Retail POS Choose SumUp (3.4/5) if you want the cheapest possible way to take a card: a $0/month plan, a flat 2.6% + 10¢ in-person rate (a full 5¢ per tap under Square), hardware from $54, no monthly minimum and a money-back guarantee. Its retail back office and online selling are thinner than Square's.
Choose Square (3.8/5) if you want a real retail system, not just a card reader: a $0 plan that already includes a free Square Online store, deeper inventory and purchase-order tools (on Plus/Premium), the widest hardware lineup in the category, native EBT and a huge app ecosystem. Square's cost is that its flat rate carries a 15¢ per-tap fee and its best retail features sit behind $49/$149 tiers.
The short version: SumUp is cheaper to tap a card; Square is the better retail platform. If you sell online or need inventory, Square earns its extra cents. If you mostly take payments and want the lowest bill, SumUp wins on price.
At a Glance
| Square | SumUp | |
|---|---|---|
| Our score | 3.8 / 5 | 3.4 / 5 |
| Starting software cost | $0/mo (Free plan) | $0/mo (Standard plan) |
| In-person rate | 2.6% + 15¢ (Free) → 2.4% + 15¢ (Premium) | 2.6% + 10¢ (flat, every plan) |
| Online / keyed rate | 3.3% + 30¢ (Free) · 2.9% + 30¢ (Plus/Premium) · 3.5% + 15¢ keyed | 3.5% + 15¢ online or keyed |
| Monthly minimum / contract | None; month-to-month | None; pay as you go |
| Cheapest card reader | $59 (contactless & chip) | $54 (SumUp Plus reader) |
| Free website / online store | Square Online included on every plan | Payment links + invoice only |
| Inventory & purchase orders | Yes — on Plus ($49) / Premium ($149) | Basic items/stock; deeper tools gated to POS tiers |
| Loyalty | Native on Plus ($49) | Add-on — Connect from $269/mo |
| Best for | Small stores that sell online | Lowest-cost card taking |
All Square prices and rates read from Square's official US pricing page (curl re-read 2026-10-15). All SumUp figures read from SumUp's official US pricing, card-reader comparison and shop pages (2026-10-15). Square's October 2025 plan structure (Free/Plus/Premium) is unchanged.
Pricing
Both companies start you at $0/month and make their money on the transaction fee. Where they diverge is how much retail software you get for that $0 — and what you pay when you outgrow it.
| Plan | Square | SumUp |
|---|---|---|
| Entry (no subscription) | Free — $0/mo: POS + Square Online, but no inventory tracking, POs or barcode labels | Standard — $0/mo: card reader or POS Lite, Business app, appointment booking, invoicing, payment links |
| Mid tier | Plus — $49/mo per location: adds inventory, purchase orders, barcode labels, loyalty, staff | POS Plus — $49/mo: adds multi-device sync, multiple ticket printers, floor-plan/front-of-house, cash-drawer & profit tracking |
| Advanced | Premium — $149/mo: PO import, transfer orders, advanced reporting, 24/7 phone, 2.4% rate, 0% gift-card load | SumUp POS — from $99/mo (contact sales): full POS suite, SMS messaging, multiple stores from one back office |
| Loyalty platform | Included at Plus ($49) | SumUp Connect — Plus $269/mo / Pro $349/mo (FiveStars) |
Winner: Square, narrowly. Both are free to start, but Square's $0 plan already ships a functioning online store, while SumUp's $0 plan is a card reader plus a light app. Once you pay for software the prices converge at $49 — and here Square's $49 buys genuine retail inventory while SumUp's $49 buys front-of-house conveniences. SumUp's real weakness is loyalty: a $269/month add-on is a different universe from Square's included programs. See how Square's own tiers stack up →
Payment Processing
| Rate type | Square | SumUp |
|---|---|---|
| In-person (card present) | 2.6% + 15¢ (Free) · 2.5% + 15¢ (Plus) · 2.4% + 15¢ (Premium) | 2.6% + 10¢ — the same on every plan |
| Keyed / manual entry | 3.5% + 15¢ | 3.5% + 15¢ (same rate as online) |
| Online | 3.3% + 30¢ (Free) · 2.9% + 30¢ (Plus/Premium) | 3.5% + 15¢ (payment links & online checkout) |
| Can you use another processor? | No — Square is mandatory | No — SumUp is its own payfac (Fifth Third Bank) |
On card-present, SumUp beats Square on the entry rate by a clean 5¢ per tap: both charge 2.6%, but SumUp adds 10¢ and Square adds 15¢. Square claws some of that back on its paid tiers — 2.5% at Plus and 2.4% at Premium — so a high-volume Square Premium merchant can actually process under SumUp's flat 2.6%. For online, Square Free's 3.3% + 30¢ is cheaper than SumUp's 3.5% on percentage, but Square's 30¢ fixed fee makes it worse on very small online tickets.
