Credit Card Machine Fees Calculator

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Credit Card Machine Fees Calculator

Compare what US card readers and payment providers would charge on your in-person sales.

Monthly in-person card sales ($)

Average transaction size ($)

- Cheapest option at your volume

$0 Estimated monthly cost

Provider	Monthly cost	Effective rate	First-year total

Monthly cost combines processing fees and any software subscription. First-year total adds 12 months of fees plus the typical entry-level reader or terminal cost shown for each provider. Rates are published US card-present rates as of mid-2026 and may change; Helcim is an interchange-plus average rather than a fixed rate.

How the Credit Card Machine Fees Calculator works

Every time a customer taps, dips, or swipes a card, your payment provider takes a cut made up of two parts: a percentage of the sale and a fixed fee per transaction. That fixed fee is why your average transaction size matters so much. On a $10 sale, a $0.15 per-transaction fee alone adds 1.5 percentage points to your effective rate, while on a $100 sale it adds almost nothing. Flat-rate providers such as Square, SumUp, Stripe, and PayPal Zettle bundle everything into one published rate, while interchange-plus providers such as Helcim pass through the actual card network cost plus a small markup, which typically works out cheaper for businesses processing more than about $10,000 per month.

This calculator divides your monthly card sales by your average transaction size to estimate your transaction count, then applies each provider's published US card-present rate, fixed per-transaction fee, and any monthly software fee. Providers are ranked by total monthly cost, with the effective rate showing what percentage of your card sales you would actually hand over. The first-year total adds twelve months of fees to the typical entry-level reader or terminal cost, since hardware is a one-time purchase with these providers rather than a rental.

Assumptions used in this calculator

All rates are published US card-present (tap, dip, or swipe) rates as of mid-2026: Square 2.6% + $0.15, Stripe Terminal 2.7% + $0.05, PayPal Zettle 2.29% + $0.09, SumUp 2.6% + $0.10, Clover 2.6% + $0.10, and Helcim averaging 1.93% + $0.08 on interchange-plus pricing.
Keyed-in and online transactions cost more with every provider (typically 2.9% to 3.5% plus $0.15 to $0.30) and are not included here.
Hardware figures are entry-level reader prices; full terminals cost more (for example, Square Terminal $299, Square Register $799, PayPal Zettle Terminal $199).
Helcim's figure is a volume-weighted average, so your actual rate varies with the card mix; premium rewards cards cost more, regulated debit cards cost less.
No account, PCI, statement, or chargeback fees are included; most of these providers charge none, but always check current terms.