Stripe Card Machine UK 2026 | Costs, Fees & Best Alternatives Quick answer
Stripe Terminal is Stripe’s in-person payment platform for businesses that want to connect physical card payments with Stripe’s online payments infrastructure.
It is best for:
ecommerce businesses
SaaS companies
marketplaces
platforms
subscription businesses
omnichannel retailers
businesses with developer resources
Current UK Stripe Terminal pricing includes:
EEA cards: 1.4% + 10pnon-EEA cards: 2.9% + 10pTap to Pay: additional 10p per authorisationBBPOS WisePad 3: £49 + VATBBPOS WisePOS E: £179 + VATStripe Reader S700: £229 + VATStripe Reader S710: £229 + VATStripe Reader T600: £249 + VAT
Our view: Stripe Terminal is one of the strongest in-person options if you already use Stripe online or need custom payment flows. It is much less compelling if all you want is a card reader you can switch on and start using without technical integration.
Your situation
Our view
Already using Stripe online
Excellent fit
Ecommerce + physical retail
Excellent fit
Marketplace / platform
Excellent fit
Custom checkout
Excellent fit
Developer-led business
Strong fit
Small café needing simple payments
Compare simpler alternatives
Sole trader wanting plug-and-play
Weak fit
Business wanting built-in POS software
Compare Square, SumUp or PayPal POS
Compare Stripe Terminal & Card Machine Quotes
Free quotes • No obligation • Compare UK card payment providers
How Do We Work?
Our comparisons are researched and reviewed by the Compare Your Business Costs editorial team using provider information, pricing data and UK business buying criteria. See how Compare Your Business Costs works .
Authored by: Ally Cox – Business Technology & B2B Services Specialist, 10+ years’ experience.
Reviewed by: James Ward – Telecoms Specialist, 12+ years’ experience.
Last Updated: September 2026
Key Takeaways
Stripe Terminal currently charges 1.4% + 10p for EEA card payments in person.
Non-EEA in-person cards currently cost 2.9% + 10p.
Tap to Pay adds 10p per authorisation.
WisePad 3 currently costs £49 + VAT.
WisePOS E currently costs £179 + VAT.
S700 and S710 currently cost £229 + VAT.
T600 currently costs £249 + VAT.
Stripe Terminal has no standard monthly setup fee on standard pricing.
Stripe Terminal is strongest when online and in-person payments need to live in the same Stripe account and data model.
It is more technical than Square, SumUp or PayPal POS.
Offline payments are supported on compatible readers and integrations.
Custom pricing is available for qualifying high-volume businesses.
Stripe Terminal at a Glance
Category Stripe Terminal
Best for
Online-first/omnichannel/developer-led businesses
EEA in-person fee
1.4% + 10p
Non-EEA in-person fee
2.9% + 10p
Tap to Pay surcharge
#ERROR!
Monthly terminal rental
None on standard pricing
WisePad 3
£49 + VAT
WisePOS E
£179 + VAT
S700/S710
£229 + VAT
T600
£249 + VAT
Tap to Pay
Yes
Offline payments
Supported on compatible integrations/readers
What Is Stripe Terminal? Stripe Terminal is the in-person part of Stripe’s payments platform, and it lets businesses accept:
chip cards
contactless cards
digital wallets
while keeping those payments connected to the same broader Stripe ecosystem used for:
online payments
subscriptions
marketplaces
billing
customer records
reporting
Our View: Stripe Terminal Is an Infrastructure Product Square, SumUp and PayPal POS are often bought as card reader + simple software.
Stripe Terminal is better understood as payments infrastructure + hardware + APIs.
That makes it much more powerful in the right business and it also makes it less suitable for buyers who do not want technical setup.
Stripe Terminal UK Fees EEA Cards Current standard UK Stripe Terminal pricing:
1.4% + 10p
per successful in-person charge.
Non-EEA Cards Current pricing:
2.9% + 10p
per successful in-person charge.
Tap to Pay Stripe currently adds 10p per authorisation for Tap to Pay.
