Arcane POS vs Clover: Side by Side Comparison

by Michael Roche - March 4, 2021

Pitting the Arcane POS vs Clover is an interesting comparison: both systems can be used across a range of industries, including retail, restaurant and other service industries … So, which is best for your needs?

To start off, let’s talk about what matters most in these side-by-side comparisons—what you get vs what you pay for. To do that, we’ll need to understand the hardware and software comprising each system.

Arcane POS vs Clover: How These Two Point of Sale Systems Compare

Arcane POS System

With the Arcane POS, you’re basically pairing one of two affordably priced mobile card readers – either the BBPOS WisePOSE E (previously VerifoneP400) or Stripe M2 (previously BBPOS Chipper) – with a device of your choosing to process your customers’ payments through our Stripe Virtual Terminal.  Not using Stripe?  Our other processing partners also support similar readers such as the Ingenico Moby.

If you go with the Verifone P400, you’ll be able to pair it with anything that has a browser and WiFi – computers, tablets, and cell phones are all fair game. The Bluetooth-based BBPOS Chipper (more limited in terms of compatible devices but also cheaper) pairs with any mobile Android or iOS device. Whatever device you end up using with your chosen card reader, it’s from there that you’ll access our Virtual Stripe Terminal to process payments.

The Arcane POS system is a common choice among retail merchants for its inventory management capabilities, but we should also mention that our Stripe WooCommerce Plugin often supplements the Arcane POS system to make it effective across any number of industries with your own fully customizable web interface on WooCommerce. Both the Arcane POS product and our WooCommerce plugin conveniently sync directly with your existing ecommerce website (in some instances, they’ll sync up with your ERP software, too).

Clover POS System

As we’ve already mentioned, Clover offers a number of POS system options across industries. For this comparison, we’ll be focusing on the industry-agnostic “Station for any Business” product.

Equipped with a number of bells and whistles including a cash drawer and receipt printer (enhanced by hover/tap payment technology), the hardware components to this solution are comprehensive. The touchscreen has a swipe/insert card reader and payment processor, with swivel capabilities to swing back and forth between the merchant and the customer.

As you might expect, the integrated Clover POS system runs on Clover software. Though a closed system like Clover’s comes with perks – including robust Clover apps designed to help improve both your business operations and sales – one big drawback is that you can’t separate the payment processing from the POS. That means if you have an existing ecommerce site or external ERP tools, the onus will be on you to complete your data transmission.

POS Pricing – Hardware, Software, Payment Processing Fees

Arcane POS Price – The Arcane POS solution is competitively priced and comes with options to accommodate your budget and meet the needs of your business operations.

With the Virtual Terminal, your monthly subscription fee is $25 and your transaction fees can be as low as 2.7% plus 15 cents per transaction.

The cost of the mobile card reader hardware varies between the two compatible devices: if you go with the WiFi/browser-compatible Wise POS E or P400, you can own it for $299 or pay $50/month to rent; if you choose the Bluetooth (Android/iOS-compatible) BBPOS Chipper, it’s available for purchase at just $60.

Clover POS Price – Clover’s pricing options vary depending on whether you buy direct from Clover or if you choose to go through a third party – like a bank, merchant service provider, or business supplier. We’ve included the costs associated with the “Station for Any Business” offering when purchased directly from Clover below:

Hardware cost (includes station, cash drawer, and receipt printer): $1,399

Transaction fees: In-person transactions – 2.3% plus 10 cents per transaction; Keyed-in transactions: 3.5% plus 10 cents per transaction

Arcane POS vs Clover Wrap-up

We know all that’s a lot to process, so if you want a quick summary, here’s a quick rundown of the pros and cons of each:

Arcane POS vs Clover: Pros & Cons

Arcane POS Pros

• Syncs directly with your ecommerce website
• Highly customizable for any web developer
• Lower Start-up Costs

Clover POS Pros

• Impressive additional integrations available for purchase in app store
• Clean, sleek design
• Lower fees

Arcane POS Cons

• Customizable solutions require some limited technical knowledge (or at least the patience to walk through 20 minutes of setup)
• You’ll need to provide your own monitor (tablets, laptops, mobile devices, or otherwise) to run the UI

Clover POS Cons

• Closed system doesn’t allow for separation of POS from payment processing
• Very expensive hardware costs

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