Square Fees: Is Square Worth It in 2023? (+ Calculator)

The basic Square POS software is a simple but versatile system designed for startup retail, service, and restaurant businesses with simple inventory management needs. It conveniently integrates inventory, checkout, payments, CRM, ecommerce, and analytics in your point of sale. You can add more features as your business grows, but the best part of this software is no monthly subscription fee.

Square’s basic POS system is free to use and can be designed to support different types of startup businesses. (Source: Square)

Features you get with the free POS system:

• Inventory management
• Cash, mobile, debit, credit, and gift card payments processing
• Invoicing
• Website builder
• Virtual terminal
• CRM
• Offline credit card payment processing
• Returns and refunds processing
• Tip management
• Digital and printed receipts

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, checkout 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.

Square for Restaurants is POS software designed for quick-service, full-service, fast-casual, bar, and multi-concept restaurants. It offers restaurant-specific features, such as floor management, kitchen management, customizable and intuitive order entry, and flexible payment options.

Square for Restaurants allows businesses to manage online, tableside, and at-the-counter orders centrally. (Source: Square)

Square for Restaurants Pricing Plans

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.

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)

Square Appointments Pricing Plans

Like Square for Retail, Square Appointments offers discounted in-person payment processing rates if you subscribe to a paid plan. However, Square Appointments offers a second paid plan that includes access to advanced team management features. Custom pricing is also available.

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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 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 Invoicing 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.

Square fee structure 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
• With Afterpay: 6% + 30 cents per card payment

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 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)

Square Payroll Pricing

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)

Square Team Management Pricing

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 you can launch from your phone.

Square allows you to customize your customer engagement methods, including fully-branded campaigns and two-way text messaging options. (Source: Square)

Square Marketing plans depend on the communication type and number of customer contacts. Email marketing costs start at $15 per month, while SMS marketing costs at $10 per month.

Square Email Marketing Pricing

Square Text Marketing Pricing

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 online or at 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

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.

Square Banking Products

• Square Checking: A checking account integrated with your Square merchant account. It comes with a debit card that provides access to your sales and loan proceeds.
• Square Savings: Integrated with Square Payments so merchants can automatically set money aside for savings, paying bills, sales tax, and more. Earns 1.75% annual percent yield (APY).
• Square Business Loans: Open to individuals who process with Square Payments with loans ranging from $300–$250,000 based on card sales through Square. Repayment is set up automatically as a portion of your total monthly sales.

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.

• Opening Deposit: $0
• Monthly Fee: $0
• Minimum Balance: $0
• Credit Checks: None
• Overdraft Fee: $0

Square charges a flat fee per credit card transaction as it is processed. Most of Square’s software, including the point-of-sale app, online store, invoicing, inventory tracking, and virtual terminal, are free to use.

However, Square also has paid software you can add on at any time on a month-to-month basis, including Plus plans for retail, restaurants, and appointment point-of-sale, advanced ecommerce, marketing tools, team management, payroll processing, and more.

Square fees for merchants are flat-rate so it’s easy to manage costs. For card-present transactions, including swipe, tap, and chip payments, Square charges 2.6% + 10 cents. Online and invoice transactions cost 2.9% + 30 cents with Square pricing, and it’s 3.5% + 15 cents for keyed-in or card-on-file transactions.

If you process over $250,000 annually, you may be eligible for lower rates through Square’s custom pricing program.

Square credit card fees are fairly standard for mobile and online payments, especially for new and small businesses. However, there are cheaper options available, especially if you have an established business. See our guide to the cheapest credit card processing to calculate the best option for you.

No, basic Square accounts have zero monthly fees.

You can choose to add on additional software upgrades like marketing, loyalty programs, payroll processing, advanced team management, or Plus POS plans, which do have monthly fees.