Payment processors, and which ones tell you the price.

Who publishes a price and who does not

The first thing worth knowing about the payments industry is that it splits almost exactly in half on this question, and the split does not track quality.

These publish a rate you can read right now.

• Square — Flat rate. In person: 2.6% + 15¢ (tapped, dipped or swiped on the free plan; 2.5% + 15¢ on Plus, 2.4% + 15¢ on Premium). Keyed: 3.5% + 15¢. Online: 3.3% + 30¢ (2.9% + 30¢ on Plus and Premium). Monthly: $0 on the free plan; $49/mo per location (Plus); $149/mo per location (Premium).
• Stripe — Flat rate. In person: 2.7% + 5¢ (Terminal, domestic cards; Tap to Pay adds $0.10 per authorization). Keyed: +0.5% on top of the base rate. Online: 2.9% + 30¢ (domestic cards; +1.5% international, +1% currency conversion). Monthly: $0 on standard pricing.
• PayPal — Flat rate. In person: 2.29% + $0.09 (card-present through PayPal Point of Sale / Zettle). Keyed: 3.49% + $0.09 (manual card entry in person). Online: 2.99% + $0.49 (standard cards; PayPal Checkout and Venmo 3.49% + $0.49; advanced card payments 2.89% + $0.29). Monthly: $0 on standard; advanced products priced separately.
• Shopify Payments — Flat rate, inside a plan. In person: 2.6% + 10¢ (Basic; 2.5% + 10¢ Grow, 2.4% + 10¢ Advanced, 2.3% + 10¢ Plus). Online: 2.9% + 30¢ (Basic; 2.7% + 30¢ Grow, 2.5% + 30¢ Advanced, 2.25% + 30¢ Plus). Monthly: $39/mo Basic, $105/mo Grow, $399/mo Advanced, from $2,300/mo Plus (monthly billing).
• SumUp — Flat rate. In person: 2.6% + 10¢. Keyed: 3.5% + 15¢ (the page groups online and manual entry under one rate). Online: 3.5% + 15¢. Monthly: $0 on the free tier; POS Plus $49/mo; SumUp POS from $99/mo; Connect Plus $269/mo; Connect Pro $349/mo.
• Helcim — Interchange-plus. In person: interchange + 0.40% + 8¢ (under $50K a month; the margin falls in five published volume tiers to interchange + 0.15% + 6¢ above $1M). Keyed: interchange + 0.50% + 25¢ (under $50K a month, falling to interchange + 0.15% + 15¢ above $1M). Online: interchange + 0.50% + 25¢ (same schedule as keyed). Monthly: $0. The page says no account monthly fees.
• Stax — Subscription plus interchange. In person: interchange at cost + 8¢ per transaction (the page says 0% markup on direct-cost interchange; the subscription is the margin). Keyed: interchange at cost + 15¢ per transaction. Online: interchange at cost + 15¢ per transaction. Monthly: $99/mo up to $150,000 a year; $139/mo from $150,000 to $250,000; $199+/mo above $250,000.
• Dharma Merchant Services — Interchange-plus. In person: interchange + 0.15% + $0.08 per authorization (Amex 0.25% + $0.08; above $100K a month, 0.10% + $0.08). Monthly: $20/mo.
• SpotOn — Flat rate, inside a plan. In person: 2.79% + $0.20 (All-In plan; 2.45% + $0.15 on POS Essentials, except Amex at 3.19% + $0.15). Keyed: 3.79% + $0.20 (All-In; 3.45% + $0.15 on POS Essentials). Monthly: $0 per station (All-In); $55 per station (POS Essentials).
• Chase Payment Solutions — Flat rate. In person: 2.6% + 10¢. Keyed: 3.5% + 10¢ (also the rate for payment links). Online: 2.9% + 25¢.
• Clover — Flat rate, when bought direct. In person: 2.6% + 10¢ (retail Starter plan bought on clover.com; 2.3% + 10¢ on Retail Growth and on all three restaurant plans). Keyed: 3.5% + 10¢. Monthly: Retail: $0 on Starter hardware, $84.95/mo Standard, $104.90/mo Advanced. Restaurant: $89.95/mo, $109.90/mo, $129.85/mo.

