11 Best Card Readers for Sole Traders in the UK (2026)

When you work for yourself, you want a small bill to start, no contract, and a way to get paid without a business bank account. Ten of these eleven have no monthly fee and no contract. What separates them is whether you need your phone, whether you need to print, and where your money lands.

So I've priced all eleven for the same business, one making £2,000 a month on cards from 80 sales of £25.

Some companies appear more than once, because a small reader and a machine that prints solve different problems. If you were expecting Teya, Dojo or Revolut Business, I explain why they aren't ranked near the end.

• 7 card readers priced for one sole trader
• £2,000 a month, 80 sales of £25
• Where the money lands, for each one
• Confirmed 4 November 2026

How I ranked them

This isn't a price order, because the cheapest reader to run isn't the best one to start with. Small readers with nothing to be tied to come first. Then come the machines that print. The last four suit one situation each: billing other businesses, a 3-year contract, or already using that company.

Most card readers are advertised before VAT, and you can only claim that back if you're VAT registered, so my first-year sums add it.

What the eleven cost at £2,000 a month

The business cards column matters if you bill other businesses, because a plumber or cleaner often gets paid on a company card.

So myPOS and Flatpay both cost less than my top pick, and I'll show you what you give up for that in their sections.

You can't add these fees on for customers paying by personal card, because card surcharges are banned. So build the fee into your prices. At 1.69%, it's about 42p on a £25 sale.

Can the money go into a personal bank account?

It depends on the company. SumUp says no UK law requires a sole trader to have a business bank account to take cards. It also says its readers can pay into a personal one. Your own bank may have rules about business money in a personal account, so look at your account's terms too.

Either way, you must keep records of your business income and expenses, and a receipt scanner app makes that easier. This table shows where each one sends your sales, and whether you need your phone beside you.

1. SumUp Solo Lite - the smallest bill to start

The Solo Lite comes first because it's the cheapest way to find out whether taking cards works for you. It's £19 in SumUp's sale, down from £25, there's no contract, and SumUp is plain about paying a sole trader's personal account. Square's reader is also £19, but SumUp's fee is lower. SumUp's sale prices have been moving, so check the price before you order.

SumUp Solo Lite

SumUp Solo Lite is a small reader that pairs with your phone by Bluetooth, for taking contactless and chip cards anywhere your phone has signal.

£19plus VAT in SumUp's sale, normally £25, then 1.69% a sale

Which one fits you? Quick review

It pairs with your phone and uses its screen and signal, so a flat phone or a dead spot stops your sales.

The free SumUp account pays by 7am the next day, weekends included, where a personal bank can take up to three working days. Past £3,300 a month on cards, SumUp's own advice is to move to Payments Plus at £19 a month, which cuts the fee to 0.99% on UK personal cards.

Start here if you're doing this part time or testing the idea. SumUp refunds you if you return it within 30 days.

2. SumUp Solo - no phone needed, same fee

The Solo does the same job without your phone. It has its own touch screen and a 4G SIM with free data, plus Wi-Fi, and an offline mode if the signal drops. It's £59 in the sale, down from £79, with the same 1.69% fee and the same payout choices.

SumUp Solo

SumUp Solo is a pocket-sized reader with its own touch screen and a 4G SIM with free data, so it works without a phone.

£59plus VAT in SumUp's sale, normally £79, then 1.69% a sale

Which one fits you? Quick review

Get it if you work away from your own Wi-Fi, or you'd rather keep your phone free. If customers want paper, SumUp sells it with a mobile printer for £75 in the sale.

3. Square Reader - free tools for bookings and invoices

Square costs a little more to run, 1.75% a sale against SumUp's 1.69%. That extra £1.20 a month at our sales buys you software you'd otherwise pay for. Its free plan includes invoices, payment links and online booking with automatic reminders.

Square Reader

Square Reader pairs with your phone or tablet and works with Square's free app, which also handles invoices, payment links and bookings.

£19plus VAT, then 1.75% a sale on UK cards

Which one fits you? Quick review

That's a good fit for a personal trainer or a mobile hairdresser, where a missed appointment costs more than the card fee. Invoices cost more than taking a card in person, though, at 2.5%.

Pick Square if your diary runs your business.

4. myPOS Go 2 - lowest fee on personal cards, with its own SIM

This is the cheapest reader here with its own SIM and no contract, and it costs the least to run on personal cards. Its fee is 1.10% plus 7p a sale. That comes to £27.60 a month at our £2,000, which is £6.20 less than SumUp.

myPOS Go 2

myPOS Go 2 is a standalone card reader with a built-in SIM and Wi-Fi backup, and no monthly charge for the data.

