Square POS vs SumUp

Updated November 2026 · AppBreakup editorial

Square POS

Point-of-sale app and hardware from Square for restaurants, retail and service businesses.

Free plan + paid

Visit Square POS Square POS profile

SumUp

Card readers, Tap to Pay, POS and a business account for small sellers, with no monthly fee by default.

Paid

Visit SumUp SumUp profile

The short answer

Square POS is a full point-of-sale system with tailored restaurant, retail and appointment versions and paid tiers for bigger operations. SumUp is mainly cheap card readers and Tap to Pay with lighter POS software and a free business account. Sole traders and market sellers who mostly need to take cards will find SumUp simpler; cafes and shops that need menus, inventory and growth room lean toward Square.

Square POS or SumUp: our take

Both let a small business start without a monthly fee, but they are built at different depths. Square POS covers checkout, orders, menus, inventory, customer profiles, gift cards and reports, with separate versions for restaurants, retail and appointments, and runs on phones, tablets or Square's own terminals, registers and kiosks. SumUp began with low-cost card readers and still centres on taking payments, via its readers or Tap to Pay on a phone, with POS software, payment links, invoices, an online store and gift cards added around it. Restaurants and larger shops that need table management or deep inventory often outgrow SumUp.

On pricing, Square Free is $0/month and charges 2.6% + 15¢ for in-person cards. Square Plus is $49/month per location and Premium $149/month per location, adding things like advanced floor plans, kitchen display, multi-location tools and lower processing rates; kitchen display and kiosk software cost extra per device. SumUp's default is pay-as-you-go with no monthly minimums; in the UK that means 1.69% per transaction, and higher-volume sellers can switch to Payments Plus at £19/month for lower rates. SumUp readers are bought outright, and Square sells its hardware separately. SumUp's prices and products vary by country, while Square publishes its pricing openly.

Money and extras differ too. SumUp includes a free business account with a debit card and next-day payouts into it. Square connects the POS to its own payroll, banking, online store and marketing tools, and can take offline card payments for up to 24 hours, though failed offline payments are the seller's loss. Payments on Square must run through Square's own processing.

Pick SumUp if you are a market trader, hairdresser or other sole trader who mainly needs a cheap reader and fast payouts. Pick Square if you run a cafe, food truck or shop that needs real POS features now, or expect to need floor plans, kitchen display or multiple locations later.

Choose Square POS if…

Small cafes, food trucks and shops that want a POS with no monthly fee to start
You want a free option (SumUp is paid only)
Free plan with no monthly fee, only processing charges
Pricing and hardware are listed openly and sold online

Choose SumUp if…

Sole traders and small shops that want cheap card readers and no monthly fees
No monthly fee on the pay-as-you-go plan
Card readers are bought once, not rented

What is Square POS?

Square POS is the point-of-sale system from Square, part of Block. It runs on iPhones, iPads and Android devices or on Square's own terminals, registers, stands and kiosks, and covers checkout, orders, menus, inventory, customer profiles, gift cards and reports. Restaurant, retail and appointment businesses each get a tailored version of the app. The Free plan has no monthly fee and charges only card processing, which makes it a common first POS for food trucks, cafes and pop-up sellers. Paid Plus and Premium plans add features such as advanced floor plans, kitchen display, multi-location tools and lower processing rates, and add-ons like the KDS and kiosk software are billed per device. Card payments can keep working offline for a limited time. Square also sells payroll, banking, online stores and marketing tools that connect to the POS, and it publishes its pricing openly.

What is SumUp?

SumUp is a payments company for small businesses that started with low-cost card readers and now sells a wider toolkit. Sellers can take card payments with a SumUp reader or with Tap to Pay on a phone, and add POS software, payment links, invoices, an online store, gift cards and a free business account with a debit card. The default plan is pay-as-you-go: no monthly fee, a percentage per transaction, and the hardware bought outright rather than rented. Higher-volume sellers can switch to a subscription with lower transaction rates. Payouts can arrive the next day when they go to the SumUp business account. It is widely used by market traders, cafés, hairdressers and other sole traders across Europe, the UK, the US and Latin America; pricing and products vary by country. Restaurants and larger shops needing table management or deep inventory often outgrow it and move to fuller POS systems.

Side by side

Attribute	Square POS	SumUp
Pricing	Free plan + paid	Paid
Open source	No	No
Self-hostable	No	No
Platforms	iOS, Android, Web	iOS, Android, Web
Best for	Small cafes, food trucks and shops that want a POS with no monthly fee to start	Sole traders and small shops that want cheap card readers and no monthly fees
Status	Active	Active