Updated August 14, 2026 11:21 PM PT

Square Review: Pros and Cons

By Kim P, personal finance expert at CreditDonkey
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Explore a thorough review of Square's cost, security, and benefits for businesses. Find out if it's the right choice for you.

5-point scale (the higher, the better)

Pros and Cons

  • No monthly or annual fee
  • Free swipe card reader
  • Low, predictable flat rates
  • Flat-rate pricing can be expensive for larger businesses
  • 24/7 phone support only on Premium plan
  • Advanced features require a paid plan

Bottom Line

Good credit card processor for low-volume businesses

You've probably seen their card readers at Girl Scout cookie stands and food trucks.

Why is Square so popular?

They're known for low costs and an easy setup. No contract required. The mobile reader is free and plugs into your phone or tablet. You could start swiping in minutes.

But Square isn't for everyone.

Take a look at the fees, features, and types of businesses they're best for. Plus, see if other payment processors can offer you a better deal.

What is Square?

Square is a payment processor that lets businesses accept credit card payments in person and online. It offers a full range of equipment, software, and business services to help you run your business. Square offers more free tools than some other payment processors.

It's popular with new businesses because anyone can open an account for free and start taking card payments right away. All you pay is a simple flat-rate transaction fee for each sale.

The Square POS already includes many features, like a free online store, inventory tracking, and employee scheduling. Small business owners can save time and energy by having many of the tools they need in one app.

The Square company was renamed to Block, Inc. in December 2021. You may recognize Block's other businesses, too, such as Cash App, Afterpay (a buy now pay later service), Weebly (a web building service), and Tidal (a music streaming service).

Who Is Square Best For?

Square is an excellent choice for new, small, or mobile businesses thanks to its simple setup, transparent pricing, and all-in-one business tools. But large high-volume businesses should consider a dedicated merchant account.

  • New businesses: With no monthly fee on the Free plan and flat rates across all major credit cards, Square offers an affordable and low-risk way for startups to begin accepting payments, online or in person.

  • Businesses with smaller transactions: Square's flat-rate pricing makes smaller sales affordable. For example, with Square Free, a $10 transaction only costs about $0.41, while a $1,000 transaction would cost $26.15.

  • Mobile businesses: Companies on-the-go need a simple payment processor they can use anywhere. Square's card readers can connect to a phone or tablet.

Counterpoint: If you're processing more than $10,000 a month in sales, it may be worth comparing Square with a subscription-based processor like Stax. Square's flat-rate pricing can become more expensive for businesses with high sales volumes.

Square Pros & Cons

PROS:

  • Low, predictable flat-rate fees
  • No monthly or annual fee on the Free plan
  • No long-term contract
  • User-friendly interface, easy setup for small or mobile businesses
  • Free basic card reader
  • Free POS app with robust features
  • Feature-rich all-in-one business system
  • Can accept offline payments for added flexibility
  • Fast deposits, typically within 1–2 business days
  • See Square Deal >>

CONS:

  • 24/7 phone support only on Premium plan
  • Advanced features require a paid plan
  • Funds may be held or accounts restricted for risk-related reasons
  • Flat-rate pricing may be expensive for high-volume or large businesses
  • Certain high-risk business types may not be accepted

If you want an alternative with stronger customer support, check out Helcim. They have an in-house customer service team that's committed to providing excellent customer support.

Is Square or PayPal better?
Square is generally better for in-person payments, while PayPal is often better suited to online businesses. Square has a more advanced POS system with tools such as employee scheduling and inventory management. On the other hand, PayPal can accept payments through PayPal and Venmo, but it offers fewer features for physical retailers.

How to Get the Best Credit Card Processing Deal

Square is a good option for new and smaller merchants, but it may not be the best deal for larger businesses. If you process more than $5,000 a month, a full-service merchant account may offer lower processing costs than Square.

Pricing & Other Fees

The basic Square account is free with no monthly fee or long-term contract. You'll pay a flat-rate processing fee for each transaction.

Square's fees are as follows:

TRANSACTION FEES:
Square charges a fixed flat-rate fee for credit card transactions, regardless of whether the card is Visa, Mastercard, or American Express. The fees are as follows:[1]

  • Tap, dip, or swipe:: 2.6% + 15¢ (Free), 2.5% + 15¢ (Plus), and 2.4% + 15¢ (Premium)
  • Online or invoices: 3.3% + 30¢ (Free) and 2.9% + 30¢ (Plus/Premium)
  • Manual entry or card on file: 3.5% + $0.15
  • Cash App Afterpay: 6% + 30¢
  • Cash or check: Free

Related: Credit Card Processing Fees

How many credit card transaction does your business process in a month?

