Square for Restaurants review

Square is the easiest way to get a restaurant POS running without a contract or a sales call. The Free plan costs $0 per location and takes card payments at 2.6% plus 15 cents in person, with next day transfers and offline payments included. Square Plus at $49 per location per month lowers the in-person rate to 2.5% plus 15 cents and opens paid restaurant apps; Premium at $149 drops it to 2.4%. For full service, Square documents coursing, table and seat management, custom floor plans and check splitting by item, by seat or evenly. Bars get preauthorized tabs, auto-gratuity for larger parties and a dark display mode. Counter service gets auto-86 based on stock, order-ready texts and Square Kiosk. The trade-off is that many restaurant tools cost extra per device: the KDS app is $30 per device per month on Plus and $20 on Premium and is not offered on Free, and Kiosk is $99 per device. For a small venue, it is still the lowest-risk start.

Who it is for

Cafes, counter-service spots, bars and small full-service restaurants that want to start free with no contract.

Price

Free plan; Plus $49 and Premium $149 per location per month; in-person cards from 2.6% + 15¢ on Free.

With Square Plus and Square Premium, the monthly fee applies to each location you run. $0/mo. per location $49/mo. per location
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 7, 2026.

Key features

• Coursing, table and seat management and custom floor plans
• Check splitting by item, by seat or in equal payments
• Preauthorized bar tabs and auto-gratuity for large parties
• Square KDS app and Square Kiosk self-ordering
• Offline card payments and next day transfers

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: Square Free costs $0 per month with no locked-in contract
• Strength: Clear published card rates: 2.6% + 15¢ in person on Free, 2.5% + 15¢ on Plus
• Strength: Hardware starts at $59 and works with an iPad stand, terminal or handheld
• Weakness: Square KDS is not available on Square Free and costs $20 to $30 per device per month
• Weakness: Square Kiosk adds $99 per device per month
• Weakness: Inventory tools such as MarketMan cost $99 per location per month

Key facts

• Plans: Free $0, Plus $49, Premium $149 per location per month
• In-person card rate: 2.6% + 15¢ (Free), 2.5% + 15¢ (Plus), 2.4% + 15¢ (Premium)
• Square KDS app: $30 per device per month on Plus, $20 on Premium
• Square Kiosk: $99 per device per month
• Contract: No locked-in contracts

Where it ranks

Square for Restaurants is No. 2 in our Best POS Systems for Restaurants verdict.