Clover Pricing: What the $0 Device Really Costs

Clover’s pricing FAQ offers its registers “with no money down.” The $0 is a subscription: you pay $180 a month for 36 months for a Station Duo, Clover’s two-screen counter register. That is $6,480 per register, before the fee on each card sale. This page sets out what the $0 register costs over its term, and what you are locked into.

Key takeaways

• Clover’s $0 Station Duo costs $180 a month for 36 months: $6,480 per register, about $1,500 more than buying it, before any card fees.
• The subscription cannot be canceled for 36 months, and it keeps billing after that unless you give 30 days’ notice.
• Clover devices take cards only through Clover’s processing, so changing processor means new hardware at every register.
• Clover devices run only Clover’s software, so any other software needs another device.
• How to decide whether Clover is right for your business.

What the $0 register costs over 36 months

The Station Duo on Retail Growth, Clover’s retail software plan with inventory and detailed sales reports, is sold two ways on Clover.com: “$180/mo for 36 months or $1,899+ $84.95/mo.” The subscription price includes the software. If you buy the register, you pay the software fee each month on top.

	Subscription ($0 down)	Buy outright
Upfront	$0	$1,899
Each month	$180	$84.95 software
After 36 months	$6,480	$4,957
Who owns it	Clover, unless you buy it at the end	You

Source: Clover Station Duo, Clover pricing FAQ.

Three stores with two registers each would pay about $9,000 more by subscription over the term, on Clover.com’s single-register prices.

The subscription cannot be canceled. Clover’s pricing FAQ says: “Subscriptions are non-cancelable and ineligible for refunds.” You can pay one off at any time, and the FAQ says the agreement can be broken during a buyout or an upgrade to a different or newer device. When the 36 months end, you buy the equipment or return it. If you do neither, the subscription keeps going at the same monthly charge unless you tell Clover at least 30 days before the term ends. Clover’s Terms of Use also let it change its service fees with 30 days’ notice.

Costs that are not in the device price

The fee on every sale. Every card processor charges one, so it is not a Clover trap, but it is the biggest cost for a busy store. Clover.com’s retail pricing on the Retail Growth plan is 2.3% + 10¢ for a tapped, swiped or inserted card, and 3.5% + 10¢ for a typed-in card. A store with $40,000 a month in card sales and a $200 average sale pays about $940 a month in card fees, against $180 a month for the register. Every 0.1 point of rate is another $480 a year. Because the rate is the biggest cost, get it quoted, and negotiated where you can, before you compare devices.

Should you buy or lease Clover?

If you can pay upfront, buying costs less. On Clover.com’s prices, buying a Station Duo pulls ahead after about 20 months and saves about $1,500 per register over the 36-month term, and you own the register afterward.

The subscription makes sense when cash matters more than total cost. Opening a new location with $0 upfront per register can be worth the extra $1,500 each.

Leases from banks and resellers are another route. Be careful: a lease through Fiserv’s leasing company cannot be canceled during its first term, and the payments can add up to far more than buying, so compare a lease’s total with Clover.com’s purchase price.

A “free” or discounted device can also add years to your contract. Clover.com’s own $450 hardware credit “Requires a 3-year contract,” per the footnote on its pricing page. One reseller’s published terms for a free device add three years to the processing agreement, with an exit fee of up to $595 per device type. Bank and reseller terms differ from Clover.com’s, so read the one you are offered. The people selling Clover are often paid a share of your processing revenue: Clover’s own referral partner program pays “a percentage of the net acquiring revenue.”

Clover devices only work with Clover

Clover’s pricing FAQ says: “While Clover POS devices may be purchased or leased from other entities, they cannot be used with other payment processors.” The devices also run only Clover’s software, with no web browser. If your store needs other software at the counter, such as a web-based tool or any app Clover does not offer, it needs another device.

For a Clover store, the register, the POS software and the card processing come as one package. If another processor offers you a better rate in year two, taking it means new hardware at every register. POS vs payment processor explains the other way to set this up.

If you switch, the card device at each register is what you replace. A Square, Stripe or PayPal reader costs $59 to $79.

Is Clover right for your stores?

Clover can be the right choice. It tends to fit when:

• You want one company for everything. Clover sells the registers, the software and the card processing.
• Clover’s software covers what you sell. Clover has extensive features that fit most retailers. Before you commit every store, confirm that it meets your business needs.
• The rate is right for your volume. If Clover’s quote beats the other processors’ quotes for your card sales, the hardware lock matters less.

It fits less well when:

• You need other software at the counter. Clover devices run only Clover’s software, so a web-based tool or another app means more devices per register.
• You want processor choice. With several stores, every register is tied to Clover’s processing, so changing processor means replacing hardware at every location at once, and a backup processor needs its own device and hardware.
• You add registers often. Each new register adds Clover hardware and, by subscription, another 36-month term.