PayPal POS Review: A low-cost option for solopreneurs
PayPal POS more than covers the basics for solopreneurs. You can use it to track sales, manage inventory and run basic reports. But businesses with employees may need a more powerful solution.
The bottom line:
PayPal POS delivers the essentials at a low cost — no commitment required. It pairs free POS software with low in-person processing rates and cheap hardware options. This makes it a five-star product for solopreneurs in retail or service industries. But PayPal POS isn’t scalable enough for growing businesses. You won’t find add-ons for things like staff management or marketing.
Software details
Payment processing fees
In-person: 2.29% + $0.09
Online: 2.99% + $0.49
Monthly fee
$0
Pros & Cons
Pros
Free POS software plan, plus $29 card reader.
No long-term contract or termination fees.
Accepts Venmo and PayPal payments.
Low in-person processing rates.
Cons
Online processing rates aren’t straightforward.
Accounting integrations are limited to QuickBooks; no payroll integrations.
Deposits may take up to 3 days (competitors commonly offer next-day deposits).
Compare to other products 
PayPal POS
5.0
NerdWallet rating
Payment processing fees
In-person: 2.29% + $0.09
Online: 2.99% + $0.49
Payment processing fees
In-person: 2.6% + $0.15
Online: 3.3% + $0.30
Payment processing fees
In-person: 2.6% + $0.10
Online: 2.9% + $0.30
Payment processing fees
In-person: 2.6% + $0.10
Online: 2.9% + $0.30
Need more options? Check our picks for best payment processing systems
Square: Better for businesses with employees. Unlike PayPal POS, Square has its own in-house payroll software, as well as staff management tools. Its in-person processing rates are higher, but businesses with employees will get more value out of it. Read our full Square review.
» MORE: Square vs. PayPal
Shopify: Better for online sales. Shopify’s platform has hundreds of pre-built website templates. This makes it easy to create your own online storefront directly through your POS provider. PayPal lets you integrate with e-commerce sites, but the process isn’t as streamlined. Read our full Shopify review.
U.S. Bank Merchant Services: More personalized. This provider assigns dedicated merchant accounts to each business. These accounts often experience less freezes than aggregated ones. Competitors, like PayPal and Square, combine multiple businesses’ funds into a single aggregated account. U.S. Bank also matches each business with a dedicated account manager, which can result in a more personalized user experience. Read our full U.S. Bank Merchant Services review.
Full review
PayPal POS is PayPal’s in-person solution for completing sales. You might also know it by its former name: PayPal Zettle. It’s a solid, low-cost POS system for solopreneurs — especially if you’re selling on the go.
In part, that’s thanks to its streamlined (and free) mobile app. Once you pair it with the company’s $29 card reader, you’re ready to start taking payments from anywhere. Just make sure to open a PayPal Business account beforehand. It’s free, and the process takes about 10 minutes, according to the PayPal site.
And at 2.29% plus 9 cents per transaction, PayPal’s in-person processing rates are hard to beat. Competitors typically charge a good deal more. For example, Square charges 2.6% plus 15 cents per in-person transaction in its free plan.
You can also use PayPal to accept PayPal and Venmo payments from customers. That’s a great perk for sellers at farmers markets, festivals and popups. (Although that payment method is expensive at 3.49% plus 49 cents per transaction). And since it’s so ubiquitous, customers typically trust the PayPal brand name. The product has 439 million active business and personal users combined.
That said, PayPal POS’s features are limited, and there are no add-ons. The system includes basic reporting, inventory tracking, invoicing and a customer loyalty program. This is enough for solo business owners in retail and service-based industries. But it’s not sufficient for businesses with employees or those that need in-depth analytics.
PayPal POS is best for:
✔️ Solopreneurs.
✔️ In-person sales.
✔️ Accepting PayPal and Venmo.
