Online-first processor with in-person hardware · United Kingdom
United Kingdom online-first processors with in-person hardware costs for a shop taking under £2,000 a month on cards, by share of card sales
At £1,000 of card sales a month, the 4 published plans we hold take between 2.04% and 35.90% of everything the shop takes.
The lowest is Stripe Terminal (WisePad 3) at 2.04% — advertised at 1.40% + £0.10 — which leaves 97.96% with the shop.
At this size, in order
Every figure is the plan's own published rate applied to £1,000 a month, with the monthly fee added and any hardware spread across 36 months.
| Provider and plan | In person | Monthly fee | Hardware | Effective at £1,000 | Cost a month | 3-year cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe Terminal (WisePad 3) | 1.40% + £0.10 | none ex VAT | £49 once | 2.04% | £19 | £733 |
| Stripe Terminal (Reader S700) | 1.40% + £0.10 | none ex VAT | £229 once | 2.54% | £19 | £913 |
| Shopify Basic | 1.70% | £25.00 VAT basis not stated | not stated | 4.20% | £42 | £1,512 |
| Shopify Advanced | 1.50% | £344.00 VAT basis not stated | not stated | 35.90% | £359 | £12,924 |
UK providers do not publish on the same basis. Monthly fees and hardware are printed exactly as published, and where the provider states the basis we print it. At 20% VAT an ex-VAT fee is 1.2 times higher on the invoice, so an ex-VAT figure and an inc-VAT figure are not comparable as printed. We do not convert between them.
Scroll sideways on a phone.
How that is worked out
The average sale is an assumption of this site, not a published figure: $25.00 in the United States and £20.00 in the United Kingdom. It decides how heavily a per-transaction fee lands, so the calculator lets you change it. Interchange, chargebacks, refunds, currency conversion, sales tax and VAT are not in any figure on this site, because the pricing page does not price them for a given shop. Every figure here is a floor. The full method is at Method.
Where does the answer change?
The order above holds only under these conditions.
- 2 of these plans charge a monthly fee whether the shop trades or not. At this volume it is already in the figures; in a quiet month it is the whole of the bill.
- Do not decide yet if the shop is growing, but the order holds: Stripe is still lowest at £5,000 a month, at 1.93%.
Who this is not for
This is not a list of the best online-first processors with in-person hardware. It is every plan we hold that a shop of this size could buy, in price order. We have not used these products and we do not rate them.
Sources
- Stripe pricing page. checked 2026-08-25
- Shopify pricing page. checked 2026-08-25
Related
- Every provider, and which publish a rate
- Effective rate calculator
- What card payments cost
- Stripe fees in full
Written by Kaz (pen name). Figures are copied from providers' published pricing pages on the dates shown. We have not used these products. Corrections: contact form.