Square POS Review UK
Square's free POS app is the cheapest full till system a small UK business can run: £0 a month for the software and 1.75% per in-person card payment, which is £87.50 a month on £5,000 of card takings. The paid plans are worth it only for specific features, because the rate cut they bring rarely covers the fee at small-shop volumes.
This review covers Square's POS software plans and its larger devices (Terminal, Register, Stand, Handheld, Kiosk). For the £19 + VAT phone reader on its own, read our Square card reader review.
Our verdict
Start on the free plan and buy only the hardware you need. Pay for Square for Retail Plus when you need purchase orders or stock counts, not to save on fees: its 1.6% rate only recovers the £49 fee once card takings pass about £32,667 a month. Square for Restaurants Plus does not cut the rate at all, so treat its £69 as a feature fee.
Cafés, small shops, salons and market traders up to a few thousand pounds a week who want a till, stock list and online store with no contract.
Your card takings are high enough that a quoted rate below 1.75% saves more than Square's free software is worth to you. Premium (custom rates) opens only above £200,000 a year of card processing.
Prices checked 1 November 2026 on squareup.com. Hardware is priced ex VAT. Square’s software plan pages do not say whether monthly fees include VAT.
How we review: we cost published prices, rates and contract terms against a worked example. We do not score products or aggregate user reviews. See our editorial standards.
What is the Square POS system?
Square sells one payments account with several apps on top. The Square Point of Sale app is the general till, free on iPhone, iPad and Android phones and tablets. Square for Restaurants and Square for Retail are the trade versions, each with a free tier and a paid Plus tier. Square Appointments handles bookings (the "squareup booking" page customers see), and Square Online is the website and online ordering tool. All of them settle to the same account. Payouts: next day as standard at no extra charge; instant transfer for a fee.
Square POS pricing in the UK
| Plan | Monthly fee | In-person rate | What the fee buys |
|---|---|---|---|
| Square Point of Sale | £0 | 1.75% | General till for any trade |
| Square for Restaurants Free | £0 | 1.75% | Restaurant till on unlimited devices; KDS £15/month per KDS device |
| Square for Restaurants Plus | £69/month per location | 1.75% | floor plan customisation, seat and course management, reopen closed bills, split by item or seat; unlimited KDS |
| Square for Retail Free | £0 | 1.75% | Retail till; advanced stock tools sit on Plus |
| Square for Retail Plus | £49/month per location | 1.6%* | stock counts and bulk intake, purchase orders and vendor management, barcode label printing |
| Square Appointments Plus / Premium | £29/month per location / £69/month per location | 1.6% | Cancellation and no-show fees |
| Premium (Restaurants or Retail) | Custom pricing | Custom | Available above £200,000 a year of card processing |
*Only for payments taken while signed in to a Plus account on the Square Point of Sale app. Online payments cost 1.4% + 25p on UK cards; keyed payments 2.5%. Sources: Restaurants, Retail, Appointments, checked 1 November 2026.
Worked example: the £5,000 a month shop
Take a shop or café taking £5,000 a month on cards, all UK cards in person. Here is what each Square set-up costs per month before hardware.
- Free plan: £5,000 × 1.75% = £87.50/month (£1,050 a year)
- Retail Plus: £49 + (£5,000 × 1.6% = £80) = £129/month, which is £41.50 more than Free
- Restaurants Plus: £69 + £87.50 = £156.50/month
- Appointments Plus: £29 + (£5,000 × 1.6% = £80) = £109/month
Break-even for the cheaper rate: £49 ÷ (1.75% − 1.6%) = about £32,667 of card takings a month for Retail Plus, and £29 ÷ the same gap = about £19,333 for Appointments Plus. Below those figures, the plan is a feature purchase.
Year one with hardware on the free plan: Terminal £149 + £1,050 = £1,199; Register £699 + £1,050 = £1,749 (hardware ex VAT).
Square for Restaurants: Free or Plus?
The free plan takes orders and payments on unlimited devices. It charges for kitchen screens, at £15/month per KDS device, and leaves out what Square lists as Plus features: floor plan customisation, seat and course management, reopen closed bills, split by item or seat, shift and close-of-day reports, live sales, mobile POS (Square Point of Sale app) alongside Restaurants. Plus at £69/month per location includes unlimited KDS, so on screens alone Plus becomes cheaper from the 5th kitchen display. Most small kitchens run one or two, so the real reasons to upgrade are those features and 24/7 support (Free gets Mon to Fri, 9:00 to 17:00). A café with one KDS screen should stay on Free and pay £15 a month.
For venues comparing hospitality tills more widely, our EPOS systems comparison sets Square against Epos Now, Lightspeed and others on monthly software plus card rate.
