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A month of card sales, split by how each card is taken, at the rates Square prints for your country. In the US it sets Free, Plus and Premium side by side, plan price included, and finds the sales at which a paid plan pays for itself.
In the US the plan changes two rates and leaves the rest alone. The same card costs less on your own site through Square’s API than on Square Online, and a bank transfer invoice is the cheapest way to be paid a large sum.
| How the card is taken | Free | Plus | Premium | A $100 sale keeps on Free |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In personTap, dip or swipe, Tap to Pay included | 2.6% + 15¢ | 2.5% + 15¢ | 2.4% + 15¢ | $97.25 |
| Square Online, links and invoicesPaid by card on Square Online, a payment link or an invoice | 3.3% + 30¢ | 2.9% + 30¢ | 2.9% + 30¢ | $96.40 |
| Your own site or appCard payments through Square’s payments API, the same on every plan | 2.9% + 30¢ | 2.9% + 30¢ | 2.9% + 30¢ | $96.80 |
| Typed in or card on fileVirtual Terminal included | 3.5% + 15¢ | 3.5% + 15¢ | 3.5% + 15¢ | $96.35 |
| Invoices paid by bank transfer1%, at least $1; Plus and Premium cap it at $10 a payment | 1%, at least $1 | 1%, at least $1, at most $10 | 1%, at least $1, at most $10 | $99.00 |
| Afterpay6% + 30¢, the same on every plan | 6% + 30¢ | 6% + 30¢ | 6% + 30¢ | $93.70 |
| A card issued in another countryon any card channel | +1.5% | +1.5% | +1.5% | $96.60 in person |
Tap to Pay, Virtual Terminal and Cash App Pay have lines of their own only on legacy plans; on Free, Plus and Premium they take the in-person or typed-in rate. Afterpay and bank transfers take no add-on for cards from abroad.
Outside the US, Square prints one set of rates for every plan, and in most of Europe the fixed fee is small or gone. Each figure is from the country’s own fee or pricing page.
Canada
United Kingdom
Australia
Ireland
France
Spain
Japan
A refund keeps the feeSince 11 April 2023 in the US, Square keeps its processing fee when you refund a sale in full or in part. A $100 sale in person on Free costs $2.75, and it still costs $2.75 after the customer gets the $100 back.
Getting paid today costs 1.95%An instant or same-day transfer takes 1.95% of the amount moved, so $1,000 arrives as $980.50. A transfer the next business day is free, which is the difference between a fee on every payout and none.
The bank transfer cap is on paid plans onlyAn invoice paid by bank transfer costs 1% with a $1 minimum. On Plus and Premium it stops at $10 a payment; on Free it does not, so a $5,000 invoice costs $50 on Free and $10 on Plus.
No chargeback feeSquare charges nothing for chargebacks or for handling a dispute. In the US Stripe charges $15 for each dispute and PayPal $20 for each card chargeback, which matters to a business that sees a few a month.
On Square Free in the US: 2.6% + 15¢ in person, 3.3% + 30¢ on Square Online, payment links and card-paid invoices, 2.9% + 30¢ for card payments on your own site or app through Square’s payments API, and 3.5% + 15¢ for a card typed in or kept on file. A card issued in another country adds 1.5%. Plus and Premium lower the in-person rate to 2.5% and 2.4% and the online rate to 2.9% + 30¢; the API, typed-in and Afterpay rates are the same on every plan.
When the rate it saves covers $49 a month per location. Plus takes 0.1 point off in person and 0.4 point off Square Online, links and invoices, so it pays back at $49,000 a month in person, $12,250 a month online, or a mix in between. Premium over Free needs $74,500 in person or $37,250 online, and Premium over Plus saves only in person, from $100,000 a month. The plans also include software, so the fees are half the decision.
Yes. From 13 January 2026 the online rate on Square Free rose from 2.9% + 30¢ to 3.3% + 30¢, covering Square Online, payment links and appointment prepayments, according to a Square staff answer on its community forum. Plus and Premium stayed at 2.9% + 30¢, and so did card payments through Square’s API on every plan.
No. Square keeps the processing fee on full and partial refunds: since 11 April 2023 in the US, 4 April 2023 in Australia, 2 May 2023 in the UK, Ireland, France and Spain, and 6 June 2023 in Canada. A sale can be refunded for up to a year.
No. Square’s fee page lists chargebacks and dispute management among the things it charges nothing for, where Stripe charges $15 a dispute and PayPal $20 a chargeback in the US.
It turns on how the card is taken. In person, Square Free’s 2.6% + 15¢ and Stripe Terminal’s 2.7% + 5¢ cost the same at $100; below that Stripe costs less and above it Square does. Online, card payments through Square’s API and Stripe both cost 2.9% + 30¢, Square Online on Free costs 3.3% + 30¢ and PayPal Checkout 3.49% + 49¢.
In the US Square lets sellers add a surcharge to credit card payments only, capped at 3% of the total, with a notice at the entrance or counter and on the receipt. It is not available in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts or Puerto Rico, and California, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, New York, Oklahoma and Texas have rules of their own. Debit cards and bank transfers cannot carry it.
No, while the page’s script is running: the sums run in your browser. The link you copy carries the fields, so whoever opens it sees the same result. With JavaScript turned off the page still works, and then the fields travel to my server in the address, the same way a copied link does.
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