Detailed Square POS Review: Features, Pros & Cons, Pricing Plans

Square POS has become one of the most popular tools for retailers, cafe owners, and service-based businesses thanks to its simplicity and strong set of built-in features. It brings together checkout, payments, inventory, and customer tools in a single platform that’s easy to set up and manage. Many small and midsize businesses choose Square because it reduces daily admin work and offers flexible add-ons as they grow.

This Square POS review breaks down everything you need to know: how it works, standout features, real advantages, and areas where it may fall short. You’ll also get a clear view of pricing plans to help you decide whether Square POS is the right fit for your business.

Table of Contents

Highlights

Square POS supports payments, inventory management, sales reporting, employee management, customer engagement, invoicing, and e-commerce integration.
Square POS users may face higher transaction fees at higher sales volumes or with limited customization for enterprise-level operations.

What Is Square POS? An Overview

Square POS is a cloud-based point-of-sale system that combines payments, inventory, and sales tools into a single, user-friendly app. It supports many business types, including retail, restaurants, and services, with customized modes tailored for each.

With Square POS, you can accept credit/debit cards, contactless payments (like Apple Pay or Google Pay), gift cards, and even invoices. It works on mobile devices and tablets and connects seamlessly with Square hardware, such as the Register, Terminal, or Reader.

On the operations side, it gives easy access to real-time reporting, inventory tracking, and sales insights via the Square Dashboard. Plus, you don’t need to commit to long-term contracts; you pay processing fees only when you make a sale.

Read more: Square POS for Retail

Square POS Core Features & Capabilities

Square POS packs a wide range of tools into a single platform, and the sections below break down its key capabilities to help you understand how each one supports daily business operations.

Payment Processing & Fee Structure

Square POS offers a highly flexible payment system, letting you accept all major card types, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover, with a single, transparent rate. It supports chip (EMV), magnetic stripe, and contactless payments like Apple Pay and Google Pay via Square Reader or Terminal.

You can also store cards on file for returning customers, making repeat sales smoother. There are no long-term contracts or hidden monthly fees; you pay only when you make a sale. Refunds, dispute management, and fraud protection are built in, and Square handles the heavy lifting of PCI compliance.

Inventory Management

Square’s inventory features are built directly into its POS. You can track stock levels in real time across in-person and online channels. It supports item variations, modifiers, and categories so you can tailor your catalog to match your business’s structure.

►►► Optimal solution set for businesses: Multi store POS, Next-gen POS, Inventory Management Software (MSI), Self Service, Automation, Backorders

Sales Reporting & Analytics

Square makes it easy to keep an eye on how your business is doing. The Dashboard gives you a bird’s-eye view of gross sales, refunds, and transaction volumes. You can access real-time, in-app sales reports to monitor performance on the go.

Employee Management

You can easily set up your team in Square. There are permission controls, so you decide what each person can access, for example, cash-outs, transaction history, or inventory. Square’s “Advanced Access” gives more detailed control, letting you customize permission sets for each employee and track their actions in the system.

Customer Engagement (Loyalty, Gift Cards)

Square helps you build meaningful customer relationships through its built-in CRM tools. Its Customer Directory saves contact details and purchase history, so you can tailor outreach and better understand loyalty trends. The Loyalty program lets you create custom reward schemes, customers earn points, and you design ahead of time how and when they redeem them.

Invoicing, Online Payments & E-commerce Integration

Square’s invoicing tool is powerful: you can send custom invoices from your POS or dashboard, set up recurring billing, and even request deposits. Automatic payment reminders help ensure customers pay on time, and you can accept payments by credit card, ACH, or mobile wallet.

Add-Ons, Integrations & Square’s App Marketplace

Square’s ecosystem expands well beyond the core POS; its App Marketplace features a wide variety of third-party tools and extensions. You’ll find apps for accounting, CRM, marketing, bookings, or niche retail needs. Developers can also leverage Square’s extensive APIs and SDKs to build custom integrations for orders, catalog, inventory, payments, and more.

Square POS Review – Usability & Performance

Square POS is built to work smoothly for both beginners and experienced users, balancing powerful features with a clean, responsive app.

Getting Started, Onboarding for New Users

Setting up Square POS is straightforward. New users simply download the app, sign in or create an account, and choose the service mode that best fits their business (e.g., retail, quick-service, full service). The system walks you through linking a card reader or terminal, configuring tax rates, and customizing your item grid.

Intuitive Design & Interface

Square’s interface feels friendly and uncluttered. The layout makes it easy to find core functions, checkout buttons, item categories, and modifier screens, which are clearly presented. Merchants often praise the item grid’s customization, which lets you organize frequently used products or shortcuts for quick access.

Speed & Reliability During Busy Transactions

Square has significantly improved its performance: in recent updates, checkout speed has doubled, and app crashes have dropped. These enhancements matter most during high-volume periods, like peak hours at a café or a restaurant rush. Your POS stays responsive, reducing customer delays and frustration.

