The Best Dojo Alternatives for Restaurant Payments
Why restaurants look for Dojo alternatives
Dojo is a UK payment provider that sells mostly to hospitality and retail. You get card machines, payment processing and some basic POS features. Restaurants that leave usually mention one of these:
- Long contracts. Dojo contracts have often run for several years, with hefty fees if you leave early.
- The card machine doesn't talk to the till. Dojo's hardware doesn't integrate natively with most full restaurant POS systems, so payments live in one place and orders in another.
- No online or kiosk ordering. If you want to sell beyond the counter, you'll need another provider anyway.
- Pricing that moves. Some operators say their rates changed mid-contract.
If you're still in a Dojo contract, read the exit terms before you do anything. If you're past the minimum term, compare total costs, not just the headline rate.
What to look for in a Dojo alternative
Work out what you're actually replacing. Some restaurants just want a different card machine and acquirer. Others want a POS where the till and the card terminal talk to each other directly, so nobody keys amounts in by hand. And some want everything on one system: POS, online ordering, kiosks and payments.
Those are very different shopping lists. A cheap terminal is fine for the first. It's no use for the third.
The best Dojo alternatives for restaurants
1. Flipdish - best overall for restaurants
Flipdish is the one to look at if you want more than a standalone card machine.
Dojo is mainly a payment provider. Flipdish is a restaurant platform with POS, online ordering, self-service kiosks, branded mobile apps and integrated payments in the same system.
What that means day to day:
- In-person, online, kiosk and phone orders all come into one platform
- Card payments are integrated, so staff don't key amounts into the terminal and reconciliation happens automatically
- One menu, updated once, across every channel
- Built for restaurants, takeaways, cafés and hospitality groups
- Works for a single-site independent and for multi-location groups and franchises
- AI phone ordering is available as an add-on
- No middleware stitching separate systems together
If you take orders through more than one channel, a payment-only provider leaves most of the job undone. Flipdish covers all of it.
2. Square - for low-volume independent restaurants
Square sells card machines with basic POS software, and there's a free tier, which is why a lot of small operators start there.
There's no long-term contract. UK in-person processing is a blended rate of around 1.75%. The POS is basic next to restaurant-specific platforms, online ordering integration is limited, and it isn't built for running lots of sites.
3. SumUp - for simple no-contract payment processing
SumUp is cheap and simple. Terminals start at around £39, there's no monthly fee and no contract, and you pay about 1.69% per transaction.
That's about it, though. There's no real POS for table service or complicated menus, and no online ordering, kiosks or branded app.
4. Zettle by PayPal - for basic POS with easy card acceptance
Zettle pairs card terminals with a basic iPad POS. No long-term contract, and the in-person rate is around 1.75% blended. You get more POS than SumUp gives you, but it's still thin for a full-service restaurant, and there's no native restaurant online ordering integration.
5. Epos Now - for restaurants wanting standalone POS with payment options
Epos Now is a UK cloud POS with integrated payment options. It's more restaurant-focused than Square or SumUp and does a decent job for simpler operations.
It's a weaker fit once you're running several ordering channels. Online ordering and the advanced features cost extra.
Comparison table
| Provider | Contract | In-person payments | Online ordering | Kiosk | Multi-location | Built for restaurants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flipdish | Flexible | ✅ Integrated | ✅ Full platform | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Dojo | 3-5 year | ✅ Core product | ❌ | ❌ | Limited | Partial |
| Square | None | ✅ | Basic | ❌ | Limited | Partial |
| SumUp | None | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Zettle | None | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | Partial |
| Epos Now | Varies | ✅ | Add-on | ❌ | Limited | Partial |
Should you switch from Dojo?
- Are you still inside your minimum term? If so, work out the exit cost before anything else.
- Do you only need card payments, or a full platform? A payment-only provider won't give you online ordering, kiosks or a branded app.
- What do you pay per year, all in? Add up terminal rental, PCI fees, account fees and the processing rate. The rate on its own tells you very little.
- How many sites do you run? With more than one, central management across locations matters a lot more than which card machine you have.
The case for Flipdish
Dojo handles one thing: in-person card payments. Flipdish replaces the whole stack.
If you're a restaurant group, or a growing independent, and you want POS, online ordering, kiosks and payments in one system, Flipdish does that and a standalone payment provider doesn't. Payments sit inside the same platform as everything else, so you get one reconciliation, one dashboard and one support team to call.
Book a demo to see how Flipdish compares with your current setup.