What card processing really costs you
Two tools, simple first. The quick version tells you what switching typically saves at your numbers in ten seconds. The detailed one below it prices every major system from published and sourced rates.
Two numbers. What switching typically saves.
Your monthly card volume and the rate you pay now. That is the whole input. The rate is on your statement: total fees divided by total volume.
Card sales only. Line one of your statement.
Total fees divided by total volume. Not sure? Send the statement and we compute it free.
Our stated assumption, and you can drag it. Your written quote replaces it.
a month back in your pocket at these numbers. That is $5,760 a year, and $28,800 over five years, on the same swipes you are already running.
Local crews in 21 states
Install, training and support handled by people, with a person in your room on go live night.
Hardware with a lifetime replacement warranty
Included in the published $29.99 a terminal price, replaced for life per the published terms.
Arithmetic on your inputs against the stated assumption above, which moves with your card mix and ticket size. An estimate for deciding whether to have the conversation, not a quote. The detailed calculator below prices every major system; your statement gets you the real number in writing, free.
Move the sliders. Watch what each system would actually cost you.
Card processing is the bill that never stops. These are the published rates, run against your numbers, updating as you drag.
Card sales only, not total revenue. It is on line one of your statement.
Drag this down toward a coffee shop and watch the flat fee per swipe take over.
Some systems charge per terminal, some per location. This makes that difference visible.
What a processor keeps on top of the card networks' cost. It is the one number in a quote you can negotiate.
Drag a slider to begin.
Square, Genius, SpotOn and Shift4 figures are published by those vendors and were read on their own pages on 8 August 2026. Toast publishes no processing rate anywhere, so Toast figures are reported by Merchant Maverick and Expert Market, cross checked against each other. The Clover row is a reported baseline: business.com and KORONA POS independently print 2.3% plus 10 cents and $89.95 a month for its restaurant plans, and your reseller sets the actual rate, frequently higher. Interchange is assumed at 1.95% plus 10c, a typical card present restaurant blend that moves with the cards your guests actually use. This is an estimate for comparison, not a quote.
Three things this makes visible that a sales call will not
The flat fee per swipe is the hidden tax on small tickets
Fifteen cents on a $4.25 coffee is 3.5% on its own, before any percentage rate applies. Drag the average ticket down and watch the coffee shop numbers separate from the steakhouse numbers.
Free plans stop being free at a volume you will hit
Square's free plan charges 0.2 points more per swipe than the paid one. Somewhere around $25,000 a month the monthly fee becomes cheaper than the higher rate.
Per terminal pricing punishes bigger rooms
Move the terminal slider. Systems that charge per terminal climb in steps while per location pricing stays flat. For a four terminal dining room that difference is a real number.
Published rates are a starting point. Your statement is the answer.
Interchange varies with the cards your guests actually carry, so no calculator can be exact. Send last month's statement and we will work out your real effective rate, free.
Send your numbers
About a minute. It goes straight to the Equip team.
It reaches the Equip team. A person calls you back, and if we do not have a crew near you, the team routes it to whoever serves you best. We never ask for card or bank details on this site.