Offline Mode & Mobile Considerations

Square supports offline payments on supported hardware (e.g., Register, Terminal, Reader), so you can still accept payments even if your internet drops. During offline sessions, transactions are stored on your device and automatically submitted once your connection returns, usually within 24 hours. However, transactions expire if they aren’t uploaded in time, so it’s important to reconnect regularly.

Square POS Review – Security & Compliance

Square places a high priority on keeping payment data safe and helping merchants stay compliant, giving you peace of mind as you run your business.

Data Encryption & PCI Compliance

All sensitive card data is encrypted right at the point of swipe, dip, or tap, in other words, before it leaves the card reader. Square supports strong cryptographic protocols (such as SSL/TLS) for data in transit and at rest. It meets PCI DSS Level 1 standards, the industry’s highest compliance tier.

Because Square serves as the merchant of record, it handles PCI compliance on behalf of its users, so you don’t need to go through self-assessments or pay extra compliance fees.

Fraud Prevention Tools

Square Secure monitors transactions using a combination of machine learning and human review to spot suspicious activity and reduce fraud risk. You can add layers of protection by enabling two-step verification, managing employee permissions, and getting alerts for account changes.

Reliability & Security of Offline Mode

Even if your internet goes down, Square can still process payments on supported hardware by storing transactions locally and sending them once you reconnect. These offline transactions remain encrypted on the device. However, there’s a limit: transactions must be uploaded within a certain timeframe (typically 24 hours), or they expire, so it’s best to reconnect routinely.

Square POS Review – Customer Support & Resources

Square offers a range of helpful support options, backed by solid self-service tools that help you troubleshoot issues or explore its features.

Support Channels (Phone, Chat, Community)

You can reach Square Support via phone, with callback options available if lines are busy.
Chat support is built into the Square Dashboard and POS app, letting you start with Square’s AI assistant and escalate to a live agent if needed.
For peer-to-peer help, Square’s Community forum connects you with other sellers to discuss tips, troubleshoot common issues, and share advice.

Knowledge Base & Documentation

Square’s Support Center features a library of articles, tutorials, and in-app guides. You can search by topic or keyword to find clear, up-to-date instructions for setup, payments, hardware, and more.

Developer Support (APIs, SDKs)

For developers building custom integrations, Square provides comprehensive API and SDK documentation. Its SDKs support multiple platforms, including iOS, Android, and server-side languages, and let you embed Square’s payment flow or POS functionality directly into your own applications.

Square POS Review – Pricing & Cost Structure

Here’s a breakdown of how Square POS pricing works and what you’ll pay.

Square’s Payment Processing Rates

Square Point of Sale software doesn’t have a monthly fee; you only pay for transactions.

For in-person credit card payments (tap, dip, swipe), the standard rate in the U.S. is 2.6% + 15¢ per transaction.
Online payments and invoices typically cost 2.9% + 30¢.
Manually entered card transactions or card-on-file payments carry a higher rate of 3.5% + 15¢, due to increased risk.

Square also supports ACH bank transfers via invoices at 1% with a $1 minimum.

Subscription Plans / Add‑Ons

The core POS app is free; there’s no lock-in contract or mandatory monthly subscription fee. Square does offer paid plans (e.g., for restaurants) that include extra features. For example, on its Restaurant plan, there’s a Plus tier (~$69/location/month) and a Premium tier (~$165), which may reduce transaction costs slightly.

Hidden or Additional Costs

Square is fairly transparent, but some extra costs can creep in. Chargebacks are supported, but Square does not refund processing fees when you issue customer refunds. Some add-ons, like the Square Kiosk app or Kitchen Display System (KDS), have recurring device‑based charges.

Also, while you won’t be billed for PCI‑compliance or account inactivity, you’ll need to factor in message‑marketing costs if you use Square’s SMS/email campaigns (after a free quota).

Pros & Cons of Square POS

Here’s a friendly look at where Square POS shines, and where it might not be the perfect fit.

Major Strengths / What Square Excels At

Square is extremely user‑friendly. According to many reviews, its setup is fast, the interface feels clean and intuitive, and training takes very little time.
It’s free core POS software offers real value, especially for small businesses or startups that don’t want to commit to a monthly fee.
Because Square is part of a broader ecosystem (payments, invoicing, payroll, e‑commerce), it’s highly scalable, and you can grow into more advanced features over time.
The hardware options are also very flexible; Square supports mobile card readers, full countertop registers, and everything in between.

Drawbacks, Limitations & Situations Where It Might Not Be Ideal

Some users report that transaction fees add up quickly, especially for businesses with high sales volume or large ticket sizes.
For larger or more complex operations, Square’s inventory reporting and customization may feel limited compared to enterprise-level POS systems.
There’s also a dependency on internet connectivity; when the connection is unstable, payment processing or data access may get disrupted.
A few merchants have raised concerns about account stability, noting sudden freezes or reserve holds.