ACCOUNT FEES:
Monthly Fee: $0 (Free), $49/mo (Plus), and $149/mo (Premium)

Square does not charge many of the typical account fees. With Square, you pay:

  • No monthly or annual fee (Square Free)
  • No PCI compliance fee
  • No startup fees
  • No separate payment gateway fee
  • No chargeback fees
  • No early termination fee
  • No monthly minimum requirements

HARDWARE PRICES:
Square provides your first basic card reader free of charge. If you need additional hardware, the costs are as follows:[2]

  • Additional magstripe reader: $10
  • Contactless and chip card reader: $59
  • Square Stand for iPad: $149
  • Square Terminal: $299
  • Square Register (2nd generation): $899
  • Square Handheld: $399

Looking for a cheaper alternative? Stax offers one of the best deals for high-volume businesses with its subscription pricing. You pay one flat fee each month, with no per-transaction markup and no long-term contracts.

Is the Square Card Reader Good?

The free Square card reader lets you accept credit card payments anywhere with your smart device. Here are some things to know about it:

  • You can only accept swiped credit cards. Chip and contactless payments will require the chip reader.
  • You can choose between the reader with a headphone jack and one with a Lightning connector.
  • You can send receipts via text or email. If you want to print receipts, you'll need to use a tablet and attach a receipt printer.
  • Offline payments only work with the swipe reader. Chip and contactless payments require an internet connection.
  • No charging necessary. Just plug into your smart device.
  • The card reader works with iOS 15.0+ or Android 9.0+.

If you don't want to wait for the free reader to be shipped, you can buy it at a retail store. It costs $10, but Square reimburses the $10 to your designated account after activation.

Where can I buy a Square card reader? You can buy Square readers at participating retail stores, including retailers such as Target, Walmart, and Best Buy. Availability may vary by store and location, so check with the retailer before visiting.

What You Get With Square

When you sign up with Square, you get:

Free magstripe reader:
This lets you accept swiped credit card payments. For chip and contactless payments (such as Apple Pay and Google Pay), you'll need to purchase a compatible chip and contactless reader.

Free Point-of-Sale app:
The free POS app is fairly powerful. Features include emailing/texting receipts, setting discounts, issuing refunds, reviewing sales data reports, and managing inventory. See more details in section below.

Free Virtual Terminal:
You can enter card payments directly from your web browser for phone orders and other card-not-present payments. You can also save credit card info so you can easily charge repeat customers.

Customizable dashboard:
From your dashboard, you can manage multiple locations, customize receipts, create custom categories, configure tax settings, and manage inventory. You can also set up a loyalty program, manage employees' hours and sales, and create custom reports.

Note: Some are add-on services for an additional cost.

Free online store:
Square comes with a free online store and eCommerce tools. You can build your own website with a variety of layouts and designs. It integrates with the Square POS, keeping your sales and inventory information synced.

Square Online Checkout:
This free feature lets you create customizable payment buttons, payment links, and QR codes. This lets you collect payment even without a website. You can just send a payment link directly to someone via email or text.

This feature is useful for selling items, collecting payment for services, or accepting donations or membership fees. You'll pay the applicable online processing rate.

Square POS App Features & Tools

The free Square POS app offers a wide range of services. Features and functions include:

  • Detailed reports and insights, such as what sells best, customer spending trends, and sales comparisons.
  • Track each employee's time cards, breaks, and overtime.
  • Grant different levels of access to employees.
  • Send custom invoices
  • Update inventory, run reports, and receive low-stock alerts.
  • Standard next-business-day transfers are free; instant and same-day transfers cost 1.95% of the amount.
  • Sell and accept gift cards.
  • Installment plan for customers, but you are paid upfront.
  • Create and manage up to 300 locations under one master account.
  • Integrates with many third-party apps and software.

Currently, you can only use the Square POS app on iOS and Android devices. You can also process payments on a computer through Square Virtual Terminal in a web browser.

Keep in mind that some Square POS features are only available on a tablet, such as an iPad. Most notably:

  • Printing physical receipts
  • Printing physical kitchen tickets (for a restaurant)
  • Displaying kitchen orders (for a restaurant)

Additional Add-On Services

Square Payroll integrates with Square to streamline employee onboarding, scheduling, and payroll. Features include unlimited monthly payroll runs, faster direct deposits, automatic payroll tax filings, and integrated employee benefits.

Full-service payroll costs $35 per month plus $6 per person, while contractor-only payroll is $6 per person per month.[3]

Advanced Square Plans

Square Plus and Premium plans offer advanced features for businesses with specialized needs. If you process over $250K per year, you can contact Square's team to see if you qualify for custom pricing and processing fees.

