Stripe Terminal for restaurants: readers, rates and which POS runs on it

Stripe Terminal is Stripe's system for taking cards in person. It is a payments layer: readers, rates and tools that a point of sale builds on. It has no menu, table map or kitchen tickets of its own. A restaurant gets it through a POS that runs on Stripe, or by building its own app. Stripe prints its rate: 2.7% + 5¢ per in-person card.

That matters when you shop, because a POS built on Stripe can charge you a different rate from Stripe's page. This guide covers Stripe's readers and prices, what Stripe's no-code options can and cannot do in a restaurant, and restaurant systems that name Stripe on their own pages. For the rest of a POS budget, see our guide to what a restaurant POS costs.

Is Stripe Terminal a restaurant POS?

No. Stripe's Terminal page offers three routes: "Develop your own custom POS app, choose from hundreds of third-party POS and commerce integrations, or use Stripe's no-code solution."

The no-code route is standalone mode on a reader, or the Stripe Terminal app on a phone. Stripe's guide to those ready-made apps is plain about their limits: they "aren't a point-of-sale system, cash register, or fiscal system," and their receipts are card-payment confirmations only. Both need an internet connection and do not take offline payments. A restaurant would still need a POS for its menu and kitchen tickets.

So for a restaurant, the real choice is the POS. If you are new to the parts of a POS, start with what a restaurant POS does.

Which Stripe readers could a restaurant use, and what do they cost?

Prices come from Stripe's US pricing page and each reader's page on the devices page. Your POS decides which readers it supports, so check its list first.

Reader	What Stripe says it is for	Price and key specs
Stripe Reader M2	Compact mobile reader that pairs by Bluetooth with a phone or tablet running the POS	M2: $59. Tap, chip and swipe; about 28 hours of active use; offline mode listed. Dock $19
Stripe Reader S700	5.5-inch touchscreen for counter or handheld use, and can run your POS app on the reader	S700: $299. Wi-Fi, or Ethernet through a hub or dock; about 15 hours of active use. Hub $39, dock $49, case $19
Stripe Reader S710	The S700 with 4G/LTE added	S710: $299, plus $10 per reader per month for cellular. Same hub, dock and case prices
BBPOS WisePOS E	Touchscreen smart reader for counter or handheld use	WisePOS E: $249. Wi-Fi, or Ethernet through its dock ($49); about 12 hours of active use
Verifone V660p	Handheld reader with a built-in receipt printer (40 mm paper)	No price printed; contact Stripe sales
Tap to Pay on iPhone or Android	Takes contactless cards on a compatible phone with no reader	No device cost; 10¢ extra per authorization

The S700 is worth a look for a dining room, since a POS can run on it and Stripe lists it for handheld use. Stripe's Terminal page describes Dripos, a coffee shop POS, running its app on the S700 at the counter, at the table and at pop-ups.

What does Stripe charge per card?

Stripe's pricing page prints these Terminal fees for the United States:

• Domestic cards and wallets in person: 2.7% + 5¢ per successful transaction.
• International cards: an extra 1.5%.
• Tap to Pay on a phone: an extra $0.10 per authorization.
• Optional point-to-point encryption (P2PE): an extra $0.05 per authorization.
• Cellular on the S710: $10.00 per reader per month.
• Online cards, for comparison: 2.9% + 30¢ per successful domestic card, plus 0.5% for cards typed in by hand.

These are the rates on Stripe's own page. A POS built on Stripe may print a different rate on its own pricing page, as the next section shows.

Which restaurant systems run their payments on Stripe?

These three name Stripe on their own pages or in their own press release. Each sets its own price.

System	What it says about Stripe	Price it prints
Dripos (coffee shops and cafes)	Its pricing page says the POS is "built on Stripe's secure payment infrastructure" and in-person cards are "processed through Stripe's PCI-compliant systems"	Dripos: $160/month; card present 2.6% + 15¢; online or app 2.6% + 30¢
Olo Pay (ordering for restaurant brands)	Olo's February 2025 press release with FreedomPay says Olo Pay launched with Stripe for digital payments in 2022 and can now white label Stripe's processing on in-person POS transactions	Olo's Olo Pay page prints no rate
TAB POS (desktop restaurant POS)	Its home page says payments are "Powered by Stripe Terminal" and "billed directly by Stripe at standard rates," using readers bought or leased from Stripe	Its pricing shows early-adopter discounts beside standard plan prices; confirm which applies to you

What would a month of card fees cost? A worked example

The café here is made up. It takes $30,000 a month in card sales across 2,000 payments, a $15 average, all domestic cards tapped or dipped at the counter. It leaves out software, hardware, tax and online orders.

Rate	Percentage part	Fixed part and total
Stripe's printed Terminal rate, 2.7% + 5¢	Stripe percentage: $810	Stripe fixed: $100; Stripe total: $910
Dripos card-present rate, 2.6% + 15¢	Dripos percentage: $780	Dripos fixed: $300; Dripos total: $1,080

At a $15 average, the fixed fee decides which rate costs less. The 10¢ gap per payment costs $200 a month, and the 0.1-point gap in the percentage saves $30. The two rates cost the same at a $100 average payment. Below that, a lower fixed fee wins. If 500 of the 2,000 payments came through Tap to Pay on a phone at Stripe's printed rate, add $50.

A café comparing these two would also add the $160 Dripos subscription and set it against whatever POS software it would run with Stripe directly. Price the whole month, then compare.

What happens when the internet drops?

Stripe's offline payments guide says a reader or the POS can store payments and forward them when the connection returns. The M2, S700, S710 and WisePOS E pages list offline mode. Swiped cards are not allowed offline, and the guide makes you responsible for any payment the card's bank declines once you reconnect. Tap to Pay on Android does not work offline, and neither do Stripe's no-code apps. Whether your restaurant gets offline payments depends on your POS building it in, so ask. Our POS offline mode guide compares how other systems handle an outage.

What should you ask a POS that runs on Stripe?

1. Is my contract with you, with Stripe, or both? Who do I call about a held payout or a dispute?
2. What is my in-person rate, typed-in rate and online rate, in writing? Is it Stripe's printed rate or yours?
3. Which Stripe readers does your app support, and does it run on the reader (S700, S710) or on a separate tablet?
4. Do you support offline payments, and what limit can I set per payment?
5. Does the reader print, or do receipts and kitchen tickets go to a separate printer?
6. Do I buy readers from Stripe or from you, and who handles a replacement?
7. What does the software cost per month and per extra device, at your standard price?

If you take phone orders too, check that your POS is on Maple's integrations page before you choose, since Maple Pro writes phone orders into a POS.

Published by Maple. This AI-assisted guide combines Stripe's own US pricing, device and documentation pages with pages published by Dripos, Olo and TAB POS, plus an original fee example using a made-up café. It does not report hands-on testing of Stripe hardware or of any POS named here.