PayPal POS Review 2025: Features & Pricing

Overview

The bottom line:

PayPal POS delivers the essentials at a relatively low cost with a small commitment. But consider other options if you want features like customer loyalty and email marketing programs. Although PayPal POS can expand through hardware, it doesn’t offer plan upgrades or those types of add-ons.

Software details

Payment processing fees

In-person: 2.29% + $0.09

Online: 3.49% + $0.09

Monthly fee

Pros & Cons

Pros

No long-term contract or termination fees.

Accepts a variety of payment types, including Venmo and PayPal payments.

Inexpensive card reader with a keypad, plus built-in payment processing and a free mobile app lets you quickly accept in-person payments on the go.

Low in-person processing fees for a flat-rate processor.

Cons

Accepting online transactions involves additional monthly fees, depending on your gateway.

No offline mode.

PayPal POS (formerly known as PayPal Zettle) is a

point-of-sale system

that lets businesses take payments, track inventory and sales and receive reports. It replaced PayPal Here in 2021.

PayPal POS may be a good choice if you’re looking for an entry-level POS system or a PayPal mobile card reader. Its POS app is free and can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play. After downloading the app to your device, you can create an account and order a card reader. The card reader lets you accept credit and debit card transactions and contactless payments.

Your mobile device acts as a POS to take payments, track sales, generate reports, manage inventory and monitor staff productivity. You’ll also have the option to collect customer email addresses and integrate with accounting and e-commerce apps.

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PayPal POS is best for businesses that:

Prioritize payment processing over full-service POS. PayPal POS makes it easy to get up and running quickly to accept payments, but it lacks POS tools and features beyond the basics.
Already have a PayPal account or don’t mind opening one. A PayPal account is required to use the POS app. Funds are typically transferred to your PayPal account within one business day, and you have the option to set up deposits to your bank account.
Want flexibility in payment and transaction types. With PayPal POS, you can accept payment by credit and debit cards, digital wallets and QR codes. This includes Mastercard, Visa, American Express, Discover, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, PayPal, Venmo and others. In addition to in-person transactions, you can accept payments over the phone, create invoices and send payment links to customers.

Deciding factors

Payment processing model	Flat-rate.
Payment processing fees	2.29% plus 9 cents for in-person and QR code transactions. 3.49% plus 9 cents for manual-entry card transactions. 2.99% plus 49 cents for invoicing (payment made with card). 3.49% plus 49 cents for invoicing (payment made with PayPal).
Monthly fee	$0.
Hardware cost	$29 for first card reader; additional readers cost $79. Price includes USB cable. $199 for terminal only. $239 for terminal with barcode scanner built in. $229 for Store Kit Mini (tablet stand with card reader and dock). $339 for Store Kit Portable kit with mobile card reader and printer. $479 for Store Kit Standard (tablet stand, card reader, dock and printer). $699 for Store Kit Plus (adds barcode scanner).
Contract length	No long-term contracts.
Customer support	Phone support is offered from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific time every day. Online chat with a bot is available along with the option to message an agent. A resolution center and a community forum are also available.

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Where PayPal POS stands out

Solid basic features

PayPal POS has a robust payment system that can handle card, digital wallet and QR code transactions, plus allow you to manually enter payments. You can add discounts, enter refunds and issue receipts. Features to help you manage your inventory, monitor top-selling products and track the productivity of your staff are also included.

Sales tracking and reports

The app allows you to track sales and receive automatic reports. In the reports section of the app, you’ll find an overview of the prior day’s sales numbers. More detailed reporting is available in your PayPal POS account, including a summary of sales, a breakdown of payment types and fees, top-selling products, gift cards sold and staff performance. These reports can be exported to PDF, Excel or a raw data format.

Inventory management

The app allows you to 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. New products can be added, too. Inventory can be managed from the app or your online account, and you’ll be notified when it’s time to restock products.

Integrations

PayPal POS integrates with

QuickBooks Online

and with Shopify,

BigCommerce

and WooCommerce. After setting up the connection, you can automatically import data into QuickBooks Online every night. You can also import products from e-commerce websites to your POS product library, and inventory changes sync between platforms.

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Low initial costs

Getting started with PayPal POS is relatively quick, easy and inexpensive. Because there isn’t a long-term commitment, you can try the system at a minimal cost. The fees for payment processing are similar to the

fees for Square POS

Where PayPal POS falls short

No add-on features

Although PayPal POS provides the core features of a POS system, it limits users to a single plan.

