What Square Charges in Fees, by Plan and Sale Type
Square's own pricing page lists a rate for every way a sale can happen. Here is what it says, from taps at the counter to invoices sent by email.
You want to know how much Square charges in fees before you sign up. The honest answer is that it depends on two things: which plan you pick, and how the customer pays. Square's pricing page lists a rate for each way a sale can happen. A tap at the counter costs one rate. A card typed in by hand costs another. Here is what that page says, sorted the way a real week of sales actually unfolds.
What Square's pricing page says about its plans and monthly fees
Square's pricing page says processing fees vary based on the Square plan you choose. Its plans start at no cost and have no hidden fees or locked-in contracts, and you can cancel or switch plans anytime. The monthly fee per location is $0, $49 or $149, and Square Plus and Square Premium charge it per location. So a business with two locations on Square Plus or Square Premium pays that monthly fee twice.
The free plan carries no monthly subscription cost. 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. Square's pricing page ties processing fees to the plan you choose, so weigh each plan's monthly fee against its rates.
In-person card fees: tap, dip, or swipe
This is the sale most shops see most often. Square's pricing page says in-person card payments run from 2.6% + 15¢ to 2.4% + 15¢, depending on the plan. The tap, dip, or swipe fees apply to in-person payments when a card is present. Which end of that range applies depends on your Square plan.
You do not need to buy a reader to get started. Square's pricing page says you do not need to purchase hardware to take payments, and its POS app can accept any payment. Tap to Pay on iPhone and Tap to Pay on Android take payments with just your phone. If you do want hardware, Square's pricing page says Square Hardware options start at $59.
Online, invoice, and API card fees
Sales where the card is not in front of you cost more. Square's pricing page says online and invoice card payments run from 3.3% + 30¢ to 2.9% + 30¢, depending on the plan. Online fees apply to card payments made online or through an invoice. If you email invoices or run a web store, this is your rate. The plan you choose moves it just as it moves the counter rate.
If you build your own checkout, Square's pricing page says card payments through its payments APIs cost 2.9% + 30¢. Online API fees apply to card payments made within a web or mobile application's workflow using Square's payments APIs.
Manual entry and card-on-file fees
A phone order typed in by hand is priced apart from both. Square's pricing page says manual entry or card on file payments cost 3.5% + 15¢. That rate does not drop with a paid plan, as far as the page shows. If a large share of your orders come by phone, run that share against this number, not the tap rate. A shop that keys in half its sales pays this rate on half its volume.
Other payment types on Square's page
Square's page prices a few payment types outside the card grid.
Square's pricing page says Afterpay payments cost 6% + 30¢. Afterpay lets customers pay over time in four installments while the seller gets paid immediately. That is the highest rate on the page, so weigh it against what the extra sales are worth to you.
Square's pricing page says EBT card payments for SNAP-eligible items cost 1.8% + 5¢. EBT applies to in-person payments made with an EBT card for SNAP-eligible items. If you sell groceries, this rate matters.
For ACH, Square's page lists two lines. ACH bank transfer via invoice applies to payments made on invoices with an ACH bank transfer. ACH bank transfer via API applies to ACH transfers through the Web Payments SDK and Payments API.
Cash App Pay lets customers pay by scanning a QR code. Cash and checks sit outside the fee grid entirely. Square's pricing page says cash or check payments are free. There are also no additional fees when a gift card is redeemed.
What Square's page says is free or included
A few things on the page cost nothing. You only pay when you take a payment. Cash and checks are free. Gift card redemption adds no fee. You can accept every major card, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover, all for the same processing fees. There is no surcharge for taking American Express.
Transfers out can also be free. 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. Every plan includes end-to-end encrypted payments, active fraud prevention, next day transfers, and offline payments. Funds from Square's payment processing are generally available in the Square Checking account balance immediately after a payment is processed.
Add-ons and extras that change the total
The monthly plan fee is not the only recurring cost on a paid plan. Square's pricing page says with Square Plus, 500 texts are included per month per account, then you pay 3¢ per text. With Square Premium, 2,500 texts are included per month per account, then you pay 1.5¢ per text. If you text customers reminders or receipts, count those texts against your plan.
Kiosks cost extra too. Square's pricing page says you pay the monthly kiosk software fee per device in addition to your monthly Square Plus or Square Premium cost. A restaurant running four kiosks on Plus pays four kiosk fees plus the plan fee per location.
Two more lines can catch you. Square's pricing page says an additional fee applies to payments made on credit or debit cards issued outside of the United States. If tourists or overseas clients are a real part of your sales, ask about that fee before you commit. And if you take a lot of card payments, Square's pricing page says businesses that process over $250,000 per year can talk to its team about custom pricing and processing fees.
How to check your own numbers before you commit
Take last month's sales and sort them by how each one happened. What share was a tap at the counter? What share was online or by invoice? What share was typed in by hand? Apply the rate from Square's page to each bucket, then add the monthly plan fee per location and any text or kiosk costs. That total, divided by your sales, is your real cut.
Then do the same math on a busy month and a slow month. A flat monthly fee hurts more in a slow month, because it sits on less volume. A lower rate hurts more in a busy month if the plan fee does not shrink with it.
Published prices change. Confirm every number on Square's pricing page on the day you sign up. Ask about any fee that applies to your sales but is not printed as a number. For a wider view, see a forty dollar sale at the counter and paying to be paid tonight.