Compare card readers for salons, barber shops and mobile beauty businesses in the UK. We also look at card machines and POS systems, hardware cost, transaction fees, portability and customer feedback.
Looking for other tools? See our Software for Hair & Beauty Businesses guide.
Quick answer
Top pick: Square — 94/100
Square combines a low-cost card reader with POS and appointment tools. It is a strong all-round choice for salons that want bookings and payments in the same system.
Best for mobile professionals: SumUp — 93/100
SumUp has simple pay-as-you-go pricing, a portable reader and a slightly lower standard transaction fee. It suits mobile hairdressers, beauticians and smaller salons.
Best for PayPal users: PayPal POS — 87/100
PayPal Point of Sale is a straightforward option if you already use PayPal and want in-person payments in the same ecosystem.
Compare card readers for salons and beauty businesses
| Tool | Best for | Viaqo score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Square | Overall | 94/100 | £19 + VAT · 1.75% |
| SumUp | Mobile use | 93/100 | £25 + VAT* · 1.69% |
| PayPal POS | PayPal users | 87/100 | £29 + VAT** · 1.75% |
*£25 + VAT is the standard price of the SumUp Solo Lite. SumUp was offering one Solo Lite for £19 + VAT to new profiles when checked in October 2026. Promotional prices can change.
**PayPal’s £29 + VAT price applies to the first Card Reader for eligible new business users. Additional readers currently cost £69 + VAT.
Prices and standard in-person transaction fees checked October 2026.
How we scored card readers and POS for hair and beauty businesses
25% — Fit for hair & beauty
Does it work well for salons, barbers and mobile professionals?
25% — Customer feedback
What do customers say, and is there enough independent feedback to rely on?
20% — UK costs
How much are the hardware, transaction fees and any required subscriptions?
15% — Payments & POS tools
Can it handle tips, products, bookings, deposits and other useful salon tasks?
10% — Ease of use & mobile
Is it straightforward to use behind the counter or away from the salon?
5% — Price & value
Does it offer good value for a small business?
Affiliate commissions do not affect our scores or rankings.
Square — Best overall
Viaqo score: 94/100
Square is our top pick for most hair and beauty businesses because its payment system works closely with Square Appointments.
The Square Reader costs £19 + VAT and the standard in-person transaction fee is 1.75%. The reader connects wirelessly to a phone or tablet and accepts chip and PIN, contactless cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Square Appointments also has a free plan for one location. Salons can manage bookings, client records, deposits and appointment reminders from the same wider system used for payments.
Why we like it
- Low-cost Square Reader at £19 + VAT
- No required monthly fee for the standard payment setup
- Integrated POS and appointments
- Online booking
- Deposits and no-show protection
- Client records
- Stock tools for products sold in the salon
- Useful for both salons and individual professionals
Square specifically offers its Appointments system for hair salons, barbers and beauty businesses.
Things to know
The standard in-person fee is 1.75%, slightly higher than SumUp’s 1.69%.
Square Appointments has paid plans if you need more advanced features. Plus currently costs £29 per month per location and Premium £69. Paid Appointments plans also reduce the standard in-person processing rate to 1.6%.
UK customer feedback is mixed. Square UK currently has around 3.9/5 on Trustpilot from more than 3,700 reviews. Many customers like the products, but some recent reviews mention support, account reviews or delays accessing funds.
Who should choose Square?
Square is particularly strong for salons that want bookings, payments and POS in one system.
It also makes sense if you expect to grow from a simple card reader into a more complete till setup later.
Who may prefer something else?
SumUp may suit you better if you mainly need simple card payments and want the slightly lower standard transaction fee.
SumUp — Best for mobile professionals
Viaqo score: 93/100
SumUp is a strong choice for mobile hairdressers, beauticians, chair renters and smaller salons that want simple card payments without a monthly commitment.
The Solo Lite has a standard price of £25 + VAT and connects to a smartphone. Pay-as-you-go payments cost 1.69% per transaction, with no required monthly fee.
SumUp also offers Tap to Pay, so compatible phones can accept contactless payments without a separate card reader.
Why we like it
- Simple 1.69% pay-as-you-go fee
- No required monthly subscription
- Portable Solo Lite reader
- Tap to Pay available
- Tipping options
- Free SumUp Business app
- Useful for mobile and home-based professionals
- Wider POS and salon tools available if the business grows
SumUp also offers dedicated salon POS and scheduling tools for hair salons, beauty businesses, nail salons and barbers.
Things to know
The Solo Lite needs a smartphone for connectivity.
SumUp offers Payments Plus for businesses with higher card sales. It currently costs £19 per month or £189 per year and reduces qualifying domestic consumer-card transactions to 0.99%. Whether that saves money depends on how much you take by card.
Its more complete POS setups also cost more than the basic card reader. SumUp POS Pro, for example, starts at £49 per month.
