Square

What is Square?

Square is a point-of-sale and business management platform made by Square, Inc. that combines in-person payment processing, online ordering, inventory management, and staff operations into a single system. The platform serves restaurants, retail stores, salons, service businesses, and nonprofits with hardware terminals ranging from the Square Register to portable handheld readers, alongside cloud-based software for managing transactions, employees, and customers.

The core payment processing accepts contactless, chip, and magstripe cards, plus Bitcoin, with transparent pricing and no long-term contracts. Beyond payments, Square's ecosystem includes point-of-sale systems optimized for specific verticals—Restaurants POS for food service, Retail POS for inventory-heavy businesses, and Appointments POS for service providers. The platform integrates online ordering, website builders, and kiosk ordering to enable omnichannel selling. Staff management features cover payroll processing, shift scheduling, team communication, and access controls. Marketing tools include loyalty programs, customer directories, gift cards, and Square AI-powered reporting and messaging campaigns. A developer API and app marketplace allow custom integrations and third-party extensions.

Square offers hardware on purchase or monthly payment plans: the Register 2nd Generation at $899 or $44/month, the Handheld Terminal at $399 or $37/month, the Terminal at $299 or $27/month, and the Stand at $149 or $14/month. Software features operate on a freemium model with transaction fees and optional paid tiers for advanced capabilities like advanced team access and detailed reporting. Square also provides business banking services including checking, savings, loans, and credit products integrated with the platform.

The service targets small to mid-market businesses seeking unified operations without fragmented vendor relationships. Integrations span popular accounting software, e-commerce platform