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All comparisonsUpdated 2026-08-31
ComparisonSMB card reader & Tap to Pay app (PayPal)

Tapaya vs Zettle

Zettle, PayPal's card reader and Tap to Pay app for merchants, is being rebranded to PayPal Point of Sale. Tapaya works for both sides of that trade: merchants take Tap to Pay on the phone they already own, and software companies embed the same infrastructure under their own brand.

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At a glance

How Tapaya and Zettle differ

Zettle and Tapaya both let a merchant accept Tap to Pay on a phone, but Zettle built that on top of a card-reader hardware business first — its Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android option arrived years after the reader and terminal, and still runs on a PayPal merchant account. Tapaya, as a direct merchant, is Tap-to-Pay-native from the start, at a transparent 1.39% blended rate with no monthly fee. Tapaya also goes one step further: the same infrastructure is available as a white-label SDK, so a software company that wants to embed in-person payments into its own product, rather than sending merchants to a PayPal-branded app, can do that too. Zettle's own developer API lets a third party take payments through its reader hardware from inside another app, but the merchant account, dashboard and brand stay PayPal's.

  • Who it's built for

    Tapaya
    Direct merchants who want to take payments on a device they already own, and software companies that want to embed payments into their own product (POS vendors, vertical SaaS, marketplaces, banks, fintechs, kiosks/ERP).
    Zettle
    Individual merchants and solo businesses accepting card payments through a PayPal/Zettle account.

  • Embeddable under your own brand

    Tapaya
    Fully white-label, your app, your UI, your name end to end. Customers never see Tapaya.
    Zettle
    Zettle's developer API lets a third-party app take payments through its reader hardware, but the merchant account, dashboard and brand stay PayPal's — it isn't built to be resold as your own payments product.

  • Hardware requirement

    Tapaya
    None. The phone or tablet you already own is the terminal.
    Zettle
    Tap to Pay on supported iPhone and Android works hardware-free, but it sits alongside Zettle's card reader and standalone terminal, which most of its published product line still centers on.

  • Supported devices

    Tapaya
    Any commercial Android device — phones, tablets, kiosks and enterprise handhelds.
    Zettle
    Tap to Pay on supported iPhone and Android phones, plus Zettle's own Bluetooth card reader and terminal hardware.

  • Pricing & onboarding

    Tapaya
    One transparent blended rate, from 1.39%, no monthly fee, no lock-in, approved online in as little as 48 hours.
    Zettle
    Published card-present rates that vary by country, plus a one-off cost for the reader or terminal if you use one; no long-term contract stated.

  • Best fit

    Tapaya
    You're a merchant who wants a transparent flat rate with no lock-in on the phone you already own, or a software company that wants the same infrastructure under your own brand.
    Zettle
    You're a merchant already in (or open to joining) the PayPal ecosystem who wants a ready-made card reader or terminal, with phone-only Tap to Pay as an option rather than your primary way to take payments.

From card reader to Tap to Pay, not the other way round

Zettle started as a card-reader company — iZettle's Bluetooth reader, later a standalone terminal — and PayPal acquired it in 2018. Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android arrived years later as an addition to that hardware line, and PayPal has since begun rebranding the whole product to "PayPal Point of Sale," with the reader and terminal picking up PayPal names too. Tapaya was built the other way round: Tap to Pay on a device you already own is the whole product, not a software add-on to a hardware catalog. That shows up in practice — Tapaya has no reader to sell you, and the software-company SDK is the same infrastructure a direct merchant uses, not a separate developer program bolted onto a merchant app.

Where each fits

Choosing the right tool

Choose Tapaya when

You're a merchant who wants to take Tap to Pay on the phone you already own, at a transparent blended rate with no monthly fee and no lock-in, approved online in as little as 48 hours. Or you're a software company that wants in-person payments to be a native, branded part of your own product, not a link out to a PayPal-branded app.

Choose Zettle when

You're a merchant already using, or comfortable joining, PayPal's ecosystem who wants a ready-made card reader or terminal, with Tap to Pay on your own phone as an added option rather than the primary way you take payments. You don't need to embed or rebrand the payment experience inside a separate product of your own.

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Accurate as of 2026-08-31. Based on publicly available information; all product names and trademarks belong to their respective owners. Comparison based on publicly documented Zettle/PayPal Point of Sale product and pricing pages as of August 2026. Zettle is actively being rebranded to PayPal Point of Sale and pricing varies by country, so capabilities, naming and rates change over time — verify current details with PayPal directly.