Square
Simple, low-barrier POS for brick-and-mortar businesses
- Software
- $0+ per month
- In-person rate
- 2.6% + 15¢
Nashville, TN · Quick-service & cafés
Clover can work for quick-service and café businesses in Nashville, but it isn't our first pick for this segment (#5 of 5).
Running the numbers in Nashville: The combined sales-tax rate in Nashville is about 9.25%. Credit-card surcharging is permitted, capped at your cost of acceptance (and no more than ~3–4% under card-network rules). Debit cards can never be surcharged. 18–20% at restaurants; heavy bar and live-music trade downtown. Clover's pricing — $0+ per month (reseller-set) software and ~2.5% + 10¢ (reseller-set) in person — is the same wherever you are; these local rules are what change your take-home per ticket.
Cafés and quick-service counters need a fast checkout, modifiers and combos, online and app ordering, and loyalty that brings regulars back.
Rankings don’t change by city — among the 5 platforms we review that serve quick-service and café businesses, Clover ranks #5 for this use case (3.9/5 overall). What a local operator should weigh on top is city tax and tipping, covered above. See the full ranking in our best POS for quick-service & cafés guide .
Our top pick for quick-service & cafés
Simple, low-barrier POS for brick-and-mortar businesses
Clover can work for quick-service and café businesses in Nashville, but it isn't our first pick for this segment (#5 of 5). A free software tier keeps fixed costs down while you get running. On the local side, the combined sales-tax rate in Nashville is about 9.25%, and credit-card surcharging is permitted, capped at your cost of acceptance (and no more than ~3–4% under card-network rules). Debit cards can never be surcharged.
Pricing is the same nationwide: software $0+ per month (reseller-set), in-person processing ~2.5% + 10¢ (reseller-set), commitment 3-year contract. What changes locally is tax and tipping — the combined sales-tax rate in Nashville is about 9.25%, and 18–20% at restaurants; heavy bar and live-music trade downtown. Run a real month of Nashville card volume through our processing-fee calculator.
Credit-card surcharging is permitted, capped at your cost of acceptance (and no more than ~3–4% under card-network rules). Debit cards can never be surcharged. Clover and most POS systems can run a compliant surcharge or cash-discount program where it's allowed — see our cash-discount vs surcharge calculator.
Square is the closest alternative we'd shortlist (4.6/5). Compare them on our Clover vs Square page.
Tell us your setup and volume — we’ll come back with real pricing and the closest alternatives.