Stripe Terminal Hardware Prices UK
Reader Current price Best for
BBPOS WisePad 3
£49 + VAT
BBPOS WisePOS E
£179 + VAT
Touchscreen smart-reader setup
Stripe Reader S700
£229 + VAT
Custom POS / advanced checkout
Stripe Reader S710
£229 + VAT
Advanced smart reader + cellular options
Stripe Reader T600
£249 + VAT
Advanced Terminal deployment
BBPOS WisePad 3 The WisePad 3 is Stripe’s lower-cost compact reader.
Current price £49 + VAT.
It supports:
chip cards
contactless cards
digital wallets
Bluetooth
offline mode
It integrates with:
Best For
mobile checkout
pop-up retail
delivery
custom mobile POS apps
Our View
The WisePad 3 is inexpensive hardware, but do not mistake inexpensive hardware for simple implementation – yo u still need a Stripe Terminal integration or compatible POS.
BBPOS WisePOS E WisePOS E is a touchscreen smart reader.
Current price £179 + VAT.
It supports:
chip
contactless
digital wallets
magstripe
Wi-Fi
Ethernet via dock/hub
offline mode
The device has a 5-inch touchscreen and can be used as:
Our View
WisePOS E makes more sense where staff need a dedicated customer-facing smart reader rather than a compact Bluetooth PIN pad.
Stripe Reader S700 S700 is a more advanced smart reader.
Current UK price:
£229 + VAT.
Current features include:
5.5-inch touchscreen
Wi-Fi
Ethernet through accessory
offline mode
custom checkout screens
on-reader tipping
customer input
ability to run custom POS experiences on the reader
Our View
This is where Stripe becomes clearly different from simple card-reader providers.
The reader can form part of a custom business application rather than existing only as a payment peripheral.
S700 vs S710 Both currently cost £229 + VAT.
The major distinction is that S710 is designed for deployments requiring cellular connectivity, while S700 is primarily Wi-Fi based.
Stripe currently charges:
£7/month per enabled reader
for unlimited cellular data on supported readers.
Stripe Reader T600 Stripe currently lists T600 at £249 + VAT.
This sits at the more advanced end of Stripe’s own reader range.
Tap to Pay With Stripe Stripe supports Tap to Pay on compatible:
This allows a business to accept contactless payments without buying separate reader hardware.
But There Is an Important Difference
Stripe’s Tap to Pay is still part of the Stripe Terminal.
Stripe says implementing it requires familiarity with its Terminal SDK and relevant iOS or Android development.
Our View
This is not the same proposition as downloading a simple merchant app and tapping “start taking payments”.
Tap to Pay is particularly interesting for:
software platforms
marketplaces
custom apps
businesses deploying payments to field teams
Offline Payments Stripe Terminal supports offline payment functionality on compatible readers and integrations.
Current devices with offline support include:
Our View
Offline payment capability is useful, but it transfers some payment risk to the merchant.
Businesses should understand:
how offline payments are stored
when they are forwarded
transaction limits
decline risk
before relying on offline mode operationally.
Stripe Online vs In-Person Fees Stripe charges different prices for online and in-person cards.
Standard UK Online Cards
1.5% + 20p
Standard EEA In-Person Cards
1.4% + 10p
Our View
One of Stripe’s attractions is that both transaction types can live inside the same payments platform even though the fees are different.
Saved Cards After an In-Person Transaction This is another important Stripe detail.
If a customer presents a card and pays immediately, the in-person rate applies.
If the card is saved and charged later, Stripe states that standard online card pricing applies.
Our View
This matters for businesses such as:
subscriptions
memberships
deposits
repeat billing
where an initial face-to-face transaction may later become a card-on-file payment.
Stripe Terminal for Ecommerce Businesses This is probably the strongest Stripe Terminal use case.
An ecommerce business opening:
physical stores
showrooms
pop-ups
can extend the same Stripe platform into face-to-face payments.
This can make it easier to unify:
customers
payments
refunds
reporting
Stripe Terminal for SaaS SaaS businesses may use Stripe Terminal where an existing digital product also needs physical payments.
