Square Online Store Pricing: The Most Comprehensive and Updated Review 

This article will explore the Square website‘s pricing plans, discussing its free, Plus, and Premium plans. 

Key Takeaways

• A Square website is an online store or e-commerce platform offered by Square that allows businesses to create and manage their online presence, sell products, and accept payments online.
• Square websites are best suited for small and medium-sized businesses, entrepreneurs, and individuals who want to start selling products or services online.  Square websites benefit businesses that already use Square’s point-of-sale system, as it provides seamless integration between offline and online sales channels.
• It is ideal for those looking for an easy-to-use and affordable solution to set up an online store, manage inventory, process payments, and offer various shipping and pickup options.

How Much Does Square Cost? – Our Full Pricing Guide

Square Online Pricing Plans

Square Online offers a free platform for building, publishing, and selling your products or services. Additionally, they provide a variety of paid plans, ranging from $0 to $79 per month when billed annually.

Overview of Square Online’s Price Plans

This table is the overview of Square Online’s pricing: 

Square Online Pricing Plans

Free Plan: $0 per month

Best for setting up your store

Square Online offers a free plan with various features that allow you to set up and start selling online. While the free plan is an excellent option for testing and low-cost store building, it’s not recommended for long-term use if you want to maximize sales and be taken seriously by customers.

The free plan is best suited for trying out Square Online’s builder, building your store while keeping costs low, and experimenting with design ideas and product layouts before going live.

However, the free plan has certain limitations, including Square adverts on your store pages, a Square subdomain for your store’s address, and the inability to connect your domain. Despite these limitations, Square Online’s free plan is quite generous, as only a few platforms offer free e-commerce plans that allow you to sell online.

If you’re ready to turn your business into an online venture, Square Online’s free plan can be an excellent starting point. However, as your online store grows and you require more advanced features and customization options, consider upgrading to one of Square Online’s paid plans, such as the Plus or Premium.

Plus Plan: $29 per month

Best for launching your brand

The Plus Plan is designed for businesses looking to launch their brand and achieve growth while streamlining their operations. This plan has various advanced features and customization options to enhance your online store’s performance.

You can take advantage of more extensive site customization options, allowing you to create a unique and professional online presence. This includes connecting a custom domain, uploading custom fonts, embedding custom widgets, and removing Square branding from your site.

This feature provides you with more control over your product offerings. You can set time-based categories, schedule product drops, and use item badges to showcase unique products or promotions.

With the Plus Plan, you can offer PayPal as a payment option, providing customers with more payment flexibility. As a bonus, the Plus Plan includes a free standard-priced domain for the first year, giving your online store a professional and credible appearance.

Premium Plan: $79 per month

Best for fine-tuning your established store

The Premium Plan offered by Square Online is a $79 plan tailored for businesses that have already established their online store and are looking to fine-tune their operations and scale up. 

Your online store can display the most accurate shipping rates at checkout based on weight, destination, and carrier factors. This ensures customers are charged the correct shipping costs, eliminating the risk of under or over-charging.

The Premium Plan offers priority customer support, ensuring you receive timely assistance and dedicated service. You can save on in-house delivery fees, reducing additional costs associated with fulfilling orders.

The Premium Plan is recommended for businesses that have already established a strong presence and are looking to take their sales to the next level. It is especially beneficial for large companies where saving on processing fees and shipping rates can significantly impact profits.

However, considering the higher monthly cost, it’s essential to carefully assess your business’s needs and growth potential before opting for this plan. In many cases, the Premium Plan serves as an upgrade option for companies that have reached the limits of the Plus Plan and require more advanced tools to support their expanding operations.

Is Square Online Free?

3 Things You Should Know About Square Online’s Free Plan

Square Online offers a free plan, but there are some essential things to consider before choosing it. Here are three key points to keep in mind about Square Online’s Free Plan:

1. Limited Customization: With the Free Plan, you won’t be able to use a custom domain, resulting in a web address like www.yourstore.square.site. This can negatively impact your professional image and hinder your ability to rank well on search engines like Google.
2. Restricted Features: The Free Plan has limited features compared to the paid plans. You will need access to advanced tools like abandoned cart recovery, customer reviews, or advanced shipping options.
3. Adverts on Your Store: Square Online displays adverts on your store as a trade-off for the free service. These ads may disrupt your branding, distract visitors, and undermine the professional image you’ve worked hard to build. Additionally, visitors will know your site was created using a free plan.

Our Advice: Should you use Square Online’s Free Plan?

We advise you to use Square Online’s Free Plan, but it’s best to consider it a temporary solution. While the free plan allows you to test out the platform and build your store with minimal costs, we recommend relying on something other than it long-term, especially if you’re serious about launching, sharing, and growing your online store.

Instead, consider using the Free Plan as a starting point to familiarize yourself with Square Online’s capabilities and build a basic version of your store. Once you have tested the platform and are ready to take your business to the next level, upgrading to one of Square Online’s paid plans. 

