Square for Restaurants is a cloud restaurant POS with its own hardware and card processing, and a pricing page that starts at $0. Resto is a restaurant POS you buy once and run on your own hosting. This page sets out how they differ, including where Square is the better choice.
At a glance
| Square for Restaurants | Resto | |
|---|---|---|
| How you pay for the software | A software plan chosen from Square’s pricing page, which starts at $0. Square says there are no locked-in contracts and you can upgrade or cancel anytime | One-time licence: $21 Regular, $129 Extended |
| Where it runs | Square’s platform | Your own hosting, with your own database |
| Where you can use it | Only in the countries Square operates in, so check Square’s site for yours | Anywhere you can run a web server. Online card payments need Stripe to be available in your country |
| Hardware | Square sells its own: Register, Handheld, Terminal, Kiosk, Stand and KDS | Runs in a web browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, Opera). Resto does not sell hardware |
| Card payments | Swipe, dip or tap through Square, including offline payments for up to 24 hours | Online card payments through Stripe Checkout, plus cash on delivery and pay at counter |
| Payroll, marketing, loyalty, gift cards | Separate Square products, with payroll priced on its own | Staff shifts and payroll are in the Resto licence |
| Works offline | Yes, Square lists offline payments | Yes, orders queue on the device and sync when the connection returns |
| Updates | Handled by Square | Every future update is free for the life of your licence |
What Resto includes
All of this comes in the one licence, with no add-on modules to buy:
- Point of sale with modifiers, combos, split payments, tips and refunds
- Kitchen display with per-station tickets and bump and recall
- Tables and a waiter app that runs on a phone
- Recipe-based inventory that deducts ingredients on every sale and tracks food cost
- Online ordering and delivery: a branded QR menu, online store and dispatch board
- Reservations and a waitlist
- Double-entry accounting, staff shifts and payroll
- Multiple branches, each with its own stock, tables, staff and prices
- A REST API, and English plus seven more languages, including Arabic right-to-left
The Resto page has the full list and a live demo.
How the costs are structured
Square’s pricing starts at $0, so against its free starting plan the case for Resto is not a saving on a software fee. It comes down to what you add on, who holds your data, and where you can run it. Prices on Square’s side depend on the plan, hardware and add-ons you choose, so we don’t print them here. You can work out your own five-year figure for both:
| Square for Restaurants | Resto | |
|---|---|---|
| Software | The plan you choose on Square’s pricing page, times 60 months (nothing on a $0 plan) | The licence price, once |
| Hardware | Square hardware, or devices Square supports | Hardware you already own or choose yourself |
| Add-ons | Payroll, marketing, loyalty and gift cards as you add them, each priced by Square | Staff shifts and payroll are included |
| Hosting | Not applicable | A $10 a month hosting plan or VPS does the job, so $600 over 60 months |
| Card processing | Square’s processing fees on payments taken through Square | Stripe’s own fees on online card payments; nothing for cash |
If you would rather not look after a server, we offer a managed self-hosted service from $20 a month where we manage your installation. The own versus rent page works through five years of both.
Where Square is the better choice
- You want to start for nothing. Square’s pricing starts at $0, with no locked-in contract.
- Hardware and card payments from one company. Square sells terminals, registers and handhelds and processes the payments, so tap, dip and swipe work out of the box.
- In-person card payments. Resto does not supply card terminals. If you need in-person card payments built into the POS, check the Resto page or ask us before you buy.
- Delivery apps and a wider ecosystem. Square lists integrations with delivery partners such as Uber Eats and DoorDash, plus its own loyalty, marketing, gift card and banking products.
- No installation of your own at all. A subscription means someone else runs everything.
- Track record. Resto’s first release was in August 2026. Square has been serving businesses for far longer.
Where Resto is the better choice
- You pay once. No monthly software plan to outgrow, and updates are free for the life of your licence.
- Your data stays with you. Orders, customers and recipes live in your own database on your own hosting.
- It isn’t limited to a list of countries. If you can run a web server, you can run Resto, and cash and counter payments work anywhere.
- Recipe costing and accounting are included. Ingredients are deducted on every sale, and double-entry accounting posts itself.
- Ordinary hosting is enough. Resto needs no Node.js, Redis, WebSockets, queue workers or cron. If your host runs Laravel and MySQL or MariaDB, Resto runs there. See the server requirements.
- You get the source code. You can modify it, within the terms of your licence.
- Several branches in one system, and eight languages including Arabic.
What you take on
You install Resto on your hosting once, following the install guide in the documentation, and apply updates by copying files and running migrations. You also keep your own backups. If you would prefer not to, the managed service from $20 a month covers the installation for you, and we’ll add the details once the service pages are ready.
Questions
Does Resto charge for card payments?
No. Online card payments go through Stripe Checkout, and Stripe charges its own fees under its own terms. Cash on delivery and pay at counter involve no processing.
Does Resto work if the internet drops?
Yes. Orders are queued on the device and synced automatically when the connection returns, so a replayed order is never duplicated. Square also lists offline payments, which it processes when you reconnect.
Can I use Resto in a country Square doesn’t cover?
Yes, if you can host it. Resto runs on any host that meets the server requirements. Online card payments need Stripe to operate in your country, and cash on delivery and pay at counter work anywhere.
Which licence does a restaurant need?
The licence guide explains Regular and Extended. In short, Extended is the one that lets you charge your own customers for the software as a service.
Can I try Resto first?
Yes, there is a live demo to log in to and click through.
Statements about Square come from Square’s restaurant and pricing pages, which we read on 6 October 2026. Square changes its plans and prices, so check its site for current figures.