Most café owners asking for a till "with no contract" want three things: a monthly price they can cancel, no early termination fee, and the freedom to keep the card machine they already have. This guide puts the main UK options side by side on exactly those points.
We make Café QR, one of the options below, so we say clearly where each one fits. Competitor details come from each provider's own UK pages (checked between October and November 2026, linked from our comparison pages) and they change, so check before you sign.
UK café tills with no contract, compared
| Till system | Software per month | Card payments | Contract | Keep your own card machine? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Café QR | Order & Pay £9.99, POS £39, Multi-site £59 per venue; no VAT added | Your own Stripe account, your Dojo machine linked to the till, or any card machine recorded on the till | No contract, cancel any time | Yes |
| Square for Restaurants | Free £0, Plus £69 per location | Square, 1.75% in person | No long-term contract | No, Square payments only |
| SumUp POS Pro | £49 + VAT; Hospitality, stock and kitchen screen modules £19 each | SumUp from 1.69% | Not stated on the pricing page | POS Pro connects to a card reader of your choice |
| PayPal POS (Zettle) | £0 | Zettle, 1.75% in person | No long-term commitments | No, Zettle reader |
| Loyverse | Free, paid add-ons from $7 per store (priced in US dollars) | Through partner providers such as Teya, SumUp and Zettle | Add-ons cancel any time | Yes, through partners or keyed in |
| Seamless POS | Starter £24, Pro £39 per terminal + VAT; KDS £12, stock £9 extra | Through Teya, Zettle, SumUp, Dojo or Square | No contract | Yes |
| Revolut POS | £0 for the app, but needs a Revolut Business plan | Revolut only, from 0.8% + 2p in person on UK consumer cards | No contract or minimums | No, Revolut terminal or Tap to Pay on iPhone |
| Lightspeed Restaurant | From £79 for the first terminal | Lightspeed Payments | Not stated on the pricing page | Ask Lightspeed |
| Epos Now | Quote-based | Epos Now Payments | 12-month subscription for the discounted hardware bundle | Ask Epos Now |
What "no contract" should mean
Ask every supplier the same three questions, and get the answers in writing:
- Is the software monthly rolling, with no minimum term? Some "free till" deals are tied to a 12, 18 or 36-month card payments agreement.
- Is there an early termination fee on the card machine? Leased terminals often carry one even when the software doesn't.
- Is the hardware yours? If the till, printer or reader is on a lease, cancelling the software doesn't end that bill.
Keeping your own card machine
If you already have a card machine on a good rate, a till that works with it saves you switching. There are two ways a till can do this:
- Linked: the till sends the total to the card machine, and the sale is marked paid when the card goes through. No keying in, no mistakes. Café QR does this with Dojo and Stripe Terminal; Seamless does it with several providers.
- Recorded: staff key the amount into the card machine and tap "card" on the till. Simple, works with any machine, and still counts in the takings and cash-up. Café QR, Loyverse and Seamless all allow this.
Which one fits
- A tiny counter with low card takings: Square or Zettle's free apps are hard to beat on software cost, as long as you're happy with their card rate.
- You want to keep your card machine: Café QR, Seamless or Loyverse.
- Table service, a kitchen screen and QR table ordering in one price: Café QR includes all three on the £39 POS plan with no extras, and QR ordering from £9.99. Most others charge for the kitchen screen or table ordering separately.
- Card payments must keep working through an internet outage: check each supplier's offline card rules. Café QR's till keeps taking cash and your own payment types offline, but card payments wait for the connection.
See the full comparisons
- Café QR vs Square
- Café QR vs SumUp
- Café QR vs Zettle
- Café QR vs Loyverse
- Café QR vs Seamless POS
- Café QR vs Revolut POS
- All UK EPOS systems compared
- Run a café till on a tablet you already own
- How to get out of an EPOS contract
Café QR's first month is free with no card needed, so you can try it on your own tablet before deciding.