# Clover — POS & Checkout Systems

Clover by Fiserv, Inc. holds a panel rating of 2/5 from 6 AI judges (category median 2.5/5), as of 2026-11-03. Provenance: provenance unknown; sovereignty: not determined.

- Vendor: Fiserv, Inc. (https://www.clover.com)
- Category: [POS & Checkout Systems](https://whats-best.ai/software/pos.md)
- Provenance (editorial classification): provenance unknown
- Canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/pos/clover
- Alternatives: https://whats-best.ai/software/pos/clover/alternatives ([markdown](https://whats-best.ai/software/pos/clover/alternatives.md))
- Data as of: 2026-11-04 · evaluated 2026-11-03 · oldest source captured 2026-11-03

**AI-generated.** Every score, rationale and verdict here is written by a panel of AI judges from public evidence — an analysis, not a hands-on test. Every fact quotes the vendor page it was read from. No score can be bought. How scores are made: https://whats-best.ai/methodology

## At a glance

- Vendor: Fiserv, Inc.
- Headquarters: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 3 Nov 2026
- Data hosting: Default not stated; pages mention United States [S4]
- Free plan: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 3 Nov 2026

## The panel's verdict

Clover is a Fiserv-backed point-of-sale system whose captured pages address the United States market. The bench scores it strongest on checkout and hardware at 6-7: a named device line from Go and Flex to Station and Kiosk, tabs, split bills, refunds and digital receipts, a documented kitchen display and a published Star and Epson printer list. Payments and fees span 4-6 — contactless and wallet payments, Tap to Pay on iPhone, next-day deposits, one published floor of "as low as 2.3% plus 10¢ per transaction" — with the fee-conscious merchant lowest at 4, because that rate varies by plan and agreement. Fiscal compliance scores 0: the rationales found no public information on a certified technical security device, DSFinV-K or the Austrian RKSV, and read the pages as United States-market material. Sovereignty ranges 0-2, the skeptic at 0, over Clover Network, LLC under New York law, hosting stated as the United States, and no public information on a data processing agreement or subprocessor list. Operations and locations, accounting and portability, and pricing transparency complete a mid-range picture at 4-5, 4-5 and 3-4.

**Speaks for it:**
- Checkout and hardware scores 6-7 on a named device line — Go, Flex, Mini, Station, Kiosk — with tabs, split bills, refunds, returns and exchanges, and digital receipts
- Payments are built in end to end — contactless cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay, Tap to Pay on iPhone with no extra hardware, next-day deposits — at one published floor rate
- The kitchen display carries public prices — $799 or $899 plus $25 per month per device — with multi-level fulfilment, expo mode and item-level routing
- A documented developer platform: public SDKs for Android, iOS, Windows and JavaScript, a hosted checkout API, and QuickBooks and Xero integrations
- Support is stated as 24/7 phone, with free overnight shipping on online orders once approved

**Held against it:**
- Fiscal compliance scores 0, with no public information found on a certified technical security device, DSFinV-K export or the Austrian RKSV
- Sovereignty scores 0-2: Clover Network, LLC contracts under New York law, hosting is stated as the United States, and the rationales found no public information on a data processing agreement or subprocessor list
- Pricing transparency scores 3-4: the card rate is a floor varying by plan and agreement, with no public software-plan, terminal, setup or support prices found
- Fees may be added or changed at any time with 30 days' notice, and either party may terminate on 30 days' notice
- Inventory and multi-branch management appear only as third-party app-market categories, and the captured employee-management page returned page not found

**Best for:**
- You run a single-location café or restaurant and need a documented kitchen display with expo mode, item-level routing and consolidated third-party orders
- You take cards and wallets at the counter and value Tap to Pay on iPhone with no extra hardware and next-day deposits
- Your team wants public SDKs and QuickBooks or Xero for the accounting handoff

**Avoid if:**
- You operate a till in Germany or Austria that must satisfy DSFinV-K or RKSV rules — the captured pages address the United States market and fiscal compliance scores 0
- Your data protection officer needs EU hosting, a data processing agreement and a subprocessor list — ask the vendor: the public pages we read do not show it
- You must compute a year's cost before signing — ask the vendor: the public pages we read do not show it
- You run several branches needing central stock management — the licence is written for a single location and inventory arrives through third-party apps

