SkyTab vs Square for Restaurants: what each one publishes and what you'll pay
Square tells you everything and starts at nothing. SkyTab bundles the hardware and negotiates the rate instead of posting it. You can check both of those claims yourself in ten minutes.
Square publishes everything: $0, $49 or $149 a month per location, and in person rates of 2.6%, 2.5% or 2.4% plus 15 cents. Shift4 publishes no monthly price for Dine and no card rate. If you are low volume or seasonal, Square is the easier buy and you can do the math yourself tonight. Dine fits busy full service rooms that want the hardware and the support bundled and are willing to make a rep put a number in writing.
| SkyTab (Shift4 Dine) | Square for Restaurants | |
|---|---|---|
| Software | Not published by Shift4 | $0, $49 or $149 per month per location |
| Card present rate | Not published | 2.6% + $0.15, 2.5% + $0.15 or 2.4% + $0.15 by plan |
| Keyed in rate | Not published | 3.5% + $0.15 on every plan |
| Hardware | $0 upfront, lifetime warranty, inside the monthly fee | Bought outright, from $59 |
| Kitchen display | Hardware option, no separate app fee published | $30 or $20 per device per month, not on the Free plan |
| Contract | Not published | No locked in contracts, cancel anytime |
Per location or per station? The math splits right there
Square bills per location. SkyTab bills per station. A one terminal coffee bar pays Square nothing on Free and pays SkyTab about thirty dollars. A four station steakhouse pays Square $49 once and SkyTab four times.
Add Square's paid apps and the math turns again. Kitchen display runs $30 per device monthly on Plus. Kiosk runs $50 per device. Neither app works on Free.
Square posts its rate. Does that make it cheaper?
Not by itself. Square publishes 2.6% plus 15 cents card present on Free, 2.5% on Plus and 2.4% on Premium. Anyone can read those numbers before a rep ever calls, which is a real advantage when you are comparing.
Shift4 posts no rate for Dine, so yours gets negotiated. A negotiated rate can land under Square's list or over it. Only a written quote settles the question, whatever any dealer tells you.
The number that decides this is not the monthly fee
Your card processing bill will dwarf your software bill. A fraction of a point across a year of card sales swallows the gap between a $29 invoice and a $49 one without blinking, which is why the software line is the one you should argue about least.
So compare effective rates. Pull twelve statements, divide total fees by total card volume, and hold both quotes against that single figure.
A real person calls you back within two hours, Monday to Saturday, 8am to 7pm Central.
When should you just buy Square?
Square costs nothing to try, ties you to no contract, and runs on an iPad you may already have in the office. For a food truck, a market stand or a coffee counter, we would have a hard time talking you out of it. We will not try.
Square also publishes that your existing iPads, kitchen printers, receipt printers, cash drawers and routers may be reusable. Tight on capital and light on tickets? Start there.
Where does a full service room outgrow it?
Kitchen displays and kiosks turn into per device charges on Square, and the plan fee lands on every location you open. A busy Arkansas dining room with several stations passes SkyTab's total in a hurry.
SkyTab folds hardware, replacement and support into one monthly figure. Judd Alsup prices both against your covers and your station count, never against a generic example.
Which one, plainly
Choose this one when
- You run four or more stations and want hardware, replacement and support billed as one line.
- You would sooner negotiate a rate on your own volume than accept whatever list price is posted.
- You want online ordering, loyalty and reservations with nothing charged per device.
Choose the other when
- You are opening on a tight budget. The Square Free plan has no monthly fee and hardware starts at $59. Buy that, open the doors, and come see us in two years.
- You want no contract, full stop. Square publishes no locked in contracts and the ability to cancel anytime. Shift4 publishes nothing about terms.
- You want the processing rate in writing before anyone calls. Square prints 2.6%, 2.5% and 2.4% on its own site, and we cannot match that.
- You are seasonal or mobile and can run the whole operation off an iPad you already own.
SkyTab: where it loses to Square
We sell SkyTab. These are the arguments we lose, so they go first.
What works
- Hardware, replacement and 24/7 support all live inside the monthly fee.
- No per device charge for a kitchen display, and no fee for online ordering.
- $0 upfront to put a full station on the counter.
What does not
- Square publishes its processing rates. Shift4 publishes none for Dine. Square wins that one outright.
- Square publishes no locked in contracts. Shift4 publishes no term at all.
- Square Free really does cost $0 a month. SkyTab has no free tier and is not going to grow one.
- SkyTab requires Shift4 processing, so you cannot shop the rate later.
- Square hardware can be bought and kept. SkyTab equipment stays rented for as long as you run it.
Questions restaurant owners ask
Is Square really free?
The Square Free plan carries no monthly subscription. You pay processing, published at 2.6% plus 15 cents for cards tapped, dipped or swiped. Hardware is separate, from $59. The kitchen display and kiosk apps do not run on Free, so kitchen heavy sites end up upgrading.
What does SkyTab cost per month?
Shift4 says the Dine fee covers POS software and updates, hardware with a lifetime warranty, 24/7 support and cloud back office reporting, with nothing upfront. It does not say what the fee is. Third party Marketplace integrations bill separately on top.
Can I move Square hardware to another processor?
Square card devices run Square. Square does publish that general equipment such as iPads, kitchen printers, receipt printers, cash drawers and routers may be reusable, which takes some sting out of a switch. The card reading devices stay behind.
How many terminals before SkyTab beats Square?
No fixed number exists, because your processing rate decides this and the software line does not. Add up the paid kitchen display and kiosk devices on Square, set both effective rates side by side, and the answer shows up fast. Bring statements.
Vendor pricing and tax rates change without notice. Confirm current figures with the vendor, the city or your accountant before you rely on them. Not tax, legal or accounting advice.
Every number on this page traces to a primary source
- Shift4 Dine pricing page advertises getting started at $0 and publishes no monthly software price and no card processing rate (verified in browser 2026-07-29, page is client rendered)dine.shift4.com / pricing
- Shift4 Dine monthly fee includes POS software and future updates, POS hardware with a lifetime warranty, 24/7 support, cloud back office reporting and a mobile app; third party Marketplace integrations carry additional fees; a risk free trial allows the equipment to be sent backdine.shift4.com / pricing
- SkyTab is now branded Shift4 Dine and skytab.com resolves to dine.shift4.com. Marketing and loyalty, reservations and waitlist, QR code ordering and a website builder are listed as included at no extra cost, hardware carries a lifetime warranty and support is 24/7dine.shift4.com
- Square for Restaurants plans: Free $0, Plus $49 per month per location, Premium $149 per month per location. In person card rates 2.6% + $0.15, 2.5% + $0.15 and 2.4% + $0.15 by plan; manually keyed or card on file 3.5% + $0.15; online 3.3% + $0.30 on Free and 2.9% + $0.30 on paid plans. Square KDS app $30 or $20 per device per month and Square Kiosk app $50 or $30 per device per month, neither available on Free. Hardware from $59. Custom pricing available above $250,000 processed per yearsquareup.com / pricing
- Square publishes no locked in contracts with the ability to upgrade or cancel anytime, a 30 day free trial on paid plans, and states existing devices including iPads, kitchen printers, receipt printers, cash drawers and routers may be reusablesquareup.com / restaurants