Kaspa vs Zettle (iZettle) — feature and cost comparison

Zettle (formerly iZettle, now owned by PayPal) is the Square of Europe. Free POS app, slick card reader, pay-per-transaction model. If you sell at markets in London, Stockholm, or Berlin, you have probably tapped a Zettle reader at some point.

Zettle is honest about what it is — a payments product with a POS attached. This post is the honest comparison: where Zettle wins, where Kaspa wins, and which one is the right fit for a small shop in 2026.

If you are reading this from Sri Lanka, India, or anywhere else in South / SE Asia, save yourself five minutes: Zettle does not operate in your market. Same reason Square does not. Skip to the bottom for the “what to use instead” answer.

Where Zettle is available

Zettle currently operates in the UK, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Mexico, and Brazil. Not the US (PayPal Zettle US was discontinued). Not Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, or anywhere else in South / SE Asia.

If your country is not on that list, Zettle is not a real option for your shop. Kaspa works everywhere a browser does.

What Zettle actually charges

Like Square, Zettle’s POS app is “free” — the fees are per-transaction:

Country	Card-present rate (Visa / MC)
UK	1.75%
Sweden	1.75%
Germany / Netherlands	1.79%
Spain	1.75%
Mexico	2.75%
Brazil	2.99% (varies)

Zettle’s card-present rates are competitive — generally a bit lower than Square’s. Card-not-present (manual entry, invoices) is higher: usually 2.5%–3.5% depending on country.

The Zettle Reader (their card terminal) costs around £29 / €29 for the first one and £59 / €59 for additional units in most markets. Not free, but cheap.

This is a much fairer deal than Square’s flat 2.6% in the US. If you process £1,500/day in card sales in the UK on Zettle vs Square’s US rate, you save about £4,000/year in fees.

But — and this is the comparison post’s point — the POS itself, separated from the payment rail, is free on Kaspa. So:

Setup	POS subscription	Card fees	Notes
Zettle	$0	1.75%+ per transaction	Bundled rail, can’t separate
Kaspa + UK independent acquirer	$0	1.4%–1.9% typical	Negotiable rail, switch anytime
Kaspa + Stripe Terminal	$0	1.5% + 10p UK	Separate POS and rail

For a small UK shop with predictable card volume, Zettle is genuinely a good deal. For shops doing higher volume, an independent acquirer plus Kaspa is usually cheaper — and you keep the right to switch processors any time.

Feature-by-feature comparison

Setup time

Zettle: Download the app (Google Play or App Store), sign up with email, verify, set up a Zettle account (which is also a PayPal subaccount), wait for hardware to arrive, pair the reader, set up products, ring up first sale. 30 minutes if your reader is in hand. Several days if you ordered the reader.

Kaspa: Open pos.trykaspa.com in Chrome. Sign in with phone number. Add products by talking to the assistant. Ring up first sale. About 60 seconds. See the 10-minute setup playbook for the longer version.

Zettle is the typical “modern POS” experience. Kaspa is faster because there is no app store and no hardware-in-the-mail step.

Card processing

Zettle: Built in. You tap, the reader processes. Done.

Kaspa: Not built in. You select “Card” as the payment method and the card runs through whatever processor you have set up — Stripe Terminal, your existing acquirer, anything.

This is a real difference. If you do not have a card processor today and you want one in fifteen minutes, Zettle gives you that. If you already have a processor (or want to choose one independently), Kaspa is more flexible.

For 2026, our recommendation: if you are a brand-new shop with no existing processor and you operate in a Zettle country, Zettle has the lowest friction. If you have any volume or want negotiating power, run your processor separately.

Offline mode

Zettle: Has offline payments — you can take card payments offline for a window, but the transaction risk shifts to you (Zettle warns this in the app). Sales sync when online. Product edits require internet.

Kaspa: Fully offline-first. Every sale, every product edit, every report runs from local storage. Internet is for sync, not for operation. See how offline mode works in Kaspa.

For a market-stall vendor or a shop in a building with weak signal, Kaspa’s offline behaviour is meaningfully better. For a London cafe with stable WiFi, the difference is mostly invisible day-to-day — until the day the WiFi drops mid-rush.

Inventory

Zettle: Solid. Product list, stock tracking, low-stock notifications (in the app, manual check). 1,000–5,000 SKUs handled well; large catalogs need the paid Zettle Pro features.

Kaspa: Solid. Unlimited products. AI assistant surfaces stock alerts proactively without you having to open a dashboard. CSV import via AI column mapping; no fixed template required. See the features page.

If you are a single-table cafe with 30 menu items, both work fine. If you are a retailer with 2,000 SKUs and a distributor who emails you a price list once a month, Kaspa’s AI re-import is a real time saver.

