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Square is a point-of-sale and payments platform built by Block, Inc., publishing three software tiers, Free, Plus, and Premium, each with a published per-location monthly fee and card-present processing rate, per Square's own pricing page.
Square publishes tiered software pricing and card-present processing rates directly on its own site, and sells its own hardware line alongside software-only options like Tap to Pay. Here is what Square publishes, compared honestly to where Freedom POS stands today.
What Square publishes about itself
Square's own pricing page publishes three plans: Square Free at $0 per month, Square Plus at $49 per month per location, and Square Premium at $149 per month per location. Each plan carries its own card-present processing rate for tap, dip, or swipe payments: 2.6% + 15¢ on Free, 2.5% + 15¢ on Plus, and 2.4% + 15¢ on Premium. Square also states that businesses processing over $250,000 per year can talk to its team about custom pricing and processing rates.
Square sells its own hardware line, Handheld, Terminal, Register, Stand, and Kiosk, and also publishes software-only ways to take payments that need no added hardware, including Tap to Pay on iPhone and Tap to Pay on Android. Square's own site lists a wide range of named business types it serves, spanning food and beverage (coffee shops, quick service, full service, bars and breweries, food trucks), retail, and beauty and services concepts including hair salon, nail salon, barbershop, and day spa.
Where they actually differ
Freedom POS does not publish pricing, and this page makes no claim that Freedom POS outperforms Square on price, speed, or reliability. These are the confirmed points of contrast.
Square sells its own hardware line (Handheld, Terminal, Register, Stand, Kiosk) and also offers software-only options like Tap to Pay that need no added hardware, per Square's own product pages. Freedom POS runs on standard Windows 10/11 touchscreen and tablet hardware rather than a proprietary, vendor-specific terminal.
Square publishes per-location monthly fees ($0 Free, $49/mo Plus, $149/mo Premium) and card-present processing rates that step down by plan, on its own pricing page. Freedom POS does not publish standard public pricing. Cost depends on business type, locations, terminals, and how payments are handled; contact Freedom POS for a quote.
Square is itself the payment processor for transactions run through its platform, with rates published directly on its pricing page. Freedom POS payments run through Datacap, a processor-agnostic, PCI-certified payment gateway, rather than tying the merchant to one processor relationship.
Who Square fits
Square publishes clear, self-serve software pricing and card-present processing rates, offers its own hardware plus software-only options like Tap to Pay, and serves a very wide range of named business types on its own site. It may suit operators who want transparent published pricing and the option to get started without a sales conversation.
Who a Freedom POS conversation fits
Freedom POS may be worth a direct conversation for operators who want to run point of sale on standard Windows touchscreen or tablet hardware, and who want a processor-agnostic gateway rather than the platform itself acting as the processor. Freedom POS is an early product. Quick Service is the most complete v1 demo today; Table Service, Retail, and Services and Salons are shown as previews. This page is a factual comparison, not a claim that Freedom POS matches any competitor's feature set today.
Common questions
Freedom POS runs on standard Windows 10/11 touchscreen and tablet hardware. Square sells its own hardware line and also offers software-only options like Tap to Pay, per Square's own product pages. Freedom POS is an early product; see the demo pages for what is actually built today.
No. Freedom POS does not publish standard public pricing. Square publishes per-location monthly fees and card-present processing rates directly on its pricing page; Freedom POS pricing requires a direct quote based on your business.
Freedom POS payments run through Datacap, a processor-agnostic, PCI-certified payment gateway. That differs from Square, which is itself the processor for payments run through its platform, per Square's own pricing page.
See the actual product
Quick Service is the most complete v1 demo on this site today.