Square Fees & Pricing: The Ultimate Guide

Square is a payments, point-of-sale (POS), and business management tool for small businesses. It has no contracts, minimum requirements or upfront cost for any of its software or payment processing tools. The basic software is free, and any upgrades are billed monthly. Square deducts a flat fee on successful payment transactions, and you get low-cost hardware, with interest-free installment plans for qualified purchases.

In addition to POS software and payment processing, Square offers add-on services like marketing and payroll that come with monthly fees. It also has several card reader and POS terminals you can purchase, some of which come with discounted payment processing.

Square Payment Processing Fees

Square offers a lower processing rate for businesses that purchase Square Register or Square Terminal hardware, or Square Retail or Square Restaurant software.

Visit Square Payments

Overall, Square offers some of the best merchant services for new and small businesses. Whatever payment methods you use for your business—in-store, online, or virtual terminal—you’ll get the same core features and services.

• No monthly fee to accept and process credit cards
• All payments and sales are tracked together in your Square dashboard
• Accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express, plus contactless payments
• Same rate for all cards and card types: debit, credit, prepaid, rewards, and corporate
• Deposits made within one to two business days
• Instant deposit available for an additional fee of 1%
• Chargeback protection free for sellers and covers disputes up to $250 per month
• Custom pricing for sellers with annual revenue over $250,000 and average ticket size over $15

Square Hardware Fees

Mobile payments and in-store sales require credit card readers to accept payments. Square has a variety of readers that let you swipe, insert, or tap cards to process payments. Each works on smartphones and tablets using Square’s free POS app.

Square Mobile Payment Readers

Square Reader for Magstripe	Square Reader for Contactless and Chip
First free, additional $10	$49
Accepts payments via magstripe (swiped); available in jack or lightning connector	Bluetooth reader that accepts EMV (chip) and NFC (Apple Pay, Google Pay) payments
Buy Magstripe Reader	Buy Contactless and Chip Reader

Square In-Store Payments

Square Stand for Contactless and Chip	Square Terminal	Square Register
$149 or $14 per month for 12 months	$299 or $27 per month for 12 months	$799 or $39 per month for 24 months
All-in-one credit card machine and for iPads, built-in EMV and NFC card reader	Stand-alone mobile POS that can take orders, accept card payments and issue receipts.	Full POS with touch-screen monitor, detachable customer-facing display, and credit card machine
Buy Square Stand	Buy Square Terminal	Buy Square Register

Accessories such as cash drawers, barcode scanners, kitchen printers, and thermal printers are also available and can be bought separately or bundled into a POS hardware kit.

Square Register Kits

Square Stand Kit	Square Stand Kit $739 Includes: Square Stand for iPad Printer-Driven Cash Drawer Receipt Printer Paper (25 Rolls) USB Receipt Printer Buy Square Stand Kit
Square Register Kit	Square Stand Kit $1,389 Includes: Square Stand for iPad Printer-Driven Cash Drawer Receipt Printer Paper (25 Rolls) USB Receipt Printer Buy Square Stand Kit
Square Stand Restaurant Station	Square Stand Kit 1,019 (Currently out of stock): Square Stand for iPad Printer-Driven Cash Drawer Ethernet Kitchen Printer Kitchen Printer Paper (25 rolls) Receipt Printer Paper (25 Rolls) USB Receipt Printer Check Availability
Square Stand Restaurant Station with Square Terminal	Square Stand Kit $1,319 (Currently out of stock) Includes: Square Terminal Square Stand for iPad Printer-Driven Cash Drawer Ethernet Kitchen Printer Kitchen Printer Paper (25 rolls) Receipt Printer Paper (25 Rolls) USB Receipt Printer Check Availability

Square Hardware Financing

Square offers no-interest financing for qualified hardware purchases from $49 to $10,000. Qualifying orders can be split into an installment payment plan with up to 24 monthly payments. Applications and payments for hardware financing are directly through Square, not a third-party.

Square POS Fees

Square offers a free POS system with every free Square Payments account. When you sign up with Square, you’ll instantly have access to inventory, order, sales, and customer management tools through the free POS. However, Square also offers specific POS software for retail, restaurant, and appointment-based businesses.

Square POS Fees At-a-Glance

• Square for Retail
• Square for Restaurants
• Square Appointments

Square for Retail is a POS system designed specifically for retail businesses of all sizes, such as boutiques and gift shops. It has advanced inventory, online sales, check out tools, and reporting.

Square for Retail includes advanced reporting and inventory management tools for omnichannel selling. (Source: Square)

Square for Retail Pricing Plans

Square for Retail offers a free option, a Plus tier that contains all of the advanced retail functions, and a Premium plan that provides access to Square’s other business tools like Marketing and Payroll. All options provide unlimited products, transactions, employee logins, and a free online store.

