Square fee calculator
Square raised its US rates in 2026 and most calculators still have not updated. In-person is now 2.6% plus 15 cents on Square Free, not 2.6% plus 10 cents, and online is 3.3% plus 30 cents rather than 2.9%. This Square Fee Calculator uses the current published schedule across all three plans, so the number it gives you is the number Square charges.
Card present. The rate Square raised in 2026, and the one most ranking calculators still get wrong.
Square takes
$2.75
You keep $97.25 of a $100.00 payment.
Rates checked against Square’s published US schedule on 12 August 2026.
Worked example
A $40 in-person card payment on Square Free
2.6% of $40 is $1.04, plus the 15 cent fixed fee, so Square takes $1.19 and you net $38.81. That is an effective rate of 2.98%. The same sale on Square Plus costs $1.15.
Square's 2026 rates, and what changed
Square's US in-person rate on the Free plan is 2.6% plus 15 cents. The fixed portion rose from 10 cents, which sounds trivial until you count transactions: a coffee shop taking 6,000 payments a month pays an extra $300 a year for that nickel.
The larger change is online. On Square Free, card payments made online or through an invoice are 3.3% plus 30 cents. That is materially more expensive than the 2.9% most people still quote, and it is the single most common error in the calculators currently ranking for this term. The 2.9% online rate now belongs to Square Plus and Square Premium, or to the Online API on any plan.
Everything else is flat across plans. Manual entry and card on file are 3.5% plus 15 cents. Afterpay is 6% plus 30 cents. EBT is 1.8% plus 5 cents. A card issued outside the US adds 1.5%.
When a paid Square plan actually pays for itself
Square Plus is $49 a month per location and Square Premium is $149 a month per location. Both buy a lower processing rate, so the question is purely arithmetic: does the rate saving beat the subscription?
In person, Plus saves 0.1% against Free. That means Plus breaks even at $49,000 of monthly card-present volume per location. Premium saves 0.2% against Free, which needs $74,500 a month to break even on processing alone.
Online, the gap is much wider. Plus saves 0.4% against Free's 3.3%, so it breaks even at $12,250 of monthly online and invoice volume. If you invoice more than about $12,000 a month on Square Free, you are paying for Square Plus and not receiving it. The calculator above works this out on your real numbers rather than these round ones.
The costs Square's own calculator will not show you
Square's fee calculator exists to sell Square. It will not tell you that your effective rate is high, and it will not compare Square with anything.
Two structural costs matter at scale. Square is flat-rate, so you pay the same percentage on a debit card that costs the network a fraction of a rewards credit card. Above roughly $15,000 a month, interchange-plus pricing usually returns that difference to you. And Square groups invoices with online payments, so a business that thinks of itself as an in-person merchant can quietly be paying the online rate on a large slice of its revenue.
Against that, Square's fixed costs are genuinely low: no monthly fee on Free, next business day payouts included, no contract, and hardware you buy rather than lease. For a business under about $10,000 a month, that combination is usually cheaper in total than a lower headline rate wrapped in monthly fees.
Square US rates by plan
| Fee | Square Free | Square Plus | Square Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tap, dip or swipe | 2.6% + $0.15 | 2.5% + $0.15 | 2.4% + $0.15 |
| Online and invoices | 3.3% + $0.30 | 2.9% + $0.30 | 2.9% + $0.30 |
| Online API | 2.9% + $0.30 | 2.9% + $0.30 | 2.9% + $0.30 |
| Manual entry or card on file | 3.5% + $0.15 | 3.5% + $0.15 | 3.5% + $0.15 |
| Afterpay | 6% + $0.30 | 6% + $0.30 | 6% + $0.30 |
| ACH by invoice | 1%, $1 min | 1%, $1 min, $10 cap | 1%, $1 min, $10 cap |
| Card issued outside the US | +1.5% | +1.5% | +1.5% |
| Monthly fee, per location | $0 | $49 | $149 |
Assumptions and limits
- Rates are Square's published US schedule, read from squareup.com on 12 August 2026.
- Plan fees are per location. A multi-location business multiplies the monthly fee, which moves the break-even point.
- Square Pro custom pricing, available above $250,000 a year, is not modelled.
- This is an estimate from the figures you entered, not a quote. Your processor statement is the authority on what you actually pay.
Rate card checked 12 August 2026. Sources: squareup.com US pricing, squareup.com payments fees.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does Square charge per transaction?
- On Square Free in 2026: 2.6% plus 15 cents in person, 3.3% plus 30 cents online or by invoice, 2.9% plus 30 cents through the Online API, and 3.5% plus 15 cents for keyed or card-on-file payments. Square Plus and Premium lower the in-person and online rates.
- How much does Square take from $100?
- $2.75 on an in-person sale on Square Free, leaving you $97.25. The same $100 taken online on Square Free costs $3.60. On Square Plus the online cost drops to $3.20.
- Did Square raise its fees in 2026?
- Yes. The in-person fixed fee moved from 10 cents to 15 cents, and the online rate on the Free plan is 3.3% plus 30 cents. Several calculators still ranking for this query compute the old numbers.
- Is Square Plus worth $49 a month?
- It depends where your volume sits. On online and invoice payments Plus saves 0.4%, so it pays for itself at about $12,250 a month. On in-person payments it saves only 0.1%, which needs about $49,000 a month per location.
- Does Square charge for invoices?
- Square groups invoice payments with online payments, so an invoice paid by card costs 3.3% plus 30 cents on Square Free. Paying the same invoice by ACH bank transfer costs 1% with a $1 minimum, capped at $10 on paid plans.
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