Square pricing 2026, verified July 5, 2026
Square Pricing 2026: Full Breakdown (Including the Jan 13 Fee Hike)
Square's monthly software starts at $0, but on January 13, 2026, Square raised its Free-tier online processing rate from 2.9% + $0.30 to 3.3% + $0.30, a 14% percentage-point increase with no new features. Square also unified its 18 separate per-product subscriptions into one ladder (Free / Plus $49 / Premium $149, per location) with marketing (email + SMS) now bundled instead of sold separately. Combined with per-location stacking on Plus and Premium, the "free to start" story breaks down quickly. Here's every tier, every add-on, and the real cost for a service business.
We're Ruunly. We compete with Square at the solo and multi-location service-business price point. We'll be upfront about where Square is genuinely better, too.
Square pricing. Free, Plus, and Premium (per location)
Square replaced its 18 separate per-product subscriptions (Appointments Plus/Premium, Square Online Free/Plus/Premium, Marketing) with one ladder. Pricing is per location. A 3-location business multiplies the monthly fee by three.
Square Free
$0/mo per location
(monthly billing only)
Unlimited staff
Per location
- Online booking site + Square Online store
- Calendar + reminders
- Square Payments integration
- No cancellation-policy enforcement, no bundled marketing
Square Plus
$49/mo per location
(monthly billing only)
Unlimited staff
× number of locations
- + Custom domain, branding removed
- + Cancellation policy + no-show fees
- + 500 marketing texts/mo, then 3¢ each
- + Multi-staff scheduling
Square Premium
$149/mo per location
(monthly billing only)
Unlimited staff
× number of locations
- + Advanced reporting + multi-location management
- + 2,500 marketing texts/mo, then 1.5¢ each
- + Lower payment-processing rates
- + Loyalty + waitlist
Source: Square's published pricing page, verified July 5, 2026.
Hidden costs: the add-ons and fee hikes that change the bill
The monthly software fee is the smallest part of what most operators actually pay. Processing fees and per-location stacking dominate the real bill.
Online card processing (effective Jan 13, 2026)
3.3% + $0.30 (Free) · 2.9% + $0.30 (Plus/Premium)Free-tier card-not-present rate raised from 2.9% + $0.30 to 3.3% + $0.30 on January 13, 2026. A 14% increase on the percentage component with no new features bundled. Plus and Premium online rates sit at 2.9% + $0.30. The single biggest fee story of 2026.
In-person card processing
2.6% + $0.15 (Free) · 2.5% + $0.15 (Plus) · 2.4% + $0.15 (Premium)Card-present rate via Square Reader or Terminal, improving as you move up tiers. Hardware required: Reader is free with a Square subscription, Terminal is $299 one-time or $27/mo financed.
Square's AI: what it actually is
Free (insights) · $79 to $300+/mo (3rd-party phone answering)Square's built-in AI is a free insights assistant, not a phone answering service. AI phone answering for Square merchants comes from third-party marketplace apps, typically $79 to $300+/mo. There is no native Square AI receptionist product.
Marketing (email + SMS)
Bundled on Plus/PremiumNo longer a standalone $15/mo product. Plus includes 500 texts/mo (then 3¢/text); Premium includes 2,500 texts/mo (then 1.5¢/text). Free tier has no bundled marketing.
Per-location stacking on Plus / Premium
× locationsSquare Plus is $49/mo PER LOCATION. A 3-location business pays $147/mo just for the software tier, before payment processing.
Sources: Square pricing page and AGMS Square processing fee 2026 update, verified July 5, 2026.
What does Square actually cost a multi-location service business?
A realistic monthly bill for a 3-location lawn care, cleaning, or pool service who wants cancellation policies, a custom domain at each location, and bundled marketing texts. All of which now require Plus.