Examples include software for:
events
venues
health and fitness
field services
Stripe Terminal for Marketplaces & Platforms This is another area where Stripe can be far stronger than a traditional card-machine provider.
Platforms using Stripe Connect can potentially embed in-person payments into their broader payments product.
For example:
a salon-booking platform
restaurant software
marketplace software
vertical SaaS
could offer payments to its users through one Stripe infrastructure.
Our View
This is fundamentally different from a merchant buying one SumUp Reader.
Does Stripe Terminal Include POS Software? Not in the same way that Square or PayPal POS does.
Stripe provides:
payment infrastructure
Terminal SDKs
APIs
reader hardware
Your checkout may come from:
your own application
a third-party POS
a Stripe-compatible software platform
Our View
This is one of the biggest reasons Stripe Terminal is often the wrong product for a micro-business.
If you want reader + free POS app + product catalogue out of the box, Square, SumUp or PayPal POS may be easier.
Stripe Terminal Pros & Cons
Pros Cons
Unified online + in-person payments
More technical setup
Strong APIs
10p fixed fee affects low-value payments
Competitive EEA in-person rate
Non-EEA rate materially higher
Hardware from £49
No simple built-in SME POS proposition
Tap to Pay
Tap to Pay requires Terminal integration
Offline payments
Implementation requires planning
Strong platform / marketplace fit
Less suitable for non-technical micro-businesses
Custom smart-reader experiences
Potential development cost
Stripe Terminal vs Square
Stripe Terminal Square
EEA/UK in-person pricing
1.4% + 10p
1.75%
Core POS software
Integration required
£0 standard POS
Developer flexibility
Excellent
Good
Plug-and-play simplicity
Lower
Higher
Best fit
Digital / omnichannel businesses
SMEs wanting ready-made POS
Our View
Stripe is the stronger infrastructure platform.
Square is the stronger out-of-the-box small-business product.
See our Stripe vs Square comparison .
Stripe Terminal vs SumUp SumUp is far easier for a business that simply wants:
a reader
an app
simple payments
Stripe is much stronger if:
you already use Stripe
developers need payment APIs
online/offline data needs to be unified
See our SumUp Card Machine review .
Stripe Terminal vs PayPal POS PayPal POS is more appropriate for:
sole traders
market sellers
small cafés
Stripe is stronger for:
platforms
custom checkout
Stripe-first ecommerce
See our PayPal POS review .
Stripe Terminal vs Dojo Dojo is better aligned with businesses wanting:
traditional merchant services
managed setup
hospitality payment terminals
Stripe is stronger where payments form part of a software stack.
See our Dojo Card Machine review .
Stripe Terminal vs Shopify POS Shopify POS deserves particular attention if your online shop already uses Shopify.
Shopify users should compare Shopify’s native commerce ecosystem against Stripe’s more flexible payments infrastructure.
See our Shopify POS review .
Average Transaction Value Matters The 10p fixed fee makes this particularly important.
Average transaction
Approx. effective fee on EEA cards
£5
3.40%
£10
2.40%
£25
1.80%
£50
1.60%
£100
1.50%
Our View
Stripe Terminal’s headline 1.4% rate can look much cheaper than it really is for low-ticket businesses.
This is especially relevant to:
coffee shops
convenience retail
low-value concessions
Does Stripe Terminal Have Monthly Fees? Under standard Terminal pricing, Stripe does not charge a standard monthly reader rental.
However, there can be additional costs for areas such as:
cellular data
custom integrations
other Stripe products
custom pricing arrangements
Custom Pricing Stripe offers custom pricing for businesses with:
high payment volumes
complex business models
Custom arrangements can include:
volume discounts
IC+ pricing
multi-product discounts
Important
Stripe says a custom online-payments pricing plan does not automatically apply to Stripe Terminal.
Terminal pricing might need to be negotiated separately.
Who Should Choose Stripe Terminal?
existing Stripe users
ecommerce businesses opening stores
SaaS companies
marketplaces
software platforms
subscription businesses needing in-person payments
developers building custom checkout
Who Should Avoid Stripe Terminal?
