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Clover POS System Review 2023: Features, Costs, Alternatives

Reasonable prices and a good mix of hardware options make Clover's point-of-sale system a good choice.
Last updated on April 25, 2023
Edited bySally Lauckner

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4.0

NerdWallet rating 
The Clover point-of-sale system is a good option for business owners of many types: restaurants, retail outlets or professional services. Its hardware is on the pricey side, but the reasonable monthly cost and low payment processing fees help offset that upfront investment over time.

Clover

Clover
NerdWallet rating 

What is Clover?

Clover is a point-of-sale, or POS, system for small businesses that want to take payments from customers in person. The company and various third-party vendors sell a variety of Clover hardware bundles and components to merchants. Clover also offers card payment processing services.
Clover is owned by Fiserv, a payments and financial technology provider. Fiserv processes payments on the back end, though you can choose your own merchant service provider.

Clover deciding factors

Payment processing fees
  • 2.3% plus 10 cents for in-person transactions for most plans.
  • 2.6% plus 10 cents for in-person transactions on Retail Starter, Personal Services Starter and Professional Services Standard plans, as well as Home & Field Services Standard and Advanced plans.
  • 3.5% plus 10 cents for online or keyed-in transactions.
Note: Prices are based on using Clover’s parent company, Fiserv, as your merchant service provider. If you use a different provider, your costs may differ.
Monthly fee
  • $14.95 for Starter Retail, Starter Personal Services, Starter and Standard Professional Services and Home & Field Services plans.
  • $44.95 for Standard Retail, Starter and Standard QSR, Standard and Advanced Personal Services and Advanced Professional Services plans.
  • $54.90 for Advanced Retail and Advanced QSR plans.
  • $74.95 for Starter Full-Service Dining plan.
  • $84.90 for Standard Full-Service Dining plan.
  • $94.85 for Advanced Full-Service Dining plan.
Hardware cost
  • $49 for chip, swipe and contactless Clover Go card reader.
  • $599 for Clover Flex mobile POS with printer.
  • $799 for Clover Mini POS.
  • $1,699 for Clover Station Solo.
  • $1,799 for Clover Station Duo.
Accepted payment methods
Major credit cards via EMV chip and swipe, Venmo and PayPal, contactless NFC payments including Google Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, checks and cash.
Contract length
Month to month.
Customer service
24/7 phone, chat and email support.
Pros
  • Competitive flat rates for payment processing.
  • Hardware performs well and is well designed.
Cons
  • No free options.
  • Pricing can be tough to understand.

How does Clover work?

(Photo courtesy of Clover)

Clover makes POS hardware and software and processes payments. The company also offers business software, including customer engagement and employee management, that is supported by its POS system.

Standard features

Regardless of the specific combination of Clover hardware and software, you'll have access to the following features:
  • Reporting tools that allow you to track revenue, filter your POS reports to see your busiest times and your best-selling items, get aggregated sales across all your locations, view end-of-day reports, track total sales per employee and more.
  • 24/7 customer service phone support.
  • The option to use Rapid Deposit, which gives you access to the funds generated by sales transactions within minutes — for a 1% fee — instead of having to wait the typical one to three business days.
  • The ability to:
  • Set up both digital and physical gift cards.
  • Accept payments online through a virtual terminal.
  • Accept PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay and Google Pay.
  • Sync with third-party apps.
Clover is owned by Fiserv, a payments and financial technology provider. Fiserv processes on the back end, though you can choose your own merchant service provider.

How much does Clover cost?

Clover pricing depends on payment processing fees, which are a function of sales and payment type, the monthly plan you choose and the hardware you need based on your type of business. With most plans you can either pay in full or pay monthly. If you choose to pay in full, you will encounter an upfront lump sum to own your hardware, plus a monthly software fee. For the monthly pay option, the hardware and software price are rolled into one monthly payment, but you don’t own the hardware up front.

🤓 Nerdy Tip

The prices here represent buying from Clover directly. Clover is also sold through multiple third parties, including banks and stores, where you might encounter different pricing.

Clover plans and pricing

Quick-service dining systems

Features on Clover POS systems for restaurants are generally standard across tiers, unlike other POS systems that limit features on lower priced options. The primary difference is the number and types of hardware Clover’s software runs on.

Full-service restaurants

Features on Clover POS systems for restaurants are generally standard across tiers, unlike other POS systems that limit features on lower priced options. The primary difference is the number and types of hardware.Features on Clover POS systems for restaurants are generally standard across tiers, unlike other POS systems that limit features on lower priced options. The primary difference is the number and types of hardware.

Retail

As you go up the three pricing tiers in Clover’s retail, you get more hardware, but there are also other differences to consider. The Standard and Advanced plans have a lower payment processing rate: 2.3% plus 10 cents per in-person transaction compared to 2.6% plus 10 cents in the Starter plan. Additional software features in the two higher plans include the ability to itemize returns and exchanges and integrate a scale to weight items.

Personal services

You can use Clover if you provide personal services, like a hair salon or fitness studio. Like the Retail plan, the Personal Services Standard and Advanced offerings have a lower payment processing rate and can handle a few more complex tasks, like weighing items and itemizing returns.

Professional services

Unlike restaurants or retailers, professional service providers like an architect or a designer might regularly accept payments in a variety of ways — invoices, over the phone or in person, for example. If you don’t expect to accept in-person payments, the Starter plan will save you money as it doesn’t require hardware.