Square: realistic 3-location bill
- Square Plus ($49 × 3 locations)$147.00
- Custom domain + bundled marketing textsIncluded in Plus
- Subtotal$147.00/mo
Excludes 2.9% + $0.30 per online card transaction on Plus (Free tier is 3.3% + $0.30, raised from 2.9% on January 13, 2026). Excludes hardware (Reader free, Terminal $299 one-time). Excludes marketing overage beyond 500 texts/mo per location (3¢/text).
Ruunly: same operator
- Ruunly Pro (unlimited locations)$59.00
- Website with custom domain includedN/A
- Recurring membership billing includedN/A
- Email marketing includedN/A
- Total$59.00/mo
You connect your own Stripe account. Standard Stripe rates apply (2.7% + $0.05 in-person via Stripe Terminal, 2.9% + $0.30 online, verified against stripe.com/pricing July 5, 2026) plus a 1.5% Ruunly platform fee on Pro. Both numbers are on our public pricing page. No per-location stacking on any tier.
That's an $88/mo difference on software alone, before payment processing fees on either side.
Where Square is genuinely better
We're not going to pretend Ruunly wins every category. Square earns its market share in several scenarios:
- •A genuinely free starting point with brand trust.Square Free is a real free tier (unlimited staff, online booking, calendar, payments) at one location. For a solo hair stylist or massage therapist who just needs "take bookings, take payments," it's hard to argue with $0/mo. The Square brand is more trusted than any new SaaS, including Ruunly.
- •In-person payments + POS hardware.If you take payments at a counter or chair-side, Square's Reader (free) and Terminal ($299) hardware ecosystem is mature and reliable. KDS (Kitchen Display System) for restaurants is category-best. Ruunly is software-only. We're not the right choice if you need a checkout counter or restaurant POS.
- •Square Banking + Square Loans.If you're processing through Square already, the integrated banking, working-capital loans (priced off your processing volume), and instant transfers are real conveniences. Ruunly doesn't offer banking products.
Where Ruunly is the better fit
- •True memberships, not recurring invoices. Square Subscriptions sends a recurring invoice on a schedule. It cannot pause (you cancel and recreate), has no customer-facing portal, no upgrade/downgrade flow, and no seasonal billing. Ruunly was built around the membership lifecycle (join, pause, freeze, resume, upgrade, downgrade, cancel) with a customer portal where members manage themselves.
- •Flat pricing, no per-location stacking.Ruunly is $19, $59, or $129 per month regardless of how many locations you run. Square Plus is $49 PER LOCATION. A 5-location chain pays Square $245/mo just for the software tier before processing fees. On Ruunly it's still $59 flat.
- •One bundled product, not several stitched-together ones. Square unified its subscription lineup in 2026, but a service business still stitches together booking + payments + invoices + (often) a third-party AI phone-answering app. Separate interfaces, separate customer data. Ruunly is one login, one customer record, one dashboard.
- •No third-party app needed for AI.Square's built-in AI is a free insights assistant. AI phone answering for Square merchants requires a third-party marketplace app, typically $79 to $300+/mo. Ruunly's AI booking agent is included on Pro and Growth, no separate app or surcharge required.
- •Your own Stripe account, fees that are public.Payments flow through Stripe Connect into your own Stripe account. After Square's January 13, 2026 hike to 3.3% + $0.30 online, Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 standard rate is 0.4 percentage points cheaper on every online card transaction. Ruunly adds a platform fee on top (2.5% on Starter, 1.5% on Pro, 0.75% on Growth). Published on the pricing page, not buried in a help article.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Square actually cost a service business?
Square's headline is $0/mo for the free tier, but that's misleading. A solo operator who wants cancellation policies, no-show fees, a custom domain, and bundled marketing texts needs Plus at $49/mo per location, plus 2.9% + $0.30 on every online card transaction on Plus (3.3% + $0.30 on the Free tier, raised from 2.9% on January 13, 2026). A 3-location business on Plus pays $147/mo for the software tier alone because Square charges per location. Source: Square pricing page.
Why did Square raise its processing fees in January 2026?
