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SumUp vs Square UK: Which Is Better for Your Small Business?

SumUp and Square both make taking card payments relatively easy, but they feel different once you look beyond the tap. SumUp is often the simpler payment-first choice. Square gives you a wider set of tools for running sales, products, appointments or a till.

A market seller with a short product list needs a different setup from a shop managing hundreds of variants. A salon taking deposits online needs to price those payments separately from appointments paid for at the counter. This comparison shows how to work through those differences without assuming one provider wins for everyone.

For the individual product guides, see our SumUp review and Square review. Prices and product details below were checked against official UK sources on 11 September 2026.

SumUp vs Square card reader comparison

SumUp and Square in 60 seconds

1 SumUp

SumUp keeps the route into card payments straightforward. You can choose a small reader used with an app or a standalone device, take payment and send a receipt without building a complicated till system first.

  • Best forSole traders, mobile services, markets and businesses wanting simple payments
  • What it can doTake cards and phone wallets, issue receipts and show sales in the SumUp app
  • Why choose itEasy to understand, low fixed commitment and standalone options
  • Main watch-outIt may offer less depth than Square when you need wider business software

2 Square

Square starts with payments but offers more room to build a working checkout. A shop can create a product library, a café can explore POS tools, and a salon can look at appointments, invoices and customer records.

  • Best forGrowing shops, cafés, salons and businesses selling in several ways
  • What it can doTake payments and connect them with products, receipts, invoices and Square software
  • Why choose itBroader software and a clearer path from card reader to full checkout
  • Main watch-outPaid software and hardware can make the complete setup cost more

Our quick recommendation

Compare SumUp first if straightforward payment collection and low fixed costs are your main priorities. Put Square high on your shortlist if you want to investigate how payments fit into a broader till, retail or appointment workflow. Then test both against your actual tasks rather than accepting a general claim that one is simpler or more powerful.

Neither provider is automatically the lowest-cost choice once your business grows. A paid plan, custom offer or another merchant-services provider may change the result. Start with the two services if they fit your business, but do not stop comparing just because a reader is already familiar.

What can each option do beyond taking payment?

Both can accept contactless cards, chip and PIN, Apple Pay and Google Pay through compatible equipment. Both provide an app and sales records. The difference becomes clearer when you ask what else you want to run from the same setup.

SumUp is attractive when the job is “take the money and give the customer a receipt”. Its standalone machines are useful if you do not want to hand an employee your phone or rely on a separate mobile device. It also offers additional business products, but simplicity remains a big part of its appeal.

Square is stronger when the job includes “find the item, record who sold it, update the order and take payment”. Its wider software can support retail, food and drink, appointments and invoices. You should still check which tools are free and which need a paid plan.

Imagine a mobile dog groomer. SumUp may cover everything needed with a standalone machine. Now imagine a salon with four staff, appointments and product sales. Square's wider tools may be more valuable even if the processing maths is slightly different. The business problem should choose the shortlist.

The current fee differences that matter

SumUp's standard in-person rate is 1.69%. Payments Plus costs £19 monthly and reduces eligible domestic debit and credit card payments to 0.99%; premium, international and American Express cards remain at 1.69%. SumUp-card payments have a separate zero-fee provision. SumUp UK pricing.

Square lists 1.75% for UK card-present payments and an additional 1.5 percentage points for non-UK cards. Online checkout, invoices and manually entered payments have different tariffs. Square UK pricing.

Payment situation
SumUp
Square
Ordinary eligible UK in-person card payment
1.69% PAYG
1.75%
Eligible domestic in-person card on SumUp Payments Plus
0.99%, plus £19 monthly plan
Compare the applicable Square offer
Non-UK in-person card
1.69% under the stated standard tariff
3.25% under the stated standard tariff
Ordinary UK website checkout
Standard online tariff 2.5%
1.4% plus 25p for the listed online checkout routes

Do not apply the website-checkout row to every remote payment. Square lists invoices and manually entered payments separately, at 2.5% for UK cards. Check the precise product and transaction route before costing deposits or phone orders. These are published standard tariffs, not an individual quote.

What the small in-person rate difference costs

For ordinary eligible UK in-person transactions, the difference between 1.69% and 1.75% is 0.06 percentage points. On £1,000 of sales that is 60p; on £10,000 it is £6. These are processing-only calculations, before equipment, software and other charges.

