SumUp vs Zettle vs Aphelios: Which Is Best for UK Small Business? 2026

Written by Calvin Lo, Founder of Aphelios Software | August 2026 | 8 min read

Choosing the right payment and business platform is one of the most important decisions for UK small businesses. SumUp and Zettle are two of the most popular card payment providers, but they serve a different need than all-in-platforms like Aphelios. This guide compares all three so you can make an informed choice for your business.

Quick Comparison: SumUp vs Zettle vs Aphelios

SumUp Overview

SumUp is a straightforward card payment solution popular with UK micro-businesses, market traders and sole traders. Its main strengths are simplicity and low cost: the card reader is affordable (from around £19) and the flat 1.69% transaction fee is competitive. SumUp also offers a basic product library for quick checkout, but this is not a full inventory management system. There is no stock tracking, no purchase orders, no CRM and no invoicing.

Zettle Overview

Zettle (owned by PayPal) offers a similar card payment service with a few additional features. Zettle includes basic inventory tracking (you can add products and see stock counts), employee management and integration with PayPal. The transaction fee is 1.75%. However, like SumUp, Zettle is primarily a payment solution rather than a full business platform. It lacks CRM, proper inventory management, purchase orders and multi-location support.

Aphelios Overview

Aphelios is an all-in-one business platform that includes payment processing (via Stripe), full inventory management, POS system, CRM, purchase orders and invoicing. Unlike SumUp and Zettle, Aphelios is designed to replace multiple separate tools with a single integrated platform. It starts at £0/month for the free plan, with paid plans from £29.99/month. All UK customer data is hosted on Microsoft Azure.

Which Should You Choose?

• Choose SumUp if: You are a sole trader or micro-business that only needs card payments and does not sell physical products requiring inventory tracking.
• Choose Zettle if: You want card payments with basic product tracking and prefer PayPal integration.
• Choose Aphelios if: You need full inventory management, POS, CRM and payments in one platform. Particularly valuable for retail shops, B2B sellers and any business managing physical stock.