Clover vs NRS, and the half each one publishes.

The short answer

NRS is the better fit for a convenience store and the cheaper software. Clover is the one that tells you its rate.

NRS is built for this trade: high-SKU scanning, age verification, lottery, vendor management, customer-facing ad screens. It publishes hardware — PUMA $1,299, CHEETAH $1,799, PANTHER workstation $1,199, Panther tablet bundle $499, kiosk $1,595, or $0 hardware if you bring your own Android tablet — and software at $19.95, $34.95, $49.95 and $79.95 a month with NRS Pay. It publishes no processing rate, and its pricing page says a contract is required.

Clover publishes 2.6% + 10¢ on its retail Starter plan and 2.3% + 10¢ on Retail Growth, keyed 3.5% + 10¢, with software at $84.95 or $104.90 a month and hardware at $349, $1,899 or $2,648 outright. Those are direct-purchase prices; a resold Clover is priced by the reseller.

On monthly software NRS is dramatically cheaper — $19.95 against $84.95 is $780 a year. On processing, nobody can say, because NRS does not publish it, and that is where most of the money is.

NRS Basic — with NRS Pay$19.95

NRS Basic — without$29.95

Clover — Standard$84.95

Clover — Advanced$104.90

Published pricing, side by side

Clover: www.clover.com, www.clover.com — read 2026-10-08. NRS: nrsplus.com — read 2026-10-08.

Published prices change. These were read on the dates above and are list prices for a business buying direct — a quote you are given may differ, and should be compared as a quote rather than against a price list.

Clover, also published:

• Clover is a platform resold by hundreds of ISOs and banks. The rates above are Clover’s own direct online prices; a Clover bought from a reseller is priced by that reseller and can look nothing like this.
• The pricing pages say the prices shown are only available online

NRS, also published:

• Terminal assurance $6.95/mo optional; $350 per device if equipment is not returned in working condition at termination
• Cash Discount program fee $49.95/mo, waived above $18,000 a month
• The software price is $10 to $30 a month lower on every tier if you take NRS Pay processing, which is the lock

Where we stand. PosNexus is an ISO. We board merchants on platforms including CardConnect, Maverick, NRS and Payarc, and we are paid on the accounts we place — so treat anything we say about those four as coming from an interested party. Everything in the table above is quoted from the provider’s own published page, with the date we read it, so you can check it.

Where they actually differ

Trade fit. For a bodega, smoke shop or forecourt, NRS does things Clover does not: the scanning workflow, age verification prompts, lottery, vendor and inventory tooling built for thousands of low-margin SKUs, and the ad screen that some operators earn from. Clover is competent general retail.

The NRS processing discount, and what it costs you. Every NRS software tier is $10 to $30 a month cheaper with NRS Pay. At the Pro tier that is $240 a year, $960 over four years, and it is what you give up if you ever move the processing. Add the published Cash Discount program fee of $49.95 a month (waived above $18,000 a month) and the extra $30 a month on Panther stores using flat-rate NRS Pay or processing under $10,000 on Cash Discount.

Hardware ownership on exit. NRS publishes $350 per device if equipment is not returned in working condition at termination, and says a cancelling NRS Pay customer is charged standard POS prices and must repay any equipment discount. Clover hardware bought outright is yours, though it is normally locked to the deploying processor. Can I keep my terminal.

Contract. NRS says a contract is required and does not publish the term. Clover publishes no term; a reseller’s agreement will have one. Both need the term, the notice window and the exit cost in writing. Agreement red flags.

Cash discount. NRS markets a cash-discount program heavily. Those programs carry real network rules and real disclosure obligations, and the version that goes wrong is the one where the customer was not told at the door. Cash discount programs and what gets sold as zero-fee.

Who you buy from. NRS sells direct. Clover sells direct and through hundreds of resellers, so the first question with Clover is always who is quoting you.

Who each one suits

NRS suits a convenience store, bodega, smoke shop or forecourt that needs the trade-specific tooling and wants a low monthly software cost — provided the processing rate is obtained in writing and the exit terms are read.

Clover suits a general retail counter that wants a published rate and no negotiation, or one with a checked reseller quote. Its software costs four times NRS’s at the entry tier, which for a convenience store is hard to justify unless you specifically prefer the Clover app ecosystem.

Neither is the cheapest processing. Clover’s published rate is flat; NRS’s is unknown and tied to the system. A store doing $60,000 a month would usually pay less on interchange-plus, and the question that unlocks it is whether the system allows an outside processor. Choosing a retail POS.

What the comparison does not show

Get the NRS Pay rate before anything else. The published hardware and software prices are the smaller half of the cost. Ask for the percentage, the per-item, and whether it is flat or interchange-plus.

Add the monthly picture up properly on NRS: software tier, plus Cash Discount program fee if applicable, plus the $30 Panther surcharge if applicable, plus optional $6.95 terminal assurance. Then compare to Clover’s $84.95 or $104.90.

Clover’s published prices are direct prices. A reseller quote is its own thing.

Neither publishes funding timing, a monthly minimum or a chargeback fee. Three things to get named by whichever you choose.

How to settle it with your own numbers

Half of this comparison cannot be done from a web page, because Clover and NRS publishes no rate. So the comparison has to happen on your own numbers instead, and the figure that makes it possible is your effective rate: total fees for a month divided by total card volume for that month.

Get the Clover and NRS quote in writing, with the markup as a number, the per-item, and every monthly fee named individually. Apply all of it to your own volume, your own average ticket and your own card mix, add the monthly fees, and divide by volume. That single number is the only thing comparable to NRS’s published figures — or to anybody else’s. A quote that cannot be reduced to it is not a quote.

Comparing two quotes is the full method for an unpublished rate, and the calculator does the arithmetic once you have the figures.

What we charge

Interchange + 0.50% + 10¢ in person, interchange + 0.75% + 25¢ keyed, with no contract, no monthly fee and no monthly minimum.

If you are holding a quote from Clover or NRS, send it to us with one page of a statement. We will reduce the quote to an effective rate at your own volume and put it next to NRS’s published figures and ours, so you are comparing three numbers of the same kind instead of a price list against a sales conversation.

While we are on the subject

Is NRS cheaper than Clover?

On software, dramatically — $19.95 a month against $84.95 at entry level. On processing, NRS does not publish a rate, so the overall answer depends on the quote.

Does NRS require a contract?

Its pricing page says a contract is required and does not publish the term. Ask for the length, the notice window and the exit terms.

Why is NRS software cheaper with NRS Pay?

Because the processing carries the margin. The discount is a standing incentive to keep processing with them, and it is a real cost if you ever move.

Which is better for a bodega?

NRS, on fit. It is built for high-SKU convenience retail with age verification, lottery and vendor tooling that Clover does not match.