That does not make fees irrelevant. It puts the difference in proportion. If one workflow saves you a useful amount of time or avoids a separate subscription, a few pounds of processing difference may be a reasonable trade. If you only need payment collection, there may be no reason to pay more.

Worked monthly comparison

Assume every payment is an ordinary UK domestic card eligible for the lower Payments Plus rate, with no SumUp-card zero-fee transactions. Use the £19 monthly subscription, not the annual alternative. Hardware, other software, refunds, disputes and any tax on applicable charges are excluded.

Monthly eligible card sales
SumUp PAYG
SumUp Payments Plus
Square standard UK in-person
£1,000
£16.90
£28.90
£17.50
£3,000
£50.70
£48.70
£52.50
£6,000
£101.40
£78.40
£105
£10,000
£169
£118
£175

At £1,000 a month, paying for the discounted SumUp plan costs more than staying on PAYG. At £6,000, the plan saves £23 against SumUp PAYG and £26.60 against the standard Square rate in this narrow example. It is the eligible turnover, not total business revenue, that earns the reduced fee.

When does Payments Plus cover its monthly cost?

The rate reduction is 0.70 percentage points. Divide £19 by 0.007 and the monthly fee is recovered at about £2,714.29 of eligible card sales. This is a processing-only calculation, not a recommendation that every business should subscribe at that point.

If only 80% of your card sales qualify, the corresponding total is about £3,392.86, assuming the remaining 20% attracts the same charge under both SumUp plans. Premium or international card mix can therefore change the practical threshold. A busy tourist location should not copy the calculation for a mainly local customer base.

Seasonality matters too. Check whether you are comparing a monthly subscription or an annual payment and when cancellation takes effect. A monthly-equivalent annual price may look lower but commits cash differently. Base the decision on the months you will actually trade.

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Card mix can outweigh the headline difference

Consider a hypothetical £8,000 in-person month: £6,000 on ordinary eligible UK domestic cards and £2,000 on non-UK cards. Assume no other special card categories or zero-fee SumUp-card transactions.

At the published standard rates, SumUp PAYG processing is £135.20. Square processing is £105 for the UK portion plus £65 for the non-UK portion, totalling £170. SumUp Payments Plus would be £59.40 on the eligible domestic portion, £33.80 on the international portion and £19 for the subscription, totalling £112.20.

This example is deliberately different from the all-domestic table. It shows why a business near hotels, tourist attractions or international offices should look at actual statements. It does not predict your customer mix, and it excludes equipment, other software and applicable extra charges.

For a larger business, take that card mix to a provider and ask for an individual proposal. Do not compare one provider's negotiated quote with another's standard headline tariff and present the result as a universal winner.

Hardware: compare equivalent setups

Square's second-generation Reader is listed at £19 plus VAT and pairs with a compatible device. SumUp's range includes the phone-paired Solo Lite and standalone Solo. That distinction is more useful than comparing the smallest advertised prices. Square Reader and SumUp hardware range.

If you choose a phone-paired reader, include the phone or tablet in the practical decision even when you already own it. Will it stay with staff throughout the day? Is its battery reliable? Can it run the current app? Does using it for payments interfere with taking bookings or answering customer calls?

If you want printed receipts, price the complete compatible arrangement. Check whether a printer is built in, separately connected or part of a particular bundle. Include a stand, charger and protective accessories only where useful, but do not pretend a bare reader is a complete counter setup.

For outdoor or mobile work, think about charging and connectivity across an entire shift. A standalone device reduces dependence on a paired phone, but it still has its own connection and battery requirements. Test it at the locations where you trade rather than assuming a mobile label guarantees coverage.

Software: start with your hardest everyday task

Both providers offer more than a way to type an amount. The sensible comparison is the exact workflow and plan you would use. A free entry tier is useful, but specialist requirements may involve extra subscriptions, accessories or integrations.

For a shop, build a sample catalogue with sizes, colours and sale prices. Ask an employee to find the right item, change a quantity and refund one item from a larger basket. Then inspect stock and the sales report. If staff need a workaround after every ordinary transaction, the cheap plan may not be the practical one.

For a café, use the real menu and modifiers. Check how an extra shot, a meal deal or a change of order is recorded. If kitchen screens or table functions matter, confirm their availability and charges separately. A basic reader comparison should not quietly assume a fully featured restaurant system is included.

