Square is a payments & billing tool for Small businesses, offered as freemium ($49/mo). Founded in United States in 2009. Popular alternatives include Adyen.
About Square
Square is the payments and commerce platform of Block, Inc., the San Francisco company founded in 2009 by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey. It started with a card reader that plugged into a phone and has grown into an all-in-one system for small and medium businesses: point of sale, online store, invoices, appointments, payroll, team management, banking, loans and loyalty.
The core POS app is free, and businesses pay per-transaction processing fees at flat rates that differ for in-person, online and keyed-in payments. Square sells its own hardware, from mobile card readers to Square Register and Square Terminal, and offers editions for restaurants, retail and appointment-based services with paid Plus and Premium tiers per location that add advanced features such as kitchen displays, inventory tools and multi-location management. Square Online, Invoices and Appointments share the same catalog and customer directory.
Square suits brick-and-mortar businesses such as cafés, salons, shops and food trucks that want to start taking payments the same day. It operates only in a limited set of countries, including the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, Japan, Ireland, France and Spain, and is not available to businesses in Turkey. Flat rates become expensive at high volume compared with interchange-plus pricing, and account holds can occur. Toast is a stronger restaurant specialist, Shopify POS fits omnichannel retail brands, and Stripe is better for online-only software businesses.
Key features of Square
- POS software and hardware
- Online store and invoices
- Appointments and loyalty
- Payroll and team management
- Banking and loans
- Restaurant and retail features
Pros and cons
Pros
- Free POS software
- Simple flat-rate pricing
- All-in-one for small businesses
- Fast setup
Cons
- Limited country availability
- Fees higher than interchange-plus at scale
- Account holds possible
- Advanced features cost extra
Square pricing
Square uses a freemium model.
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Square Free | $0 | In-person 2.6% + 15¢, online 3.3% + 30¢ |
| Square Plus | $49 / location/mo | In-person 2.5% + 15¢, online 2.9% + 30¢ |
| Square Premium | $149 / location/mo | Lowest fees: in-person 2.4% + 15¢, online 2.9% + 30¢ |
| Square Pro | Custom | For businesses processing over $250K/year |
Source: squareup.com · checked on Oct 20, 2026
How Square compares in Payments & billing
- Rank by votes
- #1 / 18
- Starting price
- $49
- Free alternatives
- 2
0 votes from members
24% above the category median ($39/mo)
Free or open-source tools in Payments & billing
Square ranks #1 of 18 payments & billing tools by community votes and is priced above most tools in the category.
Common use cases
- 1Coffee shop POS
- 2Salon booking and payments
- 3Retail store with online shop
- 4Food truck payments
Best for
Small brick-and-mortar businesses in supported countries.
Not ideal for
Online-only SaaS (Stripe).
Integrations
- Shopify
- WooCommerce
- QuickBooks
- Xero
- Mailchimp
- DoorDash
- Uber Eats
- Zapier
Our take
Square is the easiest way for small physical businesses to take payments.
FAQ
- What is Square?
- Square is a Payments & billing tool: Payments and POS for small businesses.
- How much does Square cost?
- Square uses a Freemium model; paid plans start at $49 per month.
- What are the best alternatives to Square?
- Community-listed alternatives to Square include Adyen.
- What does Square integrate with?
- Square integrates with Shopify, WooCommerce, QuickBooks, Xero, Mailchimp, DoorDash and more.
- Which platforms does Square support?
- Square is available on web, ios, android.
- Who is Square for?
- Small brick-and-mortar businesses in supported countries.
Alternatives to Square
Adyen
▲ 0Enterprise payments platform for online, in-store and platform sales
PaidEnterpriseE-commerce
More Payments & billing tools
Shopier
▲ 0Sell and get paid online from Turkey, including via social media
PaidSmall businessesCreators
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