PayPal competitors

offer multiple plans or give you the opportunity to purchase add-on features such as customer loyalty programs, email marketing or advanced reports. You can expand your PayPal POS system by buying more hardware, but not by buying additional features.

Limited integrations

PayPal POS offers a limited number of app integrations. Some competitors offer integrations for a larger number and variety of apps, including those for accounting, e-commerce, customer engagement, scheduling and employee management.

Alternatives to PayPal POS

Square

Why we like it: If you want more bang for your buck, Square may be a better option for you. Square’s payment processing rates are comparable to PayPal’s, plus you’ll get access to built-in inventory management. Add-ons such as team management, loyalty programs and email marketing are also available. Read our full

Square POS review

Monthly fees

$0 for Square POS, Restaurant, Retail and Appointments Free plans.
$29 for Square Appointments Plus plan.
$69 for Square Appointments Premium and Square Restaurants Plus plans.
$89 for Square Retail Plus plan.
$165 for Square Restaurant Premium plan.
Custom pricing for Square Retail plan.

Payment processing fees

2.6% plus 15 cents for in-person transactions with all free plans.
2.6% plus 10 cents for in-person transactions with paid restaurant plans.
2.5% plus 10 cents for in-person transactions with paid retail and appointments plans.
2.9% plus 30 cents for online transactions.
3.5% plus 15 cents for manually keyed transactions.
3.3% plus 30 cents for invoices.

Hardware

$0 for Square magstripe-only card reader ($10 for each additional reader) or if using Tap to Pay for iPhone (iPhone not included).
$59 for Square Reader contactless and chip card reader.
$149 for Square Stand iPad POS or Square Stand Mount (iPad not included; monthly financing available).
$149 for Square Kiosk for self-serve ordering.
$299 for Square Terminal mobile card reader with built-in printer (monthly financing available).
$399 for Square Handheld portable POS system with built-in barcode scanner (monthly financing available).
$799 for Square Register two-screen system (monthly financing available).

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Square vs. PayPal: Which is right for your business?

Shopify

Why we like it: Shopify POS may be more expensive than PayPal — it charges a monthly fee for e-commerce plans, which are required to use Shopify Payments, in addition to the transaction fees. But if you’re looking for a more advanced POS that can unify your in-store and online transactions and let you market to customers and manage inventory, Shopify may be a fit. Read our full

Shopify POS review

Monthly fees

Shopify e-commerce plans:

$29 for Shopify Basic when billed annually (or $39 when paid monthly).
$79 for regular Shopify when billed annually (or $105 when paid monthly).
$299 for Shopify Advanced when billed annually (or $399 when paid monthly).
Custom pricing for Shopify Plus.
All e-commerce plans come with POS Lite for selling in-person. Upgrading to POS Pro for brick-and-mortar businesses costs an extra $89 per location.

Shopify’s alternative solutions for mainly selling in-person:

$5 for Starter plan, which includes one POS Lite location.
$79 (when billed annually) for Retail plan, or $89 when paid monthly; includes one POS Pro location.

Payment processing fees

2.5%, 2.7% or 2.9% plus 30 cents for online payments for Advanced, Shopify or Basic plan, respectively.
2.4%, 2.5% or 2.6% plus 10 cents for in-person payments for Advanced, Shopify or Basic plan, respectively.

Hardware

$49 for Tap & Chip card reader.
$219 for Tap & Chip countertop kit (iPad not included).
$349 for Shopify POS terminal.
$459 and up for POS terminal countertop kits.

Compare POS providers

To compare POS options, check out NerdWallet’s list of

point-of-sale systems

that are best for small-business owners. Our recommendations are based on the provider’s pricing and transparency, software and hardware options, system functionality, customer support, software integrations and contract requirements.

Frequently asked questions

Does Zettle charge a monthly fee?

There is no monthly fee to use the PayPal Zettle software and no long-term contract.

Is Zettle the same as PayPal?

PayPal bought Zettle in 2018 and replaced its previous simple POS solution, PayPal Here, with the new PayPal Zettle POS.

What percentage does Zettle charge?

Zettle charges a flat-rate transaction fee of 2.29% plus 9 cents for in-person transactions and 3.49% plus 9 cents for manual-entry transactions.