Square Appointments is booking software attached to a payment processor you cannot opt out of, and the processing rate is where the money actually goes: the subscription can be $0 while the card fees run to hundreds a month. BookingNexa charges one plan price, leaves your payment arrangements alone, and answers the phone and the Instagram messages with an AI that finishes the booking. Square is stronger on retail, hardware and countries served.
Last checked 10 August 2026. Every Square Appointments figure below names the page we read it on and the date we checked it.
The short version
Square Appointments starts free, and free means a $0 subscription at Square's highest card rate. The software is cheap because the processing is where the money is made.
You cannot bring your own card processor. Square's own developer platform says third-party processors are not supported, so using the booking software means using their payments.
The paid plans are $49 and $149 a month, charged for each active location rather than per staff member. A second shop is a second subscription.
Moving up a plan buys a lower card rate: 2.6% in person on the free plan, 2.5% on the middle one, 2.4% on the top one, each with a flat 15 cents per transaction.
On $24,000 of card takings a month the processing alone is over $600, which is more than the subscription on any plan. That is the line other comparisons leave out.
Square Assistant works over text messages. It confirms, reschedules and cancels appointments. It does not answer a phone call and it is not on Instagram.
Square routes Facebook Messenger into an inbox for your team to answer. Instagram direct messages are not named anywhere in that documentation.
Square is genuinely good at salon scheduling. Colour processing time, rooms and equipment, and intake forms are all there, though each one needs a paid plan and resources need the top one.
Square publishes its right to delay a payout and to hold funds in a reserve in its own payment terms. Section 14 is worth reading before you depend on next-day money.
Square takes payments in eight countries and sells tills, readers and a full retail system. BookingNexa is United States and Canada only and has none of that.
The honest version. There are shops Square Appointments serves better than we do, and we would rather say so here than have you find out after you migrate.
Pick BookingNexa if
Your phone rings while both hands are busy and nobody is picking it up, and you want that answered rather than logged.
Most of your new enquiries arrive as Instagram or Facebook messages, overnight, and they sit there until someone has a spare ten minutes.
You already have a card machine or a processor you are happy with, and you do not want a calendar telling you to change it.
You take real money by card. A percentage of all of it is a bigger number than any software subscription you have ever paid.
You want a software bill you can predict in January and still recognise in December, whatever kind of year you have.
You would rather pay one plan price than hand over a slice of every card you take, on a line that never arrives as a software invoice.
You are in the United States or Canada, where our calling and texting actually work.
Pick Square Appointments if
You sell product as well as services. Square has inventory, a point of sale, gift cards and loyalty. We have none of it.
You want the till, the reader and the kiosk from the company that wrote the software, at published prices.
You are solo and want to start at $0 today. Square Free is a real plan, not a countdown.
You are outside the United States and Canada. Square takes payments in eight countries. We take them in two.
You want an app marketplace and a public API with years of integrations behind them.
Decides the bill
The differences that cost you money
The differences worth understanding before you commit to either platform. Each one changes what you actually pay.
You cannot run Square Appointments on your own card processor.
Square does not support third-party payment processors. Its own developer platform answers the question directly: if you cannot use Square's payment processing, you cannot process payments through Square services. BookingNexa takes no view on how you get paid. Keep the terminal you have and the processor you have, and use us for the booking.
BookingNexa
No processor requiredKeep taking payment however you take it today. We do not require you to switch processors, and we do not take a share of what you collect.
Square Appointments
Third-party payment processors are not supported, in Square's own answerSquare describes itself as an all-in-one system providing both the software and the payment processing.Source: Square developer forum, third-party payment processors, 10 Aug 2026
This is the difference every other row on this page falls out of. Booking software normally sits beside your payment arrangements and has opinions about neither. Square's booking software is a way into Square's payment arrangements, and the two are sold as one thing because inside Square they are one thing.
It matters most to the shop that already solved payments. If you negotiated a rate, or you are on a terminal your bookkeeper likes, or a real share of your money arrives in ways that have nothing to do with a card at all, Square is asking you to give that up in order to get a calendar.
It matters again on the way out, and harder. Changing booking software is a weekend of rebuilding services and hours. Changing a payment processor means new hardware, a new merchant account, a settlement gap, and moving the card details your regulars have saved with you.
None of this is hidden and we are not suggesting it is. Square is an all-in-one product and describes itself as one. It is simply not the same shape of thing as booking software that leaves your payments alone, and a comparison that priced only the two subscriptions would never show you that.
The subscription is the small number. The card rate is the bill.
Square charges a percentage of every card payment you take, plus a flat fee on each transaction, and the percentage falls as you move up a plan. For any shop taking real money by card that percentage is larger than the subscription on any tier. The calculator below models both, because modelling the subscription alone would understate Square by its biggest line.
BookingNexa
No percentage of your takingsOur plan price is the whole software bill. Busy months and quiet months cost the same.
Square Appointments
2.5% one timecharged on every in-person card payment on the middle plan, with a published flat fee on each transaction as well. The free plan is charged more per card and the top plan lessSource: Square processing fees page, 10 Aug 2026
Work it in the direction a shop owner actually thinks in. Nobody chooses a card rate. You choose how much business to do, and the rate quietly turns that into a monthly number you never see itemised as software, because it never arrives as a software invoice.
Then notice which way the ladder runs. A more expensive plan buys a cheaper rate per card. The subscription and the processing are not two products, they are two dials on the same one, and moving either moves the other. That is a coherent way to sell payments. It is a strange way to sell a calendar.
Here is the honest counterweight, because two totals side by side always imply two prices for the same thing. Our figure in that calculator carries no processing at all, and it carries none because we do not require you to change how you take payment. Whatever you pay to accept a card today, you keep paying it, to whoever you pay it to now.
So read the two numbers as different shapes rather than as a score. One is a software bill. The other is a software bill with your card processing folded inside it. Which of those is cheaper depends entirely on what you were already paying for the second half.
Square Assistant answers texts. Nothing there answers the phone.
Square Assistant is a text messaging tool that lets a client confirm, reschedule or cancel by replying to a reminder. There is no voice channel anywhere in its documentation. BookingNexa picks up the phone, offers the slots that are genuinely open, takes the booking on the call and texts the confirmation before the caller has put the phone down.
