◆ POS vs POS

Square vs Clover: what Zayos found in 36 months of published pricing

Published July 2026 · Updated July 26, 2026

Quick answer

Square for Restaurants is $0, $49 or $149 per month per location, month to month, card present 2.6% down to 2.4% plus 15 cents. Clover’s published restaurant bundles run $135 to $354 a month on 36 month terms, card present 2.3% plus 10 cents.

Get my free AI report → POS integration guide
Start here

Should I take Clover’s monthly bundle or buy the hardware?

Clover publishes both options on every restaurant tier. Below is each option carried out to the full 36 months Clover quotes the bundle over. Nothing here is estimated; it is the two published prices multiplied out.

Clover tier Bundle price Bundle over 36 months Buy hardware instead Buy path over 36 months You keep
Quick service Starter $135/mo $4,860 $849 + $89.95/mo $4,087.20 $772.80
Quick service Standard $185/mo $6,660 $1,899 + $89.95/mo $5,137.20 $1,522.80
Quick service Advanced $245/mo $8,820 $2,648 + $109.90/mo $6,604.40 $2,215.60
Full service Starter $179/mo $6,444 $1,799 + $89.95/mo $5,037.20 $1,406.80
Full service Standard $239/mo $8,604 $2,548 + $109.90/mo $6,504.40 $2,099.60
Full service Advanced $354/mo $12,744 $4,447 + $129.85/mo $9,121.60 $3,622.40

On Clover’s own published restaurant pricing, buying the hardware outright and paying the software monthly costs less over 36 months on every single restaurant tier. On full service Advanced the gap is $3,622.40. That is not a criticism of Clover, it is how financed hardware works everywhere. It is just worth asking for both totals before you pick the smaller monthly number.

The other shape

What am I actually paying Square each month?

Square splits the bill differently: software is cheap or free and the processing rate is what moves between tiers. Hardware is bought separately, starting at $59.

Square Free

$0/mo per location

In person 2.6% + 15c

Online or invoice 3.3% + 30c

KDS app and Kiosk app are not available on this tier.

Square Plus

$49/mo per location

In person 2.5% + 15c

Online or invoice 2.9% + 30c

KDS app $30/mo per device. Kiosk app $50/mo per device. 500 marketing texts included per month per account.

Square Premium

$149/mo per location

In person 2.4% + 15c

Online or invoice 2.9% + 30c

KDS app $20/mo per device. Kiosk app $30/mo per device. 24/7 phone support.

Square Pro

Custom

In person Custom

Online or invoice Custom

Square points operators processing over $250,000 a year at custom pricing and processing fees.

The trap on Square is the Free plan for a pickup heavy restaurant. Free charges 3.3% plus 30 cents on card not present, against 2.9% plus 30 cents on Plus and Premium. Paying $49 a month to take 0.4% off every online order pays for itself at roughly $12,250 of monthly online sales.

At what volume does Clover’s lower card rate win?

Take a $35 average ticket, card present, and compare Clover’s quick service Starter bought outright against Square Plus with a $59 reader.

  • Clover keeps 12 cents less per transaction: 90.5 cents against $1.02.
  • Clover costs $40.95 more per month in software: $89.95 against $49.
  • Clover costs $790 more up front in hardware: $849 against $59.

Net that out over 36 months and the crossover lands near 525 card transactions a month, about 17 a day. Under that, Square is cheaper and you have no term to sign. Over it, Clover’s rate advantage covers both the software premium and the hardware, and the gap widens every month after.

Two caveats that matter more than the arithmetic. First, the tiers are not feature identical, so this compares money, not capability. Second, Clover’s restaurant pages carry the line “Prices shown are only available on Clover.com”, and a large share of Clover accounts are sold through banks and merchant services providers who set their own rates. If you are buying Clover through anyone else, the 2.3% above is not automatically your number. Ask for it in writing.

Side by side

Everything else, compared.

Square for Restaurants
Clover restaurant plans
Software commitment
Month to month. The $0 tier is a real tier, not a trial.
Restaurant bundles are quoted "for 36 months". The $450 hardware statement credit promotion states it requires a 3 year contract.
Card present rate
2.6% + 15c on Free, 2.5% + 15c on Plus, 2.4% + 15c on Premium.
2.3% + 10c on the published restaurant pages, the same on every tier.
Card not present rate
Online or invoice: 3.3% + 30c on Free, 2.9% + 30c on Plus and Premium. Manual entry or card on file: 3.5% + 15c on all tiers.
Card information typed in: 3.5% + 10c.
Cheapest way in
Hardware from $59 and $0 a month software. You can be taking cards this week for under a hundred dollars.
Quick service Starter at $135 a month, or $849 of hardware plus $89.95 a month.
Kitchen display
Square KDS app is a paid add on: $30/mo per device on Plus, $20/mo per device on Premium, not available on Free.
Remote order firing is listed as included on the restaurant tiers. A dedicated Kitchen Display System is sold as separate hardware, price not published on the restaurant pricing pages.
Self service kiosk
Square Kiosk app $50/mo per device on Plus, $30/mo per device on Premium, plus hardware.
A Kiosk device is offered, price not published on the restaurant pricing pages.
Who sets your actual rate
Square. The published rates are the rates.
Depends where you buy. The restaurant pricing pages carry the line "Prices shown are only available on Clover.com." Clover is also sold through banks and merchant services providers who set their own rates.
Support
Phone support 6am to 6pm PT weekdays for the first 90 days on Free, weekdays on Plus, 24/7 on Premium.
Clover Care is offered. Hours are not published on the restaurant pricing pages.

