Card machine reviews: every major UK terminal ranked

Portable countertop terminal · Dojo (in-house)

Dojo Go Max is the strongest UK card terminal for hospitality and retail at £10k+ monthly card volume in 2026. Dojo publishes 1.2% blended below £100,000 a year in card takings (custom rate above) and hardware at £149 upfront on a launch offer (£229 full price) or £25 a month; our record shows a 12-month minimum contract, which Dojo's pricing page does not state. Same-next-day settlement (including weekends) is the cashflow win that justifies the contract for any venue trading Friday to Sunday peaks.

Portable standalone touchscreen terminal (no built-in printer; Solo Lite is the cheaper phone-paired version) · SumUp

SumUp Solo is the strongest no-contract UK card terminal for sole traders, mobile businesses and sub-£15k monthly card volume in 2026. £79 + VAT hardware at list price, 1.69% per transaction on pay-as-you-go, no contract, no monthly fee, free 4G SIM. Same-day or next-day settlement. Locked to SumUp as the acquirer; uncompetitive above £15k monthly because the flat rate stops winning vs blended-rate contracts (Dojo, Tyl).

Software on an iPhone Xs or later, no separate terminal · The payment provider you sign up with

Not a hardware terminal, but covered here because it replaces one for many small businesses. Take contactless card and Apple Pay payments directly on a compatible iPhone with no separate reader. Best fit for trades, mobile beauty and pop-up retail.

All-in-one countertop terminal with receipt printer · Square

Square Terminal is the strongest all-in-one no-contract UK card terminal for independent retail and small hospitality in 2026. £149 + VAT hardware with built-in receipt printer, 1.75% per transaction, no contract, no monthly fee. Tighter integration with the Square stack (online store, invoices, inventory, payroll) than any other UK no-contract terminal. The 1.75% rate is uncompetitive above £20k monthly card volume.

Portable Android smart terminal with built-in receipt printer · Teya (in-house)

Teya Pro is the strongest UK card terminal for merchants who want weekend settlement without a fixed-term contract in 2026. Machine plans from £14.99 per month on a rolling monthly basis with no lock-in, next-day settlement by 9am every day including weekends and bank holidays, and instant settlement available to the free Teya Business Account.

Transaction rates are bespoke per merchant (blended, tiered or interchange++), so compare the written quote. A £29.99 monthly fee applies when card turnover is under £2,500, which rules it out for very small traders.

Compact card reader (pairs with phone or tablet) · PayPal Zettle

Zettle Reader 2 is the cheapest UK card reader to start taking card payments in 2026, on hardware cost. £29 + VAT for your first reader as a new business user and £69 + VAT for each extra reader, 1.75% per transaction, no contract, no monthly fee. Pairs with a phone or tablet over Bluetooth rather than running standalone. Best fit for sub-£8k monthly volume and existing PayPal merchants; settlement is slower than Dojo or SumUp and the rate is uncompetitive above £8k monthly.

Touchscreen handheld smart terminal, 5.5in display, Android 10 (no built-in printer; external receipt printer via the optional dock or hub) · Stripe

Stripe Reader S700 is the strongest UK card terminal for businesses already running on Stripe online in 2026. £229 excl. VAT hardware, a 5.5in Android touchscreen, and custom checkout flows via the Stripe Terminal SDK. It runs on Wi-Fi, with Ethernet only through the optional £29 hub or £39 dock, and has no cellular: for that you want the Stripe Reader S710 at the same £229.

There is no built-in receipt printer, so pair an external printer through the dock or hub if you need paper. Stripe publishes standard Terminal pricing of 1.4% + 10p on EEA cards and 2.9% + 10p on non-EEA cards, with custom pricing for large volumes. Best fit for hybrid online-plus-in-person SMBs with developer resource; not a plug-and-play choice for non-technical small retail.

Range of Adyen terminals, usually supplied through a platform · Adyen

Adyen is an enterprise acquirer used by larger UK merchants, marketplaces and platforms. It offers interchange-plus pricing and global coverage but is not a small-business product. Worth knowing about because larger UK SMBs sometimes need to consider it.

