As a self-employed hairdresser, barber or stylist, you don’t want to be stuck with the wrong card machine. The wrong setup can complicate transactions, bookkeeping and just be too expensive – but there are several very affordable card machines for hairdressing sole traders.
Based of testing and research, we’ve here picked the best UK payment companies offering card terminals for self-employed stylists, hairdressers and barbers. All these options are mobile too, ideal for events and home visits.
Compare card machines for hairdressers, barbers and stylists:
| Company | Terminal price* | Best for | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|
| SumUp | £22.50–£121.50 | Stylish, simple card machines that are very good value | |
| Square | £19–£169 | Unbeatable amount of free POS and business features | |
| Revolut | £49 | Business account and low fixed rate for sole traders | |
| PayPal (ex-Zettle) | £29–£199 | Ergonomic card readers from recognisable brand | |
| Tide | £59-£199 | Standalone card readers for good price | |
| Handepay | Custom quote | Can buy you out of another terminal contract |
*Prices exclude VAT.
Things to consider when choosing a card machine
Before we cover the options, consider your needs. Perhaps you work your flair in a salon, but what if you’re visiting clients? What if you sell styling products? How do you manage commissions? Can card sales be linked to accounting? Key questions:
Do you want to itemise transactions into services and products?
If you offer your own styling products, it’s easier to use an app-based card reader.
Card readers from SumUp, Square and PayPal connect with a POS app with a product library. This allows you to itemise products on receipts and manage stock better, even if they are not physical products.
Traditional card terminals only deal with transaction amounts entered manually, unless linked with an external POS system.
Do you plan to accept tips?
Customers sometimes tip stylists and hairdressing professionals, so there should be a way for them to do it without going to an ATM.
Most of our selection of card machines can add tips – including Revolut, SumUp, Square, PayPal and Handepay, but not Tide Card Reader. When activated, a tip is prompted on the terminal or in the app during the checkout process.
Are you receiving or paying a commission from your sales?
If you get commission from products sold in a salon, the salon’s card machine might process those transactions. In that case, payments go to the salon’s bank account, making the owner’s responsible for passing on commissions to you.
If you are renting a chair, room or booth in a salon and – instead of paying a fixed amount – you’re paying the salon a commission from your transactions, there are usually two ways to go.
Either you have your own card machine, in which case you receive payments in your bank account, then pass on commissions to the salon.
Or you use the salon’s card machine and rely on the owner to keep the commission and give the rest to you. Card machines can only be linked with one business and bank account, not multiple.
A few merchant service providers might offer a multi-merchant ID card machine, where several hairdressers are able to use the same terminal and still receive payouts in their own bank account directly. Takepayments used to offer this, but not any more.
What reporting functions do you need?
If you need to export sales to Excel, most of the below solutions can do that for free. Integrating with Xero and other accounting software can cost extra.
Can you commit to a long-term contract and do you anticipate a steady card turnover?
Handepay typically has a lock-in of 1 year. Such a contract has the best rates with a history of existing card turnover and steady income.
If sales are less predictable and you can’t tell how much freelance work there’ll be, SumUp, PayPal or Square have very competitive fees while also allowing you to accept a wide range of cards without a contract. Revolut and Tide have no lock-in either, but accept considerably fewer cards.
SumUp is popular, not least because it has a low card rate without a contract on monthly fee: 1.69% per transaction.
There are three card reader models: SumUp Air that works with an app on a smartphone or tablet, or SumUp Solo and SumUp Terminal that both work independently through 4G or WiFi.
The platform also has its own free booking system for managing appointments, but online payments through this cost 2.5%.
The SumUp Plus POS system looks minimalist in a beauty salon.
There’s no setup fee, monthly minimum sales charge or other ongoing costs. And it takes only minutes to sign up, buy a card reader and start accepting cards.
Payouts reach your bank account within 2-3 working days, or the next day – even on weekends – in the online SumUp Business Account that has a Mastercard.
“We’ve always liked SumUp’s dedication to user-friendly transactions and shiny look of their terminals. I never had issues accepting cards with them.”
– Emily Sorensen, Senior Editor, Mobile Transaction
Air is cheapest (£22.50 + VAT) because it needs the SumUp payment app on a Bluetooth-connected phone or tablet. It is very easy to figure out, with a product library for adding services or hair products for clients.
Accepted cards
The Solo card reader (£71.10 + VAT) works independently so it’s pricier upfront, but then you don’t need a phone app. It has very few features, though, allowing you to just enter transaction amounts and tips.
