Square Pricing: What Your Business Needs to Know

Square offers a variety of services, from card processing and EPOS systems to online store building. Its card machines start at £19 + VAT – which is cheaper than almost all the other major providers we’ve tested. However, standard in-person transaction fees are fixed at 1.75%, which is relatively high compared to the rest of the market.

Despite this, the provider is still a known favourite amongst small UK businesses – you see it all over cities like London and Manchester – and it’s still great value for money even with the higher transaction feees. Square’s sleek, affordable hardware and easy-to-navigate software earned it a spot in several of our assessment categories, including our picks for the best mobile card reader providers.

Stay tuned for a full breakdown of Square’s pricing, from every type of transaction fee to add-on services, so you can find out if it’ll work for your business.

If you’re short on time, you can also use our free quotes tool and get quotes directly from merchant service providers. Just tell us about your business, and we’ll match you with providers. After that, they’ll be in touch with tailored offers.

How Much Do Square’s Card Machines Cost?

Range: £19 + VAT to £149 + VAT

Square has two card machines, the Square Reader, for £19 + VAT, and the Square Terminal, for £149 + VAT. Here are the key differences:

The Square Reader is a lightweight, highly compact card reader, with no screen, and just a simple slot for inserting cards. To take payments, it needs to be used in conjunction with the free Square app (available on iOS and Android).

The Square Terminal, on the other hand, doesn’t require you to use the Square app on your phone, since it already contains Square’s EPOS software. It’s a much larger device than the Square reader, with a touchscreen, built-in receipt printer, and card slot.

Which is best really depends on your use case. The Square Reader is a good option for selling on the go at places like markets, for example, since it’s highly compact. As a bonus, Square sells an iPad case with a slot for the Square card reader, so you don’t need to handle both your phone and the reader when taking payments. At £19 + VAT, the Square Reader is also the cheapest card machine on the market, even less than the Zettle Reader 2’s £29 + VAT.

Although the Square Terminal is also a mobile card machine, we think it’s better suited to countertop use, or at most table service, since it’s quite wide. When we tested it, those with smaller hands reported feeling a little awkward holding it.

At £149 + VAT, it’s one of the most expensive card machines of its kind. Tide, for comparison, sells a similar card machine for £89 + VAT. That doesn’t mean that the Square Terminal isn’t worth it. If you plan on using Square’s EPOS software but don’t want to invest in a countertop terminal, the Square Terminal is a versatile and cheap alternative.

Does Square Have Monthly Fees?

Square comes with no monthly fees account fees or minimum service fees for payment processing. PCI compliance is included free of charge, and all you pay are transaction fees each month.

For context, payment services providers that do charge monthly fees usually charge between £10 and £20 per month, although their transaction fees tend to be lower to make up for this.

Some of Square’s additional solutions, such as its online store builder and EPOS systems do come with monthly fees, although there’s also a free version of both of these software solutions.

Square Transaction Fees Explained

Range: 1.4% + 25p to 6% + 30p

Square’s standard in-person transaction fee is 1.75%, and its standard online transaction fee is 1.4% + 25p. Here’s a full breakdown:

In-person

Square’s standard in-person transaction fees are in line with the UK average, at 1.75%, but it’s possible to get cheaper fees. Among competitors that offer fixed-rate transaction fees, like Square, Tyl (1.39% +5p), SumUp (1.69%), and Stripe (1.4% + 10p) all offer lower fees than Square.

You can get even lower fees than those with competitors that offer custom pricing, like takepayments and Worldpay, especially if you have a high transaction volume. A small caveat is that most of these competitors charge higher fees for certain types of cards, like Amex or business cards, whereas Square charges the same fee for all.

Online

When it comes to online transaction fees, Square’s actually on the low side, especially for a fixed-rate provider. At 1.4% + 25p for UK cards, Square’s online transaction fees are cheaper than Stripe (1.5% + 20p) and SumUp (2.5%), and just a little over Worldpay lowest fixed rate of 1.3% + 20p.

You might get lower fees with a provider that offers custom pricing, like takepayments or Worldpay, but these providers typically have additional monthly fees.

Other types

Square charges a 2.5% transaction fee for keyed-in transactions and invoices, which is quite standard. These types of “card-not-present” transactions are considered more high-risk, and so transaction fees are generally higher than they would be for other transaction types.

For comparison, SumUp and Zettle also charge 2.5% for similar transactions, but Worldpay keeps its fees at 1.3% + 2op for over-the-phone payments.

How Much Does Square’s EPOS System Cost?

Range: £0/month to £69/month + custom pricing

Square’s EPOS systems range from £0 per month to £69 per month, plus custom pricing, for the software alone. It has three types of EPOS systems, one for retail, one for hospitality, and one for appointment-based businesses. Here’s a pricing overview:

Square isn’t the only provider to offer free EPOS software systems. Rivals Zettle and SumUp also have free versions of their EPOS software, however, Square’s is by far the most functional. With SumUp’s free EPOS software, you can’t even manage tables, while this is possible with Square’s free EPOS system.

When it comes to its paid EPOS software, Square is once again cheaper than a lot of competitors. Square’s most expensive EPOS system costs just £69 per month, while Lightspeed’s starting price is £75 per month, while Shopify POS’s is £89 per month.

This winning combination of functionality and fair pricing earned Square the top spot in our ranking of the best EPOS system providers.

Square EPOS hardware costs

Range: £19 + VAT to £1,329 + VAT

Despite offering free EPOS software, Square does charge a fee for its EPOS hardware. Luckily, you’ll only have to pay for it once, since Square sells its hardware outright, instead of leasing it like some providers.