Every figure above is copied from the provider’s own pricing page, with the link, and read on 2026-10-08. They are list prices for a business buying direct.

These do not publish a rate at all.

• Toast — Toast publishes software plan prices and does not publish a processing rate anywhere on its pricing page
• Lightspeed — Software plan prices are published; the Lightspeed Payments processing rate is not published on the payments page
• NRS — Terminal assurance $6.95/mo optional; $350 per device if equipment is not returned in working condition at termination
• CardConnect — The site publishes no rates, no fees and no terms, and routes every pricing question to a contact form
• Payarc — No rates, fees, terms or pricing model are published. The site describes its approach as tailored pricing based on merchant portfolio.
• Maverick Payments — Maverick sells mainly to ISOs, agents, software companies and financial institutions rather than direct to merchants, which is why there is no published merchant price
• Elavon — No rates, fees or terms published. Pricing comes through an application or a sales conversation.
• Worldpay — No figures of any kind on the small-business page; the call to action is to get a quote
• Global Payments — No published rates or fees
• Heartland — No published rates or fees

That is not a criticism. A traditional processor’s price depends on your volume, your card mix, your category and your risk profile, and a single published number could not be honest about all four. It does mean that half of this market cannot be compared from a web page, and the method further down is how you compare it anyway.

Publish a rateSquare, Stripe, PayPal, Shopify, SumUp, Helcim, Stax, Dharma, SpotOn, Chase48%

Publish partlyClover, direct purchase only5%

Publish nothingToast, Lightspeed, NRS, CardConnect, Payarc, Maverick, Elavon, Worldpay, Global Payments, Heartland48%

Every comparison we have written

• Square vs Clover — Clover’s published rate is lower. Most people never get Clover’s published rate.
• Square vs Stripe — Stripe is cheaper in person, same online. The price is the least interesting difference.
• Square vs Toast for Restaurants — One publishes a rate. One doesn’t. Start there.
• Clover vs Toast for Restaurants — A general platform against a restaurant specialist. One publishes prices.
• Square vs PayPal for Taking Payments — PayPal wins in person. Square wins online. The split is unusually clean.
• Stripe vs PayPal for Online Payments — Stripe is cheaper. PayPal converts buyers Stripe can’t. Run both.
• Square vs Shopify for Selling Online and In Person — Lower rates, monthly fee, and a penalty for using another processor.
• Square vs SumUp for Small Businesses — Same percentage, 5¢ cheaper per item. On small tickets that decides it.
• Square vs Helcim — The two pricing models, side by side, both published. Rare and useful.
• Helcim vs Stax — Percentage margin against a monthly subscription. The crossover is arithmetic.
• Stax vs Dharma — $20 and a small percentage, against $99 and none. Where the lines cross.
• Square vs Chase Payment Solutions — Same percentage, cheaper per item, same-day money — and undisclosed monthlies.
• Toast vs SpotOn for Restaurants — SpotOn publishes rates and the term attached. Toast publishes neither.
• Square vs CardConnect — One publishes a price. One quotes you. Here is how to compare them anyway.
• Square vs NRS for Convenience Stores — Published hardware, published software, unpublished rate, contract required.
• Square vs Worldpay for a Small Business — Enterprise scale and no published price, against a price list anyone can read.
• Stripe vs Shopify Payments — Close rates, and a surcharge for using anyone but Shopify.
• Square vs Stax — A percentage of everything, against $99 a month and interchange at cost.
• Clover vs SpotOn for Restaurants — Two restaurant systems that both publish their rates. Rare, and useful.
• Helcim vs Dharma — Two published interchange-plus rates. The crossover is unusually low.
• PayPal vs SumUp for a Small Counter — PayPal is cheaper on both halves of the rate. SumUp is simpler.
• Clover vs NRS for a Convenience Store — Each publishes about half of what you need. Here is which half.
• Square vs Lightspeed for Retail — Deeper inventory against a free tier. And one unpublished rate.
• Square vs Elavon for a Small Business — A bank processor that quotes, against a price list. And a better third option.

Each one carries the published figures for both sides, the date we read them, and a link to the source so you can check.

One provider at a time

Where a comparison is not what you want, these take a single provider and work through every published figure, what it comes to on real volume, and where it costs you.