Square for Appointment-based Businesses
For service industries such as consultants, spas, personal trainers, etc, Square helps you manage scheduling and payments. Features include:

  • Free booking site, or integrate with Instagram and Google
  • Allows online appointment bookings 24/7
  • Syncs with your personal calendar
  • Send automated appointment reminders
  • Reduce no-shows by requiring pre-payments or cancellation fees

Free plan for solo professionals to manage bookings and payments; advanced scheduling and team tools available in Plus and Premium plans.

Square for Restaurants
Restaurants can benefit from Square's POS system with features specifically built for restaurant operations. There is a Free plan available, and you only pay for processing fees. Larger operations can choose the Plus or Premium plans.

  • Menu and table management
  • Add on customers items and modifiers
  • Auto gratuity
  • Manage multiple restaurants

The paid plans have more features like custom floor plans, reopen closed checks, and live sales and close of day reports.

Square for Retail
New online or in-person businesses can start with the free plan. Expanding businesses have the option to sign up for one of the more advanced paid plans.

All plans include:

  • Automatically create items and SKUs
  • Discounts and refunds
  • Sales reporting

The paid plans include more advanced features like cross-location inventory, vendor and purchase order management, cost of goods sold and inventory reporting, and more.

Square Customer Service

Square offers multiple support options, but phone support is only available to existing merchants. To access it, you must sign in to your dashboard, complete an online form, and receive a unique customer code.

Live phone support is available Monday to Friday, 6 AM–6 PM PT, with email and chat support also available. Free plan users have phone support for the first 90 days only, while Premium subscribers receive 24/7 phone support.

Square also provides an extensive self-service knowledge database, including blogs, FAQs, videos, and a community forum, so you can get answers anytime.

Square's customer service number is 855-700-6000. You need to be an active customer with a customer code.

You can also email Square at help@squareup.com.

Is Square Safe?

Square uses several security measures to help protect your payments and account:

  • All security is implemented and maintained in-house by engineers.
  • All products come out of the box with end-to-end encryption.
  • Prohibits storage of card numbers, mag-stripe data, and security codes on client devices.
  • Frequent hacker tests to identify potential vulnerabilities.
  • Takes on the burden of PCI compliance for you.
  • Requires 2-step authentication to prevent unauthorized personnel from hacking into your dashboard.

Is Square trustworthy?
Square is a legit company, with an A+ BBB rating and 3.8 stars on Trustpilot out of over 7,400 customer reviews. But it does receive a fair number of complaints. Most complaints concern poor customer service and frozen accounts. Since Square doesn't verify your business beforehand, there's a higher risk of funds on hold (or even account closure) if there's suspected fraud.

How It Compares

With Square Free, merchants pay a flat rate of 2.6% + $0.15 for swipe, dip, and tap transactions, 3.3% + $0.30 for online transactions, and 3.5% + $0.15 for keyed-in transactions. It offers a free mobile reader, web store, and virtual terminal. There is no contract and no monthly fee.

PayPal:
Square provides more features. It has a stronger POS with more advanced management features, such as scheduling, employee, and inventory management.

PayPal does have an advantage if you sell online, though. You can accept PayPal payments, which is popular with online shoppers. The system integrates with many e-commerce platforms. PayPal's mobile POS also accepts PayPal payments, which Square's does not.

Stripe:
Stripe also charges a flat rate per-transaction fee comparable to Square's. Stripe started as an online-only credit card processor (though they do now offer a terminal for in-person payments).

Stripe is known for its advanced tools, which allow for complete customization of your checkout experience. However, it's best if you have a built-in developer team. So it may not be ideal for small online businesses that don't need advanced customization.

Both Stripe and Square offer custom pricing for high-volume businesses. Square considers custom rates for businesses processing over $250,000 annually, while Stripe offers volume discounts and customized pricing for businesses with large payment volumes.

What the Experts Say

As part of our series on small businesses and payment processing, CreditDonkey asked a panel of industry experts to answer readers' most pressing questions. Here's what they said:

Bottom Line

Square offers many benefits, operating as a full point-of-sale system. They have the richest history in mobile payment processing and offer many additional features via third parties.

Square is a cheap, convenient way to accept credit card payments. Its Free plan has no monthly fee and includes plenty of useful features, making it a great option for new and small businesses. However, if you process high volumes or need advanced features, you may want to explore other options.

References

  1. ^ Square. Pricing, Retrieved 08/12/2026
  2. ^ Square. Hardware, Retrieved 08/12/2026
  3. ^ Square. Payroll Pricing, Retrieved 08/12/2026
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