BookingNexa
IncludedAnswers around the clock, reads the live calendar, and finishes the booking on the call rather than sending a link.
Square Appointments
Text messages onlySquare Assistant works over SMS. Its documentation describes confirming, rescheduling and cancelling upcoming appointments, and names no voice channel.Source: Square help center, set up and manage Square Assistant, 10 Aug 2026
A shop's busiest hour and its most-missed hour are the same hour. Both hands are occupied, the phone goes, and the caller either leaves a voicemail nobody returns or simply rings the next place on the list. Nothing about that is a scheduling problem. It is a nobody-is-free problem.
Square Assistant is good software for what it is, and we would rather say so than score a point. Letting a client cancel by texting back a reminder is better for everyone than a phone call neither party wanted, and it does put chairs back on the calendar that would otherwise have sat empty.
But look at where it sits in the sequence. It works on appointments that already exist. The call from someone who has never been to your shop, at ten past seven on a Thursday, is the one that becomes money, and it is the one nothing on Square is listening for.
Square does have voice AI, and we checked rather than assumed. Its AI page describes automated voice ordering, which is an order-taking feature aimed at restaurants. If that has grown into an appointment receptionist since the date printed beside the source, this block is out of date and that date will tell you so.
Facebook messages land in an inbox. Somebody still has to type.
Square can connect a Facebook page so its messages arrive in Square's own inbox alongside texts and emails. That is a shared inbox, not an assistant, and your team writes every reply. Instagram direct messages are not named in that documentation at all. BookingNexa answers Instagram and Facebook messages with an AI that takes the booking inside the chat.
BookingNexa
IncludedInstagram and Facebook answered and booked from the chat, in one inbox with your calls and texts.
Square Appointments
Facebook, answered by your teamSquare connects a Facebook page into its inbox so messages reach your staff. Instagram is not named on that page, and no automated reply is described.Source: Square help center, Facebook Messenger, 10 Aug 2026
Routing a channel into an inbox and answering it are different problems, and only one of them is solved by software. A message sitting unread in a tidier place is still a message sitting unread.
For a lot of beauty and wellness shops the social inbox is now the front door. Someone sees a set of nails on a Saturday night, sends a message asking who did them and what they cost, and either gets an answer while they still care or books somewhere else on Sunday.
We are describing what Square documents rather than what it might do. Instagram does not appear on the page that explains the Facebook connection, and no automated reply is described for the channel that does appear. We are not going to assume either one into existence in either direction.
Where Square is ahead of us, and this is worth saying in the same block: its inbox also carries email and it sits next to the customer record and the payment history. Ours is built around getting the booking made, and that is a narrower job.
Their salon scheduling is good. The question is which plan it is on.
Square Appointments handles colour processing time, blocks rooms and equipment as bookable resources, and sends intake forms automatically when a booking is made. That is real salon depth and we are not going to pretend otherwise. What is worth knowing before you pick a plan is the tier each one sits on: processing time and forms need a paid plan, and resources need the top one.
BookingNexa
Rooms and resources not yetService durations and add-ons are in the booking engine. Room and equipment booking, and processing gaps inside a service, are not built yet.
Square Appointments
Processing time splits a service into setup, developing and finish, and the middle stays bookableDocumented for Square's paid plans. Square wins this row outright and the table below says so.Source: Square help center, processing time for services, 10 Aug 2026
We went looking for gaps here and mostly did not find them. Processing time splits a service into setup, developing and finish, and opens the middle of it for somebody else's blow dry. That is the first question a colourist asks about any booking system, and Square built it properly rather than approximately.
Resources cover rooms, chairs, stations and equipment and block automatically when a service that needs one is booked, so a spa with two treatment rooms and four therapists gets the right answer instead of a double booking and an apology.
The catch is not capability, it is placement. The shop with the most complicated calendar is the shop that needs the top plan, which is also the shop taking the most money by card, on a rate that only drops if it keeps paying for that plan. Complexity and volume land on the same invoice.
This is the block where a comparison page normally cheats, by finding a way to describe a competitor's strongest area as a weakness. We would rather concede the rows and keep the rest of the page worth believing.
Is Square Appointments free? The subscription is. The card rate is not.
Square Free costs nothing a month and it is a real plan rather than a trial with a countdown on it. It also carries Square's highest card rate, so a solo operator taking a few thousand a month by card is paying for that software either way, on a line of the statement that says processing rather than subscription. BookingNexa has a free plan too, and it takes nothing from your card payments because it never touches them.
BookingNexa
Free forever plan, no credit cardIt does not expire and it does not touch your takings. The AI receptionist sits on the paid plans.
Square Appointments
Yes, at their highest card rateA real free plan rather than a trial. Square publishes a higher rate per card on it than on either paid plan.Source: Square press release, unified plans and pricing, 10 Aug 2026
Free is a fair description of the subscription and a poor description of the cost. The question worth asking is not whether the plan is free, it is what the free plan charges you per card compared with the plans that are not free.
Run it forward and the shape becomes obvious. Take more money and the free plan gets more expensive, in a way you cannot see on any invoice, until at some point paying a subscription becomes the cheaper option. Square is not hiding that, it is what the rate card says. It is just not what the word free suggests.
For one person starting out it is still a good answer, and we would say so to anyone who asked. A free plan and a card reader is a whole business in an afternoon, and the cost per card only starts to matter when the takings do.
Our free plan is a different trade and worth being plain about. It has our smallest limits, it does not include the AI receptionist, and it does not take a share of your card payments, because there is no card payment of yours for us to take a share of.
Worth knowing
Who owns the client, and who owns the data
The handful of differences that only bite once you have been running for a year. Some of these Square Appointments wins outright, and those are in here too. The full row-by-row comparison is further down.
Advertised starting price
What it costs to open the door, before any card is taken.
BookingNexa
$29 a month, flatOne price for the software. Nothing underneath it moves with your takings.
Square Appointments
$0 a monthSquare Free, which carries their highest published rate per cardSource: Square press release, unified plans and pricing, 10 Aug 2026
Middle plan
BookingNexa
$97 a month, flat
Square Appointments
$49 a monthSquare Plus, charged again for each active location, and it buys a lower rate per cardSource: Square press release, unified plans and pricing, 10 Aug 2026
What the price is charged against
Decides whether a second shop doubles your software bill.