SumUp Terminal (£121.50 + VAT), on the other hand, contains an items library for upselling styling products, discount options and more.
Whereas pocket-sized Solo can be paired with a unique receipt printer for £98.10 + VAT when bought together, Terminal has a built-in printer and large touchscreen. This means it’s longer, but more versatile and conventional-looking.
I do find SumUp’s free sales reports rather basic, but probably sufficient for individual sole traders. If needed, SumUp does also integrate with accounting software through the POS Plus subscription, which adds cash management features, barcode scanning through SumUp Terminal and preset discounts.
Customer support is available between 8am-7pm on weekdays and 7am-5pm on weekends (or 24/7 through POS Plus), which is the most support hours offered by a commitment-free card reader.
Overall, SumUp is a great low-cost card machine for mobile hairdressers who are not ready to commit to a contract or know what their freelance income will be over the next year.
If you’re going for most features, the deceptively plain-looking Square Reader (£19 + VAT) is your best card reader-with-app solution.
It accepts chip (PIN on mobile app screen) and contactless cards. The lack of PIN pad means it’s the smallest of all card readers, and the most lightweight. It connects via Bluetooth to the Square app on your smartphone or tablet, authorising card payments through the mobile device’s internet connection.
Photo: Emily Sorensen (ES), Mobile Transaction
Square Reader is very small, so it’s easy to bring to clients’ houses and back to your desk.
The transaction rate is 1.75% for all chip and contactless cards. In addition, you get invoicing, over-the-phone payments, ecommerce, a booking system and payment links as free extra tools without monthly fees. You can accept contactless cards or mobile wallets directly on the phone through Tap to Pay in the app, if you’ve forgotten the card reader.
There are no fixed charges apart from the card rate. If you need accounting or nearly any other tools, you can integrate with many partner platform.
For an additional 1.5% fee, you can get instant payouts to your bank account, otherwise transactions will take about one working day to reach a bank account. With Square Card, you can access funds immediately without an extra fee.
The free POS app has the most product and payment features out of all app-based card readers. For example, you can sell e-gift cards, get customer feedback through digital receipts and refund custom amounts.
Accepted cards
If you prefer a standalone card machine with a receipt printer, there is also Square Terminal for £149 + VAT. This beautiful, portable touchscreen terminal has POS software built in. It only works with WiFi, not 4G, making it best for a fixed location.
The new Square Handheld (£169 + VAT) is slightly pricier, doesn’t work with 4G either or has a printer, but it’s slimmer and scans barcodes.
Photo: ES, Mobile Transaction
Square Terminal is wireless and versatile with plenty of checkout features.
Overall, Square is excellent for its ease of use and the quick, online sign-up. It only offers 9am-5pm customer support on weekdays, but most merchants would not need help given the user-friendly interface and lack of complicated terms.
There’s no fixed contract, so you can simply stop using it any time, then resume when you need it next.
Those who don’t accept payments all day long every day could benefit from a Revolut Reader, a lightweight, black and white card reader that works with the Revolut app.
As you’d imagine, this requires signing up for a Business Account if you’re a company, but hairdressers can just get a free Pro Account if they’re a sole trader.
Photo: Emmanuel Charpentier, Mobile Transaction
Revolut Reader looks very unique and is small and lightweight, but the display is not the best.
The card reader costs £49 + VAT to buy, and then there’s just a 1.5% rate per transaction for freelancers (Pro account). Companies pay 0.8% + 2p for domestic consumer cards or 2.6% + 2p for all other cards. Only Mastercard, Visa and contactless mobile wallets are accepted.
The card reader works okay once you’ve established a Bluetooth connection with the app, but we had some teething issues with that in the beginning. The display is touchscreen with a virtual PIN pad when needed, but pixellated and not that bright.
And because the Revolut Business app is primarily for managing the account, it can get a little tedious to navigate to the “request money” section to create a transaction for the card reader.
But the chat support is at least available 24/7, and the card reader will work for most users.
Accepted cards
“Once I got the hang of using the card reader through the app, transactions worked okay. But I personally preferred the Tap to Pay on iPhone function, since it avoided the connectivity issues I had with the card reader.”
– Emily Sorensen, Senior Editor, Mobile Transaction
Still, hairdressers looking for a business account should consider Revolut Reader. Funds are generally quick to reach the account (up to 24 hours), and new features – such as tipping – are gradually added.
