There's no one single fee for using Square. Like other POS systems, you pay for multiple components. Square charges fees for the following:
- POS software: $0 to $149 per month.
- POS hardware: Anywhere from $59 for a card reader to $1,189 for a register kit.
- Payment processing: 2.4% to 2.6% plus 15 cents per in-person transaction and 2.9% to 3.3% plus 30 cents per online transaction.
Here’s a complete rundown of Square's pricing, plus a calculator to estimate your processing costs with its free plan.
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» MORE: Read our full Square POS review
What's new with Square fees?
Square unveiled major pricing changes in October 2025. (You can read the company's press release here.)
The biggest shifts involved standardized monthly software fees for different subscription tiers. All businesses now pay $0 (Free), $49 (Plus) or $149 (Premium) per month. That might be good news in some instances. Retail subscribers paid $89 per month for Plus previously, for instance. But it's less ideal for service-based businesses. Plus used to cost them just $29 per month.
As is often the case with these kinds of changes, Square juggled features among tiers. It moved some advanced capabilities to the more expensive Premium plan. Restaurants will need to pay up to get phone support past the first 90 days now, for example.
Square also increased processing rates for its Free plan. Online transactions now cost 3.3% plus 30 cents. Plus subscribers get the previous (now discounted) rate of 2.9% plus 30 cents.
Business owners will need to figure out if the $49 fee for Plus exceeds the additional savings costs. Our editorial team still thinks you get can a lot of value from the Free plan. But Square certainly seems to want people to choose Plus. And it has made the math trickier as a result.
Square fee details
Square has a free POS software plan. It also offers a free magstripe card reader to new subscribers. Other hardware and additional software features cost extra.
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How do Square’s payment processing fees work?
Square uses a flat-rate model for payment processing fees. That means fees consist of two parts:
- A percentage of the transaction total (e.g., 2.6%).
- A set amount (e.g., 15 cents).
The fee varies depending on whether the customer uses a card in person, online or if the merchant enters it manually without the customer present.
For instance, say a customer made a $100 purchase in person with their credit card. On Square's free plan, you’d pay $2.75 in processing fees. That's a combination of 2.6% of the transaction total — or $2.60— plus 15 cents.
Does Square offer discounts?
Square doesn't typically offer monthly plan discounts. But you can try any of its POS plans out for free for 30 days.
Also, processing rates decrease as you scale plans. For example, the Free plan charges 2.6% plus 15 cents per in-person transaction. The Premium plan charges 2.4% plus 15 cents instead.
Square provides custom rates to some businesses too. Typically, they need to be processing more than $250,000 per year to qualify.
See how Square compares to other brands:
Did Square's pricing structure change?
Yes, Square restructured its POS software plan offerings in 2025. It swapped more than a dozen separate subscriptions with three broader plan offerings. Those plans bundle the former subscriptions' capabilities together.
For example, you used to be able to subscribe just to Square Online. The $29 Square Online Plus plan gave you access to site customization options, subscriptions and a free domain for one year.
Now, regardless of your industry, you need to subscribe to one of Square's three core offerings instead. Those are the Free, Plus and Premium plans. The Plus plan combines the extra online capabilities mentioned above with additional invoicing and staff management tools (among other features). But it costs $49 per month versus $29.
Square fee calculator
Use the calculator below to estimate how much you’ll pay in processing fees on Square's free plan, depending on your transaction total.
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Square POS plans and pricing
All Square POS software subscriptions are month-to-month, and users can cancel at any time without penalty. Here are Square’s plan selections for retailers, restaurants and appointment-based businesses, along with their monthly fees and key features.
Free plan: $0 per month.
For retail businesses:
- Low stock alerts.
- E-commerce website.
- Discounted shipping.
- Social media selling.
- Basic reporting.
- Invoicing.
- Refunds management.
- Customer profiles.
- Email and chat support; phone support only for first 90 days.
For businesses in food and beverage:
- Item and menu management.
- Pickup and local delivery.
- Third-party order management.
- Automated gratuity amounts (simple percentage only).
- Basic reporting.
- Online ordering profile.
- Email and chat support; phone support only for first 90 days.
For appointment-based businesses:
- Scheduling tools.
- Text and email reminders for clients.
- Booking website.
- Invoicing.
- Prepayments.
