The bottom line
A month with $10,000 in card sales over 400 payments costs about $320 on Free. A month with no sales costs nothing. The paid plans lower your rates but charge a monthly fee per location, so for most small shops Free stays cheaper until sales get fairly high.
To see your own month, and when a paid plan pays for itself, use the Square fee calculator.
Square fees at a glance
Visit Square- Pricing model
- flat
- Contract
- No contract
- Payouts
- Next business day free (payments before 5 PM PT); faster for a fee
- Monthly cost to take cards
- $0 (Free plan)
- True cost: first year at $10,000/month in card sales (est.)
- $3,899 (12 months of processing at 400 payments a month, plus the listed monthly cost, plus the Square Reader for contactless and chip at $59)
| Payment type | Rate | Source |
|---|---|---|
| In person (card present) | 2.6% + 15¢ | squareup.com |
| Online | 3.3% + 30¢ | squareup.com |
| Keyed in | 3.5% + 15¢ | squareup.com |
| ACH | 1% | squareup.com |
Monthly fees and plans
- Square Free: $0/month
- Square Plus: $49/month
- Square Premium: $149/month
- Square KDS app (add-on): $30/month
- Square Kiosk app (add-on): $99/month
Checked October 22, 2026 on squareup.com. Prices change, so confirm with Square before you sign.
The table above shows Square Free. The three plans, from Square’s pricing page:
| Plan | Monthly fee | In person | Online |
|---|---|---|---|
| Square Free | $0 | 2.6% + 15¢ | 3.3% + 30¢ |
| Square Plus | $49 per location | 2.5% + 15¢ | 2.9% + 30¢ |
| Square Premium | $149 per location | 2.4% + 15¢ | 2.9% + 30¢ |
Typed-in and card-on-file payments are 3.5% + 15¢ on every plan.
Who it’s for
- New and seasonal businesses. With no plan fee on Free, a slow month costs nothing.
- Owners who want to try it cheaply. Square lists its contactless and chip reader at $59.
- Anyone who wants no contract. Square says there are “no hidden fees or locked-in contracts.”
- Shops that want their money fast. Next-business-day payouts are free.
Who should skip it
- Businesses that type in a lot of cards. Phone orders and saved cards pay the keyed-in rate above on every plan.
- Shops with lots of small sales. The 15¢ per sale adds up. On a $5 coffee, it’s 3% of the sale before the 2.6%.
- Owners with several locations on a paid plan. Plus and Premium are charged per location, so three stores on Plus cost $147 a month in plan fees.
- Larger, steady businesses. At high volume, an interchange-plus provider may cost less (see below).
The catch
The free plan has the highest rates. The lower rates on Plus and Premium cost a monthly fee per location. Online is the steepest: a $40 online order costs $1.62 in fees on Free.
Fast cash costs extra. Instant and same-day transfers cost 1.95% of the amount you move.
Refunds don’t return the fee. Square says the processing fee on a refunded payment isn’t refunded to you.
Invoice bank payments have no cap on Free. Square lists ACH invoice payments at 1% with a $1 minimum. Plus and Premium show a $10 fee cap. Free shows no cap.
Add-ons cost more. Square lists its KDS app at $30 a month per device on Plus and Square Kiosk at $99 a month per device on Plus.
What it costs at your size
These are our estimates, from Square’s published rates and list prices. They assume in-person card payments at one location unless stated.
Example 1: Square Free, $10,000 a month in person, 400 payments.
- Rate: 2.6% × $10,000 = $260
- Per-sale fee: 400 × 15¢ = $60
- Monthly fee: $0
- Estimated total: $320 a month, an effective rate of 3.2%
Example 2: the same month on Square Plus. $250 at the 2.5% rate, the same $60 in per-sale fees, and the $49 plan: an estimated $359 a month, $39 more than Free.
Plus pays off only when its lower rate saves more than its fee. Its in-person rate is 0.1% lower, so it breaks even at about $49,000 a month in in-person card sales at one location. Its online rate is 0.4% lower, so about $12,250 a month online would do it.
More worked examples (3 to 5)
Example 3: a solo market seller, $3,000 a month, 150 payments.
- Rate: 2.6% × $3,000 = $78
- Per-sale fee: 150 × 15¢ = $22.50
- Monthly fee: $0
- Estimated total: $100.50 a month, an effective rate of about 3.4%
At this size, Free is hard to beat: there’s no plan fee to spread over a few sales.
