Owner vs Square Online
We give Owner a 2.0 GPA and Square Online a 2.6, out of 4.0. Owner grades higher on ease of use. Square Online grades higher on value for money, the free plan and features. They get the same grade on platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Owner
Restaurant websites with online ordering, a branded app and marketing
Square Online
Online store builder that shares stock and payments with Square POS
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAOwnerFair | 2.6GPASquare OnlineGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DGraded against its own alternatives, as it's a done-for-you restaurant service: $249 a month plus a 5% fee per order, or $499 flat, over ten times Wix's $17 or Squarespace's $19. Guests pay a 5% fee on each order too. The branded app and marketing are what the extra buys. | CA store on your own domain means Square Plus at $49 a month per location, with no yearly rate on record. That's the dear end of this category, though Plus covers Square's point of sale and invoices too. Square's own cut is its card rate: 2.9% + 30¢ online on Plus. |
| Free plan and trial | FNothing free: no free plan, no trial and no self-serve sign-up, just a demo. It's month to month with no contract or cancellation fee, which helps, but you're paying from the start. | BSquare Free is a real store with no monthly fee: SEO tools, pickup, local delivery and shipping labels. The catches are a Square web address and online cards at 3.3% + 30¢ rather than 2.9% + 30¢. There's a 30-day trial of Plus or Premium too. |
| Features | CFor a restaurant it does the lot: a site with SEO pages, ordering, catering, a branded app, loyalty, email and text campaigns, delivery and POS links. But it's a smaller job than this category's, and Owner says you give up control over how the site looks. | BIt covers the whole job: a builder with SEO tools, one stock count with your shop, pickup, local delivery, bulk labels with discounted US rates, and Afterpay. Abandoned-cart emails need Plus and live carrier rates need Premium at $149, but the core is all there. |
| Ease of use | A4.78 from 1,544 App Store ratings for Owner's app. Owner's team builds the site and moves your restaurant over, so there's very little for you to set up. | CNo App Store rating on record for the store itself. If your items are already in Square they carry over, but you're still building a site from layouts, so it lands on a C. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Clover built in and Toast, Square and Lightspeed connecting, so orders reach the kitchen. There's no desktop app, which keeps it off an A. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Facebook, Instagram, Google and Afterpay, and a Wix store can sync to the Square catalog. It's a short list, and there's no desktop app. |
| Best for | restaurants taking orders off the delivery apps | shops already taking payments with Square |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Owner and Square Online. How we grade
Where they differ
- Owner starts at $249 per month, plus a 5% restaurant fee per order. Square Online starts at $49 per location / month (Square Plus).
- Square Online has a free plan. Owner does not.
- Owner also covers email campaigns, sMS marketing and review collection.
- Square Online also covers inventory and shipping labels.
At a glance
| Owner | Square Online | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free plan |
| Starts at | $249 per month, plus a 5% restaurant fee per order | $49 per location / month (Square Plus) |
| Free plan | None | Square Free: a store on a Square web address with SEO tools, pickup, local delivery and shipping labels, and no monthly fee. Online card payments cost 3.3% + 30¢, and a custom domain needs Plus. |
| Free trial | None listed | 30-day free trial of Square Plus or Square Premium |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Owner.com | Block, Inc. |
| Price read from | owner.com | squareup.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Owner
- Independent restaurants that want to move orders off delivery apps
- Owners who want the website, ordering, app and marketing set up for them
- Restaurants with growing online sales weighing a flat fee against a per-order fee
Square Online
- Shops and restaurants that already take payments with Square in person
- Small sellers who want to start a store with no monthly fee
- Businesses offering pickup or local delivery alongside shipping
Worth knowing
Owner
- Guests pay a 5% order support fee on every order on both plans, and Flexible adds a 5% restaurant fee per order.
- It is built only for restaurants, and Owner says plainly that you give up some control over how the site looks in return for its standard system.
- There is no free trial or self-serve sign-up: it starts with a demo. Billing is month to month, with no contract or cancellation fee.
- Third-party delivery costs a flat fee per order; Owner suggests letting guests pay delivery under $30 and covering about $3 on larger orders.
Square Online
- Square Free cannot connect a custom domain; that takes Square Plus at $49 a month per location.
- Online card payments cost 3.3% + 30¢ on Square Free against 2.9% + 30¢ on Plus and Premium.
- Plus and Premium are Square-wide plans billed per location, which also cover point of sale, invoices, staff and booking tools.
- Real-time carrier shipping rates at checkout need Square Premium at $149 a month per location.
Key features
Owner
- AI-optimized website and SEO pages
- Owner builds the restaurant's website and automatically adds SEO pages meant to rank in Google and bring in direct orders.
- Online ordering and catering
- Commission-free ordering with smart upsells, plus catering menus and catering pages for local businesses.
- Branded app and loyalty
- Each restaurant gets its own mobile app for guests, with push notifications and a rewards program for repeat orders.
- Automated email and text marketing
- Ready-made email and SMS campaigns go out on their own to bring guests back, alongside a reviews engine and listings management.
- Delivery
- Use in-house drivers, third-party drivers at one flat fee with no markup from Owner, or both.
- POS integrations and Owner POS
- A native Clover integration and connections to Toast, Square and Lightspeed are included; Owner can supply a kitchen tablet or printer, or its own POS.
Square Online
- Website builder with SEO tools
- Build a single ordering page or a multi-page store with layouts, a blog and SEO tools, and run several Square Online sites from one account.
- Shared catalog with Square POS
- Items, stock and discounts are shared with Square Point of Sale, so stock is tracked across shop locations and online. A Wix store can also sync to the Square catalog.
- Pickup, delivery and shipping
- Offer in-store or curbside pickup, local delivery by staff or couriers, and shipping, with bulk label printing and discounted US shipping rates on every plan.
- Payments built in
- Square processes cards, digital wallets and Afterpay installments. Afterpay costs the seller 6% + 30¢ per sale, and cards issued outside the US add 1.5%.
- Marketing and social selling
- Coupons, pop-ups and lead forms on every plan, Facebook and Instagram connections with Facebook ads, and abandoned-cart emails from Square Plus.
Plans
Owner
Flexible$249
per month, plus a 5% restaurant fee per order
Every feature, with a lower subscription and a fee on each order, so costs rise with sales. Special rates for multi-location groups.
Flat Rate$499
per month
Every feature with no restaurant fee on orders; Owner suggests it from about $5,000 a month in online sales.
Square Online
Square Free$0
Website builder with SEO tools, pickup, delivery and shipping labels; online card payments cost 3.3% + 30¢ and in-person ones 2.6% + 15¢.
Square Plus$49
per location / month
Custom domain, expanded design and custom code, abandoned-cart emails, reviews, preorders and subscriptions, with online card payments at 2