Square or SumUp? Card reader comparison (08/26)
Two providers, the same criteria, the same table. With no payment product of our own that has to win in the end.
Square (Block) lists from 2.60% + 15 ¢, SumUp from 0.99%. The two figures are not from the same market — the price lists we could verify apply to different countries. Ranking them against each other would produce a false winner.
Side by side
| Criterion | Square (Block) | SumUp |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction fee | from 2.60% + 15 ¢ Square Free plan; Plus 2.5 %, Premium 2.4 % | from 0.99% Payments Plus at £19/month, otherwise 1.69 % |
| Monthly fee | 0 (Square Free plan) | 0 EUR (base) or 19 EUR/month on the 'Zahlungen Plus' plan |
| Setup cost | 0 | 0 EUR |
| Contract term | n/a | n/a |
| Certification | n/a | PCI DSS |
| Platforms | iOS + Android | iOS + Android |
| Markets | 8 | 13 |
| SoftPOS24 rating | 3.5/5 | 4.2/5 |
| Source | open source ↗ | open source ↗ |
More comparisons with these two
- Square or PayPal / Zettle? fees, monthly cost, certification and rating
- Stripe or Square? fees, monthly cost, certification and rating
- Square or Clover? fees, monthly cost, certification and rating
If it is not about these two but about switching: Alternatives to Square.
And the others?
A duel answers “which of these two”. The question “which of all of them” is answered by the comparison of all 108 providers.
Frequently asked
Is Square cheaper than SumUp?
Not across the board. The headline rate applies to consumer debit cards; commercial cards, Amex and cards issued abroad usually cost one to one and a half points more. Add the monthly fee and the fixed amount per transaction — 15 cents on a $4 sale is another 3.75 %.
Can I run both at the same time?
Technically yes, and when switching, two to four weeks in parallel is sensible. Permanently it rarely pays: two monthly fees and a split volume, which costs you volume discounts.
Where do the numbers come from?
From the providers' own pricing pages, retrieved on 26.08.2026. Where a provider publishes nothing, the source is flagged as secondary. Every figure is on the provider profile with its source link.