PayPal POS overview
| Payment processing model | Flat-rate. |
| Payment processing fees |
|
| Monthly fee | $0. |
| Hardware cost |
|
| Contract length | No long-term contracts. |
| Customer support | Live chat support every day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PST; Phone support also available. |
Where PayPal POS stands out
Low in-person rates
When it comes to payment processors, PayPal has some of the lowest rates for in-person sales. Chances are you won’t find a flat-rate provider that beats 2.29% plus 9 cents per transaction. Competitors usually charge somewhere closer to 2.6% plus 10 to 15 cents instead.
Offers basic POS features for free
PayPal POS’s cheap in-person processing rates, inexpensive card reader and free software features make for a low barrier to entry.
Sure, it doesn’t have the most robust set of features we’ve seen. You’d need to subscribe to paid POS software for that. But it certainly has an impressive amount considering you can access them all for free.
On top of processing a variety of payment types, PayPal POS lets you add discounts, enter refunds and issue receipts via text, email or print. You can also use it to track sales.
For example, in the reports section of the app, you’ll find an overview of the prior day’s sales numbers. More detailed reports include a summary of sales, a breakdown of payment types and fees, top-selling products, gift cards sold and staff performance. You can export these reports to PDF, Excel or a raw data format.
PayPal POS also lets you build a product library. You can import a product list from a spreadsheet, group the products by category, and then add photos, descriptions and bar codes. You can add new products too. Plus, the system will notify you when stock is low.
» MORE: Best free POS systems
Where PayPal POS falls short
No add-on features
PayPal POS doesn’t offer add-ons for staff management, marketing or advanced reporting. Additionally, there are no direct payroll integrations. This puts it out of range for many growing businesses, as well as those with employees.
This is the downside of free POS software products that don’t offer any paid options. They’re just not scalable.
Not the best for online sales
There’s no single online rate that applies across the board for PayPal. Instead, you need to choose between PayPal Checkout and Expanded Checkout.
PayPal Checkout is best for business owners looking for a plug-and-play online processing solution. It essentially manages the checkout process for you. It also includes advanced fraud protection. That said, at 2.99% plus 49 cents per transaction, it’s more expensive than most competitors. It’s also not as customizable as Expanded Checkout.
The Expanded version is better for business owners with developer experience or resourcing. It gives you more control over your online checkout interface. Plus, it allows you to accept alternative payment methods, like Apple Pay. However, advanced fraud and chargeback protection are add-ons. They cost an extra 7 cents and 0.40% per transaction, respectively. Otherwise Expanded Checkout charges 2.89% plus 29 cents per transaction, which is generally more competitive with other popular offerings.
What small-business owners think of PayPal POS
NerdWallet checked online forums like Reddit and reviews from sites like TrustPilot, G2, the App Store and Google Play to gauge how users feel about PayPal POS. We used an AI tool to help analyze this feedback. Here are the major trends we spotted.
👎 Service interruptions
Multiple online reviewers say their systems stopped working when PayPal updated its software or randomly requested account verification. This is definitely something to look out for. I’d suggest booting up your card reader at least an hour before you start accepting payments. That way, you give yourself some time to resolve tech issues.
👍 Easy Tap to Pay functionality
PayPal POS isn’t the only solution that lets customers pay by tapping their card to your phone. But users seem to appreciate how well this function works. This is important for business owners who value a speedy, yet reliable checkout process. It especially comes in handy when multiple customers are waiting in line to pay you at markets, festivals or popups.
How we evaluated PayPal POS
NerdWallet’s writers and editors independently review POS system providers, like PayPal, by analyzing more than 30 data points. We collected data from PayPal’s public-facing website, help articles and company representatives.
Our evaluations also take user sentiment into account. This involves looking through individual reviews and feedback on sites like Trustpilot, the App Store, Google Play and Reddit. Then, we use AI tools to help spot larger trends within those comments. Since we cannot verify each user’s individual experience, we don’t incorporate user reviews in our star ratings. For more information on how we score payment processing companies, see our full methodology.
» MORE: PayPal not the right fit? Explore our list of the best alternatives
Former NerdWallet writer Lisa Anthony also contributed to this review.