SkyTab vs Square for Restaurants: what each one publishes and what it costs
Square wins on transparency and on starting cheaply. SkyTab wins on included hardware and on a rate you negotiate rather than accept. Both claims are checkable.
Square publishes everything: $0, $49 or $149 per month per location, and in person rates of 2.6%, 2.5% or 2.4% plus 15 cents. SkyTab publishes $29.99 per month per station and no rate. Square is the better buy for small, seasonal and low volume operations. SkyTab fits busy full service rooms wanting hardware and support bundled.
| SkyTab (Shift4 Dine) | Square for Restaurants | |
|---|---|---|
| Software | From $29.99 per month per station | $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 |
“We are not mosquitoes. You will not be swatting us away. But we are not disappearing after the install either.”
How the software pricing actually compares
Square charges per location. SkyTab charges per station. A one terminal coffee bar pays Square nothing on Free and SkyTab about thirty dollars. A four station steakhouse pays Square $49 once and SkyTab four times.
That flips once you add Square's paid apps. Square charges $30 per device monthly for kitchen display and $50 per device for kiosk on Plus. Neither app runs on Free.
Square publishes its rate. Is it cheaper?
Not automatically. Square publishes 2.6% plus 15 cents card present on Free, 2.5% on Plus and 2.4% on Premium. Those are list prices anyone can read, which genuinely helps when comparing.
Shift4 publishes no rate for Dine, so it is negotiated. A negotiated rate can land below Square's list or above it. Only a written quote settles it, whatever any dealer claims.
Why the rate matters more than the software fee
Card processing normally costs a restaurant several times what POS software costs. A fraction of a point across a year of card sales swamps the gap between a $29.99 and a $49 bill.
Compare effective rates, not headline software prices. Take twelve statements, divide total fees by total card volume, and use that number as the yardstick for both quotes.
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Where Square is simply the better choice
Square costs nothing to try, carries no locked in contract, and runs on an iPad you may already own. For a food truck, market stand or coffee counter, that is hard to argue with.
Square also publishes that existing iPads, kitchen printers, receipt printers, cash drawers and routers may be reusable. If capital is tight and ticket count is low, start there.
Where a full service room outgrows Square
Kitchen displays and kiosks become paid per device charges on Square, and the plan fee applies to every location. A busy Arkansas dining room with several stations passes SkyTab's total quickly.
SkyTab folds hardware, replacement and support into one monthly figure. Judd Alsup prices both against your covers and station count rather than a generic example.
Which one, honestly
Choose this one when
- You run several stations and want hardware, replacement and support in one fee.
- You would rather negotiate a processing rate than accept a published list price.
- You want online ordering, loyalty and reservations with no per device charges.
Choose the other when
- You are opening on a tight budget. The Square Free plan has no monthly fee and hardware starts at $59.
- You want no contract at all. Square publishes no locked in contracts and the ability to cancel anytime.
- You want the processing rate in writing before anyone calls. Square publishes 2.6%, 2.5% and 2.4% openly.
- You are seasonal or mobile and can run the whole thing from an iPad you already own.
SkyTab: where it loses to Square
We sell SkyTab. These are the arguments we cannot win, so they go first.
What works
- Hardware, replacement and 24/7 support all sit inside the monthly fee.
- No per device charge for a kitchen display, no fee for online ordering.
- $0 upfront to get a full station onto the counter.
What does not
- Square publishes its processing rates. Shift4 publishes none for Dine.
- Square publishes no locked in contracts. Shift4 publishes no term at all.
- The Square Free plan genuinely costs $0 monthly. SkyTab has no free tier.
- SkyTab requires Shift4 processing, so the rate cannot be shopped later.
- Square hardware can be bought outright and kept. SkyTab equipment stays rented.
Questions restaurant owners ask
Is Square really free?
The Square Free plan carries no monthly subscription and you pay only processing, published at 2.6% plus 15 cents for cards tapped, dipped or swiped. Hardware is separate from $59. Kitchen display and kiosk apps are not available on Free, so kitchen heavy sites upgrade.
What does SkyTab cost per month?
Shift4 publishes Dine, formerly sold as SkyTab, starting at $29.99 per month with $0 upfront hardware cost. That fee covers POS software and updates, hardware with a lifetime warranty, 24/7 support and cloud back office reporting. Third party Marketplace integrations carry their own fees.
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 softens the loss if you switch. The card reading devices themselves stay with Square.
How many terminals before SkyTab beats Square?
There is no fixed number, because the answer turns on your processing rate rather than the software line. Once paid kitchen display and kiosk devices are added to Square and both effective rates sit side by side, it settles 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 (formerly SkyTab) POS pricing starts at $29.99 per month with $0 upfront cost for software and hardwaredine.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