Home and field businesses

If you’re an electrician, landscaper or other type of professional who travels to job sites, Clover allows you to take payments in the field. If you prefer to send electronic invoices, the Starter plan is the best pick. The other two plans include a mobile card reader that connects to a phone so you can get paid anywhere.

Hardware options and costs

This is Clover’s primary hardware lineup – the options available from Clover and its resellers. This is also the hardware that appears in various combinations in the software packages described above.
Clover Go - $49
A white square Clover Go card reader

(Photo courtesy of Clover)

The Clover Go pairs with your phone through Bluetooth and enables you to accept magstripe-only cards, chip cards and contactless payments.
Clover Flex - $599
The Clover Flex credit card reader.

(Photo courtesy of Clover)

The Clover Flex is a 5-inch hand-held device that can take orders, process payments, capture customer signatures, scan bar codes and print receipts.
Clover Mini - $799
A Clover Mini card reader

(Photo courtesy of Clover)

This tablet-size countertop device processes payments, scans bar codes and prints receipts. Perched on a swivel, you can turn it to your customers to complete purchases.
Clover Station Solo - $1,699

(Photo courtesy of Clover)

The Clover Station Solo system combines a 14-inch touch screen, a cash drawer and a receipt printer. It includes a built-in camera and barcode scanner and fingerprint login.
Clover Station Duo - $1,799
The Clover Station Duo sits against a white background with a screen on top of a cash box, a customer screen facing the camera, and a receipt printer.

(Photo courtesy of Clover)

The Station Duo combines the Station Solo for staff use and a Clover Mini for customer use.

Benefits of Clover

Low flat rates for payment processing

Clover’s payment processing rates for in-person transactions are generally lower than industry heavyweights such as Stripe and Square. The higher your average sales volume, the more beneficial this is.

Decent monthly rates and features

Monthly software fees can really add up; Clover’s generally are below $100 Clover’s POS systems have many popular features, including table mapping and remote order ticket routing for restaurants, and low-stock alerts and itemized returns for retail.

Top-notch hardware

Clover's distinctive white and silver hardware looks sharp and is built for point of sale — it isn't just an app you run on your own phone or tablet. Its hand-held device in particular stands out for a few reasons: It can be used in retail settings, unlike Toast’s restaurant-only device, and it has a built-in printer, unlike Square’s. Other mobile card readers are more expensive and don’t accept cards that swipe.

Clover

Clover
NerdWallet rating 

Drawbacks of Clover

No free options

Unlike some retail POS systems, the Clover POS doesn’t have any free hardware or software options. POS systems that let you bring your own device aren’t exactly free — the device costs something at some point — but they can mean less outgoing cash at the time you get started.

Products and pricing can be hard to understand

It can be tough to find all the information you need about Clover’s products on its website. You can buy Clover directly, but there are many other resellers, including Citi, Wells Fargo, Dharma Merchant Services and Sam’s Club. Each has its own pricing, which makes it hard to compare your options. You also might be required to sign a long-term contract, which limits your flexibility in the future.

Alternatives to Clover

For flexible, straightforward plans: Square

Payment processing fees:
  • 2.6% plus 10 cents for in-person transactions.
  • 2.9% plus 30 cents for online transactions.
  • 3.5% plus 15 cents for manually keyed transactions.
  • 3.3% plus 30 cents for invoices.
Why we like it: Square provides a deep set of POS features, plus additional services such as payroll and customer loyalty programs with comparable fees, and they are simpler to understand — no third parties to navigate. Square also doesn't require long-term contracts, which means you can switch if a better fit comes along.

Square Payment Processing

Square

If payment processing is your biggest concern: Payment Depot

Payment processing fees:
Interchange plus $0 per transaction.
Why we like it: For potentially cheaper payment processing rates, consider Payment Depot — a merchant services provider that offers membership pricing and wholesale interchange rates. Payment Depot resells several of Clover’s POS systems. Other tools include a payment gateway and virtual terminal.

Frequently Asked Questions

Point-of-sale software
Square
NerdWallet rating 
Square POS Great for small-business owners looking for a top-notch POS with quick setup and easy-to-understand fees. Read Review.
Clover
NerdWallet rating 
Clover POS Great for small-business owners looking for reasonable prices and versatile hardware options.

Merchant account providers

Stax by Fattmerchant
NerdWallet rating 
Stax Great for midsize or larger companies that process $20,000 and up per month. Read Review.
PaymentCloud
NerdWallet rating 
PaymentCloud Great for businesses in high-risk industries.
Payment Depot
NerdWallet rating 
Payment Depot Great for cost-effective credit card processing for midsize businesses.
A version of this article was first published on Fundera, a subsidiary of NerdWallet.

Methodology

NerdWallet’s ratings for point-of-sale system providers reward companies whose products and services are priced well and work in a variety of payment scenarios, among other criteria. Ratings are based on weighted averages of scores in several categories, including cost, system capabilities, contract requirements, customer service and integrations and add-ons. Learn more about how we rate point-of-sale systems providers.
These ratings are a guide, but services, hardware and pricing can vary widely from business to business and provider to provider. We encourage you to shop around and compare several providers.
NerdWallet does not receive compensation for any reviews. Read our editorial guidelines.
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