Shift4 vs Square: the full cost comparison
Square publishes 1.75% in person. We charge 1.25% blended on all cards under £10,000 a month, with a free first terminal and no monthly rental. Here is every cost, side by side.
Shift4 blended rate
Monthly rental
Est. yearly saving at £5,000/mo
Settlement, incl. Saturdays
Square's strength is the ecosystem: the reader, the software, the reporting and the online tools all fit together neatly, and the pricing is a single published rate with no contract. Businesses that use the wider Square stack often stay for the software rather than the processing.
If what you actually need is a card machine, the software premium shows up in the rate. We supply the terminal free, charge no monthly rental and process at 1.25% blended, which suits businesses whose payments are mostly face to face.
Shift4 against Square, line by line
Square figures are taken from published UK pricing, last verified August 2026.
Headline rate
Headline rate
1.25% blended
1.75% in person
Terminal cost
Terminal cost
Free first terminal
Reader from £19. Terminal and Register up to £149+.
Monthly rental
Monthly rental
£0
£0 on the free plan
Extra monthly fees
Extra monthly fees
None
Plus plan £29/month optional
Minimum monthly charge
Minimum monthly charge
None. No use, no bill
£0
Authorisation fee
Authorisation fee
None
None in person
Contract
Contract
18 months
None. No setup or cancellation fees.
Early exit
Early exit
No early exit fees
None, there is no term
Settlement
Settlement
Next working day incl. Saturdays
Next business day free. Same-day 1% (min 50p). Instant transfer 1.5%.
Support
Support
Named UK partner, direct mobile
UK support, business hours
Source: Square published pricing. Flat rate on all cards including Amex. The Plus plan at £29/month adds features but does not change the rate.
See what your card machine really costs
Drag to your monthly card takings. The numbers update instantly.
Who are you with now?
Fine tune: average sale & rates
Average sale
Square now
£88per month
With Shift4
£63per month
Estimated annual saving
About £26 a month at £5,000 card turnover.
Every provider at £5,000 a month
- Shift4 Card Machine£750/yr
- SumUp£1,054/yr
- Square£1,060/yr
- Zettle by PayPal£1,065/yr
- Worldpay£1,170/yr
- Takepayments£1,208/yr
- Barclaycard£1,212/yr
- Dojo£1,310/yr
Effective blended rate with Square: 1.75% plus £0.00 a month in fixed fees.
What sits underneath the Square headline rate
Plus plan
Billed monthly on top of the headline rate, so it never appears in a rate comparison.
Typical
£29/month optional
When Square is the better choice
We are not right for everyone. These are the cases where we would tell you to stay put.
You rely on Square's till, online store, bookings or invoicing, where splitting payments away creates more admin than it saves.
You want genuinely no commitment, with no setup or cancellation fees of any kind.
You are starting out and value free software over a lower processing rate.
Square does well
Best free POS software in the category, with inventory, online store and team tools included. No commitment at all.
Four questions worth asking any provider
The real rate
“Is that rate blended across every card type, or only consumer debit?”
Shift4
1.25% blended on all cards under £10,000 a month of card turnover. Above that we quote bespoke.
Worth knowing
A headline rate quoted on consumer debit only, with premium, corporate and non-European cards priced far higher.
The monthly bill
“What will I be billed in a month where I take nothing?”
Shift4
£0. No terminal rental, no minimum monthly service charge, no PCI fee.
Worth knowing
Terminal rental, platform fees, PCI charges and minimum monthly service charges that apply regardless of turnover.
The contract
“How long is the term, and what does it cost to leave early?”
Shift4
18 months with no early exit fees.
Worth knowing
Auto-renewing terms, 90-day notice windows, and exit fees equal to every remaining monthly rental payment.
The money
“When does the money actually land, and is that free?”
Shift4
Next working day incl. Saturdays
Worth knowing
Faster settlement offered as a paid add-on, or next-day settlement only in year one of the contract.
Getting your Square statement
One statement is all we need to work out your real blended rate.
- Step 1
Open the Square Dashboard
- Step 2
Go to Balance
- Step 3
Open Transfer reports
- Step 4
Select the month and export
Because Square is typically used without a fixed-term agreement, switching is mainly a question of what you would be leaving behind on the software side. It is worth listing which Square features you genuinely use before you move.
Where the answer is the card machine and basic reporting, the change is simple: apply, receive the terminal, run both for a few days, then retire the reader. Where you rely on Square's till, bookings or online store, plenty of businesses keep those and move only the in-person processing.
Square questions, answered
Can I leave my Square contract early?
Square's standard processing terms have no fixed period, so there is normally nothing to cancel. Any separate software subscriptions are ended through your Square account under their own terms.
Will switching interrupt my card payments?
No. Your Square reader keeps working while the new terminal is delivered and tested, and you decide when to stop using it.
Can I keep using Square's software and just change the card machine?
Many businesses do exactly that, keeping the parts of Square they value and moving in-person card processing across. We will talk through how your till setup works before you commit to anything.
Send your statement, get a straight answer
We read your last full month with Square, work out what you are really paying, and tell you honestly whether we beat it.
Prefer to browse first? See all provider comparisons
Square pricing is taken from publicly published UK sources and was last verified in August 2026. Providers change pricing without notice and rates vary by plan, so treat every figure as indicative and confirm directly with Square. Calculator results are estimates, not quotes, and assume a 60% debit, 30% consumer credit and 10% business card mix. Our rate is confirmed on application, subject to status. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners; we are not affiliated with Square.
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Same free terminal, same rate — every trade, every postcode.