Here’s a glance at the type of equipment you can buy from Square:

It’s a little hard to compare the cost of Square’s EPOS hardware to competitors, since a lot of providers bundle their software and hardware costs, or don’t disclose the cost of their hardware. One advantage Square has over the competition is that it lets you choose your hardware from its selection, instead of imposing a kit on you, as is the case with most of its rivals.

This means that if you pick carefully, you can get a good deal. For example, Square’s EPOS software runs on iOS and Android, so if you have an existing tablet, you can keep your hardware expenses to a minimum, and just get the £19 + VAT Square Reader.

The next cheapest option is to get the £99 + VAT Square iPad stand (iPad not included), which comes with a built-in contactless and chip and pin card reader.

If you’re looking for a setup that includes a cash draw and receipt printer, we highly recommend getting on of Square’s hardware kits, since it’s cheaper than paying for each item individually. The joint cheapest costs £419 + VAT, and includes the Square iPad stand, a cash draw, and a receipt printer.

Square EPOS add-ons costs

Square has a few add-ons for its POS systems:

• Square Shifts (£0-£3/month/employee): Shift scheduling and time and attendance software. Free for up to five employees, then between £3 and £1.75 per employee per month, depending on the number of employees.
• Square Loyalty (£25/month/location): Track customer loyalty and create a rewards programme.
• Square Marketing (£9/month/location): Create, send and track email marketing campaigns.
• Square Gift Cards (£1.29-£0.52/card): Create and customise physical gift cards. e-gift cards are free to create.
• Square Invoices (£0-£20/month): Send unlimited invoices to customers’ email, with batch sending and custom layouts included in paid version.

How Much Does Square’s Online Store Cost?

Range: £0/month to £64/month

Square has three pricing tiers for its online store builder, which include a free plan. Here’s what you can get at each price point:

Square’s online store builder costs less on average than its rivals. Square’s online store prices range is £0 to £69 per month, compared to £5 to $2,300 per month for Shopify (there is no UK pricing listed for the provider’s Enterprise plan), and £16 to £119 per month for Wix.

However, Square’s free online store builder is quite limited, especially when it comes to customisation. You won’t be able to choose a website template, change the layout, or use colour until you upgrade to the £20 per month Plus plan.

The main advantage of using Square over another ecommerce platform is that you’ll be getting an all-in-one solution. Not all ecommerce platform providers process payments, while Square does, and most don’t offer EPOS systems for in-person selling, while Square does.

If you’re a hospitality business interested in online or QR code ordering, we think Square’s £20 per month Plus plan is worth the money. That way, you won’t have to deal with separate providers for payment processing in an EPOS system. But, if you’re primarily an ecommerce retailer that also has a few stores, we recommend Shopify over Square. It also does payment processing and EPOS systems, but its online store builder is much better equipped to handle orders.

Does Square Have Any Hidden Fees?

Square does not have any hidden fees, it’s extremely transparent with its pricing. There are no setup or exit fees, PCI compliance is included at no extra cost, and it charges fixed-rate transaction fees, so what you see is what you get.

The only possible hidden fee we could find is to do with Square’s online store builder. If you want a personalised URL for your website and want it to be found on search engines, you need to pay a small yearly fee to retain your “custom domain name“. This generally ranges from £10 to £20 a year.

It’s not a fee Square advertises, since you won’t be buying your domain name from Square, you’ll be buying it from a domain name registrar, like NameCheap or GoDaddy.

How Does Square’s Pricing Compare to Competitors?

Here’s a quick side-by-side look at Square’s pricing compared to its competitors:

Square’s 1.75% in-person transaction fees is higher than Tyl by Natwest (1.39%), Stripe (1.4% + 10p), and SumUp (1.69%) but the same as Zettle.

So, if you’re a high-volume in-person seller looking for a payment processing provider with fixed-rate transactions, you’ll get better value for money than most of Square’s competitors.

The same can’t be said for selling online, since Square’s online transaction fees are cheaper than its competitors, at 1.4% + 25p compared to 1.5% + 20p with Stripe, and 2.5% with SumUp and Zettle. Square also has the cheapest card machine, at £19 + VAT. The next cheapest is Zettle’s £29 + VAT card reader.

Verdict: Is Square Good Value for Money?

Square is good value for money if you’re a business looking for an all-in-one provider since it offers payment processing services, EPOS systems (including proprietary hardware), and an ecommerce platform. This is great if you’re trying to simplify your accounts and limit the number of providers you deal with on the daily.

Square’s main flaw is that its in-person transaction fees are quite high compared to competitors. However, you could argue that this cost is offset by the number of free software services it offers.

However, Square won’t be worth it for every business. If you primarily sell in-person and have a high volume of card transactions, you’ll get better value for money with a provider that offers custom transaction fees. But, if you’re a small business that sells both online and in-store, whether you’re in retail or hospitality, then Square is worth it, if just for the simplicity of having one platform for everything.

If you’re still not sure what payment processing provider is right for you, you can use our free quote tool. Just give us a few brief details and we’ll match you up with the right providers. They’ll reach out to you with obligation-free quotes.

How We Research and Test Merchant Account Providers

To bring you this assessment of Square’s pricing and value for money, we compared it to 17 other providers. Each was ranked across five key areas of investigation, made up of a combined 23 assessment subcategories.

Here’s what we looked at:

• Hardware: we looked at card machines’ size, weight, and portability, and assessed their connectivity, interface, receipt printing, and battery life.
• Software: we tallied up how many payment types each provider accepted, looked at payout times, reporting and security features, EPOS functionality, and what systems it integrated with.
• Pricing: we compared monthly fees, card machine costs, transaction fees and contract lengths against competitor pricing, to determine value for money.
• Ease of use: we had several different average users test Square to see how intuitive it was to use, and how quickly everyday tasks could be completed.
• Help and support: we looked at what type of support channels Square offered, and how available and responsive the support team was.