Winner: SumUp for in-person, Square for online. If nearly all your sales are tapped cards, SumUp's flat 2.6% + 10¢ is the cheaper published rate for the vast majority of small merchants. If you take online or keyed payments, Square's 3.3% beats SumUp's 3.5% on percentage. Neither lets you shop for a processor.
Hardware
| Device | Square | SumUp |
|---|---|---|
| Basic card reader | $59 contactless & chip | $54 SumUp Plus reader |
| Standalone smart reader | Terminal $299 | Solo $99 |
| Reader + printer | Terminal with receipt printer $299 | Solo + printer bundle $169 |
| Handheld POS terminal | Handheld $399 | Terminal (touchscreen + built-in printer) $249 |
| Two-screen register | Register $899 · Stand $149 | No dedicated customer display |
| Tap to Pay on phone | Yes (iPhone & Android) | Limited / app-paired readers |
SumUp undercuts Square on the standalone devices that matter to a small shop — a $99 Solo against Square's $299 Terminal, and a $249 SumUp Terminal against Square's $399 Handheld — all with free shipping and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Square's advantage is breadth: a two-screen Register for a proper counter, a cheap Stand, Tap to Pay so you can sell with zero hardware, and installment financing.
Winner: tie, by need. SumUp is cheaper for a simple mobile or single-terminal setup. Square is the pick when you want a full countertop register, customer display, phone-as-terminal or a wide peripheral catalog. If you just need to tap cards today, SumUp's $54 reader is the lowest hardware entry in the category.
Inventory & Back Office
This is where the two products reveal their different ambitions.
| Capability | Square | SumUp |
|---|---|---|
| On-hand stock tracking | Plus ($49) | Basic stock on POS Lite/Plus |
| Purchase orders & receiving | Yes — POs on Plus, PO import on Premium | No true PO/receiving workflow |
| Barcode labels & scanning | Yes (Plus+) | Catalog items; limited label workflow |
| Cross-location transfers | Transfer orders (Premium) | Multi-store back office on SumUp POS ($99+) |
| Matrix variants (size/color) | Supported | Basic variants |
| Quick single-item entry | Auto-create items/SKUs, GTIN scan | Add items manually in app |
Winner: Square. Square's inventory tooling — tracking, POs, barcode labels, stock counts, matrix variants and fast item creation — is genuinely usable for a real retail store on the $49 plan. SumUp can run a simple catalog and stock levels, but it doesn't have a purchase-order/receiving engine or cross-location transfers at this price, so inventory-heavy retailers will hit a ceiling. If stock control is your business, look at Lightspeed Retail as well.
Ecommerce & Omnichannel
Square includes a Square Online store on every plan — even the $0 plan — with pickup, local delivery and shipping labels, plus social and Google selling. SumUp gives you payment links and invoices and can send customers to a checkout page, but it is not trying to be a website builder. If you want the online-plus-in-store model taken to its limit, that's Shopify POS's home turf; between these two, Square is far more capable online.
Winner: Square. A free, working web store on the $0 plan versus payment links is not a close contest. This is the single biggest reason a store that sells online should lean Square even though SumUp is cheaper in person.
Ease of Use & Support
Both are famously simple: order a reader, download the app, sell the same day. SumUp is arguably the plainer of the two because there is less in the back office to learn; Square's dashboard is clean but broader. Support is where Square's paywall shows: Square Free gets phone support only for your first 90 days (chat/email after), while 24/7 phone needs Premium. SumUp backs its hardware with a 1-year warranty, free shipping and a 30-day money-back guarantee, with chat/email and phone during business hours.
Winner: Square for depth, SumUp for low-risk entry. Square's ecosystem and self-serve tools are the most complete; SumUp's guarantee and simplest possible setup make it the safer "just let me take cards" start.
