Clover POS systems for Arkansas restaurants, with the published numbers
Clover puts its package pricing on the web, which almost nobody does. Read the fine print underneath before you mistake transparency for flexibility.
Clover is one of the few restaurant POS platforms that puts real numbers on the web. Full service packages start at 179 dollars a month over 36 months, or 1,799 dollars up front plus 89.95 dollars a month for software. Card present transactions run 2.3 percent plus 10 cents. The price is fine. The contract is where you should slow down, because Clover subscriptions are non cancelable and Clover devices cannot be used with another processor.
What does a Clover restaurant system cost?
Clover prices full service and quick service separately, and each comes in Starter, Standard and Advanced. On the full service page, Starter is 179 dollars a month for 36 months, or 1,799 dollars up front plus 89.95 dollars a month. Standard is 239 dollars a month for 36 months, or 2,548 dollars up front plus 109.90 dollars a month. Advanced is 354 dollars a month for 36 months, or 4,447 dollars up front plus 129.85 dollars a month. All three run on the Restaurant Growth software plan.
Quick service comes in cheaper. Starter is 135 dollars a month for 36 months, or 849 dollars up front plus 89.95 dollars a month. Standard is 185 dollars a month for 36 months, or 1,899 dollars plus 89.95 dollars a month. Advanced is 245 dollars a month for 36 months, or 2,648 dollars plus 109.90 dollars a month.
One line under those tables deserves your attention: prices shown are only available on Clover.com. Clover is telling you, in its own words, that the number your local bank or your current processor puts in front of you may be something else entirely.
What does Clover charge you on a card?
Clover publishes 2.3 percent plus 10 cents for a card that is tapped, swiped or inserted, and 3.5 percent plus 10 cents for a card keyed in by hand. Those two rates hold across every published restaurant package, full service and quick service alike. Unusual, and useful, because the tiers then differ on hardware and on nothing you have to go hunting for.
There's a third published number you should know about. Rapid Deposit moves funds to you within minutes of a card sale, ahead of the normal settlement cycle, and carries a 1.75 percent fee. Reach for it on every batch and you have quietly taken out a very expensive line of credit. Clover Capital, the funding product, is repaid out of future card sales.
A flat rate like 2.3 percent plus 10 cents is easy to model and easy to hold against anything else on your desk. Easy does not mean cheapest. The 10 cents per transaction is what bleeds a low average ticket business, and your card line will outweigh your software line every month you are open, so the number that settles this decision is total fees divided by total card volume. We run that arithmetic out on the pricing page.
What does the subscription lock you into?
Here's the part reps move past quickly. In Clover's own words, subscriptions are non cancelable and ineligible for refunds. A subscription agreement can be broken during a buyout or an upgrade, and it can be paid off at any time, but simple cancellation does not exist. You will have 30 to 60 days before the first payment is due, and any partial month is pro rated.
At the end of the term you choose to purchase the equipment or return it. Do neither, and Clover states the subscription term is extended at the same monthly charge. Three year old hardware, same monthly bill, rolling on because nobody wrote a date in a calendar. Clauses like that one fund a competitor's marketing budget.
Termination fees are a separate question again, and Clover does not answer it. Clover states that contract terms and any termination fees vary based on your service provider, whether that's Clover Direct or one of the bank partners it names, including Citi, PNC and Wells Fargo, or one of more than 3,000 other financial institution partners selling Clover in the US.
A real person calls you back within two hours, Monday to Saturday, 8am to 7pm Central.
Why do two Clover quotes never match?
Because thousands of separate businesses sell Clover. The device is standardized. The merchant agreement wrapped around it is not. Two restaurants three miles apart can run identical Station Duos on wildly different rates, wildly different terms and wildly different early termination language, and both are really and truly Clover.
Clover also states plainly that while its devices can be purchased or leased from other entities, they cannot be used with other payment processors. Nothing else on Clover's pricing page matters as much as that sentence. Your hardware is married to your processing relationship. Find better processing in year two and the equipment stays behind.
Which restaurants should buy Clover?
Counter service, coffee, bakeries, fast casual and bars with simple check management all do well on Clover. The Mini and the Flex are good hardware. Published pricing means you can build a budget before anyone sets foot in your dining room, and the app ecosystem covers most of what a small operation needs.
Full service dining rooms need more care. On the published Starter full service package, tableside ordering and firing is listed as not included, and tap and mobile wallets are listed as not included at all, because the Station Solo in that package won't do contactless. Contactless arrives on the Flex at Standard, and on the Flex and Station Duo at Advanced. Buy the cheapest package for a busy dining room and you have bought a stationary POS that cannot take a tap. Your guests will notice long before you do.
If you're in Arkansas and already leaning Clover, we sell it, we install it, and we will tell you when your service model points at the other platform instead.
Clover, honestly
Clover's transparency is real and deserves the credit. Its constraints are just as real, and they're printed on the same page.
What works
- Clover publishes package prices and card rates on its own website. Almost nobody else in restaurant POS does.
- Card present pricing of 2.3 percent plus 10 cents holds across every published restaurant package, so the tiers differ on hardware and not on a hidden rate change.