Compare alternatives if:
you only need one simple card reader
you have no technical resources
you want built-in POS immediately
your average transaction is very low
you want account-managed merchant services
Common Stripe Terminal Buying Mistakes
looking only at the 1.4% percentage
ignoring the 10p transaction charge
assuming online Stripe fees also apply in person
assuming custom online rates apply to Terminal
buying hardware before planning the integration
assuming Tap to Pay requires no development
assuming Stripe provides a full SME POS app
ignoring non-EEA card costs
What to Ask Before Using Stripe Terminal
What percentage of our cards are EEA?
What is our average transaction value?
Which reader suits our workflow?
Do we need cellular connectivity?
Do we need offline payments?
Who will build the integration?
Are we using our own POS or a third-party platform?
Do we need Tap to Pay?
Will we save cards for future transactions?
Do we qualify for custom pricing?
Our Verdict: Is Stripe Terminal Worth It? Yes, Stripe Terminal is one of the strongest in-person payment platforms for businesses that already think of payments as part of their technology stack.
Its biggest strengths are:
online + in-person payment unification
developer tools
strong platform / marketplace support
customisable smart readers
Tap to Pay
offline functionality
Its biggest weaknesses are:
technical setup
fixed 10p component on transactions
higher non-EEA card rate
lack of a simple all-in-one SME POS proposition
Our recommendations:
Stripe ecommerce business: excellent shortlistSaaS / platform: excellent shortlistOmnichannel retailer: strong shortlistDeveloper-led SME: strong shortlistSmall café: compare Square / SumUp / PayPal POS firstSole trader: probably unnecessarily technicalLow-ticket business: model the 10p fixed fee carefully
Stripe Terminal is strongest when the card machine is only one part of a wider payments architecture.
Compare Stripe Terminal & Card Machine Providers
Frequently Asked Questions Does Stripe offer card machines in the UK?
Yes. Stripe offers in-person payments through Stripe Terminal using physical readers and Tap to Pay.
How much does Stripe Terminal charge?
Current standard UK Terminal pricing is 1.4% + 10p for EEA cards and 2.9% + 10p for non-EEA cards.
How much is the Stripe WisePad 3?
Stripe currently lists WisePad 3 at £49 excluding VAT.
How much is WisePOS E?
Stripe currently lists WisePOS E at £179 excluding VAT.
How much is Stripe Reader S700?
Stripe Reader S700 currently costs £229 excluding VAT.
Does Stripe Terminal have monthly fees?
Standard Terminal pricing does not include a standard monthly reader-rental fee. Additional services, cellular connectivity or other Stripe products can cost extra.
Can Stripe use Tap to Pay?
Yes. Stripe Terminal supports Tap to Pay on compatible iPhone and Android devices, although implementation requires a Terminal integration.
Does Stripe Terminal work offline?
Offline functionality is available for compatible Stripe Terminal readers and integrations. Businesses should configure and test offline behaviour before relying on it.
Is Stripe cheaper than Square?
Stripe currently charges 1.4% + 10p for EEA in-person cards, while Square charges 1.75% for standard UK in-person payments. Which is cheaper depends heavily on average transaction size because Stripe includes a 10p fixed fee.
Does Stripe include POS software?
Stripe provides Terminal APIs, SDKs and hardware rather than the same type of ready-made free SME POS product offered by Square or PayPal POS.
Who is Stripe Terminal best for?
Stripe Terminal is particularly suited to existing Stripe users, ecommerce businesses, marketplaces, SaaS companies and businesses building custom omnichannel payment experiences.
What are the best Stripe alternatives?
Alternatives include Square, SumUp, PayPal POS, LoPay, Dojo, Shopify POS, Worldpay and Tyl.
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Hi, I’m Ally Cox , a senior copywriter and blogger at CompareYourBusinessCosts.co.uk, the UK’s trusted platform for comparing business services.over a decade of experience in the B2B sector, I specialise in simplifying complex topics like leased lines, VoIP, business energy, HR and payroll solutions, accounting software, and EPOS systems .HR, copywriting, and business operations- from clocking-in systems to card machines and office technology .informed, confident decisions when choosing products and services that improve efficiency and save money.
