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Square pricing, price hikes and cheaper alternatives

Square (squareup.com) is a payment provider. Flat per-transaction card rates that vary by payment type and by plan (Free $0, Plus $49/mo, Premium $149/mo per location).. Free plan: Square Free: $0/mo; online 3.3% + 30¢, eCommerce API 2.9% + 30¢, in-person 2.6% + 15¢.

What Square costs

  • $10k/mo sales: $350/mo (Free plan, eCommerce API 2.9% + $0.30: 200 x ($1.45 + $0.30) = $350; Free-plan online store/payment links/invoices at 3.3% + 30¢ would be $390)
  • $10k/mo, 50% intl: $350/mo (Square US publishes one flat rate for all cards, no international card surcharge: 200 x $1.75 = $350)
  • $1k/mo sales: $41/mo (40 x (2.9% x $25 + $0.30) = 40 x $1.025 = $41)

Plan compared: Square Free plan, eCommerce API (2.9% + 30¢). Total fees in USD per month at standard published rates for one-off online card payments at each sales level: percentage and fixed per-payment fees plus any monthly or gateway fee. Merchant-of-record prices include sales tax and VAT handling, while processor prices cover payment processing only, without tax, billing or fraud add-ons.

Square price hikes

Cheaper alternatives to Square

At $10,000 a month in card sales, Square costs $350/mo. 1 payment provider costs less:

  • PayPal: $347/mo (Advanced Credit and Debit Card Payments (2.89% + $0.29))

Square alternatives: 4 payment providers compared, at every size.

Every change we logged

  • Jan 13, 2026 · Price increase: With its Free/Plus/Premium plan overhaul, Square raised the Free plan's online checkout rate from 2.9% + 30¢ to 3.3% + 30¢ per transaction; the 2.9% + 30¢ rate now requires Plus ($49/mo) or the eCommerce API.
  • Jan 12, 2026 · Price cut: Square Plus in-person processing fee dropped from 2.6% + 15¢ to 2.5% + 15¢.

Sources

Pricing page: squareup.com/us/en/pricing. Prices last checked Oct 16, 2026. Rates from Square's US fees page (pricing page renders without numbers) and PricingSaaS; the Free-plan online increase is per NerdWallet and Beancount, whose dates differ (late 2025 vs Jan 13, 2026). The ref point uses the eCommerce API, which stayed at 2.9% + 30¢, so the hike does not move it (pct null).