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SumUp comparison

Lympide or SumUp: two different business models

SumUp and Lympide do not sell the same thing. One is a payment provider whose register comes with card acceptance, the other a management tool billed at a flat rate. The right choice depends first on how much you take in.

In short

SumUp charges mainly a fee on every card payment — 1.75% with no subscription, 0.89% with the Paiements Plus plan at €19/month — and offers a register that is free or €39/month. Lympide takes no cut of your sales and charges €49 to €200 per month per location.

By L'équipe produit LympideUpdated

No credit card · No commitment · Register, inventory, margins and AI · NF525 requirements

Meets NF525 requirements
GDPR
Daily backups
1.75%

SumUp fee per card payment with no subscription, or 0.89% with Paiements Plus at €19/month.

sumup.com, accessed 28 July 2026
0%

Share of your takings kept by Lympide. Lympide is not a payment provider.

Lympide pricing
~€2,600

Monthly card volume above which SumUp states the Paiements Plus plan pays for itself.

sumup.com, accessed 28 July 2026
01

The real difference: transaction fee or flat rate

This is the only difference that meaningfully changes your total cost, and it is usually buried under feature comparisons.

At SumUp, the register is a lead product: free in its basic version, with revenue coming from the fee taken on every card payment. The more you sell, the more you pay, with no ceiling.

At Lympide there is no transaction fee: Lympide does not take payments and is not a payment provider. You keep your own terminal and card-acquiring contract, and pay a fixed subscription per location. The cost does not move when revenue grows.

In practice, a low-volume business will pay less with SumUp. A business taking tens of thousands of euros a month will pay considerably more in fees than in subscription — and the gap widens as trade grows.

02

Line-by-line comparison

The SumUp figures below were taken from sumup.com on 28 July 2026 and may change. Check them before deciding.

SumUp and Lympide compared, prices taken from the official sites on 28 July 2026.
CriterionSumUpLympide
Nature of the servicePayment provider with a built-in registerRegister and management software, no payment processing
Card transaction fee1.75% standard, 0.89% with Paiements PlusNone
Subscription€0 (basic register), €19/mo (Paiements Plus), €39/mo (Caisse Plus)€49 to €200/mo per location
Payment terminalSumUp hardware required, kits from €549 to €649Your existing terminal and acquiring contract
NF525 compliance (French fiscal rules)Certified, certificate downloadable from the customer accountCompliant, publisher's attestation
Inventory managementIncluded depending on planIncluded in every plan
Per-product margin managementNot highlighted in the public offerIncluded in every plan
AI copilot over management dataNot offeredFrom the Pro plan
Industry modulesDepending on planAll included, no add-on fee
03

When SumUp is the better choice

There are situations where the honest answer is SumUp, and where paying for Lympide would be money wasted.

  • You are starting out with low, irregular takings: a per-transaction fee costs less than a flat subscription.
  • You sell on the move, at markets or events, and need a standalone terminal more than a till station.
  • You have no acquiring contract yet and want the fastest possible setup: payments and register in a single contract.
  • Your needs stop at taking payment and tracking revenue, without margin analysis or restocking decisions.
04

When a management tool takes over

The switch rarely happens when you first buy a register. It happens once the register stops being the problem and management becomes one.

  • Your card volume passes a few tens of thousands of euros a month: the fee becomes your largest software cost.
  • You know your revenue but not your real margin per product.
  • Your inventory lives in a spreadsheet next to the register, and the two never agree.
  • You run several locations with no consolidated view.
  • Your accountant asks for exports you rebuild by hand every month.
05

What French e-invoicing changes for both

Neither solution exempts you from the French e-invoicing reform. Neither SumUp nor Lympide is registered as an approved platform, and a register is not meant to be one.

Whichever register you use, you must appoint an approved platform before 1 September 2026 to receive supplier invoices, then organise issuing and transaction reporting by 1 September 2027 if you are a small or medium business. That decision is yours to make with an approved platform, not with your register vendor.

What you get

  • SumUp earns on the transaction fee, Lympide on a fixed subscription.
  • Lympide takes no cut of your sales and leaves your acquiring contract alone.
  • Below a few thousand euros a month in card volume, SumUp costs less.
  • Above that, the gap reverses and grows with revenue.
  • Both cover NF525 fiscal compliance.
  • Per-product margin management and the AI copilot are specific to Lympide.
  • Neither exempts you from French e-invoicing obligations.
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Frequently asked questions

Is SumUp cheaper than Lympide?+

It depends entirely on your card volume. SumUp offers a free register but takes 1.75% of every card payment, or 0.89% with a €19/month plan. Lympide charges €49 to €200 per month per location with no transaction fee. Below a few thousand euros taken monthly, SumUp works out cheaper; above that, the flat rate wins.

Do I have to change payment terminal to use Lympide?+

No. Lympide is not a payment provider and does not replace your terminal: you keep your existing hardware and acquiring contract. That is a fundamental difference with SumUp, whose offer is built around its own hardware.

Is SumUp NF525 compliant?+

Yes. SumUp states that its register software is NF525 certified and provides a compliance certificate from the customer account. Lympide is compliant too, on the basis of a publisher's attestation, reinstated as valid proof by article 125 of the French Finance Act for 2026.

Can I use both?+

Yes, and it is a common setup: keep a SumUp terminal for taking payment and use Lympide for the catalogue, inventory, margins and accounting exports. You then pay the transaction fee on one side and the management subscription on the other.

Are these prices current?+

The SumUp figures quoted were taken from sumup.com on 28 July 2026 and may have changed since. Always check the vendor's current price list before deciding.

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