Best Use Cases / Ideal Business Types for Square POS

Square POS works well for a wide variety of businesses. Here are the types that benefit the most and how they adapt to their needs.

Retail Stores

Square’s retail‑mode is designed for shops that need inventory tracking, barcode scanning, and flexible pricing. It handles multi-location inventory and helps store owners manage stock, sales, and customers from a unified dashboard. Small boutiques, gift shops, and even hybrid café‑retail concepts make strong use of Square’s capabilities.

Food & Beverage (Restaurants, Cafes, Food Trucks)

Square supports several restaurant modes tailored to different service styles: quick service, full service, and bar. These modes offer features like order modifiers, table management, and tab handling. Mobile food businesses, like food trucks, can especially benefit from Square’s handheld devices and portable readers.

Service-Based Businesses (Salons, Spas, Wellness)

Service businesses gain a lot from Square’s Services or Bookings modes. Appointments, client management, and payment collection happen in one place. The unified POS app helps wellness centers and beauty salons run booking schedules, process payments, and manage recurring customers.

E‑Commerce and Online Sales

Square integrates with popular e-commerce platforms like WooCommerce and Wix, syncing your online store with your in-store inventory. It gives entrepreneurs a way to run their website, process payments, and track sales in one system.

Read more: eCommerce POS System

Mobile Businesses / Pop‑ups

Portable square readers, iPads, or handheld devices give mobile vendors flexibility. The cloud‑based nature of Square POS makes it an excellent fit for pop-up stands, market stalls, or any business that doesn’t stay put in one physical location.

Consider an Alternative for Square POS

For retailers who need a flexible, omnichannel solution, ConnectPOS is a powerful alternative to Square POS. Here are the main advantages of ConnectPOS over Square POS:

True Omnichannel Integration: ConnectPOS synchronizes inventory, orders, and customer data across multiple stores and e-commerce platforms in real time, offering a unified commerce experience. Square is more limited for multi-location or complex omnichannel operations.
Advanced Inventory Management: ConnectPOS handles multi-warehouse tracking, backorders, and complex product variations efficiently, making it ideal for retailers with large catalogs. Square’s inventory features are simpler and may not scale as well for larger operations.
Flexible Architecture & Customization: Built on an API-first, microservice, and headless architecture, ConnectPOS enables deep customization without disrupting the system. Square’s customization options are more constrained and less developer-friendly.
Staff & Role Management: ConnectPOS provides granular control over employee permissions and performance tracking, which is more robust than Square’s basic team management tools.
Enhanced Customer Engagement: ConnectPOS supports loyalty programs, personalized promotions, and targeted campaigns integrated across channels, while Square offers more standard loyalty and marketing options.
Self-Service & Device Flexibility: ConnectPOS supports kiosks, tablets, and smartphones, offering more flexible checkout options for stores with varied layouts or high customer flow.
Scalable for Large Retailers: ConnectPOS can handle over a million products and customers with real-time sync, making it suitable for large-scale retail chains as well as small to mid-size businesses.

Final Verdict – Should You Choose Square POS?

Through the Square POS review, this software is an accessible, user-friendly solution for small to mid-size businesses. It offers reliable payment processing, simple setup, and a solid ecosystem of tools for retail, food, and service-based operations. It’s a free core POS with flexible hardware options, making it a strong choice for businesses just starting out.

For retailers with multiple locations, large inventories, or complex omnichannel needs, ConnectPOS offers stronger capabilities. Real-time sync across stores and online channels, advanced inventory and staff management, and customizable features make it ideal for growing businesses.

For a scalable, unified retail solution, contact ConnectPOS today to request a demo and see how it can support your business growth.

FAQ

Is Square POS really free to use?

Square POS offers a free plan, which includes basic sales, payment processing, inventory tracking, and reporting. However, Square charges transaction fees for each payment, and some advanced features, such as loyalty programs, payroll, and detailed analytics, require paid add-ons.

Does Square POS work offline?

Yes, Square POS has an offline mode that lets businesses accept card payments even without an internet connection. Transactions are stored locally and processed once the connection is restored. Keep in mind that offline payments carry some risk, and certain features, such as real-time inventory sync and reporting.

What types of businesses benefit most from Square POS?

Square POS is well-suited for small to midsize businesses such as retail stores, cafés, food trucks, salons, service providers, pop-up shops, and mobile sellers. Its simple setup, transparent pricing, and strong mobile capabilities make it a popular choice for these businesses.

What is a good alternative to Square POS for growing retailers?

For businesses that need advanced inventory management, omnichannel selling, or deeper customization across multiple locations, ConnectPOS is a strong alternative to Square POS. It offers real-time inventory sync, offline-first performance, and flexible integrations with major eCommerce platforms.

►►► Optimal solution set for businesses: Shopify POS, Magento POS, BigCommerce POS, WooCommerce POS, NetSuite POS, E-Commerce POS

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