	Free	Plus	Premium
Monthly software fee	$0	$60 per location	Custom rate
In-person processing rate	2.6% + 10 cents	2.5% + 10 cents	Custom rate
Online processing rate	2.9% + 30 cents	2.9% + 30 cents	Custom rate
Online store features	Basic	Basic	Advanced
Inventory management	Basic	Advanced	Advanced
Reporting	Basic	Basic	Advanced
Team management	Basic	Basic	Advanced + Payroll
Square Marketing	Additional cost	Additional cost	Included
Loyalty program	Additional cost	Additional cost	Included

To learn more about Square for Retail, read our full Square for Retail review.

Square for Restaurants is POS software specifically designed for quick-service, full-service, fast-casual, bar, and multi-concept restaurants.

Square for Restaurants allows businesses to centrally manage online and in-person orders. (Source: Square)

Square for Restaurants Pricing Plans

	Free	Plus	Premium
Monthly software fee	$0	$60 per location, $40 per additional device	Custom rate
Processing fee (in-person and invoice payments)	2.6% + 10 cents	2.6% + 10 cents	Custom rate
Processing fee (online payments)	2.9% + 30 cents	2.9% + 30 cents	Custom rate
Customer support	Monday to Friday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific time	24/7	24/7
Front-of-house	Menu and table management	Menu, table, seat, and course management	Menu, table, seat, and course management
Team management	Basic	Advanced	Advanced
Reporting	Basic	Advanced	Advanced
Installation fees (optional): 1-on-1 installation starts at $599+

All plans include fast order-entry with conversational modifiers, menu and order management, table management, open checks, auto-gratuity options, multi-location management, and remote device management.

The Plus tier has 24/7 support and more sophisticated restaurant features like auto-86ing, coursing, and options to set closing procedures. Premium has everything in Plus and comes with discounts on Square Payroll, Marketing, Loyalty, and Online Store. All paid Square for Restaurant plans have a free 30-day trial.

To learn more about these features, read our Ultimate Guide to Square for Restaurants.

Square Appointments is designed for service-based businesses and professionals. These include spas, salons, hairdressers, personal trainers, massage therapists, makeup artists, photographers, appointment-based retail, and consulting.

Square Appointments makes it easy to manage multiple appointment calendars from anywhere. (Source: Square Appointments)

Square Appointments Pricing Plans

Unlike Square’s other POS systems, Appointments is priced based on the number of employees you have. The features are exactly the same in every plan.

	Free	Plus	Premium
Monthly fee*	$0	$29	$69
Payment processing fee (per transaction)	2.6% + 10 cents	2.5% + 10 cents	2.5% + 10 cents

*Custom pricing available if you have more than 10 employees.

For more details on Square Appointments, read our full Square Appointments review.

Square Online Fees

Every free Square account comes with basic POS software, payment processing, invoicing, and a Square Online store. The online store ties into the rest of the Square ecosystem and can be managed through your Square Dashboard, where you can sync products, orders, and customers across your in-person and online sales channels.

The Square Online store is a free drag-and-drop web builder for selling goods and services online. (Source: Square)

You can upgrade to a paid online store to get a custom domain, remove Square branding, and receive discounts on integrated shipping labels and real-time shipping calculations. Paid plans also come with advanced features like customer product reviews, abandoned cart recovery, and the ability to accept PayPal payments.

Square Online Pricing Plans

To learn more about Square Online, read our full Square Online review.

Square Fees for Add-On Software and Other Services

Square’s core products are POS, payments, and ecommerce, though the company offers a variety of other supplemental products including invoicing, payroll, and marketing that you can use alongside other solutions or individually.

Square Invoicing

Square Invoicing can be a good fit for client service businesses like consulting firms, field service businesses like contractors, made-to-order retailers, and freelance professionals that want to easily request payment from customers.

Square Invoices are free to create and send. Source: Square

Square Invoice Pricing

Square Invoicing now offers both a free and an advanced plan. While both charge the same processing fees, you get customization tools with the paid plan.

Free Plan	Plus Plan
$0 per month	$20 per month
Unlimited invoicing Unlimited estimates Unlimited contracts Unlimited customers Remote access to the software Send invoices via email, SMS, or by sharing a link	All free plan features Create payment schedules Save and reuse custom invoice templates Add custom fields to invoice Set up multiple package estimates Auto-convert estimates to invoices

Transaction fee for invoiced payments are as follows:

• In-person: 2.6% + 10 cents per transaction
• Online: 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction
• Card on file: 3.5% + 15 cents per transaction
• Online ACH payment: 1% with minimum fee of $1

You can create, send, and manage invoices through your web-based Square Dashboard or the Square Invoicing app for iOS and Android. Learn how to send a Square Invoice.

Square Payroll

Square Payroll is subscription-based, full-service payroll software that automatically calculates payments and taxes. This service can be used independently or in tandem with Square’s other products like POS or Team Management.

Calculate and process payroll straight from your mobile phone. Source: Square(Source: Square)

Square Payroll Pricing

	Employees and Contractors	Contractors Only
Monthly fee	$35 + $5 per person paid	$5 per person paid
Unlimited monthly pay periods	✓	✓
1099-MISC forms	✓	✓
W-2s	✓	✕
Pay by check, direct deposit, or Cash App	✓	✓
Automatic payroll tax calculations	✓	✕
Time cards and employee app	✓	✕

Read our full Square Payroll review for more details on its features and how it works.

Square Team Management

Square Team Management is included with every free Square account. Some paid POS plans include Team Plus features, although they can also be purchased separately. Advanced features include setting wage rates, timecard notes, multiple permission levels, and detailed labor reports. Team Plus has a 30-day free trial.

View all planned shifts by week to assign a job or an employee. A shift can be viewed weekly or daily to make changes. Source: Square(Source: Square)

Square Team Management Pricing

	Team Management	Team Plus
Monthly fee	$0	$35 per location
Time clock and time card with break tracking	✓	✓
Unscheduled log in prevention	✕	✓
Payroll exports	✓	✓
Permission levels	One	Unlimited
Multiple wage rates	✕	✓
Overtime reporting	✕	✓
Activity logs	✕	✓
Labor reports	✕	✓

Square Marketing

Square Marketing allows businesses to create, send, and track email and social campaigns. Every plan includes automation features, customer coupon options, automatic email collection, and unlimited email sends. Plus, it has a Square Marketing Assistant, an automated chat that sends you suggestions, opportunities, and reports to stay on top of campaigns. It also uses your email lists to suggest campaigns that you can launch from your phone.

Text Message Marketing is a way to engage customers in a more personal way. Source: Square

The features are identical for every Square Marketing plan, with prices ranging from $15 to $35+ per month based on the number of customer contacts you have.

Square Marketing Pricing

Monthly Fee	$15	$25	$35	Custom
Customer Contacts	0–500	500–1,000	1,001–2,000	Over 2,000

Square Loyalty

Square Loyalty is a mobile-app-based digital rewards program that provides customers with points based on their activity. It integrates seamlessly with Square POS and Square Online and tracks customers based on their payment and/or method once they enroll. Businesses can customize whether shoppers are rewarded per visit or per dollar spent. To apply rewards, just enter the customer’s phone number at online or in-store checkout.

View returning customers’ points and reward history in a quick glance. Source: Square

Like Square Marketing, Loyalty pricing is based on the number of times a customer enrolls or completes a transaction where loyalty points are earned or redeemed. The features are identical for each plan.

Square Loyalty Pricing

Monthly	$45	$75	$105
Loyalty Visits	0–500	500–1,500	1,501–10,000

Square Business Banking

Square Banking is a service that offers businesses integrated banking solutions with traditional checking and savings accounts, as well as options for setting up investments and taking out loans. Signing up is easy as there is no lengthy application process or credit checks. There is also no monthly fee, and you don’t need to maintain a minimum balance.

Instantly receive your sales proceeds in your Square Checking Account Source: Square

Your Square Savings account allows you to set aside a percentage of your daily sales into a high-yield investment.

Apply for a Square Debit Card and immediately get access to your funds. Source: Square

Square Business Banking Fees

Opening a bank account with Square is absolutely free; there is no minimum opening deposit and maintaining balance, and you don’t get charged for maintenance fees or overdrafts. For qualified customers, you can apply for business loans ranging from $500 to $250,000, and Square automatically deducts a fixed percentage of your daily sales to repay the loan over time, or you can prepay the loan amount.

Apply for a loan, plus monitor and make your payments directly from the platform. Source: Square

Bottom Line

Square is best known for its square-shaped mobile card reader and payment processing service. However, it has grown into a platform that supports your entire business, including payment processing, business management, online selling, and marketing.

Its strongest advantage is that you can easily craft a full sales and business management solution on any budget. Core features are free, and you only pay the Square fees for credit card processing, certain processing equipment, and optional advanced features. So, with Square, you only pay for what you actually need. Head over Square to sign up for a free account.

Visit Square

You May Also Like …

• Learn about credit card processing fees and why they are unavoidable
• Read about merchant accounts and what features to expect
• Read more about Square, the different products, and what’s best for your business