£39plus VAT, then 1.10% + 7p on UK personal cards

Which one fits you? Quick review

That low fee comes with two conditions. First, your money stays in the myPOS account until you move it, and each transfer to a UK bank costs £1.50. Move it once a week and that adds £6.50 a month, which makes the Go 2 30p a month more than SumUp. So it only saves you money if you pay suppliers and buy materials from the myPOS card.

Second, the 1.10% applies to UK personal cards only. Business cards cost 2.85% plus 7p, so if one sale in five is on a business card, your month comes to £34.60.

I'd take it for a market stall or food van selling to the public, where you want your own signal and a low fee.

5. SumUp Terminal - the lowest price with a printer and no contract

If customers expect a paper receipt, this is the cheapest machine here with a printer built in and no contract. It's £99 in the sale, down from £135. It has a free SIM and Wi-Fi, SumUp says the battery lasts all day, and it can take tips and print order tickets.

SumUp Terminal

SumUp Terminal is a handheld machine with a built-in receipt printer, a touch screen and a free SIM, with no rental or monthly minimum.

£99plus VAT in SumUp's sale, normally £135, then 1.69% a sale

Which one fits you? Quick review

Get it if you hand over receipts or order tickets at a stall, van or busy pitch.

6. Square Terminal - prints, and keeps your bookings in one app

The Square Terminal prints receipts and runs the same free app as the Square Reader, so your bookings and invoices stay in one place. It's £149 plus VAT, or £25 plus VAT a month for six months, at the same 1.75% a sale.

Square Terminal

Square Terminal has a built-in receipt printer and runs Square's free app, with invoices, payment links and online booking.

£149plus VAT, or £25 plus VAT a month for six months, then 1.75% a sale

Which one fits you? Quick review

Pick it if you work from a treatment room or studio, take bookings and hand over receipts.

7. myPOS Go Combo - the myPOS fee, with a printer

The Go Combo is a portable reader with a dock that charges it and prints receipts. It's £169 plus VAT, on the same 1.10% plus 7p and £1.50 transfers as the Go 2.

myPOS Go Combo

myPOS Go Combo is a portable card reader with a charging and printing dock, for use in a shop or on the go.

£169plus VAT, then 1.10% plus 7p on UK personal cards

Which one fits you? Quick review

It's worth it if most customers pay by personal card. Against the SumUp Terminal you pay £70 more upfront and save £6.20 a month, as long as you spend from the myPOS card and don't move the money out.

8. Revolut Pro - one fee on every card

You'll see Revolut advertising 0.8% plus 2p, but that's for Revolut Business, and its help page lists sole traders as an unsupported type. Revolut Pro is the version for self-employed people. It sits inside your personal Revolut app, starts at £0 a month and charges 1.5% in person on personal, business and foreign cards alike.

Revolut Pro card machine

Revolut's Lite machine works on its own and takes payments straight into a Revolut Pro account, with no monthly fee on Pro's starting plan.

£129one-time for the Lite machine, then 1.5% a sale

Which one fits you? Quick review

The machine costs £129. At £2,000 a month, Revolut saves you £3.80 a month against SumUp, so that extra cost takes about three years to come back.

Choose Revolut Pro if you bill other businesses or your sales are well above our example.

9. Flatpay - a free machine, if you can commit for 3 years

Flatpay is the only one here with a long contract. You pay nothing for the machine, then 1.49% on every card. That makes it the lowest first-year cost here, at £357.60. But you can't end its UK agreement for 36 months.

Flatpay card machine

Flatpay provides a PAX A920 Pro card machine with a printer and SIM, sets it up with you in person and charges one fee on all cards.

£0for the machine, then 1.49% a sale, 36-month contract

Which one fits you? Quick review

Work out that saving before you sign. Over the 36 months, Flatpay beats SumUp by about £162 at our sales, or roughly £4.50 a month. Any month below £1,100 on cards also adds a £39 charge plus VAT.

Flatpay doesn't single out sole traders, so get it confirmed at your first meeting, along with whether a personal bank account is fine.

This only makes sense for a settled business with a fixed pitch and steady sales, like a busy stall or a treatment room.