Example 4: a coffee counter, $15,000 a month, 1,500 payments of about $10.
- Rate: 2.6% × $15,000 = $390
- Per-sale fee: 1,500 × 15¢ = $225
- Monthly fee: $0
- Estimated total: $615 a month, an effective rate of 4.1%
The per-sale fee is $225 of the $615, so on small tickets the cents matter more than the percentage. Plus wouldn’t help: its lower rate saves only $15 here, well under its fee. If most of your sales are under $10, read our coffee shop POS page before you pick.
Example 5: a shop with a website, $40,000 in person (800 payments) and $5,000 online (100 orders).
| Plan | In person | Online | Monthly fee | Estimated total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Square Free | $1,040 + $120 = $1,160 | $165 + $30 = $195 | $0 | $1,355 |
| Square Plus | $1,000 + $120 = $1,120 | $145 + $30 = $175 | $49 | $1,344 |
| Square Premium | $960 + $120 = $1,080 | $145 + $30 = $175 | $149 | $1,404 |
Mixed sales lower the break-even point. Plus saves $40 in person and $20 online, which beats its fee by $11 a month.
Premium is a harder sell. It costs $100 a month more than Plus and lowers only the in-person rate, by another 0.1%. So it beats Plus only above about $100,000 a month in in-person card sales at one location, and beats Free only above about $74,500, before any online savings.
Want to check your own month? Try the Square fee calculator, or compare providers side by side in the fee calculator.
What Square costs in your first year
Hardware is mostly a one-time cost; card fees repeat every month.
| Setup | Hardware | 12 months of fees | First-year total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo seller (Example 3), Tap to Pay on your own phone | $0 | $1,206 | $1,206 |
| Solo seller (Example 3), Square Reader | $59 | $1,206 | $1,265 |
| Shop on Square Free (Example 1), Square Terminal | $299 | $3,840 | $4,139 |
| Coffee counter (Example 4), Square Register | $899 | $7,380 | $8,279 |
| Shop with a website on Plus (Example 5), Square Register | $899 | $16,128 | $17,027 |
Square says Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android costs $0 to set up, at the same in-person rate, so the cheapest start is the phone you own. Square’s US hardware prices:
- Square Reader for contactless and chip: $59
- Square Stand: $149, or $14 a month over 12 months
- Square Terminal: $299, or $27 a month over 12 months
- Square Handheld: $399, or $37 a month over 12 months
- Square Register (2nd generation): $899, or $44 a month over 24 months
- Square Kiosk, with counter stand: $1,999
In every row, card fees are the bigger cost by the end of year one. A cheaper device saves once; a better rate saves every month.
The fees that are easy to miss
- Afterpay. When a customer pays in installments, you pay 6% + 30¢. On a $200 sale, that’s $12.30, against $5.35 for the same sale tapped on Square Free.
- Gift cards. Square Free and Plus charge a 2.5% load fee. Square says there’s no fee when a gift card is redeemed. Loading a $100 gift card on Free costs $2.50.
- Cards from outside the US. Square adds 1.5% to payments on credit or debit cards issued outside the United States.
- EBT. In-person EBT payments for SNAP-eligible items cost 1.8% + 5¢.
- Payments through Square’s APIs. If your own website or app takes cards through Square’s payments APIs, Square lists 2.9% + 30¢.
- Bank payments through the API. ACH through the API is 1%, with a $1 minimum and a $5 cap.
- Kiosk Lite. On Plus, the iOS Kiosk Lite app is $50 a month per device. On Premium it’s $30.
What owners complain about, checked against the terms
Money complaints from recent public reviews, in our words, checked against Square’s own terms. Reviewers aren’t a typical sample, so check these before you sign.
What owners mentionAn account deactivated, with the money held for weeks or months.
- What the terms say (read Oct 26, 2026)
- Square's payment terms let it delay payouts or require a reserve for any reason related to your use of its services. If an investigation is pending when an account closes, Square may hold the funds. The terms don't state a maximum hold period. Square's payment terms ↗
- What to check
- Keep enough cash outside Square to cover a few weeks of costs, and answer any request for documents the same day.
What owners mentionLosing a chargeback despite sending evidence, with the money taken back.
