EPOS Systems for Small Businesses UK: Costs, Features and Best Options

Updated August 2026. An EPOS system is the till, payment and business-management setup that sits at the centre of many shops, cafés, restaurants and service businesses. A modern system can process sales, update stock, record staff activity, connect to card payments and show you what is happening in the business without waiting for the end of the week.

For a small UK business, the key is not buying the most complicated setup. It is choosing a system that removes repetitive admin without adding a large monthly bill for features you never use.

What is an EPOS system?

EPOS stands for Electronic Point of Sale. In practical terms, it is the system staff use to ring up sales and manage the information created by those sales.

A basic setup might be nothing more than a tablet running POS software and a card reader. A more complete setup can include:

• touchscreen till;
• card terminal;
• cash drawer;
• receipt printer;
• barcode scanner;
• customer-facing display;
• stock management;
• staff permissions and time tracking;
• customer and loyalty tools;
• online ordering or ecommerce integration;
• sales reports and accounting integrations.

The important point is that the hardware and software work together. A modern EPOS system is not simply an electronic cash register.

POS versus EPOS: is there really a difference?

In 2026, the terms are often used interchangeably. Traditionally, “POS” meant the point where the customer paid, while “EPOS” suggested a more connected electronic system with stock, reporting and other business tools.

For a small-business owner comparing suppliers, the label matters less than the functionality. Ask exactly what the software does, what hardware it needs and what the complete monthly cost will be.

How much does an EPOS system cost?

There is no useful single average because systems range from a free app on a phone to multi-terminal restaurant installations.

Epos Now’s 2026 buying guide suggests that complete EPOS hardware commonly sits around £300 to £1,000+, while ongoing software can commonly run from £30 to £100+ per month depending on features. Add-ons such as loyalty, accounting integrations and multi-site management can increase the bill.

That is a useful market guide, but small businesses now have much cheaper starting points. Square’s standard POS software is £0 per month. SumUp also offers free basic POS software, with paid POS Plus and POS Pro upgrades.

Square POS: easiest low-cost benchmark

Square is a strong starting point because the pricing is easy to understand. The standard Square POS software has no monthly fee and standard in-person payments cost 1.75%.

Current hardware includes:

• Square Reader: £19 + VAT;
• Square Stand: £99 + VAT;
• Square Terminal: £149 + VAT;
• Square Handheld: £169 + VAT;
• Square Register: currently £699 + VAT for the latest generation on Square’s main hardware page.

Square works particularly well for a business that wants to start small and add more functionality later. Products, customers, basic stock, receipts and reporting all sit inside the same ecosystem.

See Square POS options

Square for Retail

Retailers needing stronger inventory tools can move from the £0 plan to Square for Retail Plus at £49 per month per location. Current Plus features include advanced inventory reports, automatic purchase orders, barcode label printing and item bundling.

The in-person processing rate is also reduced to 1.6% for qualifying payments processed while signed into a Retail Plus account on the Square POS app.

That difference can help offset the subscription. At £20,000 monthly card turnover, a simple 0.15 percentage-point reduction is worth £30 per month before considering card mix and any other charges. The advanced retail tools therefore need to provide the rest of the value.

SumUp Register: bought-out countertop hardware

SumUp Register currently costs £399 before VAT and provides a 13-inch merchant display plus an 8-inch customer-facing display. SumUp also sells more complete kits, including a Retail POS Kit with printer, cash drawer and barcode scanner for £649 before VAT.

The free POS software has no monthly software charge. SumUp’s current comparison material lists POS Plus at £29 per month and POS Pro at £49 per month for businesses needing more advanced tools.

Standard in-person card processing is currently 1.69%. Businesses can also consider Payments Plus at £19 per month, which reduces eligible domestic consumer-card processing to 0.99%.

This model is attractive if you prefer owning the hardware instead of paying a traditional EPOS rental.

Shopify POS: strongest when your online store is already Shopify

Shopify POS is difficult to judge purely as a till because the account also powers ecommerce. Current annual-billing pricing starts at £19 per month for Basic, £49 for Grow and £259 for Advanced. Monthly billing is higher.

Basic in-person selling features are included with paid Shopify plans. POS Pro costs an additional £69 per month per location and adds features such as unlimited POS staff access, stronger permissions, richer customer profiles, deeper inventory reporting and more advanced returns and stock workflows.

For a retailer already running Shopify online, keeping stock and customer activity in one platform can be more valuable than saving a few pounds on standalone till software.

Read our Shopify POS review.

Epos Now: full dedicated EPOS setup

Epos Now remains relevant when you want a conventional complete till setup with dedicated hardware, onboarding and support. Its current hardware store advertises complete systems from around £199 to £299 depending on the package and promotion.

The important small print is that discounted bundles can require a 12-month payments, care and support subscription starting at £54 per month. Do not compare a promotional £199 or £299 hardware headline directly with a £0 software app without including the subscription.

That does not make Epos Now poor value. It simply means it is a different buying model.

Which features actually save a small business time?

Real-time stock

If you sell physical products, stock updating automatically when an item is sold can remove hours of manual checking. Low-stock alerts also help prevent running out of bestsellers.

Integrated card payments

An integrated terminal receives the amount directly from the till. Staff do not have to type £18.75 into the POS and then type £18.75 again into the card machine. That reduces mistakes and makes reconciliation easier.

Staff permissions

A good system lets staff sell and refund without giving everyone full administrator access. This becomes increasingly important when a business grows beyond the owner working every shift.

Reporting

The useful reports are not the flashy ones. Start with daily sales, average transaction value, top products, gross margin where available, busiest hours and voids or refunds.

Accounting connections

If sales data flows cleanly into Xero, QuickBooks or another bookkeeping system, you can reduce manual data entry. Check exactly what synchronises rather than assuming every integration works the same way.

Cloud versus local EPOS

Most modern small-business systems are cloud-based. That means sales data is stored online and the owner can usually see reports from another device.

The benefits are easier updates, remote access and less dependence on an office PC. The drawback is that internet resilience becomes important. Ask what happens if broadband drops. Some systems can continue accepting certain payments or recording sales offline for a limited period, while others lose important functions until connectivity returns.

Worked example: cheap software can still be expensive overall

Imagine a retailer processes £25,000 a month by card.

• At 1.75%, card processing is about £437.50 a month.
• At 1.60%, it is about £400.
• The difference is £37.50 a month.

If a £49 retail software plan reduces the processing rate by £37.50, the advanced inventory and reporting features need to create at least another £11.50 of monthly value to cover the remaining subscription in this simplified example.

That is the right way to think about EPOS. Combine software, hardware and payment cost rather than comparing each in isolation.

Questions to ask before you buy

• What is the upfront hardware cost?
• What is the monthly software cost?
• Is support included?
• What are the card-processing rates?
• Can I use another payment provider?
• How much does a second till cost?
• Are staff accounts included?
• What does inventory management include?
• Can the system work if the internet fails?
• How easy is it to export my data?
• What happens if I cancel?

Our verdict

For a small business that wants to get started cheaply, Square is the easiest benchmark. Retailers needing more stock control should compare Square Retail Plus, Shopify POS and Epos Now. Businesses wanting to buy dedicated hardware outright should also price SumUp Register.

Do not overbuy. A one-location shop with 300 products does not need the same system as a five-site restaurant group. Choose the simplest platform that handles your current workflow and has a sensible route to add features later.

More EPOS guides

See our retail EPOS guide, restaurant EPOS guide, seasonal business EPOS guide and Square POS review.