Square is a strong way to take card payments. DUMA is the system around the payment: till, stock, recipe margin, rotas, customers and reports, on one bill. Many businesses will want both, and that works.
Keep your Square TerminalFree plan, foreverTill works offline
Choose Square on its own if you mainly need to take card payments with good hardware, and the till, stock and staff tools in its free plan cover you. Square’s payments, devices and offline card acceptance are mature, and DUMA does not process cards at all.
Look at DUMA if you are paying for add-ons on top of the till (rotas, loyalty, marketing, restaurant stock), or if you want to know the margin on every dish after VAT. DUMA includes those in one workspace, and you can keep using your Square Terminal for the card payment itself.
Square’s figures are from its UK website and exclude VAT where Square says so. DUMA’s are from the product today.
Square’s prices and features as of November 2026, read on Square’s own UK website on . Prices change, so check the linked source before you decide.
| Job | DUMA | Square |
|---|---|---|
| Software price | Free plan, forever, with no card needed. Business is £89 a month, coming soon. | Free plan at £0 a month. Plus from £29 a month. Premium is custom-priced.Source: squareup.com |
| Restaurant and retail plans | Included:One plan for every kind of business. Switch on the parts you need. | Partly:Square for Restaurants Plus is £69 a month per location. Square for Retail Plus is £49 a month per location.Source: squareup.com |
| Card fees | DUMA does not process cards, so it adds no card fee. Your card provider’s own fees still apply. | 1.75% in person, 1.4% + 25p online, and 2.5% for manually entered cards (UK cards).Source: squareup.com |
| Card hardware | Keep your card machine. Square Terminal and SumUp readers connect directly. Any other machine works with the amount keyed in. | Its own range. Square Reader is £19 + VAT and Square Terminal is £149 + VAT.Source: squareup.com |
| When the internet drops | Included:Cash and card-machine sales save on the till and send themselves when the connection returns. A sale that can’t be sent is kept for you to check, never thrown away. | Included:Offline card payments on Square devices, within 24 to 72 hours depending on the device. Physical contactless cards are not supported offline, and the seller is responsible for declined payments.Source: squareup.com |
| Stock | Included:Included and free in full. Every sale takes its recipe’s ingredients off what is on hand. | Partly:For restaurants, ingredient stock is Square Restaurant Inventory by MarketMan: not included on Free, and £79 a month per location on Plus.Source: squareup.com |
| Recipe costing and margin | Included:Cost each dish from its ingredients and see the margin after VAT, per size and per combination of options. | Not available:We did not find recipe costing on Square’s UK pricing pages. |
| Rotas and clock-ins | Included:Included and free in full: rotas, clock-in on the staff member’s phone, leave requests, and labour cost next to sales. | Partly:Shifts Free covers up to five team members, including the owner. Shifts Plus starts at £3 per team member a month.Source: squareup.com |
| Loyalty | Included:Included: stamp cards and points, applied at the till. | Partly:Square Loyalty is £25 a month per location for up to 500 loyalty visits, rising with use.Source: squareup.com |
| Email marketing | Included:Included, with a free allowance. Only customers who opted in are emailed. | Partly:Square Marketing is £9 a month for up to 500 contacts, rising with your list.Source: squareup.com |
| Start for free |
Included Partly, or it depends Not available
Read on Square’s UK website on 2 November 2026. Square changes its prices from time to time, so check the linked page before you decide.
Per location, each month, before card fees and hardware. Shifts is free for up to five team members, then from £3 each.
£0a month, forever
Till, stock, recipe margin, rotas and loyalty on the free plan. Email keeps a free allowance.
Square Point of Sale: Free at £0 a month plus processing fees; Plus from £29 a month; Premium custom-priced.
Source: squareup.comIn-person card payments with UK cards: 1.75%. Online: 1.4% + 25p. Manually entered: 2.5%.
Source: squareup.comSquare for Restaurants Plus: £69 a month per location. Restaurant inventory by MarketMan: £79 a month per location on Plus.
Source: squareup.comSquare for Retail Plus: £49 a month per location.
Source: squareup.comShifts: free for up to five team members; Shifts Plus from £3 per team member a month.
Source: squareup.comSquare Loyalty: £25, £45 or £65 a month per location, by loyalty visits.
Source: squareup.comSquare Marketing: from £9 a month for up to 500 contacts.
Source: squareup.comSquare Reader: £19 + VAT. Square Terminal: £149 + VAT.
Source: squareup.comSquare is a well-established product, and it does several things DUMA does not.
One Square account takes card payments in person, online and by invoice.
On DUMA
DUMA does not process payments. It works with the card machine you already have.
Readers, terminals, stands and registers from one company, from a £19 reader.
On DUMA
DUMA runs in a browser on the tablet, phone or laptop you already own.
Square devices can take some card payments with no connection, within time limits.
On DUMA
A connected reader needs the internet. When it drops, cash and a standalone card machine keep working.
Gift cards, split bills, tips and dedicated receipt printers.
On DUMA
Not in DUMA yet. It prints receipts from the browser; printer and cash drawer support is coming.
Square has been doing this for years, with a large help centre.
On DUMA
DUMA is new, built and supported by one person. When you ask for something, you’re talking to the person who builds it.
Square alone is enough if all you need is to take payments.
DUMA’s case is the other side of the till: what a sale does to your stock, your margin, your rota and your regulars.
You don’t need new hardware, and Square stays your card provider.
Create a free DUMA workspace
Tell DUMA what you run, then build your menu in it, or bring it in from a spreadsheet.
Connect your Square Terminal
In DUMA’s card payment settings, add your Terminal’s device ID and an access token from your Square account. The DUMA till then sends the amount to the Terminal.
Or use any device as a card machine
A Square Reader, or any other machine, works through the till’s Card machine method: key the amount in, take the payment, and the sale is recorded in DUMA. This also works offline.
Switch on the rest when you’re ready
Stock, recipes, rotas and loyalty are already in the same workspace. There is nothing to move.
It depends what you use Square for. If you need card payments, DUMA works alongside Square rather than replacing it, because DUMA does not process cards. If you want stock, recipe margin, rotas, loyalty and email without paying for add-ons, DUMA includes them, and its free plan has no time limit.
Yes. A Square Terminal connects to DUMA directly, so the till sends it the amount. A Square Reader, or any other card machine, works through the till’s Card machine method: you key the amount in and the sale is recorded in DUMA.
Yes. Square charges its own fees on the card payments it processes. DUMA adds no fee of its own on top.
Yes, for cash and card-machine sales. They are saved on the till and sent when the connection returns, and a sale that can’t be sent is kept for you to check rather than deleted. A connected card reader needs a connection to take payment.
Rotas and time are free in full: building and publishing the rota, clocking in from a phone, leave requests and the labour-versus-sales report.
DUMA has a free plan forever. Business will be £89 a month, or £80 a month paid yearly, and is coming soon. Square’s point of sale also has a free plan, with paid plans from £29 a month and paid add-ons such as Loyalty and Marketing (as of November 2026). Card fees are separate in both cases.
Start free in minutes, with no card needed. We’ll help you connect your Terminal and bring your menu across.