# Square — POS & Checkout Systems Square by Block, Inc. holds a panel rating of 3/5 from 6 AI judges (category median 2.5/5), as of 2026-10-30. Provenance: Rest of world; sovereignty: not determined. - Vendor: Block, Inc. (https://squareup.com/ie/en/point-of-sale) - Category: [POS & Checkout Systems](https://whats-best.ai/software/pos.md) - Provenance (editorial classification): Rest of world - Canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/pos/square - Alternatives: https://whats-best.ai/software/pos/square/alternatives ([markdown](https://whats-best.ai/software/pos/square/alternatives.md)) - Data as of: 2026-11-04 · evaluated 2026-10-30 · oldest source captured 2026-10-29 **AI-generated.** Every score, rationale and verdict here is written by a panel of AI judges from public evidence — an analysis, not a hands-on test. Every fact quotes the vendor page it was read from. No score can be bought. How scores are made: https://whats-best.ai/methodology ## At a glance - Vendor: Block, Inc. - Headquarters: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 1 Nov 2026 - Data hosting: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 1 Nov 2026 - Free plan: Yes, per the vendor’s own page [S3] ## The panel's verdict Square is a point-of-sale system sold in Ireland, France, Spain and the UK; EU sellers contract with Squareup International Limited, regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. It is strongest on payments and fees, scored a uniform 7, and on pricing transparency, 7–8: card fees are published by type and channel — 1.75% + VAT in person, 1.4% + 25c + VAT online for EEA cards — hardware is priced from a €19 + VAT reader to a €699 + VAT register, and the software plan starts at €0. Its weakest ground is fiscal compliance, scored 0–2, where the bench found no public information on a certified fiscal device, an audit export, a cash book or a daily closing. Checkout and hardware at 6–7 and operations and locations at 6–7 sit in the middle; accounting and portability at 4–6 and sovereignty at 3–4 trail on undocumented exports and a privacy notice placing processing and storage in the United States, Japan, the UK, the EU and other countries. flagged splits: none, and no criterion spans more than two points. **Speaks for it:** - Card fees published by type and channel — 1.75% + VAT in person, 2% + VAT keyed, 1.4% + 25c + VAT online for EEA cards — stated to include interchange - Hardware sold outright at published prices from the €19 + VAT reader to the €699 + VAT register, with a two-year limited warranty and free 30-day returns - A €0 plan with no setup fee, no monthly minimum and no long-term contract, with payouts as soon as the next working day - Squareup International Limited is the named data controller for EU sellers, regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland for payment acquiring, with the Irish DPC as lead supervisory authority - Inventory counts, automatic purchase orders and vendor costs recorded on stock receiving, with menus and staff managed across multiple locations **Held against it:** - Fiscal compliance scored 0–2, with no public information found on a certified fiscal device, an audit export, a cash book or a daily closing - The privacy notice states information is processed and stored in the United States, Japan, the UK, the EU and other countries, with named subprocessors given without locations - We found no public information on running the till with any acquirer or terminal other than Square's own - We found no public information on exports carrying revenue accounts and tax rates, or on a full export of articles, customers and sales at contract end - The online-store terms state that cancellation takes effect immediately and Square may delete all information on the website **Best for:** - You run a café or shop in Ireland, France, Spain or the UK and want to price the whole till from public pages before committing - You sell seasonally or from a stall and need the €0 plan with no monthly fees and funds as soon as the next working day - You manage stock across multiple sites and want counts, automatic purchase orders and vendor costs recorded when stock is received - Your accountant uses Sage, Xero or QuickBooks and your developers can work with the free APIs and webhooks **Avoid if:** - You face a cash-register audit that requires a certified fiscal device or a daily closing — fiscal compliance scored 0–2 and the bench found nothing documented to hand an auditor - You operate in Germany or Austria — the captured pages describe a product sold in Ireland, France, Spain and the UK - You must use your own acquirer or terminal — the pages name only Square's own acquiring behind the till - Your data protection officer needs