Clover Retail POS vs PayPal Zettle

Clover Retail POS8.7Visit PayPal Zettle6.9Visit

Higher score Clover Retail POS #5 in Point-of-Sale Software 8.7/10 Paid ✓ 5 of 5 features Visit Clover

vs

PayPal Zettle #26 in Point-of-Sale Software 6.9/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 5 features Visit PayPal Zettle

• Clover Retail POS fits best

  Retailers wanting payments and omnichannel selling

• PayPal Zettle fits best

  PayPal merchants wanting free basic POS

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Side by side

Feature	Clover Retail POS 8.7/10 Visit ↗	PayPal Zettle 6.9/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	8.7	6.9
Ranking	#5 in Point-of-Sale Software	#26 in Point-of-Sale Software
Best for	Retailers wanting payments and omnichannel selling	PayPal merchants wanting free basic POS
Pricing model	Paid	Free
Starting price	—	Free
Free plan	—	✓ (best)
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud, Self-hosted	Cloud, Mobile
Platforms	Web, Android	Web, iOS, Android
Integrations	4 integrations	10 integrations
Features Clover Retail POS 5/5 · PayPal Zettle 4/5
Inventory management	✓	✓
Offline mode	✓ (best)	—
Employee permissions	✓	✓
Multi-location support	✓	✓
Sales reporting	✓	✓
Specs
Hardware support	Both	Proprietary
Our review
Pros	Tracks SKUs, variants, barcodes, stock levels, reorder points, and low-stock alerts Supports in-store, online, offline, mobile, wallet, QR-code, and Klarna payments Combines employee controls, reporting, loyalty, returns, and multi-location management	No monthly or recurring software fee Inventory, staff access, reports, and multiple payment types Shopify sync plus ecommerce and accounting integrations
Cons	Retail pricing requires contacting sales and varies by business type Proprietary POS devices may add hardware considerations for retailers Its broad feature set may exceed the needs of simple checkout operations	Transaction fees apply Hardware is purchased separately and proprietary No offline mode; multisite is unavailable to new merchants
Our verdict	Clover Retail POS is designed for small and midsize retail businesses that need more than checkout alone. From the Clover Dashboard and mobile tools, retailers can manage inventory, payments, employees, sales reporting, online selling,… Read the review →	PayPal Zettle, now branded PayPal Point of Sale, is a point-of-sale system for businesses accepting in-person payments. It suits PayPal merchants that need a mobile app for product catalogs, inventory, receipts, staff accounts, sales… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Clover Retail POS — where it wins

  • Tracks SKUs, variants, barcodes, stock levels, reorder points, and low-stock alerts
  • Supports in-store, online, offline, mobile, wallet, QR-code, and Klarna payments
  • Combines employee controls, reporting, loyalty, returns, and multi-location management

  Where it doesn't

  • Retail pricing requires contacting sales and varies by business type
  • Proprietary POS devices may add hardware considerations for retailers
  • Its broad feature set may exceed the needs of simple checkout operations

• PayPal Zettle — where it wins

  • No monthly or recurring software fee
  • Inventory, staff access, reports, and multiple payment types
  • Shopify sync plus ecommerce and accounting integrations

  Where it doesn't

  • Transaction fees apply
  • Hardware is purchased separately and proprietary
  • No offline mode; multisite is unavailable to new merchants

• Clover Retail POS8.7/10 · Paid

  A broad retail POS for businesses that need payments, inventory, and online-to-store coordination.

  Visit CloverFull verdict →
• PayPal Zettle6.9/10 · Free plan

  A free POS app for PayPal merchants that need core sales and inventory tools.

  Visit PayPal ZettleFull verdict →