Independent feedback is strong overall. SumUp currently has around 4.2/5 on Trustpilot from tens of thousands of reviews. Customers frequently mention ease of use, although some reviews report support or payment issues.
Who should choose SumUp?
SumUp is particularly attractive if you travel to clients, rent a chair or run a small salon and mainly want an inexpensive way to get paid.
Who may prefer something else?
Square is a better fit if you want appointments and POS more tightly connected from the start.
PayPal Point of Sale — Best for PayPal users
Viaqo score: 87/100
PayPal Point of Sale, previously known as Zettle, combines a portable card reader with PayPal’s wider payment platform.
The first Reader currently costs £29 + VAT for eligible new business users. Standard card and contactless transactions cost 1.75%. The basic POS system has no monthly or setup fee.
Why we like it
- Familiar PayPal ecosystem
- No required monthly fee for the basic POS
- 1.75% standard card fee
- Tap to Pay available
- Inventory and sales tracking
- Reader and standalone Terminal available
- Useful if your business already uses PayPal
The standalone PayPal Terminal currently costs £149 + VAT and does not need a separate smartphone or tablet to run the POS app.
Things to know
The standard Reader needs to connect to a phone or tablet.
PayPal’s POS tools are also less focused on hair and beauty than Square Appointments or SumUp’s salon offering. If bookings and client management are important, you may need a separate booking system.
PayPal UK currently has a strong overall Trustpilot score, but those reviews cover PayPal’s wider services rather than just its POS product. We would therefore give that rating less weight than product-specific feedback.
Who should choose PayPal POS?
It makes most sense if PayPal is already central to your business and you want your in-person payments in the same wider ecosystem.
Who may prefer something else?
Square or SumUp are more natural choices if you are starting from scratch and want tools more closely suited to a salon or mobile beauty business.
Also considered: Dojo
Dojo is worth considering for a busy salon with higher card turnover that wants a standalone terminal and more tailored payment pricing.
Independent customer feedback is strong, with around 4.2/5 from more than 5,600 Trustpilot reviews. However, pricing and contractual terms are less straightforward than the simple pay-as-you-go offers from Square and SumUp, so businesses should check the full quote and contract carefully before signing.
For a small salon or solo professional, we prefer the transparency and low commitment of our top three.
Also considered: Treatwell Pay
Treatwell Pay is particularly relevant if your salon already uses Treatwell Connect.
It links card payments, Tap to Pay and online prepayments to Treatwell’s salon system. This can make checkout and reporting simpler for businesses already using Treatwell for bookings.
It is less suitable as a standalone payment recommendation because its main advantage comes from being part of the wider Treatwell platform.
What to look for in a salon card reader or POS system
Start with how you actually take payments.
A mobile hairdresser or beautician may only need Tap to Pay or a small card reader that fits in a bag. A busy salon with several staff may benefit more from a full POS system at reception.
Check:
- the in-person transaction fee;
- hardware cost;
- monthly fees;
- whether there is a contract;
- mobile connectivity;
- tipping;
- appointment and deposit integration;
- stock management for retail products;
- staff access;
- payout speed;
- receipts and refunds.
A cheap card reader is not always the cheapest option overall. Transaction fees matter more as your card sales increase.
Do you need a card reader or a full POS system?
For many solo professionals, a card reader is enough.
If you mainly take payment after each appointment and use separate booking software, a simple Square or SumUp reader can keep costs low.
A full POS becomes more useful when you have several staff, sell shampoos or beauty products, manage stock, take deposits or want bookings and payments connected.
The right choice depends more on how your business operates than on the size of the card machine.
How much do card payments cost?
On the standard pay-as-you-go rates in our top three:
- SumUp charges 1.69%
- Square charges 1.75%
- PayPal POS charges 1.75%
For example, on £2,000 of in-person card sales in a month, that is roughly £33.80 in transaction fees with SumUp versus £35 with Square or PayPal, before any other costs.
The difference is small at lower volumes. Features such as bookings, deposits and POS tools may therefore matter more than a few hundredths of a percentage point.
At higher volumes, paid or negotiated pricing can change the comparison.
How Viaqo compares card readers and POS systems
We compare UK pricing, transaction fees, hardware, portability, salon-specific features and independent customer feedback.
We also look at whether the system suits the way hair and beauty businesses actually work. A mobile beautician has different needs from a salon with several employees and a reception desk.
Promotional prices are not presented as normal prices. We show the standard price where possible and explain current offers separately.
Affiliate commissions never affect Viaqo scores or rankings.
Sources — checked October 2026
- Square — UK Reader, pricing and Appointments information.
- SumUp — UK Solo Lite, payment pricing and salon POS information.
- PayPal — UK Point of Sale pricing and hardware information.
- Trustpilot — current customer feedback for SumUp, Square UK and Dojo.
- Treatwell — Treatwell Pay information.
Looking for booking software too? See our Salon Booking Software comparison.