Wall Check
Square
Real free plan — but the meter runs on every transaction, and Plus features cost 49 USD/mo per location.
Gates 4/5 4 of the five walls fired — the score is a count, not a verdict.
Checked 2026-09-25 · re-check due 2026-11-24.
The five walls
✓ Price wall
The free tier ends. The limit you hit while everything still looks free.
Square Free is a true $0/mo plan — POS, invoicing, online ordering included; you only pay processing fees.
source · checked 2026-09-25
! Permission wall
You can see the setting but not touch it. Licenses and admin roles decide what you control.
Advanced POS modes, inventory, loyalty, marketing and staff management require Plus ($49/mo/location) or Premium ($149/mo/location).
source · checked 2026-09-25
! Gate wall
A human at the vendor decides your timeline — approvals, reviews, onboarding queues.
Over $250k/yr processed? Custom pricing exists — but only by talking to their team.
source · checked 2026-09-25
! Meter wall
Cost scales with your success. Per-unit, per-seat, per-message pricing that grows as you do.
Per-transaction meter: 2.6%+15¢ in-person, 3.3%+30¢ online/invoice, 1% ACH — cost tracks revenue exactly.
source · checked 2026-09-25
! Exit wall
Getting out costs more than getting in. Your data, your domain, your number — who keeps them.
Transaction history exports to CSV, but card-on-file customer tokens do not move to another processor.
source · checked 2026-09-25
The twelve questions
- What is the hard number where the free tier ends?
- True $0 plan; processing fees only
Documents read for this check: pricing page, help center, press/changelog.
Where Square shows up in our fixes
- Catch memberships before they lapse
- Make every payout reconcile itself
- A no-show policy you can copy and paste
We are not paid by this vendor or any vendor listed here. These are the gates we found — which ones you accept is your call, not ours.
Free Deliverable Packages & 15-Minute Q&A
Pick a free first-implemented deliverable package, or book a free 15-minute Q&A. We answer your questions about whatever you want to talk about — no sales, no overall work done. Tell us what you need and we send you a markdown deliverable to complete it.