Run the register free for three months, then $9 a month. We never take a cut of a counter sale — not during the free months, not after, not ever. A full team of skilled employees costs less than a shift.
Free for your first 90 days. Everything you need to run the counter, and every sale is yours to keep.
A typical POS subscription elsewhere runs $60–165 a month once the add-ons are in.
Pick any one of the eight. Most people start with Closer, who closes sales while you sleep.
A part-time hire for the same job typically runs $1,500+ a month — and works one shift.
A full team, working from the same products, the same numbers and the same customer list.
One full-time employee typically costs $3,000+ a month before taxes and cover. This is eight, for $49.
Each register is $9 a month once its first 90 days are up, and every shop hires at the same price as your first. Take on all eight and every register goes free again.
| Per register / per shop | Price |
|---|---|
| The register | $9 / month |
| One employee | $19 / month |
| All eight | $49 / month |
| The register, with all eight | Free |
Opening prices for the US. We take 0% of counter sales on every register, on every plan.
You wouldn't give a new hire the keys on day one. Same here — your employees take on more as they earn your trust, and you sign off on every step.
Hire Closer for $19 a month. It answers customers and writes up orders — the work is waiting for you to check each morning. You'll see every conversation and exactly what each one cost.
Instead of a $1,500+/month part-timer covering one shift.
When the work's been good, give it more. Let Closer follow up with regulars when their favourites come back in — it drafts the message, you read it and say go ahead. More reach, still your say-so.
Promote the whole shop to all eight for $49 — support, books, stock, marketing, the lot — and every register goes free. Add them all at once or one at a time. Demote or pause anyone, any month.
Eight roles that would cost thousands a month to staff, for less than one shift.
Hiring figures are typical US costs for part-time and full-time staff — wages, taxes and cover vary by state and trade. The point stands anywhere: the team costs less than one hire's first week.
Square, Clover, Toast, Shopify, Odoo — fine registers, all of them. Here's what only Carto brings to your counter.
| What you're comparing | Carto | Square & Clover | Toast & Shopify | Odoo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skilled AI employees who sell for you | Eight, from $19 | — | — | — |
| Answers customers 24/7, in any language | Built in | — | — | — |
| Markup on card processing | None — Stripe's rate, exactly | Processing is the business model | Processing plus subscriptions | Depends on setup |
| The register | 90 days free, then $9 | Free tier, paid plans above | Monthly plans and contracts | Priced per app and per user |
| Hardware | At cost, never leased | Sold and financed | Often on contract | Bring your own |
| A shopping app that brings you customers | Yes — you pay only when it delivers | — | Online store, your own traffic | — |
| Set up without a consultant | This afternoon | Yes | Onboarding programmes | Usually needs a partner |
Based on how each product is publicly priced and sold as of mid-2026 — check their sites for current details. The short version: everyone else sells you a till. Carto staffs the shop.
Your register runs the shop. The Carto shopping app is the sales channel you switch on top of it — an exclusive storefront with your whole team behind it. When it brings you a sale, our commission is half of Amazon's published rate for that category. Every category, every time.
And lower than Etsy too, once their listing fees and ad surcharges are counted — here there are no listing fees and no ad surcharge. Counter sales and customers who came to you on their own stay at 0%, always.
Then just use the register. Free for 90 days, $9 a month after that, and it's the whole thing — opening up and cashing out, one stock count, receipts, refunds and cash sales that keep working if the wifi drops. Hire when you're ready, not before. Either way, we take nothing off what you sell over the counter.
No. The card fee is whatever your card company charges, passed straight through. Nothing added on, nothing rounded up, no markup called a "service fee". If our shopping app brought you the customer, the commission — half of Amazon's rate for that category — is its own line you can see, never tucked inside a card rate.
No. There's no Carto wallet and no balance sitting with us. Payments run through Stripe and land in your own bank account. If we've earned a cut it comes off at the moment of the sale, in the open. Your money is yours the second it arrives.
Every conversation your employees have costs real money to run, so there's a monthly price and we show you the meter rather than pretending it's free. The $19 and $49 are opening prices for the US.
Every register gets its own 90 days free, then runs at $9 a month, and each shop hires at the same prices as your first — $19 for one, $49 for all eight. Take on all eight and the $9 is dropped on every register you run. Your stock and your numbers still come together in one place, so you can see the whole business at once.
Yes, month to month. Stand the team down and you drop back to the $9 register, keeping your products, your orders and your customers. No lease, nothing on finance, no long contract.
A lot of what gets billed elsewhere doesn't need to exist. Here's what you keep.
We take nothing off a counter sale, and there's no fee just for using it.
You pay the card company what the card company charges. Nothing on top.
No wallet, nothing to top up, no float sitting with us.
Card readers sold at what they cost us plus handling. Yours to own.
Open the register today and put your first employee to work on the next customer who messages.