BookingNexa
1 locations on this plan, at one priceOpen another shop and the plan covers it until you outgrow the tier.
Square Appointments
Per location, based on your number of active locationsSquare states the free plan can create multiple locations at no additional cost. The paid plans are charged for each one.Source: Square help center, switch to the new subscription plans, 10 Aug 2026
Charged per staff member
Whether the bill moves on the day you hire.
BookingNexa
No per-seat chargeThe staff allowance belongs to the plan. Adding a chair does not add a line.
Square Appointments
No, charged per location insteadA big team on one site pays the same subscription as a small one. This is a real advantage over per-seat competitors and it can put Square below us on subscription alone.Source: Square help center, switch to the new subscription plans, 10 Aug 2026
Free plan
Whether you can run a real booking page without paying.
BookingNexa
Free forever plan, no credit card
Square Appointments
Yes, a real oneNot a trial. It carries their highest published rate per card, which is how the plan pays for itself.Source: Square press release, unified plans and pricing, 10 Aug 2026
Can you use your own card processor
The answer the rest of this table depends on.
BookingNexa
Not required, use whoever you useRun BookingNexa purely for booking, calls and messaging and keep taking payment exactly as you do today.
Square Appointments
No, Square processing onlySquare's own answer states that third-party payment processors are not supported, and that without Square's processing you cannot process payments through Square services.Source: Square developer forum, third-party payment processors, 10 Aug 2026
In-person card rate, per transaction
The largest line on a busy shop's Square bill.
BookingNexa
Not ours to chargeYour card rate stays between you and whoever you already use. We are not in that transaction.
Square Appointments
2.5% one timeon the middle plan, plus a published flat fee on each transaction. The free plan is charged more per card and the top plan lessSource: Square processing fees page, 10 Aug 2026
Online card rate
What a booking paid for on your booking page costs.
BookingNexa
Not ours to chargeOnline or in the chair, the payment is yours and so is the rate you negotiated for it.
Square Appointments
2.9% per online bookingon either paid plan, plus a published flat fee. The free plan is charged a higher rate onlineSource: Square processing fees page, 10 Aug 2026
Does a bigger plan buy a lower card rate
The clearest sign that the subscription and the processing are one product.
BookingNexa
No, there is nothing to discountOur plans differ by what they include. None of them changes what you pay to take a card, because we are not in that transaction at all.
Square Appointments
Yes. The in-person rate falls at each step up the plan ladderWhich also means the cheapest subscription is the most expensive rate per card, and the arithmetic flips at some volume only you can work out.Source: Square processing fees page, 10 Aug 2026
Can the platform hold your money
Worth reading in their own terms before you depend on next-day money.
BookingNexa
No, we never touch your takingsClient payments go to your processor and your bank. We are not in that path, so there is nothing for us to delay, reserve or investigate.
Square Appointments
Square's payment terms reserve the right to delay payouts and to hold funds in a reserveSection 14 states Square may withhold funds by temporarily suspending or delaying payouts and may designate an amount you must maintain in a reserve. Section 12 covers deferring payout during an investigation. We make no claim about how often either is used. Read them yourself.Source: Square payment terms, 10 Aug 2026
Deposits and prepayment
How a lot of shops stop losing an hour to nobody.
BookingNexa
Not yet
Square Appointments
Full prepayment, or a card taken at booking, both configurable per serviceA real advantage of running the payments and the calendar in one system, and one we do not match today.Source: Square help center, cancellation and prepayment policies, 10 Aug 2026
Charging for a no-show
BookingNexa
Not yet
Square Appointments
A cancellation or no-show fee can be charged against the card taken at bookingSquare also states the card taken for no-show protection is held for that appointment rather than saved for later charges.Source: Square help center, cancellation and prepayment policies, 10 Aug 2026
AI answers the phone
Picks up while you are with a client.
BookingNexa
IncludedAnswers around the clock, including nights and weekends.
Square Appointments
No voice channelSquare Assistant is documented as a text messaging tool. No inbound call handling is described for it.Source: Square help center, set up and manage Square Assistant, 10 Aug 2026
AI takes a booking from someone new
The difference between an appointment and a message you still have to answer.
BookingNexa
30 AI calls a month, booking into the real calendarOffers the slots that are actually open, takes the booking on the call, and texts the confirmation.
Square Appointments
Works on bookings you already haveSquare Assistant's documentation describes confirming, rescheduling and cancelling upcoming appointments. Creating one for a client who has not booked before is not among them.Source: Square help center, set up and manage Square Assistant, 10 Aug 2026
AI answers Instagram and Facebook messages
Where a lot of beauty and wellness enquiries actually arrive.
BookingNexa
IncludedAnswered and booked from the chat, in one inbox with your calls and texts.
Square Appointments
No automated reply on eitherSquare Assistant is documented for text messages only. Nothing describes it working on a social channel.Source: Square help center, set up and manage Square Assistant, 10 Aug 2026
Processing time inside a service
Booking somebody else while a colour develops.
BookingNexa
Not yet
Square Appointments
Yes. Setup, developing and finish are separate durations and the middle stays bookableDocumented for Square's paid plans, not the free one. This is the feature most colourists ask about first and Square built it properly.Source: Square help center, processing time for services, 10 Aug 2026
Rooms, chairs and equipment
Stops two facials being booked into one treatment room.
BookingNexa
Not yet
Square Appointments
Yes, as bookable resources that block automatically when a service needs themDocumented for Square's top plan. Rooms, stations, equipment and chairs, and it also caps how many of a service can run at once.Source: Square help center, resources for appointments, 10 Aug 2026
Team members on the plan
BookingNexa
Unlimited on this plan, more on higher tiers
Square Appointments
Not limited by the plan, because the plan is charged per locationSquare wins this comparison for a large single-site team, and the calculator on this page shows where that crossover happens.Source: Square help center, switch to the new subscription plans, 10 Aug 2026
Texting your clients
Confirmations, reminders and filling a late cancellation.
BookingNexa
300 text credits a month, in the planThe allowance refills every month, and you can top up if a month runs hot.
