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–$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–$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 included—
- Recurring membership billing included—
- Email marketing included—
- 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–$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–$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.