you’ll pay. Additionally, since SumUp doesn’t have fixed-term contracts, there aren’t any exit fees or early termination fees to worry about.

This straightforward pricing structure keeps SumUp’s fees easily visible and traceable, making it a popular option for small businesses.

How Does SumUp’s Pricing Compare with its Competitors?

Here’s a quick overview of how SumUp’s pricing stacks up against similar zero-contract rivals:

Square vs SumUp

Square’s in-person transaction fees are more expensive than SumUp’s, at 1.75% compared to 1.69%. However, Square’s online transaction fees are cheaper, at 1.4% + 25p, compared to 2.5%, and its card readers start at a cheaper price point, £19 + VAT compared to SumUp’s £39 + VAT.

Both providers come with zero monthly fees and free EPOS apps. However, Square’s free EPOS solution offers far more features than SumUp’s, making it a better value option for small businesses looking for an integrated payment processor and EPOS provider.

Read our full Square vs SumUp comparison.

Tyl vs SumUp

Tyl has cheaper transaction fees than SumUp, at 1.39% for standard personal UK cards, both in-person and online, compared to SumUp’s 1.69% for in-person transactions and 2.5% for online ones.

However, Tyl doesn’t sell its hardware outright, the way SumUp does. It charges monthly fees starting at £9.99 + VAT for leasing its card machines. Because of this, SumUp is a better value option in the long run.

Stripe vs SumUp

Stripe has cheaper transaction fees than SumUp, at 1.4% + 10p for in-person transactions, compared to SumUp’s 1.69%. Neither provider charges monthly fees, and both of them have card readers that start at £49 + VAT, if you include a SumUp charging dock, which will be essential if you’re buying your first card reader.

Stripe, however, comes with better reporting features than SumUp, and supports 125+ currencies, whilst SumUp only supports UK transactions. This makes Stripe a better value option if your business operates near tourist spots, or if you’re interested in rigorous reporting.

Read more in our Stripe vs SumUp head-to-head.

Zettle vs SumUp

Zettle and SumUp are quite evenly matched in terms of price. SumUp’s basic in-person transaction fees are slightly cheaper than Zettle’s  (1.69% compared to 1.75%) but their online transaction fees are the same, at 2.5%, and neither provider charges monthly fees for their basic offering.

Zettle’s card readers do have a cheaper price point, starting at £29 + VAT compared to SumUp’s £39 + VAT, but Zettle’s 4G card reader costs £149 + VAT, almost double SumUp’s £79 + VAT 4G reader. Overall, however, Zettle is better value for money than SumUp. It has more advanced reporting capabilities and integrates with a wider network of software.

Read our full Zettle vs SumUp comparison.

Tide vs SumUp

Tide has slightly cheaper in-person transaction fees than SumUp, at 1.5% compared to 1.69%. Its “online” fees are also cheaper than SumUp’s, at 1.5% compared to 2.5%, however, Tide only accepts card-not-present payments vis payment links or invoices, whereas SumUp in addition to that offers an online store builder and online payment gateway.

Tide’s card machine is more expensive than SumUp’s, starting at £89, compared to £39, but it’s a standalone machine with a built-in receipt printer, so its closest equivalent is the £139 SumUp Solo + Printer. This makes Tide’s card machine better value for money than SumUp’s.

Overall, Tide is a cheaper way to sell in-person, but its lacking the tools for online selling, so if that’s what you need, SumUp is a better option.

Verdict: Is SumUp Good Value for Money?

SumUp offers decent value for money. Its transaction fees aren’t the cheapest of all the zero-contract providers we researched, but they also aren’t the most expensive. The same goes for its card machines.

What makes SumUp better value than other zero-contract providers like Tide or Stripe is that it offers a bigger variety of payment services, from online store integrations to invoices and EPOS systems. A lot of these services are also free, which could make the high transaction fees worth it, since you’ll be saving a lot on monthly fees.

However, if you’re a high-volume seller, you could get much lower transaction fees with a provider that offers custom rates, like takepayments or Worldpay.

These providers do charge monthly service fees, and rope you into a 12 to 18-month contract, but they’re often the cheapest option in the long run for businesses that process a lot of card transactions. The more transactions you process, the more high transaction fees will eat into your profits.