Square Appointments
A monthly text allowance on each paid plan, charged per message after itThe larger plan includes more texts and charges less for each one past the allowance. Square publishes both figures.Source: Square email and text marketing pricing, 10 Aug 2026
Countries served
The first question, and sometimes the only one.
BookingNexa
United States and Canada onlyCalling and texting are United States and Canada only, so a shop outside those two cannot run BookingNexa today.
Square Appointments
Eight, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and JapanSquare wins this row by a distance and it is the row that decides the whole question for a lot of readers.Source: Square help center, international availability, 10 Aug 2026
Selling product alongside services
A salon with a serious retail shelf is where Square is genuinely strong.
BookingNexa
Not yet
Square Appointments
Yes. Inventory, orders and catalogue are core products with their own APIsIf you sell shampoo and colour at the counter, this is a real reason to stay and we are not going to argue you out of it.Source: Square developer documentation, 10 Aug 2026
Leaving with your client list
Whether your own data comes with you.
BookingNexa
Yes, CSV, any timeYour list is yours. Export it whenever you want, with no permission gate and no phone call.
Square Appointments
Not publishedSquare's customer directory does export, and their own help pages describe the import side of it, but we could not read a first-party page setting out the export in full when compiling this. What we did read covers card data rather than contacts. Ask them before you rely on it.Checked: Square help center, export cards on file to another processor, 10 Aug 2026
A note on the figures. Every Square Appointments amount on this page names the page we read it on and the date we read it, and all of them are United States prices. Where we could not verify a figure on a live page, the row says so rather than guessing. Prices change, so check Square Appointments's own pricing before you decide.
Run your own numbers
What each one costs for your shop
Set your headcount, your average ticket, and what you take by card in a month. Every Square Appointments rate names the page we read it on, and our price is read live from our own billing system.
Your shop
Move these to match your own numbers. Both totals update as you go.
Everyone with their own calendar, including you.
What your clients pay you by card in a typical month, services and products together.
What a typical appointment is worth.
$a month
Switch texts over the monthly allowance on above to include it.
Square publishes the included allowance and the price per message. It cannot publish how many you will send, so this figure is yours to set.
What you would pay a month
Square Appointments
Subscription$49Source: Square press release, unified plans and pricing, 10 Aug 2026
Card processing$651.43Source: Square processing fees page, 10 Aug 2026
Square Appointments total$700.43
What that does not buy
An AI that answers your phone
An AI that takes a booking from somebody new
An AI answering Instagram and Facebook
The option to keep your own card processor
Not part of any Square Appointments plan or add-on we could find documented. None of the toggles above switch these on.
BookingNexa
Starter plan, everything below included$29
The cheapest plan that covers 5 people, read live from our billing system.
On these numbers you would pay
$671.43 less a month
That is $8,057.14 a year, and it does not shrink as you get busier.
AI receptionist answering your phone, 24/7
Books on the call, into the real calendar
AI on Instagram and Facebook, booking from the chat
Two-way texting, allowance refills monthly
Your branded booking page and domain
No card processing in this figure. Keep taking payment however you take it today
Estimates, not quotes. Card processing is counted in the Square Appointments total because Square Appointments requires you to process with them, and left out of ours because we do not. Ours is the subscription and nothing else. Check Square Appointments's own pricing before you decide.
Everything, side by side
The full comparison, grouped by what each line affects. Rows where Square Appointments wins are in here too.
Every dimension we compared, grouped by what it affects. The BookingNexa column describes the Pro plan and is read live from our billing system. Each Square Appointments value carries the source we read it on and the date we checked it.
BookingNexa compared with Square Appointments, grouped by what each row affects: cost, AI, your clients and data, running the shop, and coverage.
What we compared
BookingNexa
Square Appointments
PricingSquare Appointments pricing, plan by plan
EntryAdvertised starting priceWhat it costs to open the door, before any card is taken.
$29 a month, flatOne price for the software. Nothing underneath it moves with your takings.
$0 a monthSquare Free, which carries their highest published rate per cardSource: Square press release, unified plans and pricing, 10 Aug 2026
MiddleMiddle plan
$97 a month, flat
$49 a monthSquare Plus, charged again for each active location, and it buys a lower rate per cardSource: Square press release, unified plans and pricing, 10 Aug 2026
TopTop planWhere room and resource booking lives.
$149 a month, flat
$149 a monthSquare Premium, charged again for each active location, with their lowest rate per cardSource: Square press release, unified plans and pricing, 10 Aug 2026
Charged perWhat the price is charged againstDecides whether a second shop doubles your software bill.
1 locations on this plan, at one priceOpen another shop and the plan covers it until you outgrow the tier.
Per location, based on your number of active locationsSquare states the free plan can create multiple locations at no additional cost. The paid plans are charged for each one.Source: Square help center, switch to the new subscription plans, 10 Aug 2026
Per seatCharged per staff memberWhether the bill moves on the day you hire.
No per-seat chargeThe staff allowance belongs to the plan. Adding a chair does not add a line.
No, charged per location insteadA big team on one site pays the same subscription as a small one. This is a real advantage over per-seat competitors and it can put Square below us on subscription alone.Source: Square help center, switch to the new subscription plans, 10 Aug 2026
Free tierFree planWhether you can run a real booking page without paying.
Free forever plan, no credit card
Yes, a real oneNot a trial. It carries their highest published rate per card, which is how the plan pays for itself.Source: Square press release, unified plans and pricing, 10 Aug 2026
TrialTrial on the paid plans
No trial needed, the free plan does not expire
A free trial is offered on both paid plansThe length is shown on Square's own pricing page. It did not render to us as a number, so we have not printed one.Source: Square Appointments pricing page, 10 Aug 2026
Plan shapeHow many things you have to buySquare simplified this recently and deserves the credit.
One plan, and the plan page is the whole storyWhat the plan includes is published as a list, and every number on it is read live from our billing system.
Three plans replaced 18 separate subscriptionsA genuine improvement on what came before, and worth knowing if you last looked at Square under the old structure.Source: Square press release, unified plans and pricing, 10 Aug 2026
PayrollPayrollSquare has it and we do not.
