Epos Now vs Stripe

What Epos Now is

Epos Now sells a proprietary cloud POS ecosystem rather than a single till application. It combines POS software, countertop or handheld hardware, Epos Now Payments, inventory and staff controls, onboarding, support and an app marketplace for retail and hospitality. Current UK marketing shows complete hardware from £199, but the disclosed offer requires a 12-month payments, care and support subscription starting at £54 per month; VAT and card-processing charges are separate. Contract structure, hardware title, software licenses, support, payment volume commitments, optional apps and extra terminals determine the real cost, so the headline device price is not a complete system price.

What Stripe is

Stripe is the world's most advanced payment platform, building the financial infrastructure for the internet. Renowned for its developer-first philosophy, Stripe allows you to accept global payments, set up subscription models, and manage complex financial flows with just a few lines of code. Beyond a simple payment gateway, it offers a massive ecosystem including fraud prevention (Radar), tax management (Tax), and corporate card issuing (Issuing). It is the trusted gold standard for both agile startups and global tech giants like Google and Amazon.

What Epos Now is built to do

POS operations

Processes sales and manages products, inventory, tenders, staff and location activity.

Retail and hospitality

Adds industry workflows such as variants, tables, ordering and kitchen displays through selected products.

Payments and hardware

Pairs terminals and peripherals with Epos Now or supported third-party payment arrangements.

Cloud and integrations

Provides remote reporting, an app marketplace and contract-governed APIs for connected workflows.

What Stripe is built to do

Stripe Checkout

A pre-built, mobile-optimized, high-conversion payment page ready for use.

Radar AI

Detect and stop suspicious payments automatically by analyzing millions of data points.

Billing Engine

Handle complex monthly, yearly, or usage-based recurring billing systems with ease.

Marketplace Support

Build platforms like Airbnb that distribute payments between buyers and sellers.

Choose Epos Now if

• Physical retail or hospitality businesses wanting a packaged till and payment setup
• Operators needing inventory, staff and multi-location visibility from a cloud dashboard
• Buyers able to test peripherals, offline behavior, integrations and payment settlement before signing

Skip Epos Now if

• The decision is based only on the promotional hardware price
• The business cannot accept fixed terms, minimum processing conditions or hardware-return obligations
• Required apps, payment providers, tax rules, connectivity or local support are not confirmed in writing

Choose Stripe if

• E-commerce Founders, Developers, and SaaS Builders.

Epos Now: pros & cons

• Integrated hardware, software and payments can reduce manual reconciliation at the till.
• Retail functions cover products, variants, stock, staff and multi-location operations.
• Hospitality options include table, order, kitchen-display and payment workflows.
• Cloud access, APIs and an app marketplace provide integration paths for supported accounting, ecommerce and delivery systems.
• Promotional hardware pricing can depend on a fixed-term software, support and payments commitment.
• Some UK packages require Epos Now Payments usage or a minimum transaction level; failure can trigger a plan change or different charges.
• Hardware ownership varies between upfront purchase and rental, and early termination can leave remaining fees or return obligations.
• Standard support hours, premium support, additional devices, apps, card rates, VAT and non-integrated payment choices can all add cost.

Stripe: pros & cons

• Best Developer Experience: Flawless documentation and a clean, powerful API.
• High Security: Advanced PCI compliance and AI-powered fraud protection included.
• Global Reach: Supports hundreds of local payment methods and currencies worldwide.
• Scalability: Built to grow with you from your first sale to a billion-dollar volume.
• Transaction Fees: Can be higher than some regional competitors for local payments.
• Account Freezes: Accounts may be suspended quickly if transactions are flagged as risky.
• Technical Setup: Requires developer knowledge to unlock advanced customization features.