WebEatery vs. Square Online

Square Online is one of the few comparisons here where we're straightforwardly more expensive, and pretending otherwise would be silly. Square's free tier is real, the $49 tier is cheap, and if you already run Square the ordering page is right there.

So this page isn't an argument that Square is bad. It's an argument about what the low price doesn't include—and you don't have to choose between them.

What Square Online Costs

Square Online runs $0, $49, or $149/month per location, with Square's own processing required—3.3% + $0.30 on online orders at the free tier, 2.9% + $0.30 on the paid ones. Loyalty and marketing are separate subscriptions, and the kitchen display and kiosk apps bill per device on top. There's no branded mobile app at any price, and the storefront is Square's general e-commerce builder pointed at food.

What WebEatery Costs

$165/month for the first location

Keep Square. Add What it Doesn't Do.

This is the part most comparisons get wrong: WebEatery integrates with Square rather than replacing it. Your POS stays where it is, your card processing stays where it is, your rates stay where they are.

Native Clover and Square integration with automatic menu import—or a WebEatery order tablet for any other POS. Either way, you start taking orders on day one.

The menu imports from the POS at setup and is maintained separately in WebEatery afterward—staff-facing POS menus and customer-facing app menus are deliberately not auto-synced.

What $49 Doesn't Buy

Square Online has no branded mobile app, on any tier, at any price. The diner orders on a web page.

Your storefront as mobile apps for iOS and Android, listed on the App Store and Google Play, branded with your restaurant's name, logo, and colors.

Then there's the stacking. Loyalty is a separate Square subscription, and so is marketing. The kitchen display app bills per device, and so does the kiosk app.

A restaurant that adds loyalty and marketing to the $49 tier is not paying $49.

A points-based rewards program and targeted promotional offers to keep customers coming back.

An on-demand print shop built into WebEatery—table tents, flyers, signs, and more, from ready-made templates you can customize or replace with your own designs, ordered as you need them.

Templated by Origin

Square Online is a general e-commerce builder pointed at restaurants. It works, and it looks like what it is.

Customization across your storefront and apps. Your brand colors, your choice of theme and icon style, and options for how the app itself looks and behaves—not just a logo on a stock template.

Where Square Online is the Better Choice

If your online volume is low and your budget is zero, Square's free tier beats us. A restaurant doing 30 online orders a month should take the free ordering page.

If you're deep in Square's ecosystem—Square Loyalty, Square Marketing, Square Payroll—the integration between those products is tighter than anything a third party can offer, and that coherence is worth something.

The Short Version