Vendor pricing · verified September 2026
Square online ordering fees for restaurants in 2026
Square includes an online ordering page with every Square for Restaurants plan, including the $0 Free plan, per Square's pricing and NerdWallet's February 2026 review. The cost is in the online processing rate: 3.3% + 30¢ per online order on Free, and 2.9% + 30¢ on the $49 Plus and $149 Premium plans. There is no per-order platform fee and no commission.
Figures from Square's published pricing and NerdWallet's February 18, 2026 review. Square's dedicated online-store pricing page was not reachable when this was written, so plan names and rates are as published on the Square for Restaurants pricing.
What a $40 online order costs on each Square plan
Square is unusual in including an ordering page on every restaurant plan, including the free one, so the question is never whether you can take online orders. It is what each order costs once it arrives, and there the plan you are on changes the answer by 0.4 of a percentage point.
On the Free plan online orders process at 3.3% + 30¢; on the paid plans it is 2.9% + 30¢. On a $40 order that is $1.62 against $1.48, a difference of 14 cents. That sounds trivial and is, until you multiply: at 600 online orders a month the paid rate saves about $84 a month, which is roughly what the paid plan costs. The break-even is the whole decision.
| Plan | Monthly | Online rate | Cost on $40 | In-person rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Square Free | $0 | 3.3% + 30¢ | $1.62 | 2.6% + 15¢ |
| Square Plus | $49/location | 2.9% + 30¢ | $1.46 | 2.5% + 15¢ |
| Square Premium | $149/location | 2.9% + 30¢ | $1.46 | 2.4% + 15¢ |
| Ginger Direct | $0 | as low as 2% + 5¢; $1 fee paid by the guest | about $0.85 | same interchange-plus |
Moving from Free to Plus saves 16¢ per $40 online order; it takes about 306 online orders a month for that saving to cover the $49 plan fee.
Where the real cost sits
The processing rate is the visible number and rarely the expensive one. What costs more on most ordering platforms is the per-order fee or the commission, and Square charges neither on its own ordering page, which is genuinely the strong part of this offer.
Compare it against what the same $40 order costs elsewhere and the picture is clear: on a delivery marketplace at 25% commission it is $10.00. Against that, the gap between Square's two processing rates is noise. The decision that matters is which channel the order arrives through, not which Square plan you are on.
What is included and what is not
The ordering page itself is free on every plan. Delivery is not: Square's on-demand delivery through courier partners is a separate per-delivery charge. The KDS and Kiosk apps are separate monthly per-device fees on Plus and Premium.
Frequently asked questions
Does Square charge for online ordering?
Not a platform fee. Every Square for Restaurants plan, including Free, includes an online ordering page. The charge is the online processing rate: 3.3% + 30¢ per order on Free and 2.9% + 30¢ on Plus and Premium, per Square's pricing and NerdWallet's February 2026 review.
What does a $40 online order cost on Square?
$1.62 on the Free plan at 3.3% + 30¢, and $1.46 on Plus or Premium at 2.9% + 30¢. There is no commission or per-order platform fee.
Is it worth upgrading from Square Free to Plus for online ordering?
The online rate drops from 3.3% + 30¢ to 2.9% + 30¢, which is 16¢ on a $40 order. Covering the $49 monthly Plus fee takes about 306 online orders a month at that ticket, before counting Plus's other features.
Does Square online ordering include delivery?
The ordering page does. Delivery itself does not: Square's on-demand delivery via courier partners is a separate per-delivery charge.
How does Square online ordering compare with Ginger Direct?
Both are $0 a month. Square's cost to the restaurant is 3.3% + 30¢ or 2.9% + 30¢ per online order; Ginger Direct's is card processing as low as 2% + 5¢, with a $1 per-order fee paid by the guest, and orders print to the printers the restaurant already owns without touching its existing POS.
Compare it against a system with no monthly fee
Ginger is $0 a month with online ordering, no contract, interchange-plus processing as low as 2% + 5¢, and the Box, up to two printers and a card terminal included for restaurants over $40,000 a month in card volume. The live demo opens in your browser with no signup.