Not yet
Available, as a separate paid add-on outside the plansSquare lists payroll and its franchise product as add-ons rather than plan features.Source: Square press release, unified plans and pricing, 10 Aug 2026
Custom rateCustom rate at high volume
Talk to us and we will quote you properly
Custom pricing and processing offered above a published annual volume thresholdSource: Square processing fees page, 10 Aug 2026
FeesSquare Appointments fees: processing, payouts and your money
Own processorCan you use your own card processorThe answer the rest of this table depends on.
Not required, use whoever you useRun BookingNexa purely for booking, calls and messaging and keep taking payment exactly as you do today.
No, Square processing onlySquare's own answer states that third-party payment processors are not supported, and that without Square's processing you cannot process payments through Square services.Source: Square developer forum, third-party payment processors, 10 Aug 2026
Card rateIn-person card rate, per transactionThe largest line on a busy shop's Square bill.
Not ours to chargeYour card rate stays between you and whoever you already use. We are not in that transaction.
2.5% one timeon the middle plan, plus a published flat fee on each transaction. The free plan is charged more per card and the top plan lessSource: Square processing fees page, 10 Aug 2026
Online rateOnline card rateWhat a booking paid for on your booking page costs.
Not ours to chargeOnline or in the chair, the payment is yours and so is the rate you negotiated for it.
2.9% per online bookingon either paid plan, plus a published flat fee. The free plan is charged a higher rate onlineSource: Square processing fees page, 10 Aug 2026
Keyed rateKeyed or saved-card rateWhat a card on file or a number read over the phone costs.
Not ours to charge
3.5% one timethe same on every plan, for a manually entered card or a card saved on file, plus a published flat fee. Moving up a plan does not reduce this oneSource: Square processing fees page, 10 Aug 2026
Rate by planDoes a bigger plan buy a lower card rateThe clearest sign that the subscription and the processing are one product.
No, there is nothing to discountOur plans differ by what they include. None of them changes what you pay to take a card, because we are not in that transaction at all.
Yes. The in-person rate falls at each step up the plan ladderWhich also means the cheapest subscription is the most expensive rate per card, and the arithmetic flips at some volume only you can work out.Source: Square processing fees page, 10 Aug 2026
PayoutsWhen the money reaches your bank
Between you and your processorWe never hold client money, so there is nothing here for us to be fast or slow about.
Next business day for payments taken before their published daily cut-offPayments after the cut-off, and on a Friday, arrive later. Square publishes the schedule.Source: Square help center, transfer and payout options, 10 Aug 2026
Instant payoutPaying to be paid sooner
Nothing for us to charge for
1.95% one timeper instant transfer, charged on top of the card processing feesSource: Square help center, transfer and payout options, 10 Aug 2026
HoldsCan the platform hold your moneyWorth reading in their own terms before you depend on next-day money.
No, we never touch your takingsClient payments go to your processor and your bank. We are not in that path, so there is nothing for us to delay, reserve or investigate.
Square's payment terms reserve the right to delay payouts and to hold funds in a reserveSection 14 states Square may withhold funds by temporarily suspending or delaying payouts and may designate an amount you must maintain in a reserve. Section 12 covers deferring payout during an investigation. We make no claim about how often either is used. Read them yourself.Source: Square payment terms, 10 Aug 2026
DepositsDeposits and prepaymentHow a lot of shops stop losing an hour to nobody.
Not yet
Full prepayment, or a card taken at booking, both configurable per serviceA real advantage of running the payments and the calendar in one system, and one we do not match today.Source: Square help center, cancellation and prepayment policies, 10 Aug 2026
No-showsCharging for a no-show
Not yet
A cancellation or no-show fee can be charged against the card taken at bookingSquare also states the card taken for no-show protection is held for that appointment rather than saved for later charges.Source: Square help center, cancellation and prepayment policies, 10 Aug 2026
AISalon booking software with an AI receptionist
AI callsAI answers the phonePicks up while you are with a client.
IncludedAnswers around the clock, including nights and weekends.
No voice channelSquare Assistant is documented as a text messaging tool. No inbound call handling is described for it.Source: Square help center, set up and manage Square Assistant, 10 Aug 2026
AI booksAI takes a booking from someone newThe difference between an appointment and a message you still have to answer.
30 AI calls a month, booking into the real calendarOffers the slots that are actually open, takes the booking on the call, and texts the confirmation.
Works on bookings you already haveSquare Assistant's documentation describes confirming, rescheduling and cancelling upcoming appointments. Creating one for a client who has not booked before is not among them.Source: Square help center, set up and manage Square Assistant, 10 Aug 2026
AI changesAI reschedules and cancelsThe part Square genuinely does well.
Yes
Yes, by replying to a textClients reply to the reminder and the calendar updates itself. This is a good feature and it does reduce empty chairs.Source: Square Assistant feature page, 10 Aug 2026
AI socialAI answers Instagram and Facebook messagesWhere a lot of beauty and wellness enquiries actually arrive.
IncludedAnswered and booked from the chat, in one inbox with your calls and texts.
No automated reply on eitherSquare Assistant is documented for text messages only. Nothing describes it working on a social channel.Source: Square help center, set up and manage Square Assistant, 10 Aug 2026
Social inboxSocial messages in one inbox at all
Included
Facebook, for your team to answerA Facebook page can be connected so its messages arrive alongside texts and emails. Instagram is not named in that documentation.Source: Square help center, Facebook Messenger, 10 Aug 2026
AI costWhat the AI costsWhether it is in the plan or another line on the invoice.
In the plan priceNo separate AI subscription, and no messaging plan to buy first before it will work.
Included, and it is a texting toolSquare Assistant comes with Appointments at no separate charge. Credit where it is due: it is not an upsell.Source: Square Assistant feature page, 10 Aug 2026
Other AIWhat the rest of their AI doesWe checked in both directions rather than assuming an absence.
Answers, books, and writes back on every channel you connect
Business questions, local trends, content writing, and voice ordering for restaurantsSquare's AI page describes analytics and content tools. The voice feature it names is order taking, not appointment booking.Source: Square AI product page, 10 Aug 2026
TranscriptsRead back what was said
Included
Not publishedSquare Assistant works over text, so the message thread is its own record and there is no call to transcribe. We found no transcript feature described on their AI or Assistant pages because the question does not arise.Checked: Square help center, set up and manage Square Assistant, 10 Aug 2026
SalonSquare Appointments for salons: scheduling depth
Colour gapsProcessing time inside a serviceBooking somebody else while a colour develops.
