What Does Square Cost For Processing & POS Software? A Complete Guide

If you use Square Point of Sale’s mobile card reader on compatible devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.), you’ll pay the standard 2.6% + $0.15, whether you’re dipping a chip card, swiping a gift card, or tapping with an NFC transaction. This also applies to businesses that opt for one of Square’s all-in-one pieces of hardware: Square Register, Square Handheld, or Square Terminal.

Previously, there had been different price schemes for different hardware, but it’s all been standardized to 2.6% + $0.15. You can also qualify for Square’s lower rates with certain paid monthly plans (see below).

This payment processing pricing model is known as flat-rate pricing, in contrast to tiered rates, subscription rates, or interchange-plus rates. Flat rates, in essence, flatten your processing rates, making small transactions more expensive and larger transactions less expensive. While we recommend interchange-plus or subscription pricing in most cases, some businesses may appreciate the predictability of the fixed, flat-rate pricing that Square charges on credit card transactions.

Square’s flat-rate pricing also has some advantages when processing cards that have higher interchange rates, as is often the case with American Express. Square charges the same rate for all types of cards, including American Express. While this means you pay a bigger markup over interchange for your typical Mastercard or Visa card, it also means you save money on American Express and many business/rewards cards.

Square Invoices charges 2.9% + $0.30 per online invoice sent, except when using Square’s Card on File system, which saves customer card information. In this case, the transaction incurs a fee of 3.5% + $0.15. This reflects the fact that they are considered card-not-present transactions and have some additional security concerns.

Square also now offers ACH payments for invoice payments at a cost of 1% (minimum $1).

The fees are applied when the customer pays the invoice.

Square’s online fee encompasses, as you might expect, typical online transactions. This includes the Square Online Store, Square Online Checkout, eCommerce API, and online invoicing when not using a card on file (see above). Because these are card-not-present transactions, they’re charged a higher fee than point of sale transactions. That fee is 2.9% + $0.30. The rate drops to 2.6% + $0.30 with the Premium plan, the highest pricing tier you can choose when setting up your Square Online store.

The “riskiest” of card-not-present transactions are those that are manually keyed in with one of Square’s apps or virtual terminal. Virtual terminal fees are also charged in the case of saved card information that is used in lieu of swiping, dipping, etc. These fees are charged when you’re taking a payment over the phone, for example, or manually entering the information of a malfunctioning chip card that also fails to swipe.

Square uses flat-rate pricing here as well, but at a higher rate of 3.5% + $0.15. Square’s pricing is a little unusual compared to its competitors in that the percentage rate is on the high side, but the flat portion of it is half as expensive at $0.15 rather than $0.30. What this means in practice is Square will be cheaper for smaller transactions and more expensive for larger ones, at least where keyed-in transactions are concerned.

Square Cash is a digital wallet that allows you to send money to both friends and family, and you can use Square Cash for business as well. The cash app works similarly to PayPay or Venmo and also accepts Bitcoin transactions. Funds are generally available by the next day, and for an instant deposit, there is a fee of 1.5% of the transfer amount.

Square’s Point of Sale software is free, so if you’re going this route, you’ll only have to worry about hardware costs unless you want to purchase optional features, such as loyalty plans (starting at $45/month).

The free app includes some basic inventory, reporting, and employee management tools.

Square for Retail can be easily confused with Square Point of Sale, as both are free at the entry point.

Square for Retail plans are:

• Free: The free plan lets you have any number of devices at any number of locations. You’ll also get a free online store and basic inventory tools. Processing rates are the standard 2.6% + $0.15 (in-person) and 2.9% + $0.30 (online).
• Plus: The Plus plan costs $89/month per location. It otherwise provides all the functionality of the free plan plus advanced inventory tools, advanced retail reports, and Square Team Management. You’ll also get Square’s 2.6% + $0.10 (in-person) rate. Online transactions are still 2.9% + $0.30, however.
• Premium: Custom pricing available to customers processing over $250K per year. These plans are negotiated on an individual basis and include everything in the Plus plan, along with discounts on other Square services.

Square for Restaurants is Square’s foray into industry-specific software, and you can get it for free. Unlike Square for Retail, Square for Restaurants offers a lot of unique functionality in its basic configuration.