Countertop reader with touchscreen · Stripe and other Stripe Terminal SDK partners

BBPOS WisePOS E is a countertop reader built for Stripe Terminal apps, which you customise through the Stripe Terminal SDK. Best when you need card payments inside an existing software stack rather than as a standalone POS.

Compact Bluetooth-paired card reader (companion to Stripe Reader S700) · Stripe

Stripe Reader M2 is the smaller mobile reader in Stripe's in-person line-up, companion to the larger S700. Pairs with a phone, tablet or POS via Bluetooth and runs through the Stripe Terminal SDK. Stripe lists the Reader M2 as available in the US only; in the UK, Stripe's equivalent Bluetooth mobile reader is the BBPOS WisePad 3 at £49 excl. VAT.

Android-based handheld with receipt printer · Multiple (supplied through various acquirers, ISOs and brokers)

PAX A920 Pro is an Android-based handheld payment terminal with a built-in receipt printer, supplied in the UK through acquirers, ISOs and brokers. The hardware is the same whoever supplies it; the experience depends on the acquirer app it runs.

Compact Bluetooth-paired reader (similar to Zettle / SumUp) · Tide / partner

Tide Card Reader is the in-app card-acceptance product for Tide Business banking customers. Cheapest mainstream UK rate at 1.5% per transaction. Best fit if you already bank with Tide; less compelling otherwise because the ecosystem-lock-in has no upside outside the Tide stack.

Handheld Bluetooth reader with its own display and PIN pad; pairs with a phone or tablet running the payment app · Stripe and other Stripe Terminal SDK partners

BBPOS WisePad 3 is a handheld reader for use with mobile apps, sold by Stripe at £49 excl. VAT, the lowest price among the readers on Stripe's UK pricing page. It has its own display and PIN pad but connects to a phone or tablet running the Stripe Terminal SDK, so it does not run standalone.

Countertop and portable terminal options · NatWest

Tyl is NatWest's SMB-payments product, repositioning the bank into the modern card-acceptance market. Pricing competitive on paper for higher-volume merchants; lower headline rates than legacy bank acquirers but on shorter contract terms than Worldpay.

Compact Bluetooth-paired reader · Revolut Business / partner

Revolut Card Reader is part of the Revolut Business stack. Headline rate is among the cheapest in the UK SMB market, but conditional on holding a Revolut Business subscription. Best fit for Revolut Business users with international payment flow; less compelling as a standalone choice.

Compact Android-based handheld smart terminal (no built-in printer; companion to the A920 Pro) · Multiple (UK ISOs and acquirers including Take Payments, Paymentsense and others distribute PAX hardware)

PAX A77 is the smaller, printer-less Android smart terminal in the PAX line-up, sitting below the A920 Pro. Distributed in the UK via the same ISO and acquirer channels. Suits mobile traders and counter-side acceptance where a printer is not required and digital receipts are the default.

Countertop and portable, multiple models · Worldpay (Global Payments)

Worldpay's terminal estate covers a long tail of older Verifone and Ingenico hardware plus newer PAX deployments. Pricing is rarely competitive vs the modern fintech acquirers. The case for staying with Worldpay is usually inertia or specific PoS-system integration.

V200c countertop with built-in printer; V400m portable handheld with printer · Multiple (supplied through various UK acquirers and ISOs)

Verifone V200c and V400m are countertop and portable terminals supplied by traditional UK acquirers. The customer experience is set by the acquirer rather than Verifone, so pricing and service vary widely.

iWL250 portable with printer (legacy estate); Move 5000 portable handheld with printer (current generation) · Multiple (Worldpay, Barclaycard, Elavon, Lloyds Cardnet, Global Payments and other UK acquirers distribute Ingenico hardware)

Ingenico iWL250 is the long-tail portable terminal across UK retail and hospitality; Move 5000 is the current-generation replacement. Hardware is the dominant traditional-acquirer estate alongside Verifone. Customer experience is set by the acquirer, not Ingenico.