Overview

PayAnywhere is a point-of-sale and payment service for businesses that want to handle sales alongside basic operational tasks. It is best suited to U.S. merchants who need both in-person acceptance and ways to collect payments remotely. Its broad payment toolkit is balanced by transaction-based costs and a service area limited to the United States.

Key features

Payment acceptance

Merchants can accept EMV chip, contactless, magstripe, PIN debit, and EBT payments, as well as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and other digital wallets. Tap to Pay and offline payments are supported, and the product does not require a reader. That gives merchants options for counter and mobile sales without making a hardware reader a prerequisite.

The browser-based Virtual Terminal handles orders taken online or by phone without hardware. Payment Links support fixed, multiple, or open-ended amounts, and can be shared by email or text, embedded as a button, or presented as a QR code. Recurring payments are supported, making the service useful for more than one-off in-person sales. PayAnywhere describes encryption and tokenization protections for both the Virtual Terminal and Payment Links.

Inventory and operations

The cloud catalog includes categories, price variants, modifiers, bulk uploads, discounts, stock alerts, and sales tracking. These controls suit merchants with changing product selections or stock to monitor, though the breadth of tools will matter less to a business that only needs to take occasional payments.

Reporting covers sales, customers, employees, inventory, deposits, and chargebacks, with exports and scheduled email reports. Merchants can export transactional data to QuickBooks, and Chargezoom syncs PayAnywhere transactions with QuickBooks Online. Employee roles range from administrator to reporter; a Homebase partnership adds scheduling, time tracking, and payroll. Next-day funding is the default, while same-day funding is available at no charge subject to the stated processing cutoffs. PCI Plus includes dedicated support and the SecureTrust platform; eligible Level-3 or Level-4 businesses may receive up to $100,000 in breach-related expenditure protection.

Pricing

PayAnywhere offers a free plan and a Pay as you go option with no listed plan price: 2.69% for swipe, dip, or tap transactions and 3.49% + $0.19 for keyed transactions. The difference makes transaction type a meaningful cost consideration, particularly for businesses taking many remote or manually keyed payments. Custom pricing is based on processing volume, average transaction amount, and other business factors, so it may be worth considering for merchants seeking rates tailored to their activity.

The service supports a range of payment types, but businesses should weigh those transaction fees against the value of its inventory and back-office features. There is no reader requirement, which avoids making a dedicated reader a condition of using the service.

Platforms

PayAnywhere is available on Android, iOS, and the web. Its services may be used only in the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, so it is not suitable for businesses operating outside that area.

Who it's for

PayAnywhere fits U.S. businesses that want to combine payment acceptance with inventory tracking, employee roles, and reporting, especially those that take orders by phone or online as well as in person. Merchants looking only for a way to issue invoices may prefer a more focused alternative, while businesses outside the permitted service area should look elsewhere.

Pros and cons

Pros: Hardware-free browser payments and configurable Payment Links cover remote and phone orders as well as in-person sales.
Pros: Inventory, sales reports, scheduled emails, and QuickBooks data export bring useful operational tools alongside payment processing.
Pros: Next-day funding is the default, with same-day funding offered at no charge subject to cutoff times.
Cons: Keyed transactions cost 3.49% + $0.19, higher than the 2.69% rate for swipe, dip, or tap, making remote payment mix important.
Cons: Use is limited to the 50 states and Washington, D.C., ruling it out for merchants needing service elsewhere.

Alternatives

PayPal Invoicing is a better fit for businesses centered on sending invoices: its free plan lets users create and send invoices without setup or subscription fees, though transaction fees apply when customers pay.

Zeller offers a free-to-run POS plan with no monthly subscription or software licence fee, but requires a Zeller Terminal and transaction fees apply.

Lopay offers an Essential plan with no monthly fee, unlimited team members, Thursday bank payouts, and $10 in processing fees waived per $100 spent on card; consider it if those terms suit your team and payout needs.

Paid for Stripe charges no monthly or setup fees and adds a 0.99% fee per transaction on top of Stripe’s standard fees, making it an option for businesses already considering Stripe.

QuickBooks GoPayment is a free app for Android and iOS, but requires a QuickBooks Payments account and is subject to eligibility, credit, and application approval.

SwipeSimple offers an eligible-business plan where the business pays $0 to process and card-paying customers cover a 3.5% card fee; eligibility is required.

Helcim has no account monthly fees and uses interchange-plus rates that vary by volume, a different pricing model for businesses comparing payment costs.

SumUp Invoices offers a free plan with unlimited invoices and quotes, recurring invoices, and customer management, making it a focused alternative for invoicing workflows.

For broader category comparisons, see Mobile Payment Processing Software and Point-of-Sale Software.

Verdict

PayAnywhere is a strong fit for U.S. merchants who want one service for in-person payments, remote checkout, inventory, and reporting. Its hardware-free Virtual Terminal, flexible Payment Links, and operational tools are the main reasons to choose it. Look elsewhere if your business operates beyond the permitted U.S. area or if keyed-payment fees make the pricing a poor match for your sales mix.

	LS Retail	PayAnywhere
Free plan	No	Yes
Free trial	No	No
Paid from	—	Free
Open source	No	No
Platforms	Android, iOS, Web, Windows	Android, iOS, Web
Free plan	No	Yes
Inventory management	Yes	—
Multi-location support	Yes	—

LS Retail vs PayAnywhere

LS Retail

PayAnywhere