Square

Square, at squareup.com, is a payments and point-of-sale company whose online-store product, Square Online, sits on the same account as its card readers, invoices and checkout. Square says it began in 2009 with a card reader for mobile devices, expanded to Canada in 2012 and Japan in 2013, and in 2021 its parent company changed its name from Square, Inc. to Block, Inc.¹ For a one-person company the appeal is that a storefront, in-person payments and invoices share one set of fees, and the lowest plan costs nothing a month.²

Square’s plans page lists three plans, all priced per location per month: Square Free at $0, Square Plus at $49 and Square Premium at $149.² What changes with the plan is the card rate. Online card payments, and payments made through an invoice, cost 3.3% + 30¢ on Free and 2.9% + 30¢ on Plus and Premium, while in-person card payments run 2.6% + 15¢ on Free, 2.5% + 15¢ on Plus and 2.4% + 15¢ on Premium.² Card payments made through Square’s payments APIs inside a web or mobile app cost 2.9% + 30¢ on every plan.² The page also shows a 2.5% load fee for gift cards on Free and Plus and 0% on Premium, and texts to customers priced at 3¢ each after 500 on Plus and 1.5¢ after 2,500 on Premium.²