## Scores by judge and criterion

Scores out of 5, each judge scoring independently against the published rubric (v1). "n/r" = not rated: the vendor publishes no price, or the judge found no public information on that criterion.

| Criterion | The Café Owner | The Retail Shop Owner | The Tax Adviser | The Hospitality Operations Manager | The Fee-Conscious Merchant | The Skeptic |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Checkout, receipts & hardware | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3.5/5 |
| Card payments & fees | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 2/5 | 3/5 |
| Fiscal compliance (TSE, DSFinV-K, RKSV) | n/r | n/r | n/r | n/r | n/r | n/r |
| Inventory, tables, staff & locations | 2.5/5 | 2/5 | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 |
| Accounting handoff, DATEV & data export | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2.5/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 |
| European sovereignty | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 0/5 |
| Pricing transparency | 1.5/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 |
| **Weighted verdict** | **2.5/5** | **2.5/5** | **2/5** | **2.5/5** | **2/5** | **2/5** |

### The judges

- **The Café Owner** (v1.0): Runs a café with twelve tables, a counter and a terrace in summer, and closes the till herself at eleven at night. Wants an iPad till the student staff learn in one shift, orders that reach the kitchen printer, split bills and tips without arithmetic, a till that keeps selling when the Wi-Fi drops, a TSE she does not have to think about, and a monthly cost she can still read in the second year.
- **The Retail Shop Owner** (v1.0): Owns a stationery and gift shop with a second branch across town and about four thousand articles, many in several colours. Wants barcodes scanned at the till, stock that shows what the other branch still has, transfers between the two shops, suppliers and reorders in the same back office, vouchers that work in both branches, and the month's sales handed to the tax adviser without a USB stick.
- **The Tax Adviser** (v1.0): Looks after the books of sixty restaurants, bakeries and shops and has sat in on more than one unannounced Kassennachschau. Wants the TSE named with its certificate, a DSFinV-K export that opens in the auditor's software, the § 146a registration done, a procedure documentation that exists before it is asked for, a DATEV export with the right revenue accounts, and ten years of records still readable after the client changes tills.
- **The Hospitality Operations Manager** (v1.0): Runs operations for a group of eight restaurants in three cities with two hundred staff. Wants one menu and price list pushed to every site with local exceptions, staff rights that stop a waiter voiding his own bills, reports that compare sites by the hour, and a works council and data protection officer who can sign off what the till records about employees and loyalty guests, and where it is hosted.
- **The Fee-Conscious Merchant** (v1.0): Sells ice cream from a shop in spring and summer and from a market stall at Christmas, mostly in amounts under five euros, and more of them by card every year. Wants the fee per girocard and credit card payment on the price page, a terminal he can choose rather than the one the till insists on, hardware that runs off a battery, no monthly fee in the closed months, and the real cost of "free".
- **The Skeptic** (v1.0): Has seen a "free" till paid for twice over in card fees, printers that work with one vendor's software only, a TSE charged by the year on top of the licence, and a cancelled contract that left ten years of fiscal journals behind a login. Reads "100 % finanzamtkonform" with no TSE provider named and "DATEV-ready" with no export format — and asks what leaving would cost.

## European sovereignty — proven facts

Built only from facts on the vendor's own pages; a dimension we could not prove is left open, never scored as zero. Headline: not determined.

| Dimension | Finding | Points | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | Not determined | — | — |
| Hosting location | Not determined | — | — |
| Hosting options | Not determined | — | — |
| Open source | Not determined | — | — |
| Data processing agreement | Not determined | — | — |
| Transfer impact assessment | Not determined | — | — |

## Key facts

Each fact is the vendor's own statement, cited to the source page it was read from ([S*n*] → Sources).