Not yet
Yes. Setup, developing and finish are separate durations and the middle stays bookableDocumented for Square's paid plans, not the free one. This is the feature most colourists ask about first and Square built it properly.Source: Square help center, processing time for services, 10 Aug 2026
ResourcesRooms, chairs and equipmentStops two facials being booked into one treatment room.
Not yet
Yes, as bookable resources that block automatically when a service needs themDocumented for Square's top plan. Rooms, stations, equipment and chairs, and it also caps how many of a service can run at once.Source: Square help center, resources for appointments, 10 Aug 2026
FormsIntake forms and waiversConsent and patch-test forms are routine in most of these trades.
Not yet
Sent automatically once a booking is made, in the appointment email and textDocumented for Square's paid plans. Custom templates cover intake and cancellation policy agreements.Source: Square help center, automated digital forms, 10 Aug 2026
DurationsPer-service durations and variations
Yes, per service and per add-onAdd-on durations are added to the appointment length, so a longer booking takes a longer slot.
Yes, with duration and price set per service and varied per variationAvailable on every plan including the free one.Source: Square help center, create and manage services, 10 Aug 2026
Extra timeBlocking extra time around a service
Not yet
Yes, on the paid plansSquare documents blocking extra time as a paid-plan feature, alongside processing time.Source: Square help center, create and manage services, 10 Aug 2026
Service costTracking what a service costs youColour and product cost per head, for margin rather than revenue.
Not yet
Yes, on the top planSquare documents service cost tracking as a top-plan feature.Source: Square help center, create and manage services, 10 Aug 2026
StaffTeam members on the plan
Unlimited on this plan, more on higher tiers
Not limited by the plan, because the plan is charged per locationSquare wins this comparison for a large single-site team, and the calculator on this page shows where that crossover happens.Source: Square help center, switch to the new subscription plans, 10 Aug 2026
Booking pageYour own branded booking page
IncludedYour colours, your fonts, your domain.
Included, along with a website builder and online ordering, on every planSquare includes its site builder in the free plan, which is more than most competitors do.Source: Square press release, unified plans and pricing, 10 Aug 2026
TextingTexting your clientsConfirmations, reminders and filling a late cancellation.
300 text credits a month, in the planThe allowance refills every month, and you can top up if a month runs hot.
A monthly text allowance on each paid plan, charged per message after itThe larger plan includes more texts and charges less for each one past the allowance. Square publishes both figures.Source: Square email and text marketing pricing, 10 Aug 2026
ReachCountries, retail and where Square is simply ahead
CountriesCountries servedThe first question, and sometimes the only one.
United States and Canada onlyCalling and texting are United States and Canada only, so a shop outside those two cannot run BookingNexa today.
Eight, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and JapanSquare wins this row by a distance and it is the row that decides the whole question for a lot of readers.Source: Square help center, international availability, 10 Aug 2026
RetailSelling product alongside servicesA salon with a serious retail shelf is where Square is genuinely strong.
Not yet
Yes. Inventory, orders and catalogue are core products with their own APIsIf you sell shampoo and colour at the counter, this is a real reason to stay and we are not going to argue you out of it.Source: Square developer documentation, 10 Aug 2026
POSPoint of sale
Not yet
Yes, on every plan, with advanced features across their point-of-sale modes on the paid onesSource: Square press release, unified plans and pricing, 10 Aug 2026
Gift cardsGift cards and loyalty
Not yet
Yes, both, each with its own documented APILoyalty is on the paid plans in Square's own plan summary.Source: Square developer documentation, 10 Aug 2026
HardwareHardware from the same companyOne supplier for the till, the reader and the software.
No hardware to buy, and none to buy from usNothing to install and nothing on a payment plan. Also nothing to sell you if a till is what you actually need.
$149 to $899 one timefor their stand through to their register, with monthly instalment options published beside each oneSource: Square hardware shop, 10 Aug 2026
APIPublic API and app marketplaceWhether you can connect your own tools, and whether somebody already did.
IncludedWebhooks on the plan. We have no third-party app marketplace and no years of integrations behind us.
Yes. Documented APIs across payments, bookings, catalogue, customers and staff, plus an app marketplaceSoftware development kits in seven languages. This is a mature developer platform and it is another row Square wins outright.Source: Square developer documentation, 10 Aug 2026
ExportLeaving with your client listWhether your own data comes with you.
Yes, CSV, any timeYour list is yours. Export it whenever you want, with no permission gate and no phone call.
Not publishedSquare's customer directory does export, and their own help pages describe the import side of it, but we could not read a first-party page setting out the export in full when compiling this. What we did read covers card data rather than contacts. Ask them before you rely on it.Checked: Square help center, export cards on file to another processor, 10 Aug 2026
Card exportTaking saved client cards with youThe part of leaving a payments company that nobody plans for.
Nothing of yours is held here to moveWe do not store your clients' cards, because we are not in the payment. There is no migration to schedule.
Possible, by phoning support as the account owner, and only to another compliant processorSquare states the average export takes up to two weeks and that only the account owner can request it. Worth starting early rather than late.Source: Square help center, export cards on file to another processor, 10 Aug 2026
CancelCancelling the software
Cancel anytime
Plans can be cancelled or switched at any timeStraightforward on the software. The payments relationship is the part that takes planning.Source: Square help center, switch to the new subscription plans, 10 Aug 2026
ReviewsWhat merchants say about it
Too new for a meaningful review countWe would rather say that than quote a handful of reviews as though they were a trend.
Not publishedWe have not summarised review sites here. Square has an enormous review footprint across every category it serves, a second-hand characterisation of it would add nothing, and the loudest threads are about payments rather than booking. Go and read them.
Scroll sideways to see both columns.
Making the move
How to switch without losing a booking
Setting up takes about 20 minutes. Moving off Square Appointments safely takes a couple of weeks, mostly because you should overlap the two rather than cut over in one night.
