Honest comparison

HonestyBox vs PayPal Point of Sale (Zettle)

Zettle is now branded PayPal Point of Sale, though most people still search for it as Zettle. It is a card reader with a free point-of-sale app, cheaper per transaction than us, and the better choice whenever you are serving customers in person. It cannot take payments unattended, because someone has to hold the reader. HonestyBox exists for the stall that trades when you are not standing at it.

First, the name

Zettle is now called PayPal Point of Sale. Same product, same readers, same accounts — PayPal folded the Zettle brand into its own point-of-sale range. Most people still call it Zettle, and search for it that way, so we use both names here.

If you already have a Zettle reader in a drawer, nothing about it has stopped working.

They solve different problems

PayPal POS is a card reader with a point-of-sale app behind it: inventory, sales reporting, receipts. It is built for a person serving a customer.

HonestyBox is a QR code on a stall with nobody standing at it. There is no app to open, no reader to hold, and no you.

Side by side

  • Hardware cost. PayPal POS: a reader to buy, with the first one discounted for new business accounts and subsequent readers dearer. HonestyBox: none.
  • Monthly fee. Neither.
  • Per transaction. PayPal POS charges a flat in-person rate; manual card entry and payment links are charged at higher rates. HonestyBox charges 5% plus Stripe's 1.5% + 20p.
  • Works unattended. PayPal POS: no. HonestyBox: yes.
  • Customer sets the amount. PayPal POS: no. HonestyBox: yes.
  • Stock and sales tools. PayPal POS: yes, a genuine free EPOS. HonestyBox: no, we do not do inventory.
  • Speed to your money. PayPal POS can put funds in a PayPal balance quickly. Ours arrive via Stripe on a rolling schedule.

The one thing worth knowing about PayPal

PayPal can place holds, reserves or account limitations if it flags activity as unusual, and funds can sit for a period while that is reviewed. This is normal across payment providers, ours included — Stripe can do the same. It is worth knowing about rather than discovering in December.

Which costs less?

PayPal POS, per pound, on in-person sales. Our rate is higher because we are not competing on rate — we are collecting money from a shed at eight on a Sunday morning when you are not in it.

Where it evens out is the sale that never happened. A reader in your kitchen drawer earns nothing from the person who stopped at your gate on Tuesday, wanted the eggs, had no change and drove off. That is the transaction we are pricing.

Common questions

Is Zettle still Zettle?

It is PayPal Point of Sale now. Existing users keep their accounts and the core service is unchanged.

Can I run both?

Yes. A reader for the farmers' market, a QR plaque on the gate for the days you are not there.

Do I need a PayPal account to use HonestyBox?

No. We run on Stripe, and the money goes to your own Stripe account and out to your bank.

Does the customer need the PayPal app to pay me?

Not with HonestyBox — they use their phone camera and pay by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. Nothing to install.

When PayPal Point of Sale is the better choice

  • You serve customers face to face. A café, a market pitch, a farm shop counter. That is what it is built for and it does it well.
  • You want a till, not just payments. The free app handles stock, sales reporting and receipts. We do none of that and have no plans to.
  • Small average sale. Our 5% plus Stripe's fixed 20p is poor value on a £2 item. Their flat in-person rate is better maths.
  • You already run on PayPal. Takings land in a balance you already work in, which is genuinely convenient.
  • You want the money in minutes. Funds can reach a PayPal balance far faster than a rolling Stripe payout.
Figures checked against the source below. Prices change — tell us if we have something out of date.