committed EU hosting or a published data processing agreement before sign-off — the privacy notice states processing and storage in the United States, Japan, the UK, the EU and other countries ## Scores by judge and criterion Scores out of 5, each judge scoring independently against the published rubric (v1). "n/r" = not rated: the vendor publishes no price, or the judge found no public information on that criterion. | Criterion | The Café Owner | The Retail Shop Owner | The Tax Adviser | The Hospitality Operations Manager | The Fee-Conscious Merchant | The Skeptic | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Checkout, receipts & hardware | 3/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | | Card payments & fees | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | | Fiscal compliance (TSE, DSFinV-K, RKSV) | n/r | n/r | n/r | n/r | n/r | 1/5 | | Inventory, tables, staff & locations | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | | Accounting handoff, DATEV & data export | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | 3/5 | 2/5 | 2.5/5 | 2.5/5 | | European sovereignty | 1.5/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | | Pricing transparency | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 4/5 | 3.5/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | | **Weighted verdict** | **3/5** | **3/5** | **3/5** | **3/5** | **3.5/5** | **2.5/5** | ### The judges - **The Café Owner** (v1.0): Runs a café with twelve tables, a counter and a terrace in summer, and closes the till herself at eleven at night. Wants an iPad till the student staff learn in one shift, orders that reach the kitchen printer, split bills and tips without arithmetic, a till that keeps selling when the Wi-Fi drops, a TSE she does not have to think about, and a monthly cost she can still read in the second year. - **The Retail Shop Owner** (v1.0): Owns a stationery and gift shop with a second branch across town and about four thousand articles, many in several colours. Wants barcodes scanned at the till, stock that shows what the other branch still has, transfers between the two shops, suppliers and reorders in the same back office, vouchers that work in both branches, and the month's sales handed to the tax adviser without a USB stick. - **The Tax Adviser** (v1.0): Looks after the books of sixty restaurants, bakeries and shops and has sat in on more than one unannounced Kassennachschau. Wants the TSE named with its certificate, a DSFinV-K export that opens in the auditor's software, the § 146a registration done, a procedure documentation that exists before it is asked for, a DATEV export with the right revenue accounts, and ten years of records still readable after the client changes tills. - **The Hospitality Operations Manager** (v1.0): Runs operations for a group of eight restaurants in three cities with two hundred staff. Wants one menu and price list pushed to every site with local exceptions, staff rights that stop a waiter voiding his own bills, reports that compare sites by the hour, and a works council and data protection officer who can sign off what the till records about employees and loyalty guests, and where it is hosted. - **The Fee-Conscious Merchant** (v1.0): Sells ice cream from a shop in spring and summer and from a market stall at Christmas, mostly in amounts under five euros, and more of them by card every year. Wants the fee per girocard and credit card payment on the price page, a terminal he can choose rather than the one the till insists on, hardware that runs off a battery, no monthly fee in the closed months, and the real cost of "free". - **The Skeptic** (v1.0): Has seen a "free" till paid for twice over in card fees, printers that work with one vendor's software only, a TSE charged by the year on top of the licence, and a cancelled contract that left ten years of fiscal journals behind a login. Reads "100 % finanzamtkonform" with no TSE provider named and "DATEV-ready" with no export format — and asks what leaving would cost. ## European sovereignty — proven facts Built only from facts on the vendor's own pages; a dimension we could not prove is left open, never scored as zero. Headline: not determined. | Dimension | Finding | Points | Source | |---|---|---|---| | Legal entity | Not determined | — | — | | Hosting location | Not determined | — | — | | Hosting options | Not determined | — | — | | Open source | Not determined | — | — | | Data processing agreement | Not determined | — | — | | Transfer impact assessment | Not determined | — | — | ## Key facts Each fact is the vendor's own statement, cited to the source page it was read from ([S*n*] → Sources). **Compliance** - Data transfers scc: EU Standard Contractual Clauses [S8] - GDPR rights