• Square Fees — Every published rate, what it costs on real volume, and when to leave.
• Clover Fees — Published direct prices, and why most Clover quotes ignore them.
• Toast Fees — Software published, processing not. The six figures to get in writing.
• Stripe Fees — Every rate including the surcharges, and when to stop using a flat rate.
• PayPal and Zettle Fees — Lowest published in-person rate. Among the highest online. Both true.
• Helcim Fees — An interchange-plus margin you can read, and an unusually short fee list.
• CardConnect Pricing — Nothing published. What the platform is, and how to read the quote.
• NRS Pricing for Convenience Stores — Hardware and software published. Processing quoted. One discount worth pricing.
• Shopify Payments Fees — Rates per plan, plan fees, and a surcharge for using anyone else.
• Stax Pricing — A subscription instead of a percentage. Where that wins, and where it doesn’t.
• SpotOn Pricing — Two plans, both published, and one of them shows what free hardware costs.
• Chase Payment Solutions Pricing — Good published rates, same-day money, and unnamed monthly fees.

Roundups and alternatives

And where the question is “what should I use” rather than “which of these two”, these work through a whole category at once.

• Who is actually the cheapest? — No single answer. Three numbers, and the arithmetic that settles it.
• Best for a small business — Four situations, four honest answers, with the reasoning shown.
• Best for restaurants — You pick a system, not a processor. What that costs, by system.
• Best for an online store — The published options, and the number that beats all of them.
• Square alternatives — When you have actually outgrown it, and what to move to.
• Toast alternatives — Three alternatives, and what you would be giving up.
• Which processor would PosNexus put me on? — Our platforms, our compensation, and what we actually control.

The only comparison that works

Published rates are a starting point and never the answer, because a rate is not a cost. The cost is your effective rate: total fees for a month divided by total card volume for that month.

It is the only figure that catches all of it at once — the per-transaction fee at your real average ticket, the monthly fees, the card mix your customers actually carry, anything that downgraded, and the fees nobody mentioned. Two providers quoting the same percentage can produce effective rates half a point apart.

Two numbers off one statement and you have it. The calculator does the arithmetic and what an effective rate is explains the answer. If you are reading a statement for the first time, start here.

What to ask a provider who will not publish

Eight questions. A quote that does not answer all eight is not comparable to anything, and asking them is the single most useful thing you can do before signing.

The markup over interchange, as a number. Not “competitive rates”. A percentage and a per-item, in writing. If the answer is a single blended percentage, you are being quoted a flat or tiered rate, which is a different product. Interchange-plus and flat rate compared.

Every monthly fee, named individually. Statement fee, service fee, gateway fee, PCI program fee, monthly minimum, annual fee. The small fees that add up.

The PCI arrangement. The annual program fee, and the monthly non-compliance fee if the questionnaire is not completed.

The term, and the renewal. Month-to-month exists and is widely available. Auto-renewal clauses.

The termination cost, and whether it is a flat fee or a formula. Early termination fees.

Whether hardware is bought or leased. A four-year non-cancellable lease is usually the most expensive line in the whole arrangement and it outlives the processing agreement. Equipment lease fees.

The funding timetable, and the batch cutoff. Funding times.

The chargeback fee, and whether you pay it when you win. Chargeback fees.

Then reduce the answers to an effective rate at your own volume and compare that. The full method.

What we charge

Interchange + 0.50% + 10¢ in person, interchange + 0.75% + 25¢ keyed, with no contract, no monthly fee, no monthly minimum and no termination fee. We sell hardware outright and we do not lease equipment.

We are 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 each provider’s own page with the link, which is the part you can check without us.

While we are on the subject

Why do some processors not publish rates?

Because the price genuinely depends on your volume, card mix, business category and risk profile. A single published number could not be honest about all four. It does mean you have to get a quote in writing.

Is a published rate better than a quote?

It is simpler and the same for everyone, which makes it generous to some businesses and expensive to others. A quote can be much better for a business with enough volume to be worth pricing, and much worse for one that signs without reading.

How current are these figures?

Each one carries the date we read it from the provider’s own page, and the link. Published prices change, so check the source before relying on any of them.

What is the one number I should compare?

Your effective rate: total fees for a month divided by total card volume for that month. It is the only figure that captures the rate, the per-item, the monthly fees and your card mix at once.