Square POS Review UK: Pricing, Hardware & Best Uses
Square remains one of the easiest EPOS systems for a UK small business to start with. Core POS software costs £0 a month, hardware starts at £19 + VAT and the standard card rate is 1.75%. The real decision is whether Square stays good value as your stock, staff and card turnover grow.
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Is Square POS good for a UK small business?
Yes. Square is one of the best low-commitment POS systems for independent UK businesses.
You can start without a monthly software subscription, buy only the hardware you need and avoid a traditional multi-year EPOS rental contract. That is particularly attractive for a new shop, café, salon, market trader or service business that does not yet know what its till setup will look like in two years.
Square gets more nuanced as the business grows. A retailer may eventually need Retail Plus at £49 a month. A restaurant may want Restaurants Plus at £69 a month. And once card turnover becomes substantial, a flat 1.75% processing rate may cost more than a negotiated merchant deal.
Our short version
Square is strongest when simplicity, flexibility and good software matter more than squeezing the last few basis points out of card processing. New and smaller businesses are where the proposition is hardest to beat.
Want to look at Square directly?
See Square’s current POS proposition and hardware options, then compare the total cost with other EPOS providers before committing.
Square POS fees at a glance
| Payment or service | Current Square cost | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Standard POS software | £0/month | No setup fee or monthly subscription for core Square Point of Sale |
| UK card in person | 1.75% | Chip and PIN or contactless |
| Non-UK card in person | 1.75% + 1.5% | International-card surcharge applies |
| UK card online | 1.4% + 25p | Square Online, checkout and ecommerce API |
| Non-UK card online | 2.5% + 25p | Higher rate for overseas-issued cards |
| Manually entered / Virtual Terminal / Invoices | 2.5% | Additional 1.5% applies to non-UK cards |
| Custom card pricing | Quote | Available to qualifying businesses processing more than £200,000 a year in card sales |
Square hardware prices and who each device suits
Square Reader: £19 + VAT
Best for: market traders, mobile businesses, freelancers and very small counters.
Reader pairs with a compatible phone or tablet. It is extremely cheap to start with, but relying on somebody’s phone can become awkward once several staff need to take payments.
Square Terminal: £149 + VAT
Best for: cafés, salons, reception desks and small shops.
Terminal combines a touchscreen card machine with a built-in receipt printer. It gives a much more conventional checkout experience without needing a separate phone.
Square Stand: £99 + VAT
Best for: fixed tills where the business already has a compatible iPad.
Stand turns an iPad into a more permanent countertop POS. Remember that the iPad itself is not included in the £99 price.
Square Handheld: £169 + VAT
Best for: restaurants, larger shops and businesses that want staff to sell away from the main counter.
Handheld combines ordering, inventory, barcode scanning and payments in a portable device weighing around 315g.
Square Register: £699 + VAT
Best for: busy permanent checkout counters.
The second-generation Register uses separate staff and customer touchscreens and is the closest Square gets to a complete dedicated till straight out of the box.
Tap to Pay: from 1.75% per tap
Best for: occasional mobile payments and businesses testing card acceptance.
A compatible iPhone or Android phone can accept contactless cards and digital wallets without a separate reader. It is useful as a backup even if you later buy dedicated hardware.
Which Square hardware would we choose?
| Business | Likely starting setup | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Market stall / mobile trader | Tap to Pay or Reader | Minimal upfront cost and easy portability |
| Salon / service counter | Terminal | Standalone payment device and printed receipts without using a personal phone |
| Small independent shop | Stand + iPad or Terminal | Larger checkout interface and straightforward inventory |
| Busy retail store | Register + Retail Plus | Dedicated till, customer display and stronger inventory tools |
| Table-service restaurant | Register or Stand + Handheld devices | Fixed counter plus tableside ordering and payment |
The mistake is buying Register because it looks like a “proper till” when a £149 Terminal or £19 Reader would handle the actual workload. Upgrade when a bottleneck appears, not because the hardware catalogue is appealing.
Square for Retail Free vs Retail Plus
Square for Retail Free costs £0 a month. It includes the Retail POS app, a free online store, basic inventory, exchanges and unlimited items.
For a small shop with uncomplicated stock, that can genuinely be enough.
Retail Plus costs £49 per month per location. It adds advanced inventory tools and reports, automatic purchase orders, barcode label printing, item bundling and unlimited employee time tracking.
Plus also reduces the eligible in-person processing rate from 1.75% to 1.6%.