On January 13, 2026, Square raised its Free-tier online card-not-present rate from 2.9% + $0.30 to 3.3% + $0.30. A 14% increase on the percentage component. Premium's online rate also moved from 2.6% to 2.9% + $0.30. In-person rates went the other direction: Premium's card-present rate actually improved to 2.4% + $0.15 (down from 2.6%). No new features were added to justify the online hike. This is the #1 pricing complaint in the Square community in 2026, and it's a permanent ongoing cost, not a one-time fee.
Is Square really free?
Square Free is genuinely free monthly software for unlimited staff at one location. But the catch is what's excluded: no cancellation-policy enforcement, no no-show fee collection, no resource management, no multi-location portal, no bundled email or SMS marketing. You also pay 3.3% + $0.30 on every online card transaction. For a hair salon at one location with low cancellation problems, the free tier works. For most field-service businesses, you'll hit a feature wall and upgrade to Plus at $49/mo per location.
What are the hidden costs in Square pricing?
Four categories. (1) The January 13, 2026 processing-fee hike on the Free tier (2.9% → 3.3% online card-not-present, a 14% increase); Plus and Premium sit at 2.9% + $0.30 online. (2) Per-location pricing on Plus ($49/mo × locations) and Premium ($149/mo × locations). Multi-location businesses get hit hard. (3) Marketing texts beyond the bundled allowance (500/mo on Plus, 2,500/mo on Premium) bill at 3¢ and 1.5¢ per text respectively. (4) AI phone answering isn't a native Square product. It requires a third-party marketplace app, typically $79 to $300+/mo.
Does Square have true membership billing?
No. Square Subscriptions is invoice automation. It schedules a recurring invoice to the customer's card on file. It does NOT support membership lifecycle: you can't pause a subscription (you have to cancel and recreate), there's no customer-facing portal where members can manage their plan, no upgrade or downgrade flow, no seasonal billing (e.g., June-only pool service). If you're trying to BUILD a membership business (recurring service plans with customers managing their own lifecycle) Square's subscription product is the wrong shape. Ruunly was built around that specific use case.
Can I use Square for a multi-location service business?
You can, but the per-location pricing punishes you. Square Plus is $49/mo PER LOCATION. A 3-location lawn care or cleaning business pays $147/mo just for the software tier, plus 3.3-2.9% + $0.30 processing on every online transaction. Ruunly's $19-129/mo pricing is flat regardless of how many locations you run, no per-location stacking.
How does Square pricing compare to Ruunly?
Square's strongest cases are (a) a salon at one location that's happy with the free tier, or (b) a business already deep in Square's POS/hardware ecosystem. Ruunly's strongest cases are (a) multi-location service businesses (no per-location stacking), (b) businesses that sell true memberships not just recurring invoices, and (c) operators who want a website + billing + portal bundled at $19/mo instead of paying Square's per-location Plus/Premium tiers for custom domain and marketing. See /compare/square for the full feature-by-feature comparison.
What is the cheapest Square alternative for service businesses?
Ruunly starts at $19/mo with an AI-built website, recurring membership billing, customer portal, and basic CRM included. No per-location fees on any tier. No add-on charge for the website to have a custom domain. Square's Plus tier (custom domain + bundled marketing) is $49/mo per location, before the 3.3% + $0.30 (Free tier) or 2.9% + $0.30 (Plus/Premium) processing on every transaction. See the full /compare/square page for line-by-line cost math.
Try Ruunly free for 14 days
Website, recurring billing, customer portal. $19/mo when you decide to stay. No per-location fees. No 12-month commitment. Cancel anytime.
Disclaimer:Ruunly is not affiliated with Square or Block, Inc. All pricing claims above are sourced from Square's public pricing pages and independent reporting on the January 13, 2026 processing-fee change, last verified on July 5, 2026. Prices and add-on availability can change. Always confirm on Square's official pricing page before making a buying decision.