1
Decide the payments question first
This is the real decision and everything else is admin. Leaving Square Appointments means leaving Square for payments, because the two are the same account. Work out what you would use instead, a terminal from your bank or an independent processor, and get a rate quoted before you touch the calendar. If that quote is worse than what Square charges you, that is a genuine reason to stay and you should weigh it honestly.
2
Get your client list out while the account is live
Export the customer directory to CSV before you cancel anything. Do it first rather than last, because an account you have already closed is a support ticket rather than a download.
3
Start the saved-card migration early
If clients have cards saved with you, those live inside Square. Only the account owner can request the export, it goes only to another compliant processor, and Square says the average takes up to two weeks. Start it the week you decide, not the week you switch.
4
Rebuild your services and staff in BookingNexa
Upload the client list, then add services, prices, durations and staff hours. About 15 minutes for the shop and another 5 minutes to connect your number and switch the AI receptionist on, so roughly 20 minutes in total. It is worth doing carefully, because your booking page and your AI both read from it.
5
Run both side by side for two weeks
Keep taking bookings and payments on Square while you point new enquiries at BookingNexa. Nothing is at risk. You are proving that the booking page and the AI handle your actual calls and messages before anything depends on them.
6
Move the number, then the payments, then close it
Point your business number at BookingNexa so the AI answers it, and switch your Instagram and Facebook links to the new booking page. Bring the new card terminal in once the saved cards have moved. Let the last Square appointments run out before you cancel, and remember the subscription is charged per location, so close every location you are not using.
FAQ
Questions people ask about Square Appointments
Is Square Appointments free?
The subscription is. Square Free costs $0 a month and it is a real plan rather than a trial, so a solo operator can run a booking page on it indefinitely. What it is not is free to take money on: the free plan carries Square's highest card rate at 2.6% plus 15 cents for an in-person payment and 3.3% plus 30 cents online, against 2.5% and 2.9% on the $49 plan. On a few thousand a month by card the difference between those rates is worth more than the subscription you avoided, so free is an accurate description of the invoice and a poor description of the cost.
What are the Square Appointments fees?
Two kinds, and only one of them arrives as a bill. The subscription is $0, $49 or $149 a month charged for each active location. The processing is charged on every card you take: 2.6%, 2.5% or 2.4% plus 15 cents in person depending on the plan, 3.3% or 2.9% plus 30 cents online, and 3.5% plus 15 cents for a keyed or saved card on every plan. Instant payouts cost a further 1.95% per transfer. For most shops the processing is the larger number by a wide margin, which is why the calculator on this page models both together.
Can I use my own payment processor with Square Appointments?
No. Square's own developer platform answers this directly: Square does not support integrating third-party payment processors, and if you cannot use Square's payment processing you cannot process payments through Square services. Square is sold as an all-in-one product, so the booking software and the merchant account are the same decision. BookingNexa works the other way. You can run it purely for booking, calls and messaging and keep taking payment exactly as you do today, on whatever terminal or processor you already use.
What is the Square Appointments processing rate?
It depends which plan you are on, which is the unusual part. In person it is 2.6% plus 15 cents on the free plan, 2.5% plus 15 cents on the $49 plan and 2.4% plus 15 cents on the $149 plan. Online it is 3.3% plus 30 cents on the free plan and 2.9% plus 30 cents on both paid plans. A manually keyed card or a card saved on file is 3.5% plus 15 cents on every plan and does not improve with the tier. Because a more expensive subscription buys a cheaper rate, the cheapest plan is not always the cheapest month.
Is Square Appointments good for salons?
Genuinely yes on scheduling, and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise. Colour processing time is properly built, so a client can be booked into the developing gap of another appointment. Rooms, chairs and equipment work as bookable resources that block themselves. Intake forms go out automatically when a booking is made. The caveats are tier and channel: processing time and forms need a paid plan, resources need the top one, and nothing in Square answers your phone or your Instagram messages.
Does Square Appointments handle colour processing time?
Yes. Square splits a service into an initial duration, a processing duration and a final duration, and leaves the middle bookable so another client can be fitted into it while a colour develops. It is documented for Square's paid plans rather than the free one. This is one of the rows where Square beats us outright: BookingNexa does not have processing gaps inside a service yet.
Does Square have an AI receptionist that answers the phone?
No. Square Assistant is an automated messaging tool that works over text: a client replies to an appointment reminder and can confirm, reschedule or cancel, and the calendar updates itself. It is useful and it is included at no extra charge, but it has no voice channel, so nothing picks up when your phone rings while you are with a client. Square's wider AI page describes business analytics, content writing and automated voice ordering for restaurants, which is order taking rather than appointment booking.
Can Square Assistant book a new appointment?
Its documentation describes confirming, rescheduling and cancelling upcoming appointments, so it works on bookings that already exist. Creating one for somebody who has never booked with you is not among the things it is described as doing. That matters because the enquiry from a stranger at seven in the evening is the one that turns into money. BookingNexa's receptionist reads the live calendar, offers the slots that are open, and completes that booking on the call.
Can Square hold or freeze my money?
Square's own payment terms reserve the right to. Section 14 says Square may withhold funds by temporarily suspending or delaying payouts and may designate an amount you must keep in a reserve, and section 12 covers deferring a payout while an investigation or dispute is resolved. We are not going to tell you how often that happens, because nobody has that number, and anyone quoting one is guessing. What we would say is that it is a clause worth reading yourself before your rent depends on next-day settlement, and that it exists because Square is your payment processor as well as your calendar.
What is the best Square Appointments alternative for a salon?
It depends which problem is actually costing you. If you are losing bookings to a phone nobody can answer and an Instagram inbox nobody has time for, you want an AI that finishes the booking, and that is what BookingNexa is built around. If you sell a lot of product at the counter, want a till and a card reader from one company, or need gift cards and loyalty today, Square is the stronger system and switching would cost you things we cannot replace. If you are outside the United States or Canada, BookingNexa is not an option at all.
How do I switch from Square Appointments to BookingNexa?
Start with payments rather than with the calendar, because that is the part with a lead time. Get a processing quote from a bank or an independent processor, then export your customer directory while the Square account is still live, then ask Square to migrate any saved client cards, which only the account owner can request and which Square says averages up to two weeks. Rebuild your services and staff hours in BookingNexa, run both systems for a fortnight so you can watch the AI handle real calls, and only then move your number across and close the Square locations.
