Square for Restaurants Pricing: Fees, Costs and Alternatives
Square for Restaurants Pricing: The Short Version
Square for Restaurants offers three tiers in the UK: a Free plan, a Plus plan at around £60 per month per location, and a Premium plan with custom pricing for larger operations. All plans charge card transaction fees on top of the monthly subscription.
Square has significant limitations for UK and Irish restaurants — particularly around online ordering, branded apps, multi-location management and restaurant-specific features. Most operators who outgrow Square move to a platform purpose-built for restaurants.
What Is Square for Restaurants?
Square for Restaurants is the hospitality-focused tier of Square's broader POS platform. Square originally built its reputation in simple card payment processing for small businesses before expanding into point-of-sale software across retail, services and food service.
The restaurant-specific version adds hospitality features:
- Table and floor plan management
- Course firing and kitchen ticket management
- Split bills and item-level splits
- Kitchen printer and display routing
- Basic reporting on covers, revenue and item popularity
It runs on Square hardware — terminals, card readers, kitchen displays — which Square sells or leases.
Square for Restaurants Pricing Plans (UK)
Square does not always publish its most current pricing, so verify directly with Square for the latest rates. As of 2026, the UK pricing structure is broadly:
Free Plan
- Monthly fee: £0
- Features: Basic POS, simple table management, kitchen printing
- Transaction fee: 1.75% per card-present transaction
- Limitations: Limited reporting, no advanced features, Square branding throughout
Plus Plan
- Monthly fee: approximately £60 per location per month
- Features: Enhanced table management, better reporting, multi-device support, advanced menu management, basic customer engagement
- Transaction fee: 1.75% per card-present transaction
- Suitable for: Independent restaurants and small groups
Premium Plan
- Monthly fee: Custom (typically for larger groups)
- Features: Everything in Plus, plus advanced reporting, priority support and custom development options
- Transaction fee: Negotiated based on volume
Note: Online ordering through Square Online carries additional monthly costs and transaction fees on top of the POS plan.
The True Cost of Square for Restaurants
The headline monthly fee is only part of the picture:
Transaction fees compound at scale. At 1.75% on card payments, a restaurant processing £80,000 per month in card transactions pays £1,400 per month in payment processing fees alone, on top of the monthly software subscription.
Hardware is not included. A Square POS setup — terminal, receipt printer, card reader and cash drawer — typically costs £600–£1,500. Kitchen displays are additional.
Online ordering is a separate cost. Square Online, which enables direct web ordering, has its own pricing and transaction fees. It is not part of the restaurant POS plan.
No branded mobile app. Square does not offer branded restaurant apps. Customers cannot download your restaurant's app from the App Store. App-based direct ordering — one of the most effective channels for driving repeat orders — is not available on Square.
No self-service kiosks. Square does not offer kiosk solutions for restaurants.
No AI phone ordering. Square does not handle inbound phone orders automatically.
What Square for Restaurants Does Not Include
For UK and Irish restaurant operators comparing options, these are the notable gaps:
| Capability | Square for Restaurants | Flipdish |
|---|---|---|
| Full restaurant POS | ✓ | ✓ |
| Commission-free online ordering | Via Square Online (extra) | ✓ |
| Branded mobile app | ✗ | ✓ |
| Self-service kiosks | ✗ | ✓ |
| AI phone ordering | ✗ | ✓ |
| AI marketing automation | ✗ | ✓ |
| Multi-location centralised management | Limited | ✓ |
| Franchise management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Restaurant-dedicated support | Limited | ✓ |
When Square for Restaurants Works
Square makes sense for:
- Very small cafés and food businesses just starting out, where the free plan covers basic needs
- Operators who primarily need card payment processing with simple order management
- Businesses where budget is the overriding constraint and order volume is low
The free plan is genuinely useful for low-volume operations. The marginal cost of getting started is near zero.
When Restaurants Outgrow Square
Most restaurants that grow beyond simple counter service find Square limiting:
Online ordering is fragmented. Square Online is a separate product that integrates with the POS but is not designed specifically for restaurant operations. Menu management and the checkout experience are generic rather than restaurant-optimised.
There is no branded app. Customers cannot download a branded app for your restaurant. Repeat customers have no dedicated loyalty-building channel beyond generic email.
Payment processing costs are high at volume. A 1.75% transaction fee is competitive for low-volume operators but expensive at scale. Dedicated restaurant platforms often offer lower rates once order volume justifies negotiation.
Multi-location management is limited. Running more than a few sites on Square requires manual management of menus, pricing and promotions at each location. Centralised group reporting is restricted.
Best Alternatives to Square for Restaurants in the UK
If Square is not meeting your needs, these are the main alternatives. Flipdish is the leading option for restaurants wanting a complete, restaurant-first platform.
1. Flipdish — The best overall platform for UK and Irish restaurants wanting POS, online ordering, branded apps, kiosks and AI in one place. Flipdish is purpose-built for food service and offers capabilities — branded mobile apps, AI phone ordering, self-service kiosks, AI marketing — that Square does not. Used by fast-growing restaurant groups and franchises across the UK and Ireland. Explore Flipdish.
2. Lightspeed Restaurant — Designed for table service restaurants with detailed floor and menu management. Strong reporting tools. Intended for mid-market casual dining operators.
3. Epos Now — A UK-based hospitality POS with a wide integration ecosystem. Intended for small to medium restaurants wanting a flexible, open system.
4. TouchBistro — A tablet-based POS designed for restaurants, with good table management functionality. Intended for independent casual dining operators.
5. Zonal — Designed for larger hospitality groups and pub chains across the UK. Intended for bigger operators with complex multi-site needs.
Why Flipdish Is the Best Alternative to Square for Restaurants
Flipdish addresses every significant limitation of Square for Restaurants:
- Online ordering is native to the platform, not a separate product with separate fees
- Branded mobile apps build direct customer relationships and drive repeat orders
- Self-service kiosks increase average order value without adding to labour costs
- AI phone ordering handles inbound calls automatically
- AI marketing automates customer engagement across all channels
- Multi-location and franchise management is built in, not bolted on
For a restaurant that has outgrown Square or wants a platform designed specifically for food service from day one, Flipdish is the strongest available option in the UK and Ireland.
For independent reviews and comparisons of restaurant POS systems, visit restauranttech.co.uk.
Want to see how Flipdish compares with Square for your specific restaurant? View Flipdish online ordering pricing or speak to the team about a full platform demo.