When does the 1.6% rate pay for Retail Plus by itself?
The rate saving is 0.15 percentage points. £49 divided by 0.0015 is roughly £32,667 of eligible in-person card turnover per month. Below that level, do not justify Plus purely on processing savings. The inventory and reporting tools need to be worth something too.
A retailer processing £15,000 a month may still love Plus because purchase orders and stock control save hours. But the lower card rate alone would save only about £22.50 a month at that turnover, not enough to cover the £49 subscription.
Square for Restaurants: Free vs Plus
Square for Restaurants has a £0 Free plan, so a small café or simple food business can start without a restaurant software subscription.
Restaurants Plus costs £69 per month per location after the current 30-day trial.
Plus is aimed at businesses that need more serious front-of-house and back-of-house tools, including stronger table and order management, advanced reporting, 24/7 phone support and access to unlimited Square KDS devices under the plan structure.
The standard Chip and PIN and contactless processing rate remains 1.75% unless custom pricing applies.
Restaurants Plus is a software decision, not a card-rate decision
Unlike Retail Plus, the normal published restaurant card rate does not drop simply because you pay £69 a month. Upgrade because the restaurant workflow is better, not because you expect the subscription to pay for itself through a lower standard payment rate.
For more options, read our restaurant EPOS guide.
Where Square’s software becomes more valuable than the card reader
Square’s biggest advantage over a basic card machine is that every sale can feed the same product catalogue, stock data, customer records and reporting.
Inventory
The free tools cover basic stock counts. Retail Plus adds purchase orders, barcode labels, COGS reporting, item bundling and more advanced inventory controls.
Online selling
Square Online can sit alongside the physical POS, so stock and orders can be managed inside the same ecosystem. The Free online plan is £0 a month, while paid online plans add more customisation and functionality.
Customers and loyalty
Square creates customer profiles and can connect with Loyalty and Marketing. These can be useful for repeat-purchase businesses, but advanced customer-engagement tools are separate paid products.
Staff
Basic team tools cover time tracking and permissions. Paid restaurant and retail packages expand the workforce-management options.
This is where businesses sometimes underestimate Square. The £19 Reader gets attention, but the long-term reason to stay is usually the connected software.
What happens if the internet goes down?
Compatible Square hardware supports offline payments, but there are conditions.
Current Square Register, Terminal and Handheld documentation requires offline transactions to be uploaded after reconnecting within the allowed period, currently 24 hours on these devices.
Offline acceptance carries additional risk because Square cannot authorise the card normally at the moment the payment is taken. A transaction could later be declined or disputed.
For a busy venue, offline mode is useful resilience, but it should not replace a reliable broadband connection and a backup connectivity plan.
How quickly does Square pay businesses?
Standard transfers to your linked bank account are included. Square advertises next-day availability for normal card-payment transfers, with exact arrival timing depending on when the payment is taken and the banking day.
Instant transfers can also be available for an additional fee.
If cash flow is tight, settlement timing deserves as much attention as the headline transaction percentage. A slightly cheaper provider that takes materially longer to settle can create a different operational problem.
What could Square processing cost each month?
Using the standard 1.75% in-person rate and assuming all transactions qualify for that rate:
| Monthly in-person card turnover | 1.75% processing cost | Annualised equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| £3,000 | £52.50 | £630 |
| £10,000 | £175 | £2,100 |
| £25,000 | £437.50 | £5,250 |
| £50,000 | £875 | £10,500 |
At £50,000 a month, a rate reduction of only 0.2 percentage points is worth £100 a month. Once annual card sales pass £200,000, Square itself invites qualifying businesses to discuss custom pricing.
This is also the point where you should compare merchant quotes rather than assuming the standard published rate remains the right answer.
How Square compares with SumUp, Shopify POS and Epos Now
| Provider | Best for | Headline difference vs Square |
|---|---|---|
| SumUp | Simple payments and small merchants | PAYG in-person rate is currently 1.69%, while Payments Plus can cut eligible domestic consumer cards to 0.99% for £19/month |
| Shopify POS | Ecommerce-led retailers | Stronger if Shopify is already the centre of online sales; POS Pro adds a location-level subscription |
| Epos Now | Businesses wanting a more supplier-led EPOS package | More traditional bundled setup and support; Square is usually easier to start and self-manage |
Square vs SumUp
SumUp’s standard PAYG rate is 1.69%, slightly below Square’s 1.75%. Its Payments Plus plan is more interesting at higher eligible volumes because the qualifying domestic consumer rate drops to 0.99%. Square usually wins on software depth.
