SumUp vs PayPal Point of Sale: Which is better for taking payments?

As we put the two POS solutions head to head, we reveal which one is a better fit for your business

In May 2025, we conducted extensive user testing, analysing SumUp, PayPal Point of Sale (formerly Zettle), and nine other top POS systems across six key testing categories (comprised of 33 subcategories for the retail industry and 37 subcategories for hospitality).

As a result of our testing, we’ve determined that, overall, SumUp is a better POS system than PayPal Point of Sale. We found that SumUp comes with more advanced software features, and a better range of terminals and accessories – just giving it the edge over PayPal POS.

While SumUp might be the victor, it’s a close-run race. Both systems have strengths and weaknesses you’ll need to know about before choosing one, and both are excellent free POS systems. We’ll take you through a round-by-round breakdown in the areas that are most crucial to a successful retail or hospitality business.

How do SumUp and PayPal Point of Sale compare overall?

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	Provider	Score for retail businesses	Score for food and beverage businesses	Top highlight	Transaction fee	Monthly subscription price from	Card machine price from	Payout time	Pros	Cons
OVERALL WINNER
SumUp	PayPal Point of Sale
4.5	4.0
4.2	3.6
Speed and efficiency at an affordable price point	Great for managing sales on the go
1.69%	1.75%
Free	Free
£25 + VAT	£29 + VAT for the first card reader
One to three business days (barring Saturdays and Sundays), or next day payouts with Payments Plus	One to two business days
Great range of hardware and accessories Built-in digital gift card functionality Seamless mobile experience Bulk upload inventory	User friendly and simple Completely free iPad-based POS software Solid range of accessories Can create bespoke gift cards
POS Pro is expensive Can’t create physical gift cards Doesn’t offer a handheld POS system Limited table reservation system	Unreliable offline functionality Lacks some more advanced tools and features No kitchen display screen No countertop POS terminal

Which is cheaper?

PayPal Point of Sale’s pricing is straightforward and simple. It charges a flat 1.75% transaction fee, which is roughly about average compared to its competitors, making for a pretty great deal considering you’re getting it on a free plan.

SumUp also offers a free plan, and its transaction fee of 1.69% for in-person payments is cheaper than PayPal’s 1.75%. But if you pay for its Payments Plus plan, you’ll be only be charged a rock bottom 0.99% transaction fee. And, at £25 plus VAT, SumUp’s card reader is slightly cheaper than the PayPal Card Reader (£29 plus VAT for the first reader, and then £69 plus VAT for each subsequent reader you need)/

SumUp’s free POS plan will get you access to basic capabilities, such as:

• Taking card and digital payments
• Tracking your sales
• Creating invoices
• Managing tips.

To access the full range of extensive features you’ll need to pay for SumUp POS Pro, which costs £49 per month. There’s also additional costs for certain features, including stock and ingredient management, so new starters need to bear this in mind.

While SumUp might be a nose ahead, ultimately both systems are very reasonably priced. For those who need to get set up on a budget and don’t want to be locked down into a contract, both are fantastic options.

Which is easier to use?

Since our previous testing in 2024, PayPal Point of Sale has remained a consistently easy-to-use system. It’s equally intuitive in both the front and back ends of the software. The stripped down minimalism of the menus and the large clear buttons really stand out as key design strengths.

While we did experience a few crashes and bugs, and a few issues persisted into 2025 (like the lack of a search function on the item screen when using an iPad) we appreciated PayPal Point of Sale’s simplicity. The intuitive system would be a good fit for pop-ups, cafes or businesses on the move, like food trucks.

Meanwhile, SumUp has made some notable changes to its front end since 2024, but we still found the back office could be clunky, slow to load, and didn’t always synchronise perfectly with the front end. There are a few missing hospitality POS system features, like bill splitting.

However, the front end has seen improvement, especially when completing core tasks like table management, editing an order, or cancelling a payment. It would be a good beginner-friendly software, thanks to the easy navigation and short learning curve.

It was a close call between the two platforms, as both excel in simplicity and ease of use (although Square beats them both as the most user-friendly POS platform for retail businesses, as well hospitality). However, we felt there was less of a disparity between the front and back office with PayPal Point of Sale’s interface, which just put it past the post for us.

What can SumUp and PayPal Point of Sale’s software do?

Both of these systems’ free plans come with some handy features included straight out the box, such as:

• Gift card creation
• Tap to Pay on phone
• Sales reports

However, SumUp is able to provide a more advanced set of tools with its Plus and Pro plans. On SumUp’s Plus plan, you can get table management features, a real-time overview of your cash flow, and you can assign a printer to the bar or kitchen.

SumUp POS Pro, the top tier, provides advanced employee management, inventory tools, and multi-store support. You can also set up and customise mobile and QR code ordering, which could be essential for businesses that need a takeaway POS system, or events-based companies.

During our testing, we particularly appreciated:

• SumUp’s personalised loyalty programme that helps you drive repeat business (though this is a paid extra)
• The ingredient tracking feature
• The customisable kitchen display interface (subject to a monthly cost)
• Its built-in email marketing

PayPal Point of Sale offers some solid software as well, impressing us with how quick it is to add products and apply discounts. However, we did find it lacked the more advanced tools needed by bigger retail stores.

The inventory page of PayPal Point of Sale. Source: Startups.co.uk

PayPal Point of Sale’s deficit of in-depth cost vs profit management tools would also be an issue for larger scale businesses, while the lack of built-in floor planning functionality will also rule it out for some restaurateurs.