**Compliance**
- CCPA: yes [S3]
- Pci certified: yes · yes [S7]
- Pci dss: annual · yes [S3]
- Privacy notice: Clover Privacy Notice at https://www.clover.com/ca/privacy-policy [S2]
- Privacy policy requirement: Merchants must provide link to their own terms of service and privacy policy via Dashboard [S2]

**Data**
- Breach notification: yes [S3]
- Data deletion on termination: Account Data deleted upon termination after reasonable extraction period [S2]
- Dnt: no [S3]
- HIPAA prohibited: Processing PHI under HIPAA and certain sensitive personal information prohibited without written consent [S2]
- Retention: as long as necessary for collection purpose or as required/permitted by law; no fixed period stated [S3]
- Rights fee: no · reasonable fee if clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive [S3]
- Rights response time: one month [S3]
- Update install 30 days: Merchant must install updates within 30 days of notice [S2]

**Hosting**
- Country: United States of America [S4]
- Headquarters: United States [S3]
- Shipping: one business day after approval · yes · yes [S5]

**Integrations**
- Accounting: QuickBooks · Xero [S7]
- Android pos sdk: Clover SDK for Android PoS Integration [S4]
- Android sdk: Clover SDK for developing applications on Clover Station/Mobile/Mini/Flex [S4]
- App market: third-party apps · yes · Yelp · Homebase · MailChimp · QuickBooks [S5]
- Developer workbench: Clover-Developer-Workbench repository exists [S4]
- Go ios payment sdk: SDK for Clover Go Credit Card Readers on iOS [S4]
- Google pay: Google Pay supported, subject to Google Pay API Terms of Service [S2]
- Hosted checkout API: Clover Hosted Checkout API example app [S4]
- Ios connector sdk: Clover Connector SDK for iOS [S4]
- Javascript connector: Clover Connector for javascript [S4]
- Marketplace categories: inventory management, employee scheduling, sales taxes, online ordering [S11]
- Printer compatibility: runner tickets printable on any network-connected printer [S9]
- Quickbooks: Quickbooks · accounting [S6]
- Windows sdk: Clover SDK for Windows PoS Integration [S4]

**Legal**
- Controller: Clover Network, LLC [S3]
- Effective date: 2026-07-30 [S3]
- Entity name: Clover Network, Inc. [S4]
- Entity US: Clover Network, LLC [S2]
- Governing law US: State of New York [S2]
- Jurisdiction US: County of Suffolk, New York [S2]
- Parent relationship fiserv: Fiserv Solutions, LLC Acceptable Use Policy forms part of the Terms [S2]
- Terms last updated: 2025-04-17 [S2]
- US notice address: Clover Network, LLC · 415 North Mathilda, Sunnyvale, CA 94085 [S2]

**Pricing**
- Consistent rates: yes [S7]
- Consolidated card rates: yes · yes [S5]
- Customer fees: Clover may charge merchant's customers fees for Clover Online Ordering and Clover Consumer App [S2]
- Dispute window 30 days: Fee disputes must be notified in writing within 30 days [S2]
- Fees changeable 30 days notice: Clover may change fees at any time with 30 days' notice [S2]
- Hardware promo: Station · Mini · Flex · 450 [S8]
- Hardware promotion: statement_credit · 450 · Station · Mini · Flex · USD · yes [S5]
- Kds14: KDS 14 inch · 799 · 25 [S9]
- Kds24: KDS 24 inch · 899 · 25 [S9]
- Lowest rate: 2.3 · 0.1 [S7]
- Promo statement credit: 450 · buy Station, Mini or Flex · yes [S10]
- Promotion 450 credit: Station · Mini · Flex · yes · 450 [S6]
- Promotion 450 credit: 450 · yes · Station · Mini · Flex [S9]
- Rate structure: Typically, Clover charges a percentage of each transaction's total, alongside a small fixed fee per transaction. [S7]
- Same rates all cards: yes [S6]
- Transaction fee: rates can vary by plan and agreement; as low as 2.3% + 10¢ · 2.3 · 0.1 [S5]
- Virtual terminal: yes · yes [S5]