- Basic sales reporting.
- Customer profiles.
- Email and chat support; phone support only for first 90 days.
Plus plan: $49 per month.
The Plus plan includes all features in the Free plan, plus some additional capabilities.
For retail businesses:
- Discounted in-person transaction rates (2.5% plus 15 cents per transaction).
- Discounted online transaction rates (2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction).
- Advanced inventory tools, like smart stock forecasts.
- Inventory reports.
- Purchase order and vendor management.
- Time tracking and scheduling for employees.
- Team chats.
- Tip pooling.
- Invoice customization and batch invoicing.
- Phone, email and chat support Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT.
For businesses in food and beverage:
- Discounted in-person transaction rates (2.5% plus 15 cents per transaction).
- Discounting online transaction rates (2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction).
- $30 per month for the Square KDS app per device.
- $50 per month for the Square Kiosk app per device.
- Automated gratuity amounts (based on party size).
- Ability to split checks.
- Bar tab preauthorization.
- Additional reports, including close-of-day.
- Inventory management tools.
- Team chats.
- Tip pooling.
- Invoice customization and batch invoicing.
- Custom floor plans.
- Advanced modifiers.
- Phone, email and chat support Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT.
For appointment-based businesses:
- Discounted in-person transaction rates (2.5% plus 15 cents per transaction).
- Discounting online transaction rates (2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction).
- Waitlists.
- Google Calendar sync.
- Appointment confirmations.
- Cancellation fees.
- Advanced reports on sales trends and future bookings.
- Custom contract fields.
- Invoice customization and batch invoicing.
- Automatically convert estimates to invoices.
- Phone, email and chat support Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT.
Premium plan: $149 per month.
The Premium plan includes all features in the Plus plan, along with some additional capabilities.
For retail businesses:
- Further discounted in-person transaction rates (2.4% plus 15 cents per transaction). Online transactions cost the same as on the Plus plan.
- Purchase order importing (e.g., via CSV).
- Vendor sales reports.
- Cross-location returns.
- 24/7 support.
For businesses in food and beverage:
- Further discounted in-person transaction rates (2.4% plus 15 cents per transaction). Online transactions cost the same as on the Plus plan.
- $20 per month for the Square KDS app per device.
- $30 per month for the Square Kiosk app per device.
- Seat management.
- Course management.
- Reservation integrations.
- 24/7 support.
For appointment-based businesses:
- Further discounted in-person transaction rates (2.4% plus 15 cents per transaction). Online transactions cost the same as on the Plus plan.
- Resource management tools, like room assignments.
- Future bookings reports.
- Service cost tracking.
- 24/7 support.
Square Payroll plans and pricing
Square Payroll is broken up into two plan offerings: one for contractors only and the other for full-service payroll and HR tools. Here's a breakdown of what each plan includes:
Contractor-only plan: $6 per person per month
- Unlimited payroll runs.
- Onboarding.
- Option to pay with check, direct deposit or Cash App.
- Square Team app.
- Ability to import time cards.
- Automatic payroll tax calculations.
- Digital W-2 and 1099 delivery.
- Payroll reports.
Full-service plan: $35 per month plus $6 per person
Everything in the contractor-only plan plus:
- Automated payroll.
- Multiple pay rates and multi-state payroll.
- Tip tracking.
- Overtime calculations.
- Labor cost reports.
- Automated state and federal tax payments.
- Benefit deductions.
- Optional benefit add-ons.
Methodology
NerdWallet independently reviews accounting software products before determining our top picks. We collect the data for our software ratings from products’ public-facing websites and from company representatives. Our editorial team reviews information on a regular basis for consistency and accuracy.
We also periodically update our scoring system to reflect changing industry norms and business needs. For instance, in 2026, we stopped factoring in whether mobile apps work for both Android and iOS smartphones. If an accounting software product has its own mobile app, it’s almost always available for both operating systems.
NerdWallet’s accounting software ratings favor products that are easy to use, reasonably priced, have a robust feature set and can grow with your business. The best accounting software received top marks when evaluated across 10 categories and more than 30 subcategories. Learn more about how we rate small-business accounting software.
These ratings are meant to provide clarity in the decision-making process, but what’s best for your business will depend on its size, growth trajectory and which features you need most. We encourage you to research and compare multiple accounting software products before choosing one.
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