So which one do I buy?

Buy Square if

  • ◆ You are opening, seasonal, a truck, a cafe, or otherwise under roughly 500 card transactions a month.
  • ◆ You will not sign a 36 month term for a point of sale.
  • ◆ You want to start this week for $59 of hardware and $0 of software.
  • ◆ You want the rate you read on the website to be the rate you get.
  • ◆ You want 24/7 phone support without a hardware contract, which is Premium at $149 a month per location.

Buy Clover if

  • ◆ You are comfortably past 500 card transactions a month, where 2.3% plus 10 cents starts compounding in your favor.
  • ◆ You run a full service floor and want a merchant screen plus a customer screen out of the box.
  • ◆ You are buying direct on Clover.com, so the published rate is the one you get.
  • ◆ You would rather buy the hardware than rent it, which on Clover’s own numbers is the cheaper path on all six restaurant tiers.

There is no dishonest option here. They are two different bets: Square bets you want flexibility, Clover bets you want a lower rate and will commit for it.

Does Zayos replace either of these?

No, and it is worth being clear about that. Square and Clover are your register and your card processor. Zayos is the ordering channel that sits in front of them: a branded ordering site on your own domain, with the orders landing on the kitchen tablet you already run.

Zayos is $499, $599 or $699 per month per location, month to month, no setup fee. The restaurant keeps 100% of the food revenue and 100% of the tips. The only per order charge is a service fee the diner pays at checkout: $0.99 pickup, $2.99 delivery, $0 dine in, 10% catering. Naya Grill in Pompano Beach and West Palm Beach is live and taking direct orders on it today and keeps more than $48,000 a year that used to go to marketplace commissions, at about 3,000 orders a month.

If your POS decision is settled and the question is what the delivery apps are costing you, that is what the commission calculator and the free report are for. See also what Zayos integrates with and Zayos pricing.

Square and Clover, answered plainly.

Should I subscribe to a Clover bundle or buy the hardware outright?
On Clover’s own published restaurant pricing, buying the hardware and paying the software monthly costs less over 36 months on all six restaurant tiers. Quick service Starter is $4,087.20 bought versus $4,860 subscribed. Full service Advanced is $9,121.60 bought versus $12,744 subscribed, a gap of $3,622.40. The subscription buys you a smaller number today and a larger number over the term, which is a fair trade if cash flow is the constraint, but ask for the total either way.

Is Clover’s 2.3% really cheaper than Square, or is that a trick?
It is genuinely lower on the published pages: Clover lists 2.3% plus 10 cents card present against Square’s best card present rate of 2.4% plus 15 cents on Premium. On a $35 ticket that is 90.5 cents on Clover against 99 cents on Square Premium and $1.02 on Square Plus. The catch is that Clover’s page states those prices are only available on Clover.com, and most Clover accounts are sold through banks and merchant services providers who set their own rates. Get your rate in writing from whoever is actually signing you up.

At what volume does Clover start beating Square?
Against Square Plus at a $35 average ticket, Clover saves about 12 cents per card transaction but costs $40.95 more a month in software and $790 more up front in hardware than a $59 Square reader. Recovering all of that inside 36 months takes roughly 525 card transactions a month, about 17 a day. Below that, Square is cheaper. Above it, Clover pulls ahead and keeps pulling.

I mostly do pickup and delivery orders. Does that change the answer?
Yes, and it is the most commonly missed detail on Square. Square’s card not present rate is 3.3% plus 30 cents on the Free plan and 2.9% plus 30 cents on Plus and Premium. If your online volume is meaningful, the Free plan is quietly the most expensive plan you can be on: moving from Free to Plus costs $49 a month and takes 0.4% off every online order, which pays for itself at about $12,250 of monthly online sales.

Which one is better for a full service restaurant with a floor plan?
Clover, on published product alone. Its full service tiers are built around a merchant facing terminal with a customer screen and quote coursing and table workflow as core, and its full service Starter includes hardware Square would sell you separately. Square answers with coursing and seat management on Premium at $149 a month per location, which is cheaper than every Clover full service bundle, but you are buying the hardware on top.

Do either of these give me commission free online ordering?
Both include a first party ordering page, and neither takes a percentage of the food the way a marketplace does. You still pay card processing on every order: 2.9% plus 30 cents on Square Plus or Premium, and Clover markets no fee online ordering with its restaurant plans. What neither of them is built to do is pull your DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub tickets into the same screen, which is a separate category of tool.

Sources

Read directly from each vendor’s own pricing pages on July 26, 2026. POS pricing and promotions move; verify before you sign.

Keep reading
POS integration guide →
How orders get from a website into a register.
Zayos vs Square for Restaurants →
Where a POS ends and an ordering channel begins.
Zayos vs Toast →
The third name that always comes up in this decision.
Also: integrations · restaurant tech glossary · QR code ordering · all comparisons

Your POS is not the expensive part. The apps are.

A 0.1% processing difference is worth a few hundred dollars a year. A 25% marketplace commission is worth tens of thousands. The free AI report tells you which one is actually bleeding you.

Get my free AI report → Start now