Square hardware: Terminal, Register, Stand and the rest
| Device | Upfront | Instalments | Best used as |
|---|---|---|---|
| Square Reader | £19 + VAT | None | Phone or tablet card reader |
| Square Terminal | £149 + VAT | £25 + VAT a month for 6 months | All-in-one card machine with printer |
| Square Stand | £99 + VAT | £17 + VAT a month for 6 months | iPad dock that makes a counter till |
| Square Register | £699 + VAT | £59 + VAT a month for 12 months | Countertop till |
| Square Handheld | £169 + VAT | £29 + VAT a month for 6 months | Pocket POS for floor staff and stock checks |
| Square Kiosk | £99 + VAT | Software £35 per device per month | Self-order screen |
| Kitchen display | £549 + VAT (21.5 inch kitchen display) | KDS software £15/month per KDS device on Free | Kitchen ticket screen |
Instalments cost slightly more than paying upfront: six Terminal payments come to £150 against £149, and twelve Register payments to £708 against £699. The gap is small, so spread the cost if cash is tight. Square runs frequent promo codes on hardware; the prices above are list prices.
The Square Terminal is also the answer to "Square payment terminal" and "Square payment machine" searches: it is a card machine in its own right, with the POS app built in. If all you need is to take cards, the reader and terminal costs are compared in the Square card reader review.
Square virtual terminal and Square Online
Keyed payments through the virtual terminal cost 2.5% with no monthly fee, and invoices paid by card cost 2.5%. Online checkout costs 1.4% + 25p per UK card, so a £30 basket costs £0.67 to take. Square Online has a free plan; Plus is £20/month, billed annually, and Premium is £64/month, billed annually, which also cuts the fixed fee to 1.4% + 15p. If phone orders are a big part of your trade, the 2.5% rate is the number to watch; see our virtual terminals guide.
Contract, payouts and cancelling
Square has no contract. Its FAQ says there are "no other monthly fees, contracts or commitments". Restaurants, Retail and Appointments plans are priced by the month, while Square Online's paid plans are billed annually. Our exit terms record for Square reads: None; terminate from account settings at any time. Payouts: next day as standard at no extra charge; instant transfer for a fee. Instant transfer fee: not published on square’s pos page. Because the hardware is yours, leaving costs nothing beyond what you already paid for devices. Our guide to cancelling Square covers the steps.
Pros
- Free software, with unlimited devices on Square for Restaurants Free
- No contract and no exit fee; hardware is bought, not rented
- Next-day payouts as standard
- One account covers till, bookings, online store and invoices
Cons
- 1.75% flat on every in-person card; no negotiation below £200,000 a year of card processing
- Restaurants Plus costs £69 a month with no rate cut
- Keyed payments at 2.5% are expensive for phone-order trades
- Non-UK cards pay an extra 1.5% on top
Is Square POS worth it?
For a business taking up to roughly £5,000 a month on cards, yes, on the free plan: £87.50 a month and a one-off device is hard to beat for a full till with no contract. The calculation changes as volume grows, because the 1.75% never moves until you qualify for Premium. If your card takings are well above that, send us a statement: our free statement review shows what a quoted rate would save against Square at your volume, and we will tell you plainly if the answer is to stay put. Compare every published rate on our card machine rates table.
See what your volume would cost outside Square
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Square POS questions
How much does Square POS cost in the UK?
The Square Point of Sale app is £0 a month. You pay 1.75% on UK cards in person, so a £5,000/month shop pays £87.50 a month. Paid plans: Square for Retail Plus £49/month per location, Square for Restaurants Plus £69/month per location, Square Appointments Plus £29/month per location. Hardware is extra: Terminal £149 + VAT, Register £699 + VAT.
Is Square for Restaurants free?
The Free plan is £0 with unlimited devices, but each kitchen display costs £15/month per KDS device. Plus is £69/month per location and adds floor plans, course and seat management and 24/7 support. Plus does not lower the in-person rate: it stays at 1.75%.
What is the difference between Square Terminal and Square Register?
Square Terminal (£149 + VAT) is a portable card machine with a built-in receipt printer that also runs the POS app. Square Register (£699 + VAT) is Square’s countertop till. Both run the same free software, so the choice is about where you serve: the Register for a fixed counter, the Terminal for a small counter or table service.
Does Square POS have a contract?
No. Square states there are no contracts or commitments, and the exit terms we record are: minimum term "None; terminate from account settings at any time", exit fee "None stated". Hardware is bought outright or on a short instalment plan, so there is nothing to hand back.
How much is the Square virtual terminal?
There is no monthly fee. Keyed-in payments (virtual terminal, card on file and invoices) cost 2.5% each, against 1.75% in person. On a £200 phone order that is £5 rather than £3.50.