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This SumUp vs Zettle vs Square comparison looks at the cost per £10k of card takings and finds that SumUp’s Payments Plus plan offers the lowest card payment fees at £10,000 a month in card takings, costing £118 per £10k (checked October 2026) against £169 for SumUp PAYG, £175 for Zettle, and £175 for Square Free, but only if the bulk of your cards are domestic UK consumer cards.
Want your own numbers? Try the card fee calculator to compare all four plans at your monthly takings.
Table of contents(7 sections)
What each provider actually charges
All three providers use a flat-rate model with no contracts, which keeps the comparison straightforward. Here is what you need to know about each one before the numbers.
SumUp offers two in-person rates. The pay-as-you-go (PAYG) rate is 1.69% per transaction, with no monthly fee. Payments Plus drops that to 0.99% for domestic UK consumer cards, for £19 a month or £189 a year, per SumUp’s Payments Plus page. One important caveat: international, corporate, and premium cards revert to the PAYG rate even on Payments Plus.
Zettle by PayPal (now becoming PayPal Point of Sale, per Zettle’s pricing page) charges 1.75% per transaction on all in-person card transactions, Amex included, with no monthly fee. Square‘s free plan matches that at 1.75%, also covering Amex at the same rate, per Square’s official fee schedule. Non-UK cards cost more on Square: an extra 1.95% according to Square’s pricing page, though its fee schedule lists the international fee as 1.5%. Zettle by PayPal is PayPal’s own reader, and our SumUp vs PayPal card reader comparison goes deeper on that pairing.
All three accept Amex at the same in-person rate as Visa and Mastercard. That is not universal among UK card readers and is a genuine advantage over some rivals.
Our analysis: what each plan costs per £10k of monthly card takings
The table below shows the running cost per £10,000 of monthly card takings, plus a first-year total that adds the one-off reader cost, using rates from SumUp’s pricing page, Zettle’s pricing page, and Square’s fee schedule. Hardware prices are ex-VAT.
| Plan | Monthly fee | Rate (in-person) | Cost per £10k takings | Reader (ex-VAT, one-off) | First-year total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SumUp PAYG | None | 1.69% | £169 | £39 (Air) | £2,067 |
| SumUp Payments Plus Top pick | £19/month | 0.99% (UK consumer cards) | £118 | £39 (Air) | £1,455 |
| Zettle (no plan) | None | 1.75% | £175 | £29 (Reader 2, first unit) | £2,129 |
| Square Free | None | 1.75% | £175 | £19 (Reader) | £2,119 |
Figures use the verified in-person rates from SumUp’s pricing page, Zettle’s pricing page, and Square’s fee schedule; hardware costs from SumUp’s reader comparison, Zettle’s pricing page, and Square’s fee schedule. First-year total assumes £10k/month for 12 months plus one reader. Prices checked October 2026.
The Payments Plus caveat
SumUp’s own guidance states that Payments Plus saves money above roughly £3,000/month, and our figures confirm it. At £10k, the saving over PAYG is £51 per month, or £612 a year. The problem is the card mix: if a meaningful share of your takings come from corporate, international, or premium cards, those revert to the PAYG rate of 1.69%, narrowing or erasing that advantage. A trade counter serving retail customers is well placed to benefit; a B2B supplier whose clients pay on company cards is less so.
Card fee calculator: what you’d pay each month
Enter your monthly card takings and card mix to see what each plan would cost you, a month and a year.
Card fee calculator
What SumUp, Zettle and Square would charge on your in-person card takings, a month and a year.
| Provider and plan | Per month | Per year | Effective rate |
|---|
In-person card payments only, on standard pay-as-you-go rates: SumUp 1.69%; SumUp Payments Plus 0.99% on UK consumer cards and 1.69% on premium, business, Amex and non-UK cards, plus its subscription; Zettle 1.75%; Square 1.75% on UK cards plus 1.95% on non-UK cards. Card readers, online and invoice payments, and custom rates for high-volume businesses aren’t included. Rates checked October 2026 on each provider’s UK pricing page.
Hardware: starter cost comparison
Reader prices are a one-off, but they affect which provider is cheapest in month one. For more options, see our guide to the best payment terminals for UK businesses.
- Square provides one basic chip reader free per account; the Bluetooth contactless reader is £19.
- Zettle's card reader is £29 (ex-VAT) for the first unit for new business users, and £69 for additional units, per Zettle's pricing page.
- SumUp Air is £39; the Solo Lite is £25 if you want to shave a little more off year-one costs, per SumUp's reader comparison.
Square's free reader gives it the lowest hardware entry point, but the difference between £19 and £39 is irrelevant if you're processing £10k a month.
Settlement speed
Settlement speed rarely decides which provider wins, but it matters when cash flow is tight.
- SumUp settles next day by 7am, including weekends and bank holidays, to a SumUp Business Account; external bank transfers take one to two working days, per SumUp's comparison page.
- Zettle pays into your PayPal Business account, typically within minutes, and moving it on to your bank costs nothing extra, per Zettle's pricing page.
- Square transfers to your bank free in one to two working days (sometimes the next day); an instant transfer costs 1.95%, per Square's pricing page.
SumUp's weekend settlement is the most useful for hospitality and retail businesses with busy Saturday trading.
Frequently asked questions
Does the 0.99% SumUp rate apply to Amex?
No. The 0.99% Payments Plus rate applies only to domestic UK consumer cards. Amex, international cards, and corporate cards revert to 1.69% per transaction, per SumUp's Payments Plus page.
Is Zettle the same as PayPal Here?
Zettle replaced PayPal Here in the UK and is now formally called "Zettle by PayPal". It is now becoming PayPal Point of Sale, per Zettle's pricing page.
Verdict
At £10,000 a month in card takings, SumUp Payments Plus is the cheapest option for card payment fees if your customers predominantly pay with domestic UK consumer cards, coming in at £118 per £10k against £175 for Zettle and £175 for Square Free. The £19 monthly fee pays for itself many times over at this volume. If your card mix is heavier on corporate or international cards, SumUp PAYG at £169 per £10k is a better fit and still beats Zettle and Square outright. Square Free and Zettle are effectively identical on cost and are worth considering if you already use PayPal's ecosystem or want Square's free point-of-sale software, but neither wins on price at this volume.