Pros & Cons Recap
Square
Pros
- $0 plan with a free Square Online store already included
- Deepest retail feature set at this price (inventory, POs, loyalty)
- Widest hardware lineup: Register, Stand, Terminal, Tap to Pay
- Native EBT/SNAP and a large app marketplace
Cons
- 15¢ per-tap fee makes it pricier than SumUp in person
- Inventory, POs and loyalty gated behind $49 Plus
- Free-plan phone support ends after 90 days
- Square processing is mandatory — no rate shopping
SumUp
Pros
- Lowest in-person flat rate we track: 2.6% + 10¢
- Cheapest hardware — $54 reader, $99 Solo, all with a 30-day guarantee
- No monthly fee, no minimum, genuinely pay-as-you-go
- Simplest possible setup for a card-first seller
Cons
- Thin inventory — no real purchase-order/receiving engine
- No free online store; only payment links and invoices
- Loyalty is a separate $269+/mo product
- Online rate (3.5%) is higher than Square Free (3.3%)
Which Is Cheaper? First-Year Cost Math
Worked example for one store doing $30,000/month in card sales across roughly 1,500 in-person transactions (about a $20 average ticket), all card-present:
| Cost line | SumUp (Standard) | Square (Free) | Square (Plus) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software /mo | $0 | $0 | $49 |
| Processing /mo | ~$930 (2.6% + 10¢) | ~$1,005 (2.6% + 15¢) | ~$975 (2.5% + 15¢) |
| Total /mo | ~$930 | ~$1,005 | ~$1,024 |
| Year-one total | ~$11,160 | ~$12,060 | ~$12,288 |
Assumptions: all sales card-present, official published rates, no paid apps. The one-time hardware (SumUp $54 reader vs Square $59 reader) barely moves the first-year total.
The gap is almost entirely the 5¢ per-tap difference: 1,500 taps × 5¢ = $75/month, about $900/year in Square Free's favour to SumUp. The break-even works the other way at higher ticket values (the fixed cents matter less) or if you'd use Square's Premium 2.4% tier — but for a typical single store on Square Free, SumUp is the cheaper way to run the same sales volume, roughly $900 less over a year. The catch is what you give up: no free online store and thinner inventory. Square only "pays for itself" if you'd otherwise be buying a website, a loyalty program and inventory tools separately.
Which Should You Pick?
Go SumUp if you mostly take card payments in person, sell little or nothing online, don't need purchase orders or stock counts, and want the lowest monthly bill in the category. It is the best "reader-first, pay-as-you-go" value.
Go Square if you sell online as well as in-store, want real inventory and purchase-order tools on an affordable plan, need loyalty without a $269 add-on, or want a full countertop register and Tap to Pay. Square is the more complete retail system; SumUp is the cheaper payment tool.
Final Decision
You want the lowest-cost way to take a card — $0/month, 2.6% + 10¢, hardware from $54, no minimums, money-back guarantee — and you don't need a website or heavy inventory. The cheapest card-first setup we track.
Visit SumUpYou sell online and in-store, or you want genuine retail tools — free Square Online store, inventory and purchase orders on Plus, native loyalty, the widest hardware lineup. The better all-round small-store system.
Visit SquareFAQ
Is SumUp cheaper than Square?
For in-person card sales, yes. SumUp charges a flat 2.6% + 10¢ versus Square Free's 2.6% + 15¢, so on 1,500 taps a month SumUp saves about $75/month (~$900/year). Square closes the gap on its paid tiers (2.5%/2.4%) and is cheaper on online sales by percentage (3.3% vs 3.5%). Square is the better value once you factor in the free online store and included loyalty.
Does SumUp have a monthly fee?
No. SumUp's Standard plan is $0/month with no minimum — you pay only 2.6% + 10¢ per card-present transaction. Optional POS Plus is $49/month and the full SumUp POS starts at $99/month.
Can SumUp handle retail inventory?
Lightly. The SumUp Business app and POS plans track a catalog and basic stock, but there's no true purchase-order/receiving engine or cross-location transfers at Square's price point. If inventory ops are your business, compare Square Plus or Lightspeed Retail.
Which is better for a small shop just starting out?
If you only need to take cards today, SumUp is the cheapest start — a $54 reader, no subscription, no minimum. If you think you'll sell online or manage stock, Square's $0 plan already includes a free online store and a clearer upgrade path to real retail features.