SumUp vs Servio: which suits your venue?
An honest comparison for UK hospitality. SumUp is a brilliant card reader with a simple till. Servio is an all-in-one cloud POS. Here is where each one genuinely fits, from the people who build one of them.
Last updated · prices checked against published UK rates
Disclosure: Servio is our product. Every figure is a published detail or a marked estimate you can confirm with each provider.
The short version
SumUp owns the mobile-first, cheap-reader niche: a market stall, coffee cart or short-menu counter can be trading in an afternoon for very little. Servio is built for venues that want the whole operation connected: till, QR ordering, kitchen display and analytics in one subscription on your own devices. The deciding question is whether you will want table ordering or a kitchen screen within a year.
How do SumUp and Servio compare?
| Servio | SumUp | |
|---|---|---|
| Software | £89-£219/month, whole platform | £0-£39/month for the POS app; POS Plus is £39 |
| QR ordering + kitchen display | Included from Starter | POS Plus £39 includes Order & Pay; kitchen screens £19 each; Hospitality, Advanced Stock and Advanced Loyalty £19 each |
| Hardware | Your own tablets and phones (£0) | POS Starter Kit (Register + printer) £549 |
| Payments | Stripe published rates, no markup | SumUp rates; app routing can raise the effective rate |
| Contract | Month-to-month | None |
| Best for | Cafés, dessert lounges and restaurants wanting one connected system | Mobile traders and short-menu counters |
Based on publicly available UK information and typical configurations. Details vary by plan and change over time, so confirm current terms with each provider.
What is SumUp better at?
Lowest up-front cost, the cheapest readers on the market, and genuine simplicity for mobile trade. If your menu is short and you do not see table service, QR or a kitchen screen in your future, SumUp is a sensible, cheap start and switching to anything heavier would be over-buying.
Who is Servio best for?
One connected platform instead of a till plus a stack of SumUp modules: QR ordering, unlimited kitchen screens, inventory and loyalty are included, you open at £0 instead of ~£549, and every extra kitchen screen stays £0 rather than £19. On a like-for-like Growth stack at £40,000 of card sales, SumUp can land around £1,002 all-in against Servio at £999; the Servio case is cash to open, one bill, and screens that do not meter. Pricing is published in full, and you can read the full-market maths in our POS cost guide or see the whole field ranked in the 2026 comparison.
Common questions
Is SumUp or Servio cheaper for a café?
It depends on what you need. SumUp is cheaper if you only need a card reader and a basic till for a short-menu counter. Once you match a restaurant stack (POS Plus, Order & Pay, kitchen screens, Hospitality, stock and loyalty), SumUp lands within a few pounds of Servio on all-in at a £25 ticket, because its in-person rate has no 10p fee where Stripe charges one. Servio is the cheaper stack to open (£0 hardware versus ~£549) and the simpler one (one bill, unlimited kitchen screens versus £19 each). Compare cash to open and bills, not only the all-in line.
Does SumUp have QR ordering and a kitchen display?
SumUp publishes Order & Pay with POS Plus (£39/month) and kitchen screens at £19 per terminal, plus Hospitality, Advanced Stock and Advanced Loyalty at £19 each. That is first-party, not a third-party bolt-on. Servio still includes QR ordering, unlimited kitchen screens, inventory, loyalty and staff in one plan from £89, with £0 hardware.
Where does SumUp fit?
If you are a mobile trader, market stall or event business that lives on cheap card readers with a short menu, SumUp is simple and cheap up front. Servio is the better fit the moment you run table service, want QR ordering or a kitchen display, or want the whole operation in one connected platform.
Do I need to buy hardware for either?
SumUp sells card readers and optional kit. Servio runs in the browser on tablets and phones you already own, with payments through Stripe, so hardware can be £0. Neither locks you into a long contract.
Read the best UK restaurant POS systems 2026 comparison, the restaurant POS cost guide, and how we calculate every figure.