Report

Should I Use Square?

squareup.com·Analyzed 1 day ago·9/20/2026·Based on 11 sources

Sell anywhere. Diversify revenue streams. Streamline operations. Manage your staff. Get paid faster.

Depends

Buy if you're a small or new seller who wants a free, easy POS and can tolerate flat fees and occasional account reviews.

Free, easy POS great for small sellers — but fund holds, flat fees, and spotty support burn some users.

Confidence: Medium

7,475

Trustpilot reviews

squareup.com/us

Yes

Free tier

Square Free: no monthly subscription

$0/mo

Starting price

Pay-per-transaction processing fees

$437.5M

Funding raised

Pre-IPO, per StartupIntros

Value for money

Free plan, but flat fees draw recurring complaints

Ease of use

Widely praised as easy for non-technical sellers

Feature depth

POS, online store, payroll, loans, kiosk in one account

Support quality

Reviews report difficulty reaching support

Security posture

Card data encrypted; parent Cash App breach hit 8M

Pros

Free plan with no monthly subscription^⁶
One account covers POS, online store, payroll, and loans
Users consistently praise it on G2^²
Sell in person, online, or via kiosk from one plan^⁸
Card data encrypted across transactions

Cons

Funds can freeze during account reviews; users report five-day waits
Transaction fees are a top user complaint^²
Support is hard to reach, per POS pricing reviewers^⁷
Vocal r/smallbusiness detractors call it the worst^⁴
Fee analyses cite hidden charges beyond advertised rates^⁶

Gotchas

highAccount reviews can hold your funds for days before you can process
mediumHidden charges beyond advertised flat rates documented in third-party fee breakdowns^⁶
mediumEven decade-long users post 'avoid at all costs' complaints on Reddit^⁵
mediumSupport difficult to reach when problems arise^⁷

Best for

Pop-ups, markets, and mobile vendors
Small retail and cafés starting out
Sellers wanting in-person plus online in one system
Anyone wanting a free POS with no monthly fee

Not for

High-volume merchants — flat-rate fees erode margin
Businesses that can't tolerate sudden fund holds
Full-service restaurants — use Toast instead
Teams needing reliable, reachable support

Pricing

Square Free

$0/mo

No monthly subscription
Pay per-transaction processing fees

Square Premium

Not disclosed

For larger sellers
Custom rates; tap, dip, swipe processing

Security

Payments encrypt card data, but parent company Block's Cash App breach exposed 8M users and Square-linked WordPress plugin CVEs exist.

Cash App breach affecting 8M usersBlock (Square's parent) confirmed a former employee accessed Cash App reports on ~8.2M US customers (April 2022).^⁹
CVE-2026-57810: WooCommerce Square plugin SQL injectionBlind SQLi vulnerability in the third-party WooCommerce Square plugin.¹⁰
CVE-2025-13457: WooCommerce Square plugin IDORInformation disclosure vulnerability in the WooCommerce Square plugin.