- No fee online ordering, a Clover online menu page, pickup and delivery order types and remote order firing are listed as included at every published tier.
- QR code order and pay is included at every published tier, full service and quick service alike.
- The device range covers real use cases, from an 8 inch Mini with a built in printer to a Station Duo with a customer facing screen.
- A very large number of partners sell and service Clover, so finding someone locally who knows the platform is easy.
What does not
- Clover devices cannot be used with other payment processors. Clover says so itself. Buy Clover and your hardware investment is chained to your processing relationship for the life of the equipment.
- Subscriptions are non cancelable and ineligible for refunds, in Clover's own words. Your exits are a buyout, an upgrade, or paying the term off. Cancelling is not on the list.
- At the end of the term, if you do not actively purchase or return the equipment, the subscription extends at the same monthly charge on hardware that is by then three years old.
- Contract terms and termination fees vary by whoever sold you the system, across Clover Direct plus more than 3,000 financial institution partners. The published price on Clover.com may bear no relation at all to the offer sitting in front of you.
- On the published Starter full service package the Station Solo does not accept tap or mobile wallets, and tableside ordering and firing is not included. The cheapest full service option is the wrong one for most dining rooms.
- Payroll integrations show as an optional add on across all published tiers, and a great deal of Clover's capability lives in App Market subscriptions. The package price is a floor, never a ceiling.
- Clover publishes End of App Update notices for Gen 1 devices, naming Station C010, Mobile C020 and C021, Mini C030 and C031 and Flex C041 and C042, and tells developers to plan device upgrades. Clover hardware sits on a published lifecycle with an end date on it.
Questions restaurant owners ask
Is Clover cheaper than the alternatives?
Clover is more knowable, which is a different thing. The published package prices and the 2.3 percent plus 10 cents card present rate let you build a three year model before a rep ever visits. Whether the total lands under a negotiated interchange plus quote depends on your volume, your average ticket and your card mix.
Can I buy a used Clover on eBay and save money?
Clover warns against this directly. Clover notes that entities outside its partner network advertise Clover devices, and that while the devices can be purchased or leased elsewhere, they cannot be used with other payment processors. A secondhand unit may be locked to a merchant account you do not control, which leaves you holding an expensive brick.
What happens at the end of my 36 month Clover subscription?
Clover states you choose to purchase the equipment or return it. Do neither and the subscription term extends at the same monthly charge. Put a reminder in your calendar at month 32. Nobody else will, and an automatic extension on three year old hardware is one of the easiest costs in this whole category to avoid.
Does Clover do tableside ordering?
Yes, from the Standard full service package upward, where a Flex handheld is included. The published Starter full service package lists tableside ordering and firing as not included. If your servers need to fire from the table, Starter is the wrong package no matter how good the monthly figure looks.
Does Clover take Apple Pay and Google Pay?
Depends on the device, which surprises people. Clover's published full service tables show tap and mobile wallets as not included on the Starter package, available on the Flex only at Standard, and on the Flex and Station Duo at Advanced. Check contactless device by device before you assume the whole platform has it.
Do you sell Clover in Arkansas?
Yes. We sell it, we program the menu, we install it in person, we train your staff on it, and we are on site on go live night. We will also say so plainly when your service model points at the other platform we carry. A dealer who recommends the same system every time is reading a script, not giving you advice.
Vendor pricing and tax rates change without notice. Confirm current figures with the vendor, the city or your accountant before you rely on them. Not tax, legal or accounting advice.
Every number on this page traces to a primary source
- Clover full service restaurant packages: Starter 179 dollars a month for 36 months or 1,799 dollars plus 89.95 dollars a month; Standard 239 dollars a month or 2,548 dollars plus 109.90 dollars a month; Advanced 354 dollars a month or 4,447 dollars plus 129.85 dollars a month, all on the Restaurant Growth software plan.clover.com / restaurant
- Clover published card rates: 2.3 percent plus 10 cents tapped, swiped or inserted; 3.5 percent plus 10 cents keyed. Rapid Deposit carries a 1.75 percent fee.clover.com / restaurant
- Clover full service Starter lists tableside ordering and firing as not included, and tap plus mobile wallets as not included; Standard is Flex only; Advanced is Flex and Station Duo only. Payroll integrations are an optional add on at all tiers.clover.com / restaurant
- Clover quick service packages: Starter 135 dollars a month for 36 months or 849 dollars plus 89.95 dollars a month; Standard 185 dollars a month or 1,899 dollars plus 89.95 dollars a month; Advanced 245 dollars a month or 2,648 dollars plus 109.90 dollars a month.clover.com / quick service restaurant
- Clover subscriptions are non cancelable and ineligible for refunds; first payment is due 30 to 60 days in; at end of term you purchase or return equipment or the term extends at the same monthly charge; termination fees vary by service provider across Clover Direct and more than 3,000 financial institution partners; Clover devices cannot be used with other payment processors.clover.com / pricing
- Clover restaurant service plans are Counter Service Restaurant and Table Service Restaurant, and Clover publishes End of App Update notices for Gen 1 devices including Station C010, Mobile C020 and C021, Mini C030 and C031 and Flex C041 and C042.docs.clover.com / understand merchant service plans