Square built its reputation on simple, transparent pricing for small businesses. This guide covers every fee you'll encounter using Square in 2026.
Quick answer: On its Free plan, Square charges 2.6% + 15¢ for in-person payments and 3.3% + 30¢ for online checkout and invoices — still one of the most straightforward fee structures in the industry, with no monthly fee.
| Transaction Type | Rate | On $100 |
|---|---|---|
| In-person (tap/dip/swipe) | 2.6% + $0.15 | $2.75 |
| Online checkout / invoices | 3.3% + $0.30 | $3.60 |
| Online API (custom integration) | 2.9% + $0.30 | $3.20 |
| Manual entry / card on file | 3.5% + $0.15 | $3.65 |
| International card | +1.5% | +$1.50 |
Square's basic card reader is free with signup. The Square Terminal costs $299, and Square Register (full POS system) starts at $799. These are one-time costs, not recurring fees.
Square now offers three plans: Square Free, Square Plus, and Square Premium, with the paid plans billed monthly per location. Plus lowers in-person payments to 2.5% + 15¢ and online checkout and invoices to 2.9% + 30¢; Premium lowers in-person payments further to 2.4% + 15¢. Manual entry stays at 3.5% + 15¢ on every plan. Sellers on older individually priced subscriptions (such as Square for Restaurants or Retail) are on legacy plans and should check their dashboard for their exact rates.
| Platform | In-Person Rate | Online Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Square (Free plan) | 2.6% + $0.15 | 3.3% + $0.30 |
| Stripe | 2.7% + $0.05 | 2.9% + $0.30 |
| PayPal | 2.29% + $0.09 (QR code) | 3.49% + $0.49 (Checkout) |
Beyond the per-transaction fee, Square's hardware is a one-time (or occasional) cost separate from processing. The basic magstripe reader ships free with a new account. The contactless + chip reader runs around $49. Square Terminal, an all-in-one device with a built-in screen and receipt printing, costs around $299. None of these hardware costs affect your per-transaction processing rate — they're a separate, one-time investment based on how you plan to accept payments in person.
Sending invoices through Square carries its own rate, separate from in-person and standard online rates: 3.3% + 30¢ per card-paid invoice on Square Free, or 2.9% + 30¢ on Plus and Premium. Customers can also pay by ACH bank transfer for 1% (minimum $1). The card rate is higher than Square's in-person rate because invoices carry more fraud and non-payment risk from Square's perspective, similar to why manually-entered card numbers also cost more than tap-to-pay.
The biggest saving from a paid plan is on online and invoice payments, which drop from 3.3% to 2.9%: $10,000 a month in online or invoice volume saves $40 a month. In-person payments only drop by 0.1 percentage point on Plus (0.2 on Premium), so $10,000 a month in person saves just $10–$20. Compare those savings with the plan's current monthly price per location. Businesses that mostly take in-person card payments typically see little benefit from upgrading past the free plan.