Reports

Zettle: Daily / weekly / monthly reports in the app. Per-item, per-staff, per-payment-method. Solid, if you are happy clicking through tabs.

Kaspa: “How much did I sell today?” “Best product this week?” “Compare to last month?” The assistant answers in plain language. No dashboards.

The dashboard vs conversation difference is a matter of taste. For owners who like clicking through reports, Zettle’s UI is fine. For owners who want the answer in one sentence, Kaspa’s assistant is faster.

Hardware

Zettle: Their reader, their dock, their printer (or supported third-party thermal printers). Generally proprietary-leaning but with some flexibility.

Kaspa: Any 58 / 80 mm thermal printer. Any USB or Bluetooth barcode scanner. Any cash drawer. No first-party hardware. We do not sell hardware.

If you like Zettle’s reader and want everything from one supplier, Zettle is convenient. If you want to use a cheap thermal printer from a local supplier and not pay £159 for a “Zettle-approved” one, Kaspa is the answer.

Language support

Zettle: English plus the national languages of the countries it operates in. Strong UI translation.

Kaspa: 23+ languages including Sinhala, Tamil, Hindi, Tagalog, Bahasa, Thai. AI assistant is conversationally fluent, handles code-switching, understands informal phrasing. See multi-language POS for the deeper take.

If you operate in a Zettle-supported country and your staff speak the local European language, Zettle is fine. If your staff speak Sinhala or Tamil, Kaspa is the only real option.

Restaurant / table service

Zettle: Has table service on its paid Zettle Pro plan. KDS available.

Kaspa: No table service in product today; roadmap item. Excellent for takeaway, counter-service cafes, food trucks.

If you run a sit-down restaurant with covers and bills split across tables, Zettle Pro is the better fit today. Kaspa is on its way but not there yet.

Pricing tiers

Zettle: Free POS, per-transaction card fees, optional Zettle Pro at €29/month for restaurant features.

Kaspa: Free core POS, no per-transaction fees, future optional Pro tier for premium AI and advanced analytics. See pricing for the current line items.

The honest matrix

	Kaspa	Zettle
Available in Sri Lanka / SE Asia	Yes	No
Available in UK / EU	Yes (browser)	Yes
Available in US	Yes	No (US was discontinued)
Per-transaction POS fee	$0	None on the POS, but card rail is bundled
Card processing	Use your own	Built in (1.75%+)
Install required	No (browser)	Yes (app)
Hardware required	No	Card reader recommended
Works fully offline	Yes (sales + edits)	Partial
AI assistant	Yes	No
Multi-language	23+ languages	National languages of supported markets
Time to first sale	60 seconds	30 minutes + reader delivery
Table service	Roadmap	Yes (Zettle Pro)

Where Zettle is genuinely the right call

Three scenarios:

You are a UK / EU market trader without any card processor today. Zettle gets you tapping cards faster than anyone else, and the rates are fair. Buy the reader, sign up, go.
You run a sit-down restaurant and need table service today. Zettle Pro covers this. Kaspa does not yet.
You are deeply embedded in the PayPal ecosystem already. Zettle settles into your PayPal balance. If that flow matters to you, the integration is real.

Where Kaspa is the right call

You are outside Zettle’s supported countries. Kaspa works in Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and everywhere else a browser opens.
You want a $0-per-transaction POS and your own choice of card processor.
You want to start in 60 seconds without ordering a card reader.
You serve customers in Sinhala, Tamil, or another non-European language and want the POS to speak it.
Your shop sees regular connectivity drops and you need true offline-first behaviour.

For most shops in our target geography — South Asia and SE Asia — Zettle is simply not available, so the comparison is academic and Kaspa wins by walkover. For UK / EU shops weighing a like-for-like, the question is whether you want the convenience of a bundled card rail (Zettle) or the flexibility of an unbundled one (Kaspa + your own processor).

What if I am in Sri Lanka / India / Philippines and was hoping for Zettle?

Open pos.trykaspa.com. Sign in with your phone number. The POS works. Card processing is handled by a local provider — PayHere in Sri Lanka, Razorpay in India, GCash / PayMaya in the Philippines, etc. — and you select “Card” as the payment method in Kaspa.

It is not the all-in-one box Zettle is, but it is available, it is free, and it works on the phone in your pocket. See Kaspa vs Square for a longer take on the “Western POS not available here” theme.

The pitch in one sentence

If Zettle works in your country and you want a card reader bundled with the POS, it is a solid choice. If you want a free, unbundled, browser-based POS that works anywhere and lets you pick your own processor, that is Kaspa — try it at pos.trykaspa.com.