Square vs Stripe for my food truck - the math was obvious after 3 months

I ran both processors side by side at my taco truck in Denver for 3 months. Square looked easier with the free terminal but their hidden per transaction fees ate up $120 more per month than Stripe. Stripe took a day to set up but their flat rate of 2.9% plus 30 cents never changed on me. Square would randomly add 1% for keyed in orders which happened more than I expected. Has anyone else seen Square sneak in extra fees after the first month?

3 comments

3 Comments

emma_jones13d agoMost Upvoted

Did you catch the part where Square charges you extra for manually entering cards? That 1% adds up way too fast when people hand you cards at a window. I switched to Stripe full time after two months of the same thing and haven't looked back.

henry15013d ago

But isn't that 1% just the cost of doing business with anything? I've had customers who insist on swiping their cards even when the terminal is right there, so the manual entry fee has never been a huge deal for me. Plus Square's free card reader and instant transfer options make up for those small fees if you run a high volume.

anthony_jackson3113d ago

Last time I checked, my Square dashboard looked like it was charging me a "convenience fee" for the inconvenience of having to type in a number. I had a guy yesterday try to pay with a wrinkled, bent card that looked like it went through a washing machine. Swiping it was a joke, so I had to manually enter it. That extra 1% on his $50 order felt like Square was just laughing at me for having a messy customer.