Paid plans are more professional, feature-rich, and customer-friendly online stores. This will help you achieve better results, improve your brand’s image, and create a more seamless and rewarding shopping experience for your customers.

Square Online Store Pricing vs Competitors

When comparing Square Online Store pricing to its competitors, it stands out as an affordable option in the market. Let’s take a closer look at how Square Online’s pricing compares to some of the top ecommerce website builders:

When considering an e-commerce platform, pricing is often a primary concern. Both Square and Wix offer free plans, which can be beneficial for beginners or businesses testing the e-commerce waters. Shopify, while it doesn’t have a free tier, starts at a modest $5 per month – an affordable entry point.

However, one must remember that you get what you pay for. With Shopify, even at the starting price, you’re investing in a platform that’s laser-focused on e-commerce, ensuring robust features from the get-go.

Additional Costs to Be Aware Of

#1. Domain Names

Purchasing a custom domain name is another cost to be aware of when using Square Online. This cost applies to users who opt for one of Square Online’s premium plans as the free plan does not support custom-made domains.

The price of a domain name can vary depending on the domain registrar and the specific domain you choose. Generally, domain names start as low as $19.95 per month. However, prices may differ based on factors such as the domain extension (.com, .net, .org, etc.) and whether the domain is considered premium or already registered by someone else.

A custom domain can significantly enhance your online store’s professional image and make it easier for customers to find and remember your website. Considering this cost when planning your business with Square Online is essential.

#2. Processing Fees

Square Online does not charge transaction fees on any of its plans. However, like most payment processors, it does apply processing fees to cover the cost of handling transactions. The standard processing fee for Square Online is 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.

For users on the Premium plan, the processing fee is reduced to 2.6% + $0.30 per transaction. This can benefit businesses with higher sales volumes as it helps lower overall processing costs.

It’s worth noting that this processing fee structure is consistent with industry standards, as both Wix and Shopify also charge a similar processing fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. So, regarding processing fees, Square Online remains competitive with its competitors.

#3. Square Invoicing: Free, plus processing fee

Square Invoicing is a service provided by Square that offers a free invoicing solution for businesses. There are no monthly fees to use Square Invoicing, and you can send unlimited invoices and estimates without any charge.

The only cost associated with Square Invoicing is the processing fee, which applies when customers pay the invoices online using their credit or debit cards. The processing fee is 2.9% of the invoice plus $0.30 per transaction.

If you accept in-person payments, the processing fee is reduced to 2.6% of the transaction amount plus $0.10 per transaction. However, for Card on File transactions, there is a slightly higher processing fee of 3.5% of the transaction amount plus $0.15.

In summary, Square Invoicing offers a free and convenient way for businesses to send invoices and estimates, with the processing fee being the only cost incurred when customers pay online or in person.

#4. Square Marketing

Square Marketing is an optional service provided by Square that offers a marketing suite to help businesses attract more customers. With Square Marketing, you can design, create, send, and track email campaigns directly from your Square Dashboard.

The pricing for Square Marketing starts at $15 per month. This cost allows you to access the marketing tools and features for growing your business. The service has a 30-day free trial period, allowing you to try the features before committing to a plan.

After the free trial, there are three different plans to choose from based on the number of customer contacts you have:

• $15/month for 0 – 500 customer contacts
• $30/month for 501 – 1,000 customer contacts
• $40/month for 1,001 – 2,000 customer contacts

Additional plans are available if your business has more than 2,000 reachable customers. The highest-tier plan costs $425 monthly and is designed for companies with 50,001 to 75,000 customers.

By using Square Marketing, you can effectively engage with your customer base through email campaigns and promotions, helping to drive growth and increase sales for your business. 

What About Square POS Pricing?

Square POS (Point of Sale) software is free and suitable for businesses of all sizes and stages. The software supports various payment methods, including tapped (mobile payments), dipped (chip cards), and swiped (magstripe cards) payments. The processing rate for these transactions is 2.6% + 10 cents.

In addition to the standard Square Point of Sale, Square offers specialized POS solutions for specific industries:

• Square for Retail: This POS system is designed to assist retail stores in seamlessly selling both in-store and online. It has built-in tools for advanced inventory management, sales, and staffing.
• Square for Restaurants: This POS system is tailored to streamline and accelerate restaurant operations, covering front-of-house, back-of-house, and pickup and delivery services.

With the free Square POS software, businesses can expand their sales reach by selling in person, online, over the phone, and on the go. It allows the integration of sales and inventory with the online store without requiring any coding knowledge. 

Square POS also offers the convenience of curbside pickup, local delivery, and shipping options to meet the diverse needs of businesses and customers alike. The combination of free software and versatile features makes Square POS an appealing choice for companies seeking an efficient and comprehensive point-of-sale solution.

Square Website: FAQs

Summary

In summary, Square website offers a range of website solutions for businesses and individuals to create and manage their online stores. They offer flexibility, ease of use, and integration with Square’s other services, making them a valuable tool for growing businesses.