For a salon, look at bookings, deposits, cancellations and the final balance. Confirm which payment rate applies when the customer pays online. Our salon card machine guide explains the wider workflow, including shared premises and independent traders.

Square's product range includes dedicated retail, restaurant and appointment routes. Explore the relevant tier rather than assuming its general POS description covers every requirement. Square business software options. You can also read our Square POS review before arranging a fuller demonstration.

Online payments need their own comparison

Here is a narrow example using the standard UK checkout tariffs shown above. Assume an ordinary UK card, no currency conversion and the specified online checkout routes. SumUp's 2.5% fee on a £10 order is 25p. Square's 1.4% plus 25p is 39p. On a £50 order, the fees are £1.25 and 95p respectively.

The arithmetic crosses over at about £22.73: 25p divided by the 1.1-percentage-point rate difference. Below that basket size, the fixed charge weighs more heavily; above it, the lower percentage can outweigh the fixed fee. This comparison excludes website subscriptions, apps, refunds and all other costs.

It is not an invoice-price comparison. It also does not tell you which website platform gives you the better shop. Our online payments guide explains payment links, invoices and checkout as distinct routes. Choose the route first, then apply the correct tariff.

Payouts and cash flow

SumUp advertises next-day access in its Business Account, including weekends and public holidays. Do not assume that is the timetable for money reaching a different bank account. SumUp payout information.

Square advertises standard bank transfers and a paid instant-transfer option, subject to conditions. Verify the account-specific schedule and eligibility before relying on it. Square transfer information.

For either provider, ask what happens after a refund or account review. Reconcile gross sales to net settlement and keep a cash buffer for bills due before funds arrive. Fast access can be useful, but a paid transfer service should be included in the monthly comparison if you expect to use it frequently.

What happens when something goes wrong?

Give staff a simple process for an uncertain payment: check its status before trying again. Record the time and amount, not customer card details in an informal notebook. Make sure someone can find support information even when the owner is away.

If offline payments are part of your backup plan, check the exact device, accepted payment types and upload deadline. Square's Reader page explicitly places responsibility for expired, declined or disputed offline payments on the seller. Do not treat offline mode as a guarantee of settlement. Square offline conditions.

For a busy business, a spare charger and an approved fallback device may be worthwhile. Two devices depending on the same failed connection do not solve a connectivity problem. Test the fallback before an event rather than discovering its account requirements with a queue waiting.

Compare selected alternatives

If the calculation suggests your turnover justifies a wider search, use the offers below to gather competing proposals. This affiliate comparison covers selected providers, not the whole market. We may earn commission from qualifying referrals, and the listed packages are not necessarily equivalent to the setups discussed here.

 

For Square specifically, view the selected card-machine offer. For SumUp, start with our full reader review. Keep software requirements and settlement arrangements beside the fee calculation when making the final choice.

SumUp vs Square FAQs

Which is cheaper for a very small business?

For ordinary UK in-person cards on the standard tariffs, SumUp's percentage is slightly lower. At low turnover, the cash difference is small, so include hardware and any software you need. A paid discount plan can cost more than PAYG if eligible turnover is too low.

Is Payments Plus worthwhile at £3,000 a month?

In the all-eligible example, it saves £2 against SumUp PAYG. If a meaningful share of your cards does not qualify for the lower rate, the saving can disappear. Compare the actual card mix and subscription billing terms rather than total sales alone.

Can either replace my till?

Assess the software and hardware together. Test products, refunds, staff access, receipts and reporting in the plan you intend to buy. Specialist retail, hospitality or booking needs deserve a proper demonstration, not just a successful card tap.

Can I use both providers?

You can investigate separate approved accounts, but doing so creates additional reconciliation and support work. Keep sales records clear and make sure staff know which device and process to use. Do not assume accessories or readers can be moved freely between platforms.

Should I change because of a cheaper reader offer?

Only after comparing the ongoing cost and work involved. A modest hardware saving can be outweighed by subscriptions, data migration or extra admin. Use a typical year of trading to judge the deal and confirm the new account works before retiring the old setup.

Make the decision in this order

Choose the workflow you need, check compatible hardware, calculate fees using your payment mix, and confirm when money reaches the account you use. Then test the ordinary awkward jobs: a partial refund, a changed order and an uncertain connection. That will tell you more than choosing a winner from the headline rate alone.


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