What Square's Pricing Page Says It Charges
Square fees come down to two questions. What does Square take per transaction, and does it charge anything monthly? Here is what its own page says.
What Square's pricing page says about how its fees work
Square fees are really two questions. What does Square take from each sale, and does Square charge you anything each month just to have the account? Square's pricing page answers both.
On the per sale side, Square groups its fees by how the payment happens. A card tapped at your counter is priced one way. The same card typed into a website form is priced another. The page does not sort fees by card brand, so there is no separate rate sheet for Visa or American Express.
On the monthly side, Square's pricing page says its plans start at no cost and have no hidden fees or locked-in contracts. You can cancel or switch plans anytime. You only pay when you take a payment.
What Square's page says it charges for in-person card payments
This is the fee for a card that is physically present. Square's pricing page says tap, dip, or swipe fees apply to in-person payments when a card is present. In-person card payments run from 2.6% + 15¢ to 2.4% + 15¢, depending on the plan.
The spread between those two numbers is the plan structure at work. Which rate applies depends on your Square plan.
Square's pricing page says you can accept every major card, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover, all for the same processing fees. So a customer tapping an American Express card costs the same as one tapping a Visa. That is what it means that Square groups fees by payment method rather than by card brand.
One exception sits outside the card brands. Square's pricing page says an additional fee applies to payments made on credit or debit cards issued outside of the United States.
What Square's page says it charges for online, invoice, and manually entered payments
When the card is not in your hand, the rate goes up. Square's pricing page says online fees apply to card payments made online or through an invoice. Online and invoice card payments run from 3.3% + 30¢ to 2.9% + 30¢, depending on the plan.
Manual entry is its own line. Square's pricing page says manual entry or card on file payments cost 3.5% + 15¢. That covers a card number you type in yourself, say from a phone order, or one you keep on file for a repeat customer.
If your business takes a lot of orders by phone, that manual rate matters more to you than the in-person rate does. A shop that only sells face to face may never touch it.
Square's pricing page also says card payments through its payments APIs cost 2.9% + 30¢. That rate covers card payments inside your own app, built with Square's payments APIs. Read that line if a developer is building checkout for you.
What Square's page says about ACH bank transfers, Afterpay, and other payment types
Square's pricing page lists fees for payment types beyond cards.
ACH bank transfers on invoices cost 1% with a $1 minimum. The page says ACH bank transfer via invoice applies to invoice payments by bank transfer. ACH bank transfer via API applies to transfers through the Web Payments SDK and Payments API.
Afterpay payments cost 6% + 30¢. The page says Afterpay lets customers pay over time in four installments while the seller gets paid immediately. You carry none of the wait, but the fee is the highest on the page.
EBT card payments for SNAP-eligible items cost 1.8% + 5¢.
The page also covers bitcoin. It says bitcoin payments apply to in-person payments where the buyer scans a QR code to pay in bitcoin.
What Square's page says about monthly plans and subscription costs
Does Square have monthly fees? Yes and no, and the answer depends on the plan.
Square's pricing page says with Square Free there are no monthly subscription costs, and you only pay processing fees when you take a payment. So the answer for the base plan is no monthly fee.
Paid plans exist. Square's pricing page says the monthly fee per location is $0, $49 or $149, and Square Plus and Square Premium charge it per location. A business with two shops on a paid plan pays the fee twice.
The trade is simple. Square's pricing page says Square Premium offers the lowest processing fees. Whether the math works depends on your sales volume. A high volume shop can win back the monthly fee in lower rates. A small one may pay more in subscription than it saves.
Square's pricing page says processing fees vary based on the Square plan you choose. The plan choice and the per sale choice are really one choice.
The page also says businesses that process over $250,000 per year can talk to its team about custom pricing and processing fees.
Fees Square's page says it does not charge
Square's pricing page says cash or check payments are free. If a customer hands you twenty dollars, Square takes nothing from that sale.
The page says you can also take cash, checks, and Square Gift Cards. It says there are no additional fees when a gift card is redeemed.
Square's pricing page says you do not need to purchase hardware to take payments with Square. The reader is not a required buy.
The page also says every plan includes end-to-end encrypted payments, active fraud prevention, next day transfers, and offline payments. Those are listed as included, not as add ons with a price tag.
Getting your money: what Square's page says about transfers
Fees do not end at the sale. Getting the money out is its own question.
Square's pricing page says funds from its payment processing are generally available in the Square Checking account balance immediately after a payment is processed.
From there, Square's pricing page says you can transfer funds to an external bank account the next business day for free or instantly for a fee. So the free path is waiting a day. The paid path is having it now. If instant transfers become a habit, that fee is part of your real cost of taking cards. How instant payout fees add up walks through that math.
Where to check Square's fees before you sign up
Every number above comes from Square's own pricing page, and published prices change. Read the page yourself on the day you sign up. Confirm the rate for the way you actually take payments. That might be a tap at the counter, an invoice by email, or a card typed in from a call.
To see how one sale plays out across processors, a forty dollar sale at the counter runs the same ticket through several price lists. Square's page is the only source for Square's fees, so treat it as the final word before you commit.