Comparison

Kessel vs Clover

The same terminal, a different rate every time.

Kessel vs Clover, in short

Clover and Kessel are both point-of-sale systems, but they are sold in completely different ways. Clover hardware is distributed through banks and independent sales organisations, so two merchants with identical Clover terminals can be on entirely different rates and contracts depending on who sold it and the devices are usually locked to that reseller’s processing. Kessel publishes one rate, interchange plus 0.60% + 30¢, and one software price, $49 per location per month, with no reseller in between. Clover’s app marketplace is deeper; Kessel’s pricing is knowable before you sign.

Kessel software: $49 / monthPer location, every feature, unlimited staff.
Kessel cards: 0.60% + 30¢On top of interchange, passed through at cost.
To start: NothingTap to Pay on the phone you own.
Kessel contract: NoneMonthly. A hardware lease has a term; software does not.

Credit where it is due

What Clover is good at

Clover is a solid terminal family with a large app marketplace, and it is everywhere because it is sold through banks and independent sales organisations as well as directly. If your bank offered you a Clover, that is why.

The crux

When the terminal is sold by a reseller, the rate is the reseller’s

A Clover bought from one bank and a Clover bought from another are the same box running the same software on very different economics. The merchant agreement, the rate, the term, the early-termination cost and often the device lock all come from whoever sold it, not from the device. That is why "what does Clover cost" has no single answer. Kessel has one answer, published on this page, the same for everyone.

Side by side

Kessel and Clover, dimension by dimension

Models, not digits. We do not publish Clover’s rates: they change, and a stale number here would be a lie told at your expense. Check theirs on their own site and put it into the estimator below.

Compared on the same nine dimensions as every other page here
Dimension	Kessel	Clover
Card pricing model	Interchange plus 0.60% + 30¢. The networks’ cost passes through untouched and our margin is one visible line.Kessel	Set by whoever sold you the terminal: the bank, the independent sales organisation, or Clover directly. It varies widely between merchants on identical hardware.
Software fee	$49 per month per location. One plan, every feature, unlimited staff.Kessel	Tiered plans per device, plus paid apps from the marketplace for features that are often core elsewhere.
Cost to start taking cards	Nothing. Tap to Pay on the phone in your pocket, today.Kessel	A terminal, purchased or leased through the reseller.
Hardware	Stripe Terminal at Stripe’s price. Buy it, or lease or finance it and pay nothing on the day.Kessel	Clover hardware, commonly locked to the reseller’s processing so it cannot follow you.
Contract	None on the software. Monthly, cancel whenever you like. A hardware lease has a term; the software does not.Kessel	Frequently a merchant-services agreement with a term and an early-termination cost, depending on the reseller.
Accounting	A real double-entry ledger. Every sale posts a balanced transaction or it does not post at all.Kessel	Reporting per device, with accounting handled by export or a marketplace app.
Inventory	A stock ledger you can audit, with purchase orders, suppliers, cost layers and real margin per line.Kessel	Inventory on the higher plans, with depth varying by app.
Getting your data out	CSV export of catalog, orders, customers and ledger, plus a read/write API. No exit fee.About even	Export and an API, with marketplace apps filling gaps.
AI	Proposes, never applies. Catalog Studio, add-on suggestions measured from your own baskets, dispute drafts. A person clicks Apply.About even	Varies by marketplace app rather than being part of the product.

Where the money goes

One sale, two routes

The difference is not how much a card costs. It is whether you can see how much a card costs.

When Clover is the better choice

There are real cases where the marketplace and the channel win.

You need a specific vertical app that exists on the Clover marketplace and nowhere else, and it is central to how you trade.
Your bank bundles a Clover with a merchant relationship you already value, and you have negotiated a rate you can see and check.
You want a single sealed terminal with no phone, no tablet and no register software to manage, and the app store covers the rest.

Moving across

There is no one-click Clover import

There is no one-click Clover import, because what you can export depends on the plan and the apps you are on. Export your item catalog as CSV and we will map it with you. Check two things before you move: the term on your merchant agreement, and whether your terminal is locked to the reseller’s processing, because a locked device cannot come with you regardless of who you switch to.

Export

Get your catalog and customers out of Clover as CSV.

Map

Send it to us. We map items, variants, modifiers and taxes with you, usually in an afternoon.

Sell

Tap to Pay works the same day. Readers ship after.

Your numbers

Put your Clover statement into this

Total fees divided by total card volume gives your real effective rate. That is the only honest number to compare against, and it is the one we ask for.

Card volume a month$45,000

Average sale$34

About 1,324 card transactions a month. This is the input that decides the answer, so use your real one rather than a round number.

Your current rate2.65% + $0.10Their per-transaction fee$0.10

Both halves, off your own statement. A percentage on its own cannot describe any real rate card, and on a small sale the fixed fee is most of the bill: 2.6% + $0.10 on a $3 coffee is 5.93% effective, not 2.6%. On your numbers it works out at 2.94% effective.

Assumed interchange on your mix1.25%

The one figure here we cannot know. Interchange depends on your own card mix, and a debit-heavy counter sits well below a rewards-credit-heavy one. Default is a typical Canada card-present blend, plus $0.03 per transaction. Send us a statement and we will replace this guess with your actual mix.

What you pay now: $1,325 / month

Kessel, all in: $1,318 / month

a month better on Kessel, about $79 a year.

Break-even is an average sale of about $33.28. Above that Kessel is cheaper; below it, the fixed 30¢ costs you more than the percentage saves, and a flat rate is the better buy.

An estimate, not a quote. It assumes your whole volume is card present, and the interchange figure above is an assumption you can change. The two numbers that are not assumptions are ours: interchange + 0.60% + 30¢ and $49 a month.

Questions

Kessel and Clover

Why is Clover pricing so hard to compare?

Because Clover is distributed through banks and independent sales organisations as well as directly, and the rate, term and termination cost are set by whoever sold you the device rather than by the device. Two merchants with the same terminal can be on very different economics. Find your merchant agreement and read the rate schedule; that document, not the hardware, is your actual price.

Can I keep my Clover hardware if I move to Kessel?

Almost certainly not. Clover devices are generally locked to the processing relationship they were sold with. Kessel runs on Stripe Terminal readers and on Tap to Pay on a phone, so you can be selling before any new hardware arrives.

Does Kessel charge for apps?

No. There is no marketplace tax in Kessel. The $49 includes the register, floor plan, kitchen display, inventory, the ledger, house accounts, invoices, offline mode, the API and unlimited staff accounts.

Also compared