Square vs SumUp, five cents, and what it is worth.
Same percentage in person, 5¢ less per transaction on SumUp. On a $12 ticket that is 0.42%, which is larger than most rate negotiations achieve. Square's software is considerably deeper.
What this page settles.
Three questions, in the order most people ask them.
The short answer
SumUp is cheaper per transaction. Square does more. Your average ticket decides which matters.
In person, both charge 2.6%. SumUp adds 10¢ and Square adds 15¢. That 5¢ is the entire price difference and it scales inversely with your ticket size: 0.42% of a $12 coffee, 0.125% of a $40 haircut, 0.04% of a $120 repair bill.
Keyed and online, Square’s free plan is 3.3% + 30¢ online and 3.5% + 15¢ keyed; SumUp groups online and manual entry together at 3.5% + 15¢. Close enough not to decide anything.
Both have a free tier with no monthly fee and no minimum. So on price this is a small-ticket question, and on everything else it is a software question — where Square is substantially the stronger product.
Published pricing, side by side
| Square | SumUp | |
|---|---|---|
| In person | 2.6% + 15¢ tapped, dipped or swiped on the free plan; 2.5% + 15¢ on Plus, 2.4% + 15¢ on Premium |
2.6% + 10¢ |
| Keyed | 3.5% + 15¢ | 3.5% + 15¢ the page groups online and manual entry under one rate |
| Online | 3.3% + 30¢ 2.9% + 30¢ on Plus and Premium |
3.5% + 15¢ |
| Pricing model | Flat rate | Flat rate |
| Monthly | $0 on the free plan; $49/mo per location (Plus); $149/mo per location (Premium) | $0 on the free tier; POS Plus $49/mo; SumUp POS from $99/mo; Connect Plus $269/mo; Connect Pro $349/mo |
| Contract | No contract. The page says “no hidden fees or locked-in contracts. Cancel or switch anytime.” | Not stated |
| Monthly minimum | Not stated | None. The page says no monthly minimums and no hardware rentals. |
| Funding | Next business day free; instant transfer for a fee | Not stated on the US pricing page |
| Chargeback fee | Not published on the pricing page | Not published |
| Hardware | Sold outright; prices on a separate page | Sold outright, one-time cost |
| Account type | Aggregator (sub-merchant under Square) | Aggregator (sub-merchant under SumUp) |
Square: squareup.com — read 2026-10-08. SumUp: www.sumup.com — read 2026-10-08.
Published prices change. These were read on the dates above and are list prices for a business buying direct — a quote you are given may differ, and should be compared as a quote rather than against a price list.
Square, also published:
- ACH via invoice 1%, $1 minimum
- Afterpay 6% + 30¢
- EBT 1.8% + 5¢
- Custom pricing available above $250,000 a year
Where they actually differ
The software. Square’s free plan includes a real till app, inventory, customer records, reporting, invoicing and a dashboard, with payroll and other services available. SumUp’s free tier is a card reader and a simple app, with paid POS tiers at $49, from $99, $269 and $349 a month. For a business that wants operational software rather than just acceptance, Square’s free tier is doing much more work.
Hardware. Both sell outright with no rentals. SumUp’s readers are inexpensive and deliberately minimal; Square’s range extends to full countertop systems.
Disclosure. Square publishes next-business-day funding and a full fee table including ACH, EBT and Afterpay. SumUp’s US pricing page does not state payout timing or a chargeback fee. Two things to confirm before choosing SumUp.
Ecosystem. Square’s adjacent products — payroll, loans, banking, marketing, appointments — are either useful to you or irrelevant, and they are a genuine reason businesses stay. SumUp is narrower by design.
Both are aggregators. You are a sub-merchant under each, not underwritten in your own right, with the same post-hoc risk review and the same hold risk. Merchant account versus aggregator.
Who each one suits
SumUp suits a small-ticket business where the per-item fee is the cost that matters — a coffee counter, a market stall, a mobile trade with modest sale values — and which does not need the software. Simple, cheap, nothing to configure.
Square suits a business that wants the operational tooling along with the payment: stock, staff, reporting, invoicing, appointments. For most shops, salons and restaurants that tooling is worth more than 5¢ a transaction.
Neither suits a business at real volume. Both are flat-rate aggregators, and above roughly $25,000 to $40,000 a month in card volume interchange-plus through your own underwritten account generally costs less. At a small average ticket in particular, interchange-plus with regulated debit passed through tends to beat any flat rate by a clear margin. Debit versus credit cost.
What the comparison does not show
Work out your own average ticket first. Take a month of card volume, divide by the number of card transactions. That number tells you whether this comparison is worth having. Under $20, yes. Over $60, pick on software and ignore the 5¢.
Neither tells you your effective rate. Both are flat rates, which average across your card mix. If your customers are mostly on debit, a flat rate is expensive for you and neither provider will mention it. What an effective rate is.
SumUp does not publish payout timing or dispute costs on its US pricing page. Get both in writing.
The paid tiers change the comparison entirely. SumUp’s POS tiers run from $49 to $349 a month; Square’s are $49 and $149 per location. If you are comparing paid plans rather than free ones, compare the specific plans you would actually buy.
How to settle it with your own numbers
Both of these are flat rates, which means both charge you the same whether your customer handed over a plain debit card or a premium rewards card. The published difference between Square and SumUp is therefore real but narrow, and neither figure is your cost.
Your cost is your effective rate: total fees for a month divided by total card volume. Work it out, then price Square and SumUp against it at your own average ticket — the per-item is often what separates them — and remember that neither can show you the card mix underneath, which is what decides whether a flat rate is treating you generously or not.
The calculator works it out from two figures on a statement, and what an effective rate is explains why it so often differs from the rate on the quote.
What we charge
Interchange + 0.50% + 10¢ in person, interchange + 0.75% + 25¢ keyed, with no contract, no monthly fee and no monthly minimum.
Both Square and SumUp are flat rates, and so is the limitation they share: above roughly $25,000 to $40,000 a month in card volume, interchange passed through at cost generally costs less than either. Send us a statement and we will tell you which side of that line you are on — including when the answer is that you should stay where you are.
While we are on the subject
Is SumUp cheaper than Square?
Per transaction in person, yes by 5¢, with the same percentage. Whether that matters depends almost entirely on your average ticket.
Does SumUp charge a monthly fee?
The free tier has no monthly fee. Its POS tiers are $49, from $99, $269 and $349 a month.
Which has better software?
Square, by a wide margin, and its free tier already includes inventory, reporting and invoicing.
Are there contracts with either?
SumUp states no monthly minimums and no hardware rentals. Square states no locked-in contracts. Neither publishes a term.