portal: https://privacy.block.xyz [S8] - Interchange caps ireland: Republic of Ireland · 0.1 · 0.3 [S6] - Lead supervisory authority: Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) [S8] - Security statement: administrative, technical and physical safeguards; no absolute security guarantee [S8] - UK supervisory authority: Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) [S8] - UK transfer safeguards: UK Addendum to SCCs or UK IDTA [S8] **Data** - Account deactivation: via account login or email [S8] - Children policy: 18 [S8] - Location opt out: yes [S8] - Online store cancellation: immediate cancellation; Square may delete all website information [S7] - Promotional opt out: reply STOP [S8] - Retention account lifetime: lifetime of account · lifetime of account [S8] - Retention case by case: case-by-case based on defined factors [S8] **Hosting** - Jurisdiction: Ireland [S2] - Processing countries: United States · Japan · UK · EU · other countries [S8] - Regulation: Squareup International Limited trading as Square, regulated by Central Bank of Ireland; non-financial products not covered by CBI rules [S7] - Regulator: Squareup International Limited · payment acquiring · Central Bank of Ireland [S4] **Integrations** - Accounting: Sage · Xero · QuickBooks [S2] - API: Terminal API · POS API [S5] - Import inventory: yes [S3] - Inventory: BevSpot · MarketMan [S2] - Order aggregation: Deliverect · Otter [S2] - Partner count: 100+ [S2] - Reservations: OpenTable [S2] - Third party apps: yes [S3] - Webhook ci cd use case: Webhook subscription management can be integrated into CI/CD pipelines [S15] - Webhook event types example: Example subscribable event types include payment.created, order.updated, invoice.created, booking.created, card.disabled, customer.created [S15] **Legal** - Company: Block, Inc. · Squareup Pte. Ltd. [S6] - Copyright: Block, Inc. · Squareup Pte. Ltd. [S2] - Copyright: Block, Inc. · Squareup Pte. Ltd. [S4] - Copyright: 2026 · Block, Inc. · Squareup Pte. Ltd. [S5] - Effective date: Additional Point of Sale Terms of Service · 2025-10-31 [S7] - Entity regulated: payment acquiring services · Squareup International Limited · Central Bank of Ireland [S5] - EU contact address: Squareup International Ltd. · One Park Place, Hatch Street Upper, Block C, 5th Floor, Saint Kevin's, Dublin 2 D02 E762, Ireland [S8] - EU data controller: Squareup International Ltd is Data Controller for EU residents [S8] - Kyc aml laws: EU Directive 2015/849 (AMLD IV) · EU Directive 2018/843 (AMLD V) · Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010 (Ireland) · Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds Regulations 2017 (UK) [S8] - Non financial services warning: non-financial products not covered by Central Bank of Ireland rules or statutory compensation scheme [S6] - Notice effective date: 2026-09-15 · 2024-07-01 [S8] - Regulated entity: payment acquiring services · Squareup International Limited · Central Bank of Ireland [S2] - Regulation: Squareup International Limited · Central Bank of Ireland · payment acquiring [S1] - Regulation: payment acquiring services · Squareup International Limited · Central Bank of Ireland [S3] - Regulation: payment acquiring services · Squareup International Limited · Central Bank of Ireland [S6] - Regulator: Regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland for payment acquiring services [S8] - Translation AI notice: yes · yes [S8] - UK contact address: Squareup Europe Ltd · 101 New Cavendish St, 4th Floor, London W1W 6XH, United Kingdom [S8] - UK data controller: Squareup Europe Ltd is Data Controller for UK residents [S8] **Pricing** - Card not present eea: yes · 1.4 · 0.25 [S6] - Card not present noneea: yes · 2.9 · 0.25 [S6] - Card on file: 2.5% + VAT · card on file, Virtual Terminal, Invoices [S1] - Card on file rate: yes · 2.5 [S6] - Card present rate: yes · 1.75 [S6] - Contract: no [S2] - Developer free: 0 [S5] - Digital gift cards rate: yes · 1.4 · 0.25 · yes · 2.9 · 0.25 [S6] - Domain auto renewal charge: domain auto-renewal charged 45 days before term expiry; full refund if cancelled within first 30 days [S7] - Ecommerce API rate: yes · 1.4 · 0.25 · yes · 2.9 · 0.25 [S6] - Flat fee interchange note: flat fees include interchange, network and acquirer fees [S6] - Free domain: 1 · new one or two year paid subscription plan · 12 [S7] - Free plan includes: Free Retail Point of Sale app · Free online store · Basic inventory tools · Exchanges · Unlimited items [S3] - Free plan price: Free · 0 · no [S3] - Free processing rates: excluded, +VAT · 1.75 · 2 [S3] - Free trial: 30 [S2] - Gift card fees: yes · no [S7] - Gift card limits: 750 · 750 [S7] - Gift card person limit: 7500 [S7] - Handheld price: 199 · excluded · Square Handheld [S4] - House accounts repayment: single payment of full balance within 3 months; no interest, late fees or instalments permitted [S7] - Inperson EU eea rate: 1.75% + VAT per transaction · EU+EEA [S5] - Inperson non eea rate: 1.75% + 1.5% + VAT per transaction · UK and non-EEA [S5] - Inperson rate: 1.75% + VAT · chip and PIN or contactless in-person payments [S1] - International card fee: cards issued outside EU/EEA · 1.5% + VAT [S1] - International card fee: additional 1.5% + VAT [S5] - International fee exclusion: yes [S6] - International fee scope: in addition to base processing fees [S6] - International transaction fee: 1.5 [S6] - Invoices manual rate: yes · 2 [S6] - Invoices rate: yes · 2.5 [S6] - Invoices vt cof non eea rate: 2.5% + 1.5% + VAT · non-EU/EEA [S5] - Invoices vt cof rate: 2.5% + VAT · EU/EEA [S5] - Kds: 15 · Square for Restaurants paid subscriptions [S5] - Loyalty fees: Loyalty fees charged per business location [S7] - Manual entry: 2% + VAT · manually keyed card details in POS app [S1] - Manual entry non eea rate: 2% + 1.5% + VAT · non-EU/EEA [S5] - Manual entry rate: 2% + VAT · EU/EEA [S5] - Online checkout rate: yes · 1.4 · 0.25 · yes · 2.9 · 0.25 [S6] - Online EU eea: 1.4% + 25c + VAT · EU & EEA cards online payments [S1] - Online EU eea rate: 1.4% + 25c + VAT per transaction · EU+EEA [S5] - Online non eea rate: 2.9% + 25c + VAT per transaction · UK and non-EEA [S5] - Online store auto renewal: yes [S7] - Online store currency: EUR · yes [S7] - Online UK noneea: 2.9% + 25c + VAT · UK & Non-EEA cards online payments [S1] - Other products rates: 2 · 2.5 [S6] - Plus plan includes: Advanced inventory tools and reports · Automatic purchase orders · Barcode label printing · Item bundling · Unlimited employee time tracking [S3] - Plus plan price: excluded · Plus · 49 · yes [S3] - Plus processing rate: excluded, +VAT · 1.6 [S3] **Product** - Additional receipt device requirement: Android · Square Terminal (2nd generation) [S9] - Additional receipt printer limit: no [S9] - Additional receipt transaction scope: no · no · no · yes [S9] - Addon egift cards: eGift Cards [S2] - Addon loyalty: Square Loyalty add-on [S2] - Addon marketing: Square Marketing add-on [S2] - Advertising tracking: yes [S8] - AI features: yes [S8] - Analytics: free · yes · yes [S1] - Automatic data entry reports: yes [S3] - Available card entry methods: getAvailableCardEntryMethods() = { CONTACTLESS } indicates no hardware readers connected and Tap to Pay is available [S12] - Beta release: yes · Inventory API · Catalog API · Vendors API [S14] - Cancel anytime: yes [S5] - Carbon neutral delivery: 2030 · yes [S4] - Click and collect: yes [S1] - Cookies consent banner: yes [S8] - Cost money meaning: references a vendor managed with the Vendors API · total amount paid to the vendor for the units in the adjustment [S14] - Cost write only on stock receiving: NONE · UNLINKED_RETURN [S14] - Custom prompt mode: PromptParameters.mode can be set to CUSTOM to build custom payment UI [S12] - Custom themes: yes [S7] - Customer data collection: yes [S8] - Customer tracking: yes [S1] - Customisable: yes [S3] - Default costs from catalog: Default costs and vendors come from the variation's vendor_information in the catalog [S14] - Delivery integrations: Deliveroo · Uber Eats · Just Eat [S1] - Device local settings: yes · no · no [S9] - Digital invoices: yes [S3] - Domain services: yes [S7] - Events API pull alternative: Events API is a pull-based alternative; can poll to retrieve events [S15] - Feedback feature: yes [S7] - Free returns: 30 · yes [S4] - Funds access: as soon as the next working day [S1] - Gift card no expiry: no [S7] - Gift cards: yes [S1] - Gift cards: yes [S7] - Hardware accessories: yes [S3] - Hardware square register: yes [S3] - Hardware square stand: yes [S3] - House accounts: yes [S7] - Included features: Square Point of Sale app · fund transfers next working day · real-time analytics · customer support · inventory management · fraud prevention · dispute management [S5] - Inventory alerts: yes · yes [S1] - Inventory management: yes [S3] - Invoices: yes · yes [S7] - Kiosk self service: Self-service ordering kiosks [S2] - Kits contents: Square Stand or Square Register · cash drawer · receipt printer · paper [S4] - Loyalty: yes · yes [S7] - Loyalty programmes: yes [S3] - Marketing messaging: yes [S7] - Mobile apps: iPhone · tablet [S3] **Subprocessors** - Affiliates: Cash App · Afterpay/Clearpay · TIDAL · wholly-owned subsidiaries of Block, Inc. [S8] - Analytics: Google Analytics · Facebook · BugSnag · Crashlytics [S8] - Domain registrar: Register.com · domain registration [S7] - Identity verification: credit reporting agencies · wireless carriers [S8] - Sendgrid: SendGrid · email marketing delivery [S7] **Support** - Chat: yes [S9] - Community: online seller community [S2] - Community: yes [S9] - Community and docs: yes [S1] - Expert contact: yes [S3] - Faq categories: Setting up your POS · Fees and protection · Payments · Compatibility · Hardware [S1] - Free product support: yes · Support Centre articles · videos · representative [S4] - Sales contact: yes [S4] - Service status: yes [S1] - Training: optional paid one-on-one specialist training [S2] 91 more facts on the canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/pos/square ## Questions ### Is Square European? No. whats-best.ai classifies Square as Rest of world. ### Where does Square store data? Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 1 Nov 2026. ### Does Square have a free plan? Yes. Square has a free plan, per [the vendor’s page captured 29 Oct 2026](https://whats-best.ai/evidence/13071). ### What are the best alternatives to Square? As of 3 Nov 2026, the panel rates [ready2order (3.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/pos/ready2order), [Gastronovi (3/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/pos/gastronovi) and [LINA TeamCloud (3/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/pos/lina) highest among the other 18 POS & Checkout Systems products evaluated. Ratings that look equal are rounded to half stars; the order uses the unrounded rating, then the name. The highest-rated European alternative is [ready2order](https://whats-best.ai/software/pos/ready2order) (EU-Made). Ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence: [how scores are made](https://whats-best.ai/methodology#ordering). The full list, with European products first: [Square alternatives](https://whats-best.ai/software/pos/square/alternatives). ## What this page leaves out - 21 product facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. - 7 pricing facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. - 3 integrations facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. - 2 compliance facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. - 2 sovereignty dimensions could not be confirmed on the vendor’s own pages and are shown as unknown. - 6 of the readings below were written against an earlier fact sheet — a fact has been corrected, added or pulled since. Until the panel next runs on this product you are reading the older judgement. ## Sources - [S1] Vendor homepage (till): https://squareup.com/ie/en/point-of-sale (checked 2026-10-29) - [S2] Features page (restaurants): https://squareup.com/ie/en/point-of-sale/restaurants (checked 2026-10-29) - [S3] Features page (retail): https://squareup.com/ie/en/point-of-sale/retail (checked 2026-10-29) - [S4] Features page (hardware): https://squareup.com/ie/en/hardware (checked 2026-10-29) - [S5] Pricing page: https://squareup.com/ie/en/pricing (checked 2026-10-29) - [S6] Pricing page (fee schedule): https://squareup.com/ie/en/legal/general/fees (checked 2026-10-29) - [S7] Terms of service (point of sale): https://squareup.com/ie/en/legal/general/pos (checked 2026-10-29) - [S8] Privacy policy: https://squareup.com/ie/en/legal/general/privacy (checked 2026-10-29) - [S9] Checkout, receipts & hardware — found from sitemap: https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/8669-manage-receipt-settings-on-square-point-of-sale (checked 2026-10-29) - [S10] Checkout, receipts & hardware — found from sitemap: https://developer.squareup.com/docs/pos-api/cookbook/offline-mode (checked 2026-10-29) - [S11] Card payments & fees — found from sitemap: https://developer.squareup.com/docs/mobile-payments-sdk/ios/tap-to-pay (checked 2026-10-29) - [S12] Card payments & fees — found from sitemap: https://developer.squareup.com/docs/mobile-payments-sdk/android/tap-to-pay (checked 2026-10-29) - [S13] Inventory, tables, staff & locations — found from sitemap: https://developer.squareup.com/docs/inventory-api/build-with-inventory (checked 2026-10-29) - [S14] Inventory, tables, staff & locations — found from sitemap: https://developer.squareup.com/docs/inventory-api/track-costs-and-vendors (checked 2026-10-29) - [S15] Accounting handoff, DATEV & data export — found from sitemap: https://developer.squareup.com/docs/webhooks/webhook-subscriptions-api (checked 2026-10-29) - [S16] Accounting handoff, DATEV & data export — found from sitemap: https://developer.squareup.com/forums/t/integration-of-payouts-api-in-squareup/8605 (checked 2026-10-29) - [S17] Terms of service — found from the homepage: https://squareup.com/ie/en/legal/general/ua (checked 2026-11-01) --- Cite as: whats-best.ai, "Square — POS & Checkout Systems", AI panel analysis, as of 2026-11-04. https://whats-best.ai/software/pos/square Corrections: https://whats-best.ai/correct/1196?target=page