Comparison
UK restaurant EPOS systems compared, including where we lose
A side-by-side of what UK restaurant EPOS systems cost and how they are structured, based on publicly listed prices checked in July 2026. Vendor pricing changes often — verify before you sign anything, including with us.
Last reviewed July 2026
Published list pricing, UK, July 2026
| System | Entry software cost | Card fees | Contract | Own hardware? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BMTable | £0/mo, Pro £29/mo | 0% — you keep your own acquirer | Monthly, cancel anytime | Yes — any browser device |
| Square for Restaurants | Free tier, paid from ~£69/mo | ~1.75% in person | No contract | Square hardware for full features |
| Epos Now | From ~£54/mo | Integrated processing rates | Commonly multi-year | Epos Now terminal typical |
| Lightspeed Restaurant | From ~£79/mo, Core ~£149/mo | Integrated processing rates | Annual commitment typical | Supported hardware list |
| SumUp POS | From ~£49/mo per till | Per-transaction rate | Flexible | SumUp hardware typical |
| Toast | Quoted per site | Integrated processing rates | Typically multi-year | Toast hardware |
Where BMTable is the wrong choice
- You want card processing bundled into the same contract as the till. We do not process payments, so you arrange that separately.
- You need integrated Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat order injection today. That is on our roadmap, not in the product.
- You need a national field-engineer network with on-site same-day support. We are remote support only.
- You are a large group that needs a long list of audited enterprise references. We are a newer product and cannot offer that yet.
- You need a public online reservations platform with a consumer marketplace. We do covers and table service, not a booking marketplace.
Where BMTable wins
- Total cost at any meaningful turnover, because there is no percentage on sales.
- No hardware purchase and no lease — the barrier to trying it is genuinely zero.
- Monthly terms, so a bad fit costs you one month rather than three years.
- Offline desktop service that keeps the kitchen moving through a broadband outage.
- Data export without friction if you decide to leave.
Comparison questions
- What is the cheapest restaurant EPOS system in the UK?
- On software subscription alone, systems with a £0 tier — including BMTable, Square and SumUp — are cheapest. On total cost, the deciding factor is usually the card processing percentage rather than the subscription: at £30,000 monthly card turnover, a 1.75% bundled rate costs £525 a month, which dwarfs any UK EPOS subscription.
- Is Square or BMTable better for a small UK restaurant?
- Square is the safer pick if you want payments, hardware and software from one vendor with a long track record and are comfortable with roughly 1.75% per in-person transaction. BMTable is better if you already have card processing you are happy with, want to run on hardware you own, and want the software cost to stay flat as turnover grows.
- Do UK EPOS systems lock you into long contracts?
- Many do. Multi-year terms of 36 to 48 months are common in the UK EPOS market, often bundled with hardware finance that survives even if you stop using the software. Always ask for the termination clause in writing before signing.
- Can I switch EPOS systems mid-lease?
- You can switch software at any time, but a hardware finance agreement usually continues until its term ends. Check whether your agreement is for software, hardware, or both before you plan a migration.
Try it for a month before you commit to anything.
Start free