Learn more: Revolut Reader – okay card reader, great as a whole package
PayPal Reader has replaced Zettle Reader, but it’s similar to the original. It’s still a cool, pocket-sized device that connects via Bluetooth to a simple POS app on your smartphone or tablet.
Photo: Emily Sorensen, Mobile Transaction
The black Zettle Reader has been used by stylists in Kennaland hair salon in Hackney, London.
A pricier model, PayPal Terminal (from £149 + VAT), works independently and looks a lot like a smartphone.
PayPal has no monthly fees, minimum sales requirement or setup fee, just a 1.75% transaction fee. If you don’t sell anything, you pay nothing. There’s no contractual commitment either.
Accepted cards
The POS app comes with a somewhat basic product library where you can add individual products and services, thereby track what’s been purchased.
The software includes reporting tools, viewed fully in your PayPal POS account from any web browser. It integrates with Xero and QuickBooks for more accounting tools, if exporting sales to Excel does not cut it for your books.
Payouts automatically go to your bank account within 1-2 working days, which is fairly standard these days.
As to customer service, you can phone PayPal POS between 9am-5pm on weekdays or email any time (although replies only happen during office hours).
Small businesses and self-employed professionals have spoken highly of Zettle for its easy of use and affordability (we have tested it and talked with Zettle customers, so we know).
But PayPal’s takeover of the company has changed things by removing online payment options, for example. Its customer service is also poorly rated with issues not being dealt with promptly, so we can’t fully recommend it.
Learn more: PayPal POS (Zettle) review – previously a leading card reader
An obvious competitor to Revolut Reader is Tide Card Reader, which is actually a choice between two card machines. They settle transactions in the Tide Business bank account within 3+ working days – slow compared with Revolut’s next-day payouts.
The greatest advantage of Tide is perhaps the low cost of the standalone card machines: from £89 for the one without a receipt printer, or from £99 with a receipt printer. They don’t have contract lock-in, just a pay-as-you-go fee starting from 1.39% +5pper transaction.
Tide offers full-fledged bank accounts, and the card readers are a fairly recent addition with some limitations. For instance, refunds are not done instantly and require a Tide employee to action it. But users do not have to subscribe to a paid account to use one of the card machines, so it’s still a good deal.
Accepted cards
Stylists, barbers and hairdressers who want a commitment-free card machine that works independently and on the go might like Tide Card Reader. We think it’s a promising solution, as long as you’re happy with Tide as a banking solution and willing to overlook a few of the shortcomings it might still have.
Learn more: Tide Card Reader review – still being improved
Handepay rents out Castles card machines to small businesses like sole traders.
The mobile terminal has a SIM card and works independently via 4G. It won’t fit in a regular pocket, but it’s definitely portable and will appeal to those who prefer a traditional card machine. It does not link with a product library or POS software, but merely accepts amounts and tips entered.
Handepay has no setup fee, minimum monthly service charge, authorisation fee (typically added to card rate), PCI-DSS compliance fees or charges for reporting access (expect basic reporting tools, while accounting integrations cost extra).
You can, however, expect early cancellation fees and must cancel a contract in writing before the end of a contract. And like other terminal providers, expect to pay for a separate contract if you want to accept Amex.
If you’re stuck in another card machine contract, Handepay will try to beat your current fees – or pay £1,000 if they can’t. Claiming this reward can be a little convoluted, but it shows confidence in their rates to publicise this offer.
Accepted cards
Handepay’s customer service is spread across a terminal rental company, Merchant Rentals, and the merchant account provider, Evo Payments or Worldpay. We’ve seen customer complaints that this has complicated issues further, since you’re dealing with disconnected teams.
If you rent from Worldpay, more of the services are handled in-house because they provide the merchant accounts directly.
This is a solution that’s only really competitive with a consistent card turnover, as fees are based on this. If you don’t make any money during some months, you still pay the monthly fee that covers a certain number of card payments, so even if there are no minimum monthly turnover fees, the monthly cost is essentially a replacement for that.
Learn more: Handepay card machine review – what are the pros and cons?
In summary
| Company | Terminal price* | Best for | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|
|
£22.50–£121.50 | Low fees and user-friendly payment products | |
|
£19–£169 | Wide-ranging free payment features | |
|
£49 | Low fixed rate and good account features | |
|
£29–£199 | Ergonomic, all-round card readers | |
|
£59-£199 | Some of the cheapest standalone terminals | |
|
Custom pricing | Can buy you out of another terminal contract |
*Prices exclude VAT.
