Epos Now vs Square Transaction Costs in 2026: Dollar-for-Dollar Math

Square charges US merchants flat processing rates starting at 2.6% + $0.15 for card-present transactions. Epos Now payment partners provide interchange-plus pricing. On November 4, 2025, Square increased its in-person processing fee from 2.6% + $0.10 to 2.6% + $0.15 on the Free tier. Square Plus charges 2.5% + $0.15 for in-person sales. Square Premium charges 2.4% + $0.15. Online transactions on Square Free cost 3.3% + $0.30. Square Plus and Square Premium charge 2.9% + $0.30.

Epos Now routes processing through payment partners using interchange-plus pricing. Instead of bundling network costs into a single flat percentage, interchange-plus separates the card brand's wholesale fee from the processor markup. This exposes underlying rate variability. Merchants capture lower wholesale rates on standard credit and debit transactions. Parity's interchange plus vs flat rate comparisons consistently show flat pricing costing more at scale.

At $10,000 in monthly card volume with a $50 average sale across 200 card-present transactions, Square Free costs $290 per month. That equals $3,480 per year at a 2.9% effective rate. On Square Plus, card-present processing costs $280 per month, or $3,360 per year at a 2.8% effective rate. Square Premium costs $270 per month, or $3,240 per year at a 2.7% effective rate. Online processing across all three Square tiers costs $350 per month, or $4,200 per year at a 3.5% effective rate. This creates a $960 annual spread between the cheapest and most expensive options.

At $25,000 in monthly volume across 500 transactions at a $50 average sale, Square Free card-present processing costs $725 per month. This totals $8,700 per year at a 2.9% effective rate. Square Plus card-present processing costs $700 per month, equaling $8,400 per year at a 2.8% effective rate. Square Premium costs $675 per month, or $8,100 per year at a 2.7% effective rate. Online card processing on all tiers costs $875 per month, or $10,500 annually at a 3.5% effective rate. Tracking the true effective rate for Square after the 2026 hike reveals exactly how these flat fees drain margins as sales volumes climb.

Merchants evaluating Epos Now must use these exact Square figures as the baseline target a custom interchange-plus quote must beat. Baseline network rates sit low. Visa Credit CPS Retail costs 1.51% + $0.10. Regulated Debit costs 0.05% + $0.22. An interchange-plus quote from an Epos Now payment partner easily undercuts Square Free's $290 monthly fee at $10,000 volume and Square Plus's $8,400 annual fee at $25,000 volume.

Square's 2.6% + $0.15 in-person rate creates a massive margin above baseline network interchange rates. Visa published tables list Visa Credit CPS Retail at 1.51% + $0.10. Mastercard Consumer Credit Merit III Core sits at 1.65% + $0.10. Square absorbs the higher fees of premium rewards credit cards, but it retains the remaining percentage margin on standard credit card transactions.

The largest margin extraction occurs on debit card sales, where federal regulations cap wholesale costs. Both Visa Debit CPS Regulated and Mastercard Debit Regulated carry a network rate of 0.05% + $0.22. When a customer pays with a regulated debit card, Square still charges its full flat rate of 2.6% + $0.15 or 2.5% + $0.15. It pockets the difference rather than passing through the 0.05% network fee.

An interchange-plus setup through Epos Now's payment partners passes wholesale debit and credit rates directly to the business alongside a transparent processor margin. Removing Square's flat percentage markup brings merchants closer to true rate parity, delivering direct dollar savings for shops processing significant debit volume. Across the statements we analyze, real-world observed data shows Square averaging a 2.78% blended effective rate across two observations. Merchants can use Parity's data to evaluate the real dollar cost across plans.

Square POS US charges $0 per month per location for Free, $49 per month per location for Plus, and $149 per month per location for Premium. Square Pro requires custom quoting. Fixed location subscription fees directly raise the overall effective cost of processing when added to monthly transaction fees.

Adding Square Plus's $49 monthly location fee to its $280 monthly card-present processing cost at $10,000 volume brings total platform expenditure to $329 per month. At $25,000 monthly volume, adding the $49 location fee to Square Plus's $700 processing fee results in a total monthly cost of $749. Merchants who analyze the Square 15-cent fixed fee change 2026 impact see subscription creep worsen the math.

Epos Now utilizes upfront hardware and software licensing structures alongside custom processing rates from its payment partners. Merchants comparing the two platforms must weigh Epos Now's upfront software costs against Square's recurring location fees of $49 per month for Plus or $149 per month for Premium when evaluating long-term total cost.