A smart cooler that sells $500 a month pays its platform between $64.75 and $177.50 of it on the nine platforms that publish exact fees. That is 13% to 35.5% of sales, before product, the location’s commission, or sales tax. SandStar publishes only a range, which works out to $55 to $90.
The spread comes from how each platform splits its charges between a fixed monthly fee, a percentage, and a per-transaction fee. The table runs the same month through each one.
The same month on each platform
The sample month is $500 of sales across 200 purchases, an average of $2.50 each. Cantaloupe’s 2026 report put the average cashless vending purchase at $2.45 (Cantaloupe16).
| Platform | Fixed monthly | % of sales | Per transaction | Month’s fees | Share of sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 365 CV Vantage | $35.00 | $29.75 | — | $64.75 | 13.0% |
| Haha, on Wi-Fi | $25.00 | $29.75 | $10.00 | $64.75 | 13.0% |
| Vendera | $40.00 | $29.25 | — | $69.25 | 13.9% |
| ReyVend, on Wi-Fi | $34.99 | $29.75 | $10.00 | $74.74 | 14.9% |
| Grabot | $40.00 | $27.50 | $10.00 | $77.50 | 15.5% |
| Cantaloupe Smart Store | $50.00 | $27.50 | — | $77.50 | 15.5% |
| Haha, on cellular | $40.00 | $29.75 | $10.00 | $79.75 | 16.0% |
| ReyVend, on cellular | $54.99 | $29.75 | $10.00 | $94.74 | 18.9% |
| Micromart, on Wi-Fi | $60.00 | $20.00 | $20.00 | $100.00 | 20.0% |
| Wittern Spectra | $64.95 | $28.75 | $10.00 | $103.70 | 20.7% |
| Micromart, on cellular | $60.00 | $20.00 | $30.00 | $110.00 | 22.0% |
| Byte | $125.00 | $12.50 | $40.00 | $177.50 | 35.5% |
| SandStar, a range from its own FAQ | $30–$60 | $25.00–$30.00 | — | $55.00–$90.00 | 11.0–18.0% |
Byte’s figure is before RFID tags. At $0.15 a tag (Byte14) and at least one item per purchase, tags add $30 or more.
Where each figure comes from
| Platform | Published terms | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 365 CV Vantage | $10 a month Max Aware service; subscription of 5% a month, minimum $25, maximum $199 (Cantaloupe does not say of what; calculated here as 5% of sales); 5.95% processing | Cantaloupe’s store7 |
| Haha | $40 a month ($10 reader, $15 SIM, $15 software); 5.95% + $0.05 per transaction (GeniusVend). Switching to Wi-Fi, with your own router, drops the $15 SIM | Haha’s merchant page1 and store FAQ2; the $0.05 fee and the Wi-Fi change are from reseller GeniusVend3 |
| Vendera | $40 a month; 5.85% | Resellers D&S Vending4, A&M17, Atlantic Smart Vending18 |
| ReyVend | $34.99 a month, or $54.99 with cellular; Nayax at 5.95% + $0.05 | VTM Vending’s help center8 |
| Grabot | $40 a month; 5.5% + $0.05 | Reseller GeniusVend6 |
| Cantaloupe Smart Store | $50 a month for a single unit; 5.5% | Reseller VendHub9. Cantaloupe does not publish its own |
| Micromart | $60 a month; 4% + $0.10; another $0.05 per transaction on cellular | Micromart’s FAQ10 |
| SandStar | $30–$60 a month; about 5–6%; no per-recognition fee | SandStar’s FAQ11. Reseller VendHub9 lists $65 and a $9 terminal fee, billing period not stated, and 5.45% |
| Wittern Spectra | $64.95 a month; 5.75% + $0.05 | Vending.com12 |
| Byte | $125 a month; 2.5% + $0.20; tags $0.15 each | Byte’s pricing page13 |
Three of these have a second published figure that changes the result:
- Vendera through GeniusVend is listed at $43 a month and 5.85% plus $0.22 per transaction (GeniusVend5). That makes the month $116.25 instead of $69.25.
- SandStar through VendHub lists a $65 fee, a $9 terminal fee, and 5.45% (VendHub9). VendHub does not say how often the $65 and $9 are billed, so the table uses SandStar’s own range instead.
- Micromart charges 4% plus $0.15 on purchases over $8 (Micromart10).
Platforms that could not be compared
- VMFS USA publishes $39.99 a month for its AI Cloud and $0.07 per completed transaction for recognition. The reader and SIM are billed by outside providers, which VMFS estimates at about $10 and $15 a month (VMFS15). Card processing is charged by the reader: VMFS lists Nayax at 5.95% on vends under $5 (2.5% + $0.10 above that) and Cantaloupe at 5.95% (VMFS15). At 5.95%, the sample month comes to $108.74 with the SIM, or $93.74 on Wi-Fi.
- 365 PicoCooler Vision and Stockwell. Fees are not published. Wittern’s Spectra comparison page on Vending.com, a competitor’s page, claims $90 or more a month (Vending.com19).
- Nayax Nova, Qingo, TCN. Not published.
- Weimi states there is no fixed monthly software fee (Weimi20). The Nayax or PAX reader’s own fees still apply.
- Cantaloupe’s rental. Cantaloupe rents the Smart Store 600 on a 36-month plan; the store says $399 a month is deducted from your flow of funds (Cantaloupe21).
What changes at higher sales
Fixed fees shrink as a share of sales and per-transaction fees do not. At $1,500 a month across 600 purchases:
| Platform | Month’s fees | Share of sales |
|---|---|---|
| Vendera | $127.75 | 8.5% |
| Cantaloupe Smart Store | $132.50 | 8.8% |
| Haha, on Wi-Fi | $144.25 | 9.6% |
| Grabot | $152.50 | 10.2% |
| ReyVend, on Wi-Fi | $154.24 | 10.3% |
| Haha, on cellular | $159.25 | 10.6% |
| ReyVend, on cellular | $174.24 | 11.6% |
| 365 CV Vantage | $174.25 | 11.6% |
| Micromart, on Wi-Fi | $180.00 | 12.0% |
| Wittern Spectra | $181.20 | 12.1% |
| Micromart, on cellular | $210.00 | 14.0% |
| Byte | $282.50 | 18.8% |
| SandStar, a range from its own FAQ | $105.00–$150.00 | 7.0–10.0% |
CV Vantage goes from cheapest to eighth, because its subscription is 5% of sales with a $25 floor. The floor is what you pay at $500; at $1,500 the subscription is $75.
Redoing it with your numbers
Month’s fees = fixed monthly fee + (sales × percentage) + (number of purchases × per-transaction fee).
The number of purchases matters as much as the sales total. Two hundred purchases at $0.20 each is $40 on Byte whether they add up to $500 or $900. Ask the seller for all three numbers in writing, and ask which of them the payment processor charges and which the platform charges.
