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Zettle is a good POS for small businesses, since it has a great value at a low cost and has good sales features. However, it doesn’t offer many business growth or management tools that users could get from the just-as-inexpensive Square POS.
While Square has more features, the right POS just needs to offer the ones your business needs, and Zettle might deliver. Read on to see our expert research team’s full list of which essential tools Zettle has to offer, and which ones the Paypal-owned system can’t deliver.
Read on to learn everything about Zettle’s functionality, pricing, and support. Once you’re up to speed, you can see how all the top POS systems compare to Zettle.
Pros
- No monthly fees
- Reasonable transaction fees
- Unlimited users
Cons
- No add-on features are available
- No CRM or offline mode
- Limited amount of integrations
- Free software
- 2.29% + 9¢ fee for card transactions
- 3.49% + 9¢ fee for manual transactions
- 3.49% + 9¢ fee for invoicing
- Card readers from $29
- Terminals from $199
PayPal Zettle: Quick Fact-File
Here’s what to know about Zettle’s value, support, and cloud-based functionality, along with our team’s 5-point score for each research category.
- Sales: Zettle handles all major payment types, bill splitting, product variants, and a lot more, earning it a healthy 4/5 score for sales tools
- Simplicity: Zettle is easy to use, thanks to its one-touch interface, digital receipts, and steady software updates
- Business management: Zettle’s missing some useful business tools (offline mode, sales forecasting) but offers some reporting, for a 2.3/5 score
- Growth: Zettle lacks loyalty and CRM tools, but does offer low stock alerts and bulk product uploads, getting a 3.8/5 score
- Support: Zettle offers phone and email support, but earned a low 2.8/5 score for a lack of data backup and low customer satisfaction
- Value for money: Zettle has a 5/5 score for pricing, due to its generous free plan, which helps tiny businesses get started with little-to-no overhead
Is PayPal Zettle Right for Your Business?
Getting started with Zettle is inexpensive and the service has solid sales features, making it a fit for a small business that doesn’t need any extra bells and whistles. But without an offline mode, loyalty tools, or CRM support, Zettle isn’t the best for a business that hopes to grow quickly, particularly since its per-transaction fees will be less attractive for a larger operation.
In our researchers’ estimatation, Zettle is second only to Square when it comes to a POS with a great free plan. Both services earn a perfect 5/5 score for pricing, although Square has better support than Zettle and better features overall.
Is Zettle Free?
The Zettle system itself has no monthly fee and no plan tiers. However, users will pay in two different ways.
First, you’ll need Zettle-branded hardware. This is a one-time cost, and starts at just $29 for a handheld card reader. Each additional card reader will cost $79, and terminals start at $199. Second, you’ll pay a per-transaction fee that starts at 2.29% plus nine cents, but varies depending on the type of sale — we’ve explained more in our Zettle pricing guide.
Take a minute to fill out Tech.co’s quote collection form to see how Zettle compares to other top POS prices.
PayPal Zettle Review: Key Features
Zettle offers a good price and support team, but falls down on a few types of features. Here are all the features our testers deemed important for POS systems, whether Zettle has them or not.
Sales features
Zettle is good for sales. It earns a 4/5 research score for product variants, bill splitting, receipt customization, table management, mobile sales, floorplan customization, discounts, accepting all major payment types, and the ability to delete, remove, or void items.
Zettle does not offer a training mode or the ability to setup barcodes or QR codes, although you can add the latter with a third-party integration.
Business management
Zettle earned just 2.3/5 in this area, as it lacks delivery support, offline mode, and sales forecasting. Reports can cover products by top selling or overall category, but many types of reports are not offered, such as sales or payment trends, discounts, voids, taxes, or gift cards.
Unlimited users are supported, however, as are staff sales. Payment partners include Paypal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Android Pay.
Business growth
Zettle has a 3.8 score for growth, since it does not offer any loyalty or CRM tools to speak of. That gap in functionality aside, Zettle does have plenty to offer: Users will get inventory tools including low stock alerts and bulk product uploads, as well as product images and inter-store transactions.
Integrations
Zettle has a small handful of useful integrations with third-party services in two areas. For accounting services, users can add either QuickBooks or Xero, both of which our researchers found to be worthwhile picks. For ecommerce, users can integrate with BigCommerce or Shopify.
Hardware functions
Zettle sells card readers starting at $29 and terminals starting at $199. The readers will need a tablet or smartphone to work, but the terminals offer a standalone ability with a preloaded SIM card and 3G/4G network that takes over when the Wi-Fi is down. Terminals at a higher price offer a built-in barcode scanner, and terminal docks can be bought with or without receipt printers. All hardware is sleek and easy to use.
How Does Zettle Compare to Other POS Systems?
Zettle is worth considering, but our researchers found its feature selection and support limitations held it back in comparison to many of the best competing POS systems. Here’s an overview table of all the best options, complete with our research scores for each.
| Overall Rating | Price from The typical lowest starting price. The lowest price available for your business will depend on your needs. | Additional costs Any additional costs you'll need to pay to get started | iPad app Is there a version of the software made specifically for iPad use? | Android app Is there a version of the software made specifically for Android tablet use? | 24/7 support | Get started | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SPONSORED  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Square POS | Lightspeed | Shopify POS | Clover POS | Vend POS | Epos Now | Talech POS | Zettle POS | TouchBistro POS | SpotOn POS | |
| 3.9 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 3.3 |
| Free (but transaction fees apply) | Free (but transaction fees apply) | $29/user/month | Free (but transaction fees apply) | $15 per month | ||||||
| Hardware costs $899+ | Marketing, customer loyalty, and employee management features all cost extra | $29 per additional register per month | Shopify POS Pro is available for $89 per location, per month | Accounting integrations cost $19.95 per month | Extra registers cost $49 per month | Single training costs $175 or $35 per month for unlimited sessions | Two-hour training package costs $199 | First card reader costs $29, and Zettle docking station costs $49 | Reservations cost $229 per month, online ordering costs $50 per month | $65 per month for loyalty features, $65 per month for website building tools |
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| Compare Prices | Visit Square | Visit Lightspeed | Compare Prices | Compare Prices | Compare prices | Compare prices | Compare prices | Compare Prices | Visit Site | Compare Prices |
Our top pick overall is Square POS, which offers more features than Zettle alongside a free plan that’s just as good as Zettle. This adds up to an overall score of 4.5/5, making Square the best choice for small businesses in particular.
After that, Lightspeed (4.3/5) is an option to consider, with complex features and good support options that make it good for large businesses, while Shopify (4/5) is another great choice, with great ecommerce tools and integrations.
Our Methodology
Tech.co’s research team created a six-category method for ranking every market-leading POS system. All features were broken down into four categories: Register, for sales and billing; Stock management, for inventory and barcoding; Business management, for reporting, forecasting, and more; and Business development, for tools including ecommerce, loyalty, CRM, and branding. The remaining two categories were for pricing and support.
Each service was ranked on a five-point scale for each category, and all category rankings were then compiled into one overall score for easy yet accurate comparison.
Final Thoughts – Is Zettle Worth It?
Zettle is worth considering for small businesses, due to its low pricing and decent sales features. However, Square has more features and better support than Zettle, and for a low cost as well, so it is therefore more likely to be best for most businesses. Our experts gave Zettle a 3.8/5 overall score, compared to Square’s 4.5/5 score.
If you love Paypal and need a basic and inexpensive POS system, Zettle is for you. If your business is growth-focused, we’d recommend filling out the Tech.co quotes form to receive deals from all the best POS services on the market.
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