Square is a simple yet capable POS for brick-and-mortar businesses that want to get started fast with no monthly fee and no long-term contract.
Pros
- Free plan with no monthly software fee
- Fast, genuinely easy setup
- No long-term contracts or chargeback fees
- Large app marketplace and open API
Cons
- Free-plan processing rates are relatively expensive
- Specialty verticals have stronger dedicated options
How Square scores
- Ease of use
- 4.9
- Pricing
- 4.2
- Features
- 4.4
- Support
- 4.0
- Integrations
- 4.6
What is Square?
Square is a point-of-sale and payments platform. Simple, low-barrier POS for brick-and-mortar businesses.
Who Square is for
Square fits small retailers, quick-service spots, and mobile/service businesses that value speed of setup over deep vertical features.
Square pricing
| Plan | Free | Plus (Retail) |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | $0 | $89/mo per location |
| In-person rate | 2.6% + 15¢ | 2.5% + 10¢ |
| Online rate | 2.9% + 30¢ | 2.9% + 30¢ |
| Keyed rate | 3.5% + 15¢ | — |
| Hardware | — | — |
| Commitment | No contract | No contract |
Square feature breakdown
| Feature | Square |
|---|---|
| Payments | |
| Card-present payments | Yes |
| Offline mode | Partial |
| Inventory | |
| Inventory tracking | Yes |
| Purchase orders | Partial |
| Reporting & analytics | |
| Sales reporting | Yes |
| Online ordering | |
| Menu / modifier management | Partial |
| First-party online ordering | Yes |
| Loyalty & marketing | |
| Loyalty program | Partial |
| Gift cards | Yes |
| Multi-location | |
| Multi-location management | Yes |
| Integrations & API | |
| Open API | Yes |
| App marketplace | Yes |
Our full Square review
Square lowered the barrier to card acceptance and still does that better than almost anyone.
Its strengths are ease of use, transparent flat-rate pricing, and a wide integration ecosystem. The trade-off is that high-volume merchants can usually negotiate lower rates elsewhere, and restaurants at scale often prefer a dedicated platform.
What users say
“We were taking payments the same afternoon the reader arrived.”
“Great until volume picks up — then the flat rate starts to hurt.”
“Phone support has improved but can still involve a wait.”
What’s changed
- September 7, 2026
Updated in-person rate to 2.6% + 15¢ and refreshed plan pricing.
- June 25, 2026
Re-tested checkout speed, hardware and support response times.
- March 23, 2026
Published our first hands-on review.
Frequently asked questions
Does Square have a monthly fee?
The core Square POS plan is free; paid plans (Retail Plus, Restaurant, Appointments) add features for a monthly fee per location.
Is Square good for restaurants?
Square for Restaurants works well for cafés and quick-service. Full-service restaurants at scale often prefer Toast for kitchen and labor tooling.
Compare Square
Is Square right for your business?
Square in our guides
Merchant payments analyst · 9 years covering processing & POS
Alex covers card processing economics — interchange, effective rates, contracts and hidden fees — and has reconciled statements for hundreds of small businesses.
They lead POSRanker’s pricing research and the annual POS pricing dataset.