Square vs Shopify POS
If ecommerce is the centre of the company, Shopify is the more natural system. If the shop or venue is the centre and online selling is secondary, Square is usually easier to adopt.
Square vs Epos Now
Epos Now may suit a business that wants a supplier to deliver a more traditional all-in-one EPOS setup. Square is better for owners who value self-service, transparent published pricing and lower commitment.
Best business types for Square POS
Independent retailers
Excellent starting point because free software covers basic inventory and Retail Plus creates a clear upgrade path.
Cafés and smaller restaurants
Free restaurant software and flexible hardware make it easy to start small and add tableside devices later.
Salons and service businesses
Terminal or Tap to Pay works well where payments happen at reception or at the customer’s location.
Market traders and pop-ups
Reader and Tap to Pay minimise upfront cost and are easy to transport.
Square POS pros and cons
Pros
- £0 standard POS software.
- Hardware starts at £19 + VAT.
- No traditional long-term POS rental contract.
- Strong retail and restaurant upgrade paths.
- Payments and software are tightly integrated.
- Tap to Pay can remove the need for hardware altogether.
- Good choice of dedicated devices.
- Online store and omnichannel options.
- Custom payment pricing may be available above £200,000 annual card sales.
Cons
- 1.75% standard processing is not always cheapest at higher turnover.
- Advanced inventory and restaurant features require subscriptions.
- Optional loyalty, marketing and other add-ons can increase monthly cost.
- International cards cost more.
- Businesses can become heavily dependent on one Square ecosystem.
- Reader and Stand may require separate phone or tablet hardware.
Seven questions to ask before buying Square
- What is your real monthly card turnover? At higher volumes, processing matters more than hardware price.
- How complicated is your stock? Free Retail may be enough, or Retail Plus may save hours every week.
- How many people take payments? A Reader paired with one phone can become a bottleneck surprisingly quickly.
- Do you need a printed receipt? Terminal or a proper till setup may make more sense.
- Is ecommerce central or secondary? If central, compare Shopify directly.
- How reliable is your internet? Understand Square’s offline rules and your backup plan.
- Which paid add-ons would you actually use? Calculate them before assuming Square will stay at £0/month.
Square POS FAQs
How much does Square POS cost per month?
Square’s core Point of Sale software costs £0 per month. Retail Plus currently costs £49 per location per month, while Restaurants Plus costs £69 per location per month. Optional add-ons can cost extra.
What is Square’s standard UK card-processing fee?
The standard in-person rate is currently 1.75% for normal UK contactless and chip-and-PIN payments. International cards and other payment methods can cost more.
How much is Square Reader?
Square Reader currently costs £19 + VAT and works with a compatible phone or tablet running Square’s software.
Does Square work without internet?
Compatible Square devices can accept offline payments subject to Square’s conditions and reconnection deadlines. Offline payments carry additional risk because they cannot be fully authorised at the point of sale.
Is Square Retail Plus worth £49 a month?
It can be if you need the advanced inventory and reporting tools. The 1.6% eligible in-person rate alone only offsets the £49 subscription at roughly £32,667 a month of qualifying card turnover compared with the standard 1.75% rate.
Can I use Square without buying a card reader?
Yes. Tap to Pay on a compatible iPhone or Android device allows businesses to accept contactless payments without separate Square hardware.
Square is still one of the easiest EPOS systems for a small business to grow into
The biggest reason to choose Square is not that Reader costs £19. It is that the whole system can start small without trapping the business in a complicated commitment.
A new shop can run £0 Retail software with Reader or Terminal. A larger shop can add Retail Plus and Register. A café can begin with free restaurant software and later add Handheld devices or KDS. That progression is unusually clean.
The point where Square deserves more scrutiny is card turnover. At £20,000, £30,000 or £50,000 a month, small differences in processing rates become meaningful. Use Square’s custom-pricing option and compare competing merchant quotes rather than accepting 1.75% indefinitely.
For most micro and small businesses, though, Square remains one of the strongest combinations of transparent pricing, good software and low upfront risk.
Compare Square with other EPOS providers
Compare hardware, software subscriptions, card processing, support and contract terms before deciding which system will run your checkout.
Square pricing and product availability can change. Check the current provider terms before purchasing hardware or subscribing.