That said, we did appreciate:

• The customisable gift card features, including the option to sell and accept physical gift cards
• PayPal Point of Sale’s customer loyalty programme, which is included as a free add-on

If you run a small, single-store retail or cafe business and only have a handful of items to sell, PayPal Point of Sale’s free software is still a very strong option for you. But it’s the depth of tools and features provided by SumUp’s Plus and Pro plans that seal the deal for us this round.

How does their point of sale hardware compare?

PayPal Point of Sale provides the small PayPal Reader card machine and the PayPal Terminal, a handheld touchscreen POS terminal with an embedded barcode scanner

The POS software can also be used on an iPad – in fact, PayPal Point of Sale is one of our top choices for an iPad-based POS. PayPal also provides a selection of’ ‘ready-made’ store kits that combine different hardware and accessories.

SumUp provides an impressive range of hardware, including the small and sleek SumUp Solo Lite reader, as well as the SumUp Terminal. The SumUp Terminal is a handheld POS device with a built-in receipt printer, which can use AI to create a product catalogue from a picture of your menu.

In 2026, SumUp also launched a dual-sided countertop terminal: the SumUp Register. The till has a 13” touch screen, as well as a customer facing 8″ screen that is capable of taking payment, and it comes pre-installed with the POS software.

What is their user support like?

SumUp’s help and support page. Source: Startups.co.uk

Both SumUp and PayPal Point of Sale offer a wide range of user support channels – including phone lines, email, live chat, in-platform support, and video tutorials – though, unlike SumUp, PayPal Point of Sale also provides support on social media.

This might have given PayPal Point of Sale the edge over SumUp, but when putting the knowledge centres through their paces, we found that SumUp’s performed slightly better.

That said, when we tested the chat functions of both platforms (we asked them “How can I view my sales and revenue reports?”) we found the speed and accuracy of the answers were identical – despite PayPal Point of Sale’s chat being answered by an actual human, whereas SumUp’s was just a bot.

What did finally push SumUp onto the winners podium, though, was the fact that, unlike PayPal, it offers a training mode for onboarding new staff. Also, SumUp crucially provides 24/7 support through any of its paid subscription plans.

Which is better overall – SumUp or PayPal Point of Sale?

This was a close call, as both POS providers were often neck and neck, with comparable pros and cons.

But ultimately, SumUp’s scalability and wider range of hardware make it the stronger option of the two. In particular, we feel that SumUps’ POS Pro, while expensive, will offer more bang for your buck if you run a small to medium-sized retail business, or if you’re running a cafe or small restaurant.

PayPal Point of Sale is still a very strong low-cost option, though. PayPal Point of Sale’s iPad-based free plan is great for ventures with smaller budgets, such as mobile businesses and pop-ups, as you can get started with it for very little investment.

Read more:The best POS systems for small businesses

Methodology: how did we put SumUp and PayPal Point of Sale to the test?

In our latest round of POS research conducted, our Senior Research Executive evaluated a total of 11 systems, including SumUp and PayPal Point of Sale (named Zettle at the point of testing), in order to ensure our recommendations and insights are up to date and accurate.

Both of these systems were then tested by our dedicated Reviews Writer alongside other testers in our Startups offices in London, evaluating both the front and back ends of the platforms. This was set against a review framework devised by our Head of Research and Senior Research Executive.

In order to put PayPal Point of Sale and SumUp head to head, we compared them on the five categories we determined as the most important for POS users:

• Price: are you getting good value for money? We compare upfront costs, transaction fees, monthly costs, and whether a free trial is offered.
• Hardware: we examine the range of card readers, terminals and accessories that are offered by the provider.
• Software: we analyse the depth and range of features provided, including inventory management, reporting and analytics, employee management and more.
• Help and support: we look at the range and accuracy of the help and support options available.
• Usability: we test how easy to use the system is, on both the front end and back office.

As POS systems are needed across different industries, we determined two different testing groups: one specifically for their retail features, and one for the features that serve the hospitality industry. We were then able to cover the most important results from each group in this article, so that we can help you make a choice, whichever industry you’re in.

Written By

Eddie Harris Senior Reviews Writer

Eddie is resident Senior Reviews Writer for Startups, focusing on merchant accounts, point of sales systems and business phone systems. He works closely with our in-house team of research experts, carrying out hours of hands-on user testing and market analysis to ensure that our recommendations and reviews are as helpful and accurate as possible.

Eddie is also Startups video presenter. He helps create informative, helpful visual content alongside our written reviews, to better aid customers with their decision making.

Eddie joined Startups from its sister site Expert Reviews, where he wrote in-depth informational articles and covered the biggest consumer deals events of the year. And, having previously worked as a freelancer providing screenplay and book coverage in the film and television industry, Eddie is no stranger to the demands of the sole trader.

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Reviewed By

Ollie Simpson Senior Research Executive

After three years of refining my skills in data analysis, I transitioned to a role as a researcher to help understand our readers’ preferences and needs. My professional journey started as a researcher in law enforcement, where I developed strong analytical abilities. Later, I moved into operations, strengthening my understanding of quantitative data. Now, I blend my quantitative analysis skills with qualitative research to explore both audience preferences and product nuances. Armed with a UX design diploma, I translate research findings into actionable insights that facilitate informed decision-making. Whether enhancing Startups offerings or delivering research presentations, I am driven by a relentless pursuit of improvement and results.

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