10. Tide Nano - if you already bank with Tide

Tide only makes sense with a Tide account, because the reader is linked to it before it's sent. That account is a real help if you don't have a business account yet, as the Lite plan has no plan fee and includes Making Tax Digital tools. Tide's fees rise on 1 December 2026, so I've used the new ones.

Tide Nano

Tide Nano is a 120g pocket reader that pairs with your phone by Bluetooth and pays into your Tide account the next working day.

£25plus VAT, then 1.6% + 5p from 1 December

Which one fits you? Quick review

On personal cards the gap is small, £2.20 a month against SumUp. Business cards are where Tide falls behind, because at 3.25% plus 5p a mixed month comes to £42.60.

Stay with Tide if you already bank there and mostly serve the public, because having it all in one app is worth a couple of pounds.

11. PayPal Reader - if you already sell through PayPal

You may know this one as Zettle, which is now called PayPal Point of Sale. It charges 1.75% on all major cards, the same as Square. Your first reader is £29 plus VAT, so it starts £10 above Square before delivery.

PayPal Reader

PayPal Reader pairs with your phone by Bluetooth and works with the free PayPal POS app, with funds reaching a PayPal Business account within minutes.

£29plus VAT for your first reader, then 1.75% a sale

Which one fits you? Quick review

PayPal's terms name sole traders and ask for a UK bank account held in your name, so that part is simple.

It's worth it if you sell things online through PayPal already and now want to take cards at a craft fair or pop-up. Starting from nothing, you'd pay less and get more free tools with Square.

Tired of your bank's card machine?

You're probably paying for more than the card fee, because machine hire and service charges often sit on the same bill. To see what you'd really save, divide last month's whole bill by your card sales. SumUp's 1.69% is the number to beat, so at £2,000 a month anything over about £34 means you could pay less.

Then find your contract's end date before you order anything. You can run a new reader alongside the old machine until the old one ends. The Payment Systems Regulator limits some machine-hire contracts to a first term of 18 months, so check yours.

Why Teya, Dojo and Revolut Business aren't ranked

Teya charges 1.59% on personal cards, but a £29.99 fee applies when your monthly card sales are under £2,500. So our £2,000 business pays £61.79 a month, nearly twice what SumUp costs. If you're steadily above £2,500, it's worth another look.

Dojo gives its prices through a quote, so I can't put a number on it at £2,000 a month.

Revolut Business has a low headline fee, 0.8% plus 2p, but it needs a £10 monthly plan and isn't open to most sole traders. Revolut Pro is the route for you.

Which card reader should you buy?

At our £2,000 a month, the gap between the lowest and highest monthly fee here is only £8.40. So the fee shouldn't decide this. The contract, your phone and whether you need to print matter more.

For most sole traders, start with the SumUp Solo Lite. It's the cheapest way to find out whether taking cards pays off, because it's £19 with a 30-day refund, and your money can go to the account you already have.

If you can't rely on your phone, take the SumUp Solo, or the myPOS Go 2 if you're happy to spend from its card. If you work by appointment, take the Square Reader. If you need to print, take the SumUp Terminal, the Square Terminal at a fixed spot with bookings, or the myPOS Go Combo for the lowest personal-card fee. If you bill other businesses, take Revolut Pro. Only take Flatpay if you're sure about three years, and Tide or PayPal if you already use them.

If you can't separate two of them, tell the finder what matters most to you, whether it can lean on your phone, and where your money should land. It names one card reader and what you give up.

Your work, your answer

Which card reader fits your work?

Answer for how you work today. The recommendation updates as you go.

1What matters most to you?

Spending as little as I can to startFree tools for bookings and invoicesA printed receipt on the spotA printed receipt, and the lowest fee on personal cardsThe lowest fee on personal cardsOne low fee on every card, business cards tooNo upfront cost, and I can stay for 3 yearsI already bank with TideI already sell through PayPal

2Can it lean on your phone?

Yes, my phone's always with me and has signalNo, it should work on its own

3Where should your money land?

In my own bank accountAn account that comes with the reader is fine

Before you answer

SumUp Solo Lite, if you just want to get started

The SumUp Solo Lite is £19 plus VAT in its sale, with no monthly fee or contract, and can pay into a personal bank account.

The trade-off: it needs your phone beside you. If that's a problem, the SumUp Solo has its own SIM.

Read about SumUp Read about the SumUp Solo Read about the SumUp Terminal Read about the Square Terminal Read about the Go Combo Read about Square Read about myPOS Read about Revolut Pro Read about Flatpay Read about Tide Read about PayPal

Questions sole traders ask about card readers