Dojo for Business UK: Fees, Features and Honest Review (2026)

Dojo is a UK card machine and merchant services provider launched in 2019 as a trading name of Paymentsense Ltd (founded 2011, FCA reference number 738728). For businesses processing under £100,000 per year in card turnover, Dojo charges a flat 1.2% blended rate on all UK card transactions with no per-transaction pence fee. Above that threshold, pricing is custom-quoted. Terminals settle funds into your account by around 10am the next business day, the hardware supports over 600 EPOS integrations including Lightspeed and Tevalis, and UK-based phone support runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Contracts run for 12 to 36 months with early termination fees, so Dojo suits established face-to-face businesses in hospitality and retail far better than low-volume or online-first sellers.

Key Facts: Dojo UK

Who Is This Page For?

This page is for UK business owners researching Dojo card machines and merchant services. It is most useful if you run a restaurant, café, pub, salon, gym, independent retail shop or market stall and want to understand Dojo's transaction fees, hardware costs, contract terms and how it compares to rivals like Square, SumUp and Zettle. It is also useful if you have already received a Dojo quote and want to check whether the rates are competitive before you sign anything.

Who Is Dojo For?

Dojo is aimed squarely at UK businesses that take the majority of their payments in person. Restaurants, cafés, pubs, salons, gyms, market traders and independent retailers are its core audience. If card-present transactions make up the bulk of your revenue, Dojo's hardware and pricing model is built with you in mind.

The provider is a particularly strong fit for hospitality businesses. Its terminals integrate with popular EPOS systems including Lightspeed, Tevalis and Access Hospitality, so table-side payments and till reconciliation happen without manual entry. Businesses processing upwards of £10,000 per month in card turnover tend to see the best value from the pricing structure.

Dojo is not built for pure online sellers. Its payment gateway exists but is not its primary product. Very low-volume businesses taking only a few thousand pounds per month may also find the monthly terminal rental and contract commitment harder to justify. If flexibility matters more than rate, a no-contract provider like Square or SumUp is worth considering first.

Dojo Features

• Next-business-day settlement: Funds land in your account by around 10am the following business day. For cash-flow-conscious businesses, this is a genuine advantage over providers that settle weekly or hold funds on a rolling delay.
• Dojo app: A companion app for iOS and Android gives you a live view of transactions, daily takings, refunds and settlement status. You can manage multiple terminals from one dashboard, which is useful for multi-site operators.
• 600-plus EPOS integrations: Dojo connects with over 600 EPOS and software systems, including Lightspeed, Tevalis and Access Hospitality. This removes the need to reconcile card payments manually against your till.
• Tipping and gratuity prompts: Built-in tipping screens make Dojo popular with restaurants and hospitality venues that handle service charges at the point of payment.
• 24/7 UK-based phone support: Support is available around the clock, seven days a week. This matters when a terminal goes down mid-service on a busy Saturday evening.
• Virtual terminal: For businesses that occasionally take payments over the phone, Dojo's virtual terminal lets you key in card details securely without additional hardware.
• Multi-location management: Groups and franchises can manage payments across multiple sites from a single account, with separate reporting per location.

Dojo Fees and Pricing

Dojo charges a flat 1.2% blended rate on all UK card transactions for businesses processing under £100,000 per year in card turnover. There is no additional per-transaction pence fee on top of this rate. Above £100,000 per year, pricing moves to a custom-quoted model, so the rate you receive depends on your monthly card volume, business type and contract length.

To put the 1.2% rate in context: at £8,000 monthly card turnover (just under the £100,000 annual threshold), you would pay around £96 per month in transaction fees. At the same volume on Square's flat 1.75%, you would pay £140. That is a difference of roughly £44 per month, or £528 per year. The saving is real, but it only holds if you can accept the contract commitment that comes with it.

Hardware costs sit on top of transaction fees. Dojo charges a monthly rental fee for its terminals rather than a one-off purchase price. Rental typically runs from around £15 to £25 per terminal per month depending on the model and contract length. You do not own the hardware at the end of your agreement. Over a 36-month contract at £20 per month, that is £720 per terminal with nothing to show for it at the end.

There is no setup fee in most cases. Early termination fees do apply if you cancel before your contract end date. On a 24-month contract cancelled after 12 months, you would typically owe the remaining 12 months of terminal rental and any associated monthly charges. Always ask for the total early termination liability figure in writing before you sign.

Dojo Card Machine Hardware

Dojo offers three main terminal options for UK businesses. All accept contactless, chip and PIN, Apple Pay and Google Pay.

• Dojo Go: A handheld portable terminal designed for table-side and counter use. Popular with restaurants and cafés for its battery life and the ease of carrying it between tables. The Go is well-regarded for uptime and day-to-day reliability.
• Portable terminal: A standard portable card machine suited to retail and hospitality counters where a degree of mobility is useful but the terminal stays on-site.
• Countertop terminal: A fixed terminal for businesses where payments always happen at a single point, such as a till in a shop or a reception desk in a salon.

