Square is a payments platform for both in-person and online sales. The API lets you take card payments, issue refunds, manage a catalog and read order data. There's no monthly fee on the standard plan — you pay a flat percentage per transaction, with the rate depending on whether the card is tapped in person or entered online. Here's the pricing, the free sandbox, and how to start.
| Payment type | Fee per transaction |
|---|---|
| In-person (tap / chip / swipe) | 2.6% + 10¢ |
| Online / API (e-commerce) | 2.9% + 30¢ |
| Manually keyed / card-on-file | 3.5% + 15¢ |
| Invoices (card) | 2.9% + 30¢ |
| Developer sandbox free | $0 |
Square's developer sandbox is free forever — full API access with test cards, so you can build and certify a checkout without taking a real payment. There's no monthly platform fee either: you only pay when money actually moves. That makes Square cheap to prototype on, and the flat 2.9% + 30¢ online rate is easy to model. Want to see what you keep at your volume? Use the payment fee calculator.
1. Sign up free at developer.squareup.com.
2. In the Developer Dashboard, click + Add application.
3. Open the app and copy the Sandbox Access Token for testing (switch to Production when you go live).
4. Send it as a Bearer token on every request.
List locations (sandbox):
For pure online checkout, Stripe charges the same headline 2.9% + 30¢ but has a deeper API and more global coverage. If you sell digital goods or SaaS and want tax handled for you, a merchant of record like Paddle or Lemon Squeezy bundles VAT/sales-tax at ~5%. To accept crypto with a flat 1% fee, see Coinbase Commerce. Square wins when you also sell in person and want one provider for POS and online — the in-person 2.6% + 10¢ rate is among the cheapest for tap-to-pay.
No. The developer platform, sandbox and standard plan have no monthly fee. You pay only the per-transaction processing rate when you take a payment.
Create a free account at developer.squareup.com, add an application, and copy the access token from the Developer Dashboard. Sandbox and Production each have their own token.
Online they're effectively tied at 2.9% + 30¢. Square is usually cheaper for in-person payments (2.6% + 10¢) and bundles POS hardware; Stripe has the richer developer API and wider international support. Pick by where your sales happen.
Add the percentage and the fixed fee together for your average order. On a $25 online order, 2.9% + 30¢ = $1.03, an effective ~4.1%. Small orders pay a higher effective rate because the fixed 30¢ weighs more — model it with the payment fee calculator.
Not affiliated with Square. Prices are reference estimates — always verify on the official pricing page.