From the blog · Card machines and fees
The cheapest card machine for a sole trader (and the catch with the free ones).
The cheapest card machine for a sole trader is usually a no-monthly-fee mobile reader, something like SumUp, Square or Teya.
But the sticker price is the least important number on the page. Here's the real cost, and the catch nobody selling you a reader wants to spell out.
Last reviewed: 7 June 2026
The cheapest card machine for a sole trader is usually a no-monthly-fee mobile reader. The hardware is the least important number on the page.
I've spent 40 years in hospitality, the last stretch looking after roughly 9,000 pubs for Punch. I've read more merchant statements than I can count. And the one thing they all have in common? The headline price tells you almost nothing.
UK merchants paid £1.48bn in card fees in 2024, more than double the 2019 figure (BRC Payments Survey 2025). That money doesn't come out of the hardware cost. It comes out of the percentage you pay on every single sale.
The wrong number
A £19 reader can be the most expensive thing in the shop.
Here's the bit the brochures skip. A reader that costs £19 once but charges you 1.75% on every sale will, on real takings, cost you hundreds of times more than the hardware over a year. The sticker is a rounding error. The percentage is the whole game.
Typical UK in-person fees run 0.4% to 1.7% on debit and 0.7% to 3.4% on credit (Merchant Savvy, Oct 2025). That's a 4.85x spread on credit. Same shop, same card, wildly different bill. That spread is exactly what the free machine hides.
The real maths
The readers a sole trader actually considers, side by side.
Five columns, not one. Hardware is just the first. Look at the transaction rate, the monthly fee, when your money lands, and how long you're tied in. The cheapest sticker is rarely the cheapest to own.
| Reader | Hardware (sticker) | Debit % | Credit % | Monthly fee | Settlement | Lock-in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SumUp (Air / Solo) | £19 to £79 | ~1.69% | ~1.69% | None on pay-as-you-go | 1 to 3 working days | None (PAYG) |
| Square Reader | ~£19 | ~1.75% | ~1.75% | None on standard plan | Next working day | None (PAYG) |
| Teya (mobile reader) | £29 to £59 | From ~1.3% | From ~1.3% | Varies by plan | Next working day | Check contract length |
| A "free" countertop machine | £0 sticker | Often higher % | Often higher % | Usually £15 to £30+ | 1 to 3 working days | 12 to 48 month contract |
Indicative rates, correct at June 2026. Always confirm current pricing direct with the provider before you buy, because plans change often. [ANDY TO CONFIRM: swap these indicative rates for your latest verified figures for SumUp, Square and Teya, and add any provider you'd actually recommend to a sole trader.]
The catch
Nothing's free. Someone always recoups it.
A free machine isn't charity. The provider is a business, same as you. They give you the hardware and they get the cost back somewhere you're less likely to look. I've seen it land in four places, again and again.
The Payment Systems Regulator says most UK businesses are overpaying on interchange and has proposed a cap "to protect UK businesses from overpaying" (PSR, 2025). When the regulator says you're being overcharged, the regulator is on my side of this argument.
- A higher transaction % The most common one. Pennies per sale that add up to thousands a year.
- A monthly fee Often £15 to £30, charged whether you trade or not.
- Slow settlement Money held 1 to 3 days hits your cash flow, especially if you're seasonal.
- A long contract 12 to 48 months, with an exit fee if you want out early.
A worked example
Same takings, two rates. The gap is real money.
Take a trader turning over £15,000 a month on card. On a 2.9% blended rate, that's £435 a month in charges. Drop to 1.1% and it's £165. The difference is £270 a month. Over a year? Around £3,200. [ANDY TO CONFIRM: confirm this is the real 2.9% to 1.1% example you use, and your typical 20% to 40% overpay range, so I can quote your figures, not mine.]
That £3,200 didn't show up on a price list. It hid in a percentage, on a statement most people never properly read. (If yours baffles you, here's how to read a merchant statement line by line.) For context, before the surcharge ban UK businesses passed an estimated £473m of card processing fees straight onto customers (ABDO). The gap between true cost and what gets charged is big. Big enough to be worth an hour of your time.
So, which one?
Match the machine to your takings, not to an advert.
There's no single winner here. The right reader depends on how much you take and how steady it is. Run down the three cases on the right and find the one that's yours.
Pick your case
Low or seasonal takings? A pay-as-you-go reader with no monthly fee, like SumUp, Square or Teya, is hard to beat. You only pay when you take money. No fixed cost eating into a quiet month.
Busier, steadier takings? A slightly higher fixed cost with a lower percentage can win, because the lower rate pays back the monthly fee many times over. The crossover depends on your numbers. Do the sum on your own turnover.
And the free countertop machine? Sometimes it's genuinely fine. Just read the contract, check the settlement timing, and price the whole deal. If you'd like an independent set of eyes on your fees, that's literally what I do.
I don't earn a penny more whichever reader you pick. That's the whole point of asking me instead of asking the people selling them.
Most "cheapest card reader" lists you'll find online earn a commission on the very readers they rank. The vendor pages can't tell you when a rival is cheaper. The forum threads are anonymous strangers guessing. I review fees for a living, I've no brand to push, and I'll tell you straight when the free one is fine and when it'll cost you. While you're here, you might enjoy my recent piece on why community pubs still matter.
Common questions
The questions sole traders actually ask me.
No single machine wins on every fee. A no-monthly-fee mobile reader like SumUp, Square or Teya usually has the lowest fixed cost, but the transaction percentage is what you actually pay most of. UK in-person debit fees run roughly 0.4% to 1.7%, and credit 0.7% to 3.4% (Merchant Savvy, Oct 2025). Compare the percentage on your real mix of card types, not the sticker price.
For a sole trader, the cheapest machine is usually a pay-as-you-go mobile reader with no monthly contract, often £19 to £39 for the hardware. But cheapest to buy and cheapest to own are not the same thing. Once you take a few thousand pounds a month, the transaction percentage and settlement timing matter far more than the one-off hardware cost.
For very low volumes, a pay-as-you-go reader with no monthly fee and a flat percentage is normally cheapest, because you only pay when you take money. As your takings grow, a slightly higher fixed cost with a lower transaction rate can work out cheaper. The crossover point depends on your monthly turnover, so do the maths on your own numbers.
Yes, several providers give away the hardware. The machine is free because they recoup the cost elsewhere, usually a higher transaction percentage, a monthly fee, slower settlement that holds your cash, or a contract that locks you in for 12 to 48 months. Free hardware can still be the right call. Just read what you sign and price the whole deal, not the giveaway.
No. Every card reader charges something, either a transaction percentage, a monthly fee, or both, because the provider has to pay the card schemes and acquirers. 'No fee' usually means 'no monthly fee', not 'free to take a payment'. If a deal looks like it costs nothing, the cost is hidden in the rate or the settlement timing.
Pay-as-you-go readers from SumUp, Square and Teya typically have no monthly fee on their entry plans. You pay a flat percentage per transaction instead. That suits a sole trader with modest or seasonal takings. Always confirm current terms before you buy, because plans and rates change.
Not sure if you're overpaying?
Book a free, no-commitment fee review with me. I'll go through your card charges, tell you what I see, and give you a straight answer on whether you're getting a fair deal.
No sales pitch. No contract to sign.