Will I lose anything by leaving Square Appointments?
Yes, and it is worth being straight about it. You would give up inventory and retail, the point of sale, gift cards, loyalty, deposits and no-show fees, colour processing gaps, room and resource booking, intake forms, Square's hardware range and its app marketplace. That is a long list and none of it is invented. What you gain is an AI that answers the phone and the social messages and finishes the booking, a software bill that does not move with your takings, and the freedom to take payment however you like.
Can I import my client list and appointment history?
Yes. Export your clients from your current system as a CSV, then import that file into BookingNexa during setup. Most booking platforms export clients, services, and upcoming appointments. Anything that does not come across cleanly, our team will map for you before you go live.
Is there a contract or a minimum term?
No. Monthly plans cancel any time, and the free forever plan needs no card at all. Yearly plans are prepaid for twelve months at the discounted rate, which is the only commitment we ask for.
Which countries does BookingNexa work in?
The United States and Canada. Phone numbers, calling, and texting are all United States and Canada only right now, so a shop outside those two countries cannot run BookingNexa today. If you operate in another country, pick a platform with coverage there.
How long does it take to set up?
About 20 minutes. Roughly 15 minutes to add your services, hours, and staff, and another 5 minutes to connect your phone number and switch the AI receptionist on. Most shops finish the same day they sign up.
Do I have to take payments through BookingNexa?
No. You can run BookingNexa purely for booking, calls, and messaging, and keep taking payment however you take it today, whether that is your own card terminal, cash, or an existing processor. Card payments and deposits are there when you want them, not a condition of using the software.
Sources
How we checked this
Every Square figure and policy on this page was read on a live Square page, help center article, legal page or developer document on the date shown beside it. Pricing and policies change. Check squareup.com before you make a decision.
All prices quoted are the United States figures. Square publishes different rates in the other countries it serves, and one of the most widely repeated numbers in circulation online is a United Kingdom card rate presented as a United States one, so a Canadian or British reader should expect different figures.
Square's marketing pages are rendered in the browser and return unfilled template variables to an automated reader, so the subscription prices here come from Square's own press release announcing the plans and from its processing fees page, both of which serve real numbers. Where a figure would not render, we have said so in the row rather than substituting one.
Nothing on this page rests on a third-party publisher. Pricing round-ups for Square disagree with each other and with Square, and several still describe the plan structure that was replaced in 2025, so we used Square's own documents throughout.
On held funds we have quoted only what Square's own payment terms permit, and named the sections so you can read them yourself. We make no claim about how often Square delays a payout or sets a reserve, because that is not something we or anyone else can measure, and a comparison page is not the place for an anecdote.
Some things were left out because we could not verify them first-hand: the exact free-trial length on the paid plans, the full customer directory export policy, and staff commission tracking. Where a row says a figure is not published, that is why.
The cost calculator on this page includes card processing on the Square side and excludes it on ours, because Square requires you to process with them and we do not require you to change anything. That is not a like-for-like total and it is labelled as such wherever it appears.
BookingNexa prices and plan limits on this page are read live from our own billing system every time the page loads, so they are current by construction.
Every source cited on this page
1. Square AI product page(Square Appointments's own page, checked 10 August 2026)https://squareup.com/us/en/ai
2. Square Appointments pricing page(Square Appointments's own page, checked 10 August 2026)https://squareup.com/us/en/appointments/pricing
3. Square Assistant feature page(Square Appointments's own page, checked 10 August 2026)https://squareup.com/us/en/appointments/scheduling-features/square-assistant
4. Square developer documentation(Square Appointments's own page, checked 10 August 2026)https://developer.squareup.com/docs
5. Square developer forum, third-party payment processors(Square Appointments's own page, published 9 August 2024, checked 10 August 2026)https://developer.squareup.com/forums/t/third-party-payment-processor/18197
6. Square email and text marketing pricing(Square Appointments's own page, checked 10 August 2026)https://squareup.com/us/en/software/marketing/pricing
7. Square hardware shop(Square Appointments's own page, checked 10 August 2026)https://squareup.com/us/en/hardware
8. Square help center, automated digital forms(Square Appointments's own page, checked 10 August 2026)https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/7104-contracts
9. Square help center, cancellation and prepayment policies(Square Appointments's own page, checked 10 August 2026)https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/5493-set-a-custom-cancellation-policy-with-square-appointments
10. Square help center, create and manage services(Square Appointments's own page, checked 10 August 2026)https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/6487-create-a-service-from-the-square-appointments-app
11. Square help center, export cards on file to another processor(Square Appointments's own page, checked 10 August 2026)https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/7871-export-card-on-file-to-third-party-payment-processors
12. Square help center, Facebook Messenger(Square Appointments's own page, checked 10 August 2026)https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/6960-facebook-messenger
13. Square help center, international availability(Square Appointments's own page, checked 10 August 2026)https://squareup.com/help/gb/en/article/4956-international-availability
14. Square help center, processing time for services(Square Appointments's own page, checked 10 August 2026)https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/6756-add-gap-times-to-your-square-appointments-services
15. Square help center, resources for appointments(Square Appointments's own page, checked 10 August 2026)https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/7065-square-appointments-resource-management
16. Square help center, set up and manage Square Assistant(Square Appointments's own page, checked 10 August 2026)https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/6731-get-started-with-square-assistant-on-appointments
17. Square help center, switch to the new subscription plans(Square Appointments's own page, checked 10 August 2026)https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/8569-switch-to-the-new-square-subscription-plans
18. Square help center, transfer and payout options(Square Appointments's own page, checked 10 August 2026)https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/3807-square-transfer-options
19. Square payment terms(Square Appointments's own page, checked 10 August 2026)https://squareup.com/us/en/legal/general/payment
20. Square press release, unified plans and pricing(Square Appointments's own page, published 6 October 2025, checked 10 August 2026)https://squareup.com/us/en/press/unified-pricing-and-packaging
21. Square processing fees page(Square Appointments's own page, checked 10 August 2026)https://squareup.com/us/en/payments/our-fees
Square and Square Appointments are trademarks of their respective owner. BookingNexa is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Square. This comparison is published by BookingNexa.