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Square Review

Depends

Should I use Square?

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

· 3 weeks ago

Buy if you're a small or new seller who wants a free, easy POS and can tolerate flat fees and occasional account reviews. Skip it if you process at high volume, need responsive support, or can't risk frozen funds.

Confidence

Medium. Based on ~45 public sources; review sentiment is sharply polarized between G2 praise and Reddit complaints.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

$0/mo

Square Free

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes
Square PremiumCustom

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

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

Account reviews can hold your funds for days before you can process

medium

Hidden charges beyond advertised flat rates documented in third-party fee breakdowns

medium

Even decade-long users post 'avoid at all costs' complaints on Reddit

medium

Support difficult to reach when problems arise

Pros and cons

Pros

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

Cons

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

Sources & method

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

official x1review x7security x2news x1
  • Cash App breach affecting 8M users, Block (Square's parent) confirmed a former employee accessed Cash App reports on ~8.2M US customers (April 2022).
  • CVE-2026-57810: WooCommerce Square plugin SQL injection, Blind SQLi vulnerability in the third-party WooCommerce Square plugin.
  • CVE-2025-13457: WooCommerce Square plugin IDOR, Information disclosure vulnerability in the WooCommerce Square plugin.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 3/5

    Rating

  • $0/mo

    Starting price

  • 11

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 3/5. Free plan, but flat fees draw recurring complaints
  • Ease of use: 4/5. Widely praised as easy for non-technical sellers
  • Feature depth: 4/5. POS, online store, payroll, loans, kiosk in one account
  • Support quality: 2/5. Reviews report difficulty reaching support
  • Security posture: 3/5. Card data encrypted; parent Cash App breach hit 8M
  • 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

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.

Alternatives

Compare Square with each alternative.

  • Toast

    Restaurant-focused POS food-service owners cite as the Square alternative.

    Square vs Toast

  • Cake

    Café POS alternative; coffee-shop owners say it handles card processing differently.

  • Squarespace

    Stronger standalone website builder if you only need Square Online's store.

    Square vs Squarespace

  • Guess: Stripe

    Better fit for online-only payments with developer control.

Full analysis

Based on ~45 public sources; review sentiment is sharply polarized between G2 praise and Reddit complaints.

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

Methodology

Based on ~45 public sources; review sentiment is sharply polarized between G2 praise and Reddit complaints.

Read how a report is made.

Sources

  1. Square US Reviews | Trustpilottrustpilot.com
    review
  2. Square Point of Sale Reviews | G2g2.com
    review
  3. Square Review 2026: Features, Pros And Cons | Forbesforbes.com
    review
  4. Never Use Square | Reddit r/smallbusinessreddit.com
    review
  5. Avoid Square at all costs | Reddit r/smallbusinessreddit.com
    review
  6. Square Fees Explained 2026: Real Costs, Hidden Charges | Swipesumswipesum.com
    review
  7. Square POS Pricing — Plans, Hardware & Processing Fees | Korona POSkoronapos.com
    review
  8. Square Processing Fees, Plans, and Software Pricingsquareup.com
    official
  9. Block confirms Cash App breach affecting 8M users | Security Magazinesecuritymagazine.com
    security
  10. CVE-2026-57810: WooCommerce Square Plugin SQLi | SentinelOnesentinelone.com
    security
  11. Square: Funding, Team & Investors | StartupIntrosstartupintros.com
    news

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