All Dojo terminals are rented on a monthly basis rather than purchased outright. You do not own the hardware at the end of your contract. If owning your card reader matters to you, Square, SumUp and Zettle all sell hardware outright.

Dojo vs Square UK

Square and Dojo both target UK businesses taking in-person payments, but they suit very different types of merchant. Square charges a flat 1.75% per transaction for UK cards with no monthly fee, no contract and no early termination fees. Dojo's 1.2% blended rate is lower, but it comes with a 12 to 36-month contract and monthly terminal rental that Square does not charge.

Square also lets you buy hardware outright from £19 for a basic card reader. At £8,000 monthly volume, Dojo's 1.2% costs roughly £96 in transaction fees versus Square's £140 at 1.75%. But adding £20 per month in terminal rental narrows that gap to £24 per month. For a business doing less than £5,000 per month, Square's flexibility is hard to argue against. See our Square vs Dojo comparison for a full side-by-side breakdown.

Dojo vs SumUp UK

SumUp charges 1.69% per transaction on its standard pay-as-you-go plan, or 0.99% per transaction on the SumUp One subscription at £19 per month. Hardware starts from around £39 for the SumUp Air reader, purchased outright. Dojo's 1.2% blended rate sits between these two SumUp options on a pure rate comparison, but Dojo adds contract lock-in and monthly terminal rental. SumUp suits sole traders and lower-volume businesses who want flexibility. See our SumUp vs Dojo comparison for the full picture.

Dojo vs Zettle (Zettle by PayPal) UK

Zettle by PayPal charges 1.75% per transaction with no monthly fees and no contract. Hardware starts from around £29 for a card reader, purchased outright. Dojo's 1.2% rate is lower, but only if you can commit to a fixed-term contract with monthly rental on top. Zettle suits flexible or seasonal businesses that cannot predict card volume from month to month. Dojo suits established venues with consistent high volumes that value faster settlement and deeper EPOS integration. See our full Zettle UK review for details.

Pros and Cons of Dojo

Pros

• Competitive flat rate: At 1.2% blended on all UK card transactions for businesses under £100,000 per year, the rate undercuts no-contract rivals like Square (1.75%) and Zettle (1.75%) by a meaningful margin at moderate volumes.
• Fast settlement: Funds in your account by around 10am the next business day is faster than many rivals, including some high-street banks with merchant services arms.
• Strong hospitality integrations: Over 600 EPOS connections mean Dojo sits natively inside many restaurant and retail workflows without additional reconciliation steps.
• 24/7 UK-based support: Round-the-clock access to UK-based agents is a real differentiator for businesses trading evenings and weekends.
• Reliable hardware: Dojo terminals have a solid reputation for uptime. The Go device is well-regarded for portable, table-side use in busy venues.

Cons

• Contracts lock you in: A 12 to 36-month term with early termination fees is a serious commitment. If your business changes or you find a better deal, leaving early is expensive.
• Opaque sales process: Pricing above £100,000 annual turnover is custom-quoted, which makes comparison harder. Some merchants report feeling pressured during the sales process, and charges can increase after the initial contract period ends.
• Terminal rental with no ownership: Paying £15 to £25 per month indefinitely means no asset at the end of your agreement. Over 36 months at £20 per month, you pay £720 per terminal for hardware you must return.
• Weak ecommerce offering: If you sell online as well as in person, Dojo's payment gateway is basic compared to Stripe or Opayo. You may end up managing two separate providers.
• American Express not standard: Dojo does not automatically include Amex acceptance. If a portion of your customers pay by Amex, confirm availability and the applicable rate before signing.

Dojo Reviews: What Merchants Say

Dojo holds a strong Trustpilot rating, typically cited above 4.5 out of 5, based on thousands of verified UK merchant reviews as of September 2026. Positive reviews frequently highlight the speed of settlement and the quality of phone support. Critical reviews cluster around the sales process and the difficulty of exiting contracts early. Reading both the five-star and one-star reviews on Trustpilot gives a more balanced picture than the headline score alone suggests.

Is Dojo Right for Your Business?

Dojo works well for UK hospitality and retail businesses taking a consistent volume of face-to-face card payments. The 1.2% blended rate is genuinely competitive for businesses processing under £100,000 per year. The next-day settlement, EPOS integrations and 24/7 support address real pain points in these sectors. For a busy restaurant or independent retailer doing £8,000 or more per month in card turnover, the proposition stacks up.

The contract structure demands careful attention before signing. Roger Milne, founder of Compare Card Fees, is direct about the risks: "Dojo has a bad reputation in the marketplace, misleading in their pricing strategy, pushy salespeople, and has a habit of increasing charges after a few years." That assessment reflects consistent feedback from merchants across the UK and is worth weighing seriously. Calculate your total cost across the full contract term, including terminal rental and the worst-case early exit cost, before you commit.

If you have received a Dojo quote and want to know whether it represents fair market value, Compare Card Fees can run a comparison for you at no cost. There is no obligation and no charge. Getting a second opinion before signing a 24 or 36-month agreement takes minutes and could save you hundreds of pounds.