- What the terms say (read Oct 26, 2026)
- The payment terms make the seller responsible for chargebacks. Square can recover a lost chargeback and its fees from you, and can delay payouts while one is pending. Square's payment terms ↗
- What to check
- For large sales, keep the receipt, delivery proof and customer messages so you can answer a dispute quickly.
What owners mentionA plan or add-on price went up, or they were moved to a pricier plan.
- What the terms say (read Oct 26, 2026)
- Square's general terms say it can change a subscription fee with reasonable advance notice. Cancelling keeps access to the end of the billing period, but fees already paid aren't refunded. Square's general terms ↗
- What to check
- Read any email from Square about a plan change, and switch or cancel before the change date.
Is there a better option than Square?
For some businesses, yes, depending on how you sell. Each provider below charges less in our data, with a trade-off.
- Mostly online. Stripe charges 2.9% + 30¢ with no monthly fee. On $8,000 a month across 160 orders, that’s about $280, against about $312 on Square Free. Stripe has no POS app, though. See Square vs Stripe.
- In person, any sale size. PayPal POS lists 2.29% + 9¢, lower than Square Free on both parts. Example 1’s month would cost about $265 instead of $320. But PayPal charges $20 per chargeback, and its fee page says it can raise the percentage part of its fees with 30 days’ notice. See PayPal POS.
- Online store plus a counter. Shopify runs both from one product list, from $39 a month. See Square vs Shopify.
- Full-service restaurants. Toast is built only for restaurants. See Square vs Toast.
- You want hardware in a monthly bundle. Clover’s bundles include hardware, with a 36-month term. See Square vs Clover.
- Larger, steady sales. Interchange-plus pricing can cost less than any flat rate at volume. See interchange-plus vs flat rate.
Compared with
- Helcim: interchange-plus with a published markup of 0.40% + 8¢ in person, no monthly fee and no contract. Your total changes with the cards your customers use.
Beyond the rate
What the rate table doesn't show, taken from Square's own terms and help pages: can they hold your money?, works offline?, leaving, support. Show ▾
Can they hold your money?
Square can hold or delay your payouts, and it can make you keep a reserve of funds if it sees your business as risky.
Source: squareup.comWorks offline?
Yes. Payments must upload within 72 hours or they expire, and Square recommends 24 hours. Square Reader and Stand sessions last 24 hours. Max per offline payment can be set between $1 and $50,000. You carry the risk of declines.
Source: squareup.comLeaving
You can close your Square account at any time, and Square says there are no locked-in contracts.
Source: squareup.comSupport
Live chat Monday to Friday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific. Phone hours are not stated, and phone support is not guaranteed for all sellers. Channels: phone, chat
Source: squareup.com
Get told when Square's fees change
Providers change fees with little notice. Alerts start soon, and we'll send nothing else.
Common questions
How much does Square charge per transaction?
On the Free plan, Square lists 2.6% + 15¢ for in-person card payments, 3.3% + 30¢ for online and invoice payments, and 3.5% + 15¢ when a card is typed in or a saved card is used. The paid plans lower the in-person and online rates. The keyed-in rate is the same on every plan.
Does Square have a monthly fee?
Not on Square Free, which is $0 a month. Square Plus is $49 a month and Square Premium is $149 a month, and both are charged for each location you run. Square says both paid plans come with a free 30-day trial, and that you can cancel or switch plans anytime.
Is Square Plus worth paying for?
Only once your sales are high enough. Plus cuts the in-person rate by 0.1% and the online rate by 0.4%, for $49 a month per location. By our math, that pays for itself at about $49,000 a month in in-person card sales, or about $12,250 a month online. Those are our estimates, not Square's.
How fast does Square pay out?
Square says payments taken before 5 PM PT arrive the next business day at no charge. Instant or same-day transfers cost 1.95% of the amount you move, so a $1,000 instant transfer costs $19.50. If you can wait one business day, the standard transfer is free.
Does Square give back fees when I refund a sale?
No. Square says that when you refund a payment, the processing fees for that payment aren't refunded back to you. Square also says it charges no fee for managing chargebacks.
What are the hidden fees with Square?
Square publishes its fees, but some are easy to miss. Typed-in and saved-card payments cost 3.5% + 15¢ on every plan. Instant transfers cost 1.95%. Afterpay sales cost 6% + 30¢. Cards issued outside the US cost an extra 1.5%. Loading a gift card costs 2.5% on Free and Plus. Refunds don't return the processing fee, and add-ons like the KDS and Kiosk apps are billed per device.