**Product**
- Accepted payment methods: debit cards · credit cards · Apple Pay · other digital wallets [S8]
- Accounting firm solution: All-in-one business management solution marketed for accounting firms [S12]
- Add pos device later: yes [S6]
- AI output disclaimer: Clover disclaims liability for AI/ML-generated Output accuracy [S2]
- Alcohol sales requirements: Merchant responsible for alcohol licenses; US customers must be 21+ [S2]
- App market: Clover App Market with apps from Clover or third-party developers; separate agreements required [S2]
- Apple does not store card numbers: Apple does not store card numbers on device or Apple servers [S8]
- Automated decisions: only where required in connection with a contract, authorized by law, or with explicit consent · yes [S3]
- Availability limits: no [S8]
- Backing entity: backed by Fiserv [S11]
- Battery impact: no [S8]
- Biometric auth: biometric (fingerprint) payment/device authentication [S3]
- Bnpl: 4 · Klarna · yes · yes [S7]
- Bump bar kb9000: fully programmable kitchen display bump bar with touch operations [S9]
- Business types examples: Locksmith · Landscaper · Roadside assistance [S8]
- Cancellation refund merchant responsibility: Merchant solely responsible for cancellation/refund policies; Clover not responsible for refunds [S2]
- Cash discount: offset processing costs and provide customer incentives · yes [S7]
- Chatbot outputs: Clover Chatbot generating automated Outputs [S2]
- Cloud based: sales tracking · refunds · deposits · reports · yes [S5]
- Computer tablet mobile processing: accept all major credit and debit cards on computer, tablet, or mobile phone [S6]
- Customer management: birthdays · order histories · contact info · yes [S5]
- Dashboard: Clover Dashboard accessible via most internet browsers [S2]
- Data collected at pos: transaction data incl. payment card, name, e-signature, merchant name/location, date/time, amount, goods/services purchased [S3]
- Deals discounts: yes [S5]
- Deposits: next day [S7]
- Ecommerce receipts: yes [S3]
- Employee management: yes · yes · yes [S5]
- Employee management: yes · yes · yes · optional [S6]
- Employee tracking: yes [S3]
- Estimates to invoices: Estimates can be instantly converted to invoices [S12]
- Food ordering program: yes [S3]
- Fraud protection limit: 100000 [S7]
- Free overnight shipping: yes · online orders only, after approval [S7]
- Gift cards: yes [S5]
- Hardware lineup: Go · Compact · Flex Pocket · Flex · Mini · Station Solo · Station Duo · Kiosk · Kitchen Display System · countertop · portable · no device [S5]
- Heat tolerance: temperature resistant body [S9]
- Invoicing recurring: yes · yes [S6]
- Ios requirement: Requires supported payment app and latest version of iOS [S8]
- Kds orders from any device: Runner tickets printable directly from KDS to any network-connected printer [S9]
- Kds screen sizes: 14 · 24 [S9]
- Kds software features: multi-level fulfillment · expo mode · item level routing · prep time reporting · color-coded order status · runner ticket printing [S9]
- Liability cap: Liability capped at fees received in three months preceding liability month [S2]
- License scope: personal, limited, non-exclusive, revocable, non-transferable license · internal business use solely in Location [S2]
- Loyalty program: yes · yes [S5]
- Loyalty programs: yes [S3]
- Marketing campaigns: announcements · custom promotions · marketing campaigns · email · text · clover mobile app [S5]
- Marketing opt out: yes [S3]
- No additional hardware: No additional hardware needed; iPhone only [S8]
- No hardware pos: yes [S6]
- Offline payments: yes · yes [S7]
- Online ordering: yes · in-house · pickup · delivery · yes [S5]
- Online services food ordering: Food Ordering Program via Clover-hosted website [S2]
- Online services scheduling: Scheduling Program via Clover-hosted website [S2]
- Order consolidation: Consolidates on-premise and off-premise third-party orders in one place [S9]
- Order management: yes · yes · yes · sales · discounts · taxes · yes [S5]
- Organization followers: 119 [S4]
- Page not found: Page not found; no employee-management content present [S10]
- Paperless tickets: Orders from any device in the restaurant fire straight to the KDS [S9]
- Pay by bank: lower fees on larger purchases via direct bank login · yes [S7]
- Payment channels: Accept major cards, contactless wallets, and gift cards at the counter or on the go. [S7]
- Payment methods: yes · yes · yes · yes · yes · yes · yes [S5]
- Payment methods: ACH · debit · credit card [S12]
- Pos system: Clover is a POS system for small businesses [S1]
- Qr codes: on-screen QR codes · PayPal · Venmo · Klarna [S7]
- Real time reporting: yes · yes [S5]
- Reporting: prep time and fulfillment reporting [S9]
- Reports: reports on popular items, employee sales performance, daily totals, items sold, open orders [S6]
- Requires clover go app: Clover Go app required [S8]
- Scan to pay: yes · Clover Dining [S7]
- Screen treatment: anti-fingerprint and anti-glare treatment [S9]
- Setup: yes · yes [S5]
- Single dashboard online offline: yes · yes [S6]
- Speakers: bi-directional speakers [S9]
- Tap to pay iphone: yes · no [S7]
- Tap to pay iphone available: Tap to Pay on iPhone · yes [S8]
- Tax rates: yes [S7]
- Termination notice period: Termination of Clover Account by either party requires 30 days' notice [S2]
- Third party apps: Clover not responsible for privacy practices of third-party apps on POS · yes [S3]
- Tipping receipts: yes · yes · yes [S5]
- Transaction limits: yes [S8]
- Use alongside existing pos: use alongside existing POS solution [S8]
- Virtual terminal: computer · tablet · smartphone · yes · no [S7]
- Warranty disclaimer: Services provided as-is; all warranties disclaimed [S2]

**Support**
- Access with account: support access with Clover account [S6]
- Account data breach notification: Immediate notification required for loss/theft/unauthorized use of Account Data [S2]
- Channels: help center · contact sales · yes · yes [S5]

## Questions

### Is Clover European?

Not determined: the vendor’s pages as captured do not say where Clover is based.

### Where does Clover store data?

The default storage location for customer data is not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 3 Nov 2026. The vendor’s pages mention United States as hosting location, per [the vendor’s page captured 3 Nov 2026](https://whats-best.ai/evidence/17653).

### Does Clover have a free plan?

Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 3 Nov 2026.

### What are the best alternatives to Clover?

As of 3 Nov 2026, the panel rates [ready2order (3.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/pos/ready2order), [Square (3/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/pos/square) and [Gastronovi (3/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/pos/gastronovi) highest among the other 18 POS & Checkout Systems products evaluated. Ratings that look equal are rounded to half stars; the order uses the unrounded rating, then the name. The highest-rated European alternative is [ready2order](https://whats-best.ai/software/pos/ready2order) (EU-Made). Ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence: [how scores are made](https://whats-best.ai/methodology#ordering). The full list, with European products first: [Clover alternatives](https://whats-best.ai/software/pos/clover/alternatives).

## What this page leaves out

- 39 product facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 23 pricing facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 13 compliance facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 9 legal facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 5 integrations facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 2 hosting facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 2 support facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 1 data fact could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and was left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 2 sovereignty dimensions could not be confirmed on the vendor’s own pages and are shown as unknown.

## Sources

- [S1] Vendor page: https://www.clover.com (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S2] Terms of service — found from the homepage: https://www.clover.com/terms (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S3] Privacy policy — found from the homepage: https://www.clover.com/privacy-policy (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S4] Code repository (open-source licence) — found from the homepage: https://github.com/clover (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S5] Checkout, receipts & hardware — found from sitemap: https://www.clover.com/pos-systems (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S6] Checkout, receipts & hardware — found from sitemap: https://www.clover.com/no-hardware (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S7] Card payments & fees — found from sitemap: https://www.clover.com/pos-systems/accept-payments (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S8] Card payments & fees — found from sitemap: https://www.clover.com/tap-to-pay-iphone (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S9] Inventory, tables, staff & locations — found from sitemap: https://www.clover.com/kitchen-display-system (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S10] Inventory, tables, staff & locations — found from sitemap: https://www.clover.com/pos-systems/employee-management (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S11] Accounting handoff, DATEV & data export — found from sitemap: https://www.clover.com/developers (checked 2026-11-03)
- [S12] Accounting handoff, DATEV & data export — found from sitemap: https://www.clover.com/pos-solutions/accounting (checked 2026-11-03)

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Cite as: whats-best.ai, "Clover — POS & Checkout Systems", AI panel analysis, as of 2026-11-04. https://whats-best.ai/software/pos/clover

Corrections: https://whats-best.ai/correct/1473?target=page