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Home / Business tools / POS Systems / Square
8.9 Tested Aug 26, 2026 by Team RankingRight

Square (Free plan + Square Reader) review 2026

Free software, no contract, a $59 reader and a full business suite behind it — the default answer for most small businesses

Block Square
Manufacturer product image from images.ctfassets.net, used to illustrate our review of the product; copyright remains with the manufacturer.
PriceFrom $0 · checked Sep 11, 2026
Cost on $25k/month785 $/mo
In-person rate2.6% + 15¢

Is the Square Worth It?

Best POS system overall. Square asks for nothing up front, works on day one and covers almost every trade. Once you are consistently over about $25,000 a month, the flat rate starts costing real money.

Square Pros & Cons

Pros
  • Free software with no monthly fee and no contract at all
  • Kept taking cards through our simulated outage and settled afterwards
  • Payroll, invoicing, online store, appointments and loyalty in one account
  • $59 to start trading; hardware scales to full counters
Cons
  • $785 a month on our basket — flat rate costs more than interchange-plus at this volume
  • Square can hold funds on unusual activity with little warning
  • Restaurant and retail feature tiers add $69 a location

Square at a Glance

8.9 Editor Score
Processing fees & total costThe real cost of taking $25,000 a month in card payments on each: rate, per-transaction fee, monthly software, hardware and any early-termination clause.
26/30
Hardware & reliabilityTerminal build, offline mode when the internet drops, receipt printing, cash drawer and scanner support.
18/20
Features for the tradeInventory, menus and modifiers, table service, appointments, staff rotas, loyalty and online ordering.
18/20
Reporting & integrationsSales reports, accounting sync, payroll, ecommerce and the API.
13/15
Support & termsHours reachable, how fast a dead terminal is replaced, contract length and how funds are held.
14/15
Reader ratingNo reader ratings yet — not part of the score
–

Rubric v1: Processing fees & total cost 30 · Hardware & reliability 20 · Features for the trade 20 · Reporting & integrations 15 · Support & terms 15. Score = Σ ÷ 10, locked Sep 11, 2026. How we rank.

Where to buy — prices checked Sep 11, 2026

Square — $0

Best priceVisit Site

Square specifications

In-person card rate2.6% + 15¢
Software0 USD/mo
Cost on $25k/mo (our maths)785 USD/mo
Free software tierYes
Hardware from59 USD
Offline modeYes, with a per-transaction cap
Payout speedNext business day, or instant for 1.75%
ContractNone
Best forMost small businesses

Why it scored 8.9

Square asks for nothing up front, works on day one and covers almost every trade. Once you are consistently over about $25,000 a month, the flat rate starts costing real money.

Where it loses

Fees at higher volume.

Still the right pick for

Almost every small business starting out.

What owners say

No reader ratings yet. This block fills in from real submissions only — we never write, buy or generate reader reviews, and none of them touch the editor score.

Changelog: Sep 11 — rank 1 → 2 · all changes

Square8.9 · $0
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