You’ll get the following:

• Monday-Friday 6 AM to 6 PM PT customer support
• Fast-order entry
• Table management
• Menu management
• Order management
• Remote device management
• Multilocation management
• Open checks
• Repeat items
• Dining preferences
• Dark mode
• Auto gratuity
• Advanced discounts
• Square Team Management

Here are the Square for Restaurants plans:

• Free: Everything listed above, with unlimited devices and locations.
• Plus: This plan costs $69/month and an additional $40/month per location. You’ll get everything in the free plan, plus:
  • 24/7 customer support
  • Auto-86ing and item counts
  • Shared device settings
  • Seat management
  • Course management
  • Live sales
  • Advanced reporting
  • Reopen closed checks
  • Shift reports
  • Close-of-day reports
  • Auto gratuity, including party size thresholds
  • Closing procedures
  • Section sales reports
  • Square Advanced Access
• Restaurant Essentials Bundle: This tier runs for $165/month and comes with everything in the Plus plan, along with:
  • Square Online Ordering Premium
  • Square Advanced Access
  • Square Shifts Plus
  • Square Team Communication
  • Square Payroll
• Custom: Has custom pricing, includes everything in the Plus plan, and offers discounted rates on other Square services if you sell more than $250,000 a year.

Square Appointments is software that combines booking functionality with POS. It’s geared toward small businesses that offer scheduled appointments (spas, for example).

Square Appointments’ pricing is based on the number of employees with whom clients can book appointments.

• Free: Booking for one employee/sole proprietor. Transactions are charged at 2.6% + $0.15.
• $29/Month: Plus tier that offers multiple locations. Additionally, transactions are processed at Square’s lowest 2.5% + $0.10.
• $69/Month: Premium tier that comes with advanced reporting and other features. Additionally, transactions are processed at Square’s lowest 2.5% + $0.10.

Team Management is Square’s timekeeping add-on. It also supports user permissions so that you can restrict access to certain features as necessary. The permission levels are customizable, too, so you’re not locked into specific roles and abilities; just be aware that the free version only supports one set of permissions. Employee management has a tip reconciliation feature and is included at no extra charge in Square for Retail.

The Advanced Access version, which has more advanced features, is $35/month per location, but a 30-day free trial is available if you’re curious. It supports multiple wage rates, sales reporting, and sales reporting.

Square’s invoicing service charges a flat rate of 3.3% + $0.30 on the free plan, and drops to 2.9% + $0.30 with a paid plan. It features custom templates and fields along with milestone-based payment schedules and project folders to help organize your small business.

With Square Payroll, for a $35 monthly base subscription plus $6 per employee per month, you’ll get timekeeping, direct deposit, records of time off and sick days, payroll tax filing, workers comp, and more. Square supports hourly wages, salaries, and flat payments, too. There’s also a contractors-only plan that simply costs $6 per month per contractor, with no monthly subscription required. Check out our Square Payroll pricing guide for a more detailed breakdown.

It’s worth noting that while you do get timekeeping with Payroll, you don’t get the other Employee Management features, such as permissions settings. For that, you’ll have to subscribe to both services.

Square places its loyalty program under the umbrella of “customer engagement,” along with marketing and customer feedback, so it’s all integrated. Square’s digital loyalty program lets you reward customers for repeat visits.

The rewards scheme is customizable, so you can select the rewards, set the parameters to earn them, and give names to the reward scheme itself. The whole system runs from within the Point of Sale app. Square for Restaurants and Square for Retail also support Square’s loyalty program.

Square’s customer engagement tools include a customer database, which you can use to get feedback as well as send out marketing emails. With the customer database integration, you can keep records of what customers buy (and when) and then use that information to target customers with specific recommendations or special offers.

Pricing starts at $15/month and scales according to the number of loyalty visits per location.

Square has been slowly increasing its bank-like offerings. Anyone who signs up to sell with Square can qualify for a Square Checking account. Square does not charge service, minimum balance, monthly maintenance, overdraft, or even ATM fees.

Importantly, this is now the easiest way to speed up your deposits. If you have a Square Banking account, your money will be immediately available through your Square checking account. You can then access it through your Square Debit Card or provided checking service.

Square also offers its own website-building service with Square Online. There is a free version of the software which comes with SEO tools and syncs with Square POS. It also allows you to sell through social media platforms and accept multiple payment types.

The Plus Plan costs $29/month and gives you access to advanced eCommerce features like QR code ordering, customer accounts, a free domain for one year, and the ability to accept PayPal payments. For $79/month, you can get the Premium Plan with lower processing rates and real-time shipping rates.

A helpful tool for restaurant businesses is Square Shifts. This add-on helps with managing team members with things like time tracking and tip management and syncs with Square’s POS software. For smaller teams of 1-5 members, Shifts is free. For 1-10 at the Plus plan, it’s $4/month per member. For 11-20, it’s $3.50/month, 21-50, $3/ month; and for more than 50 team members, it’s $2.50/month per member.

Square Shifts comes with a variety of features, including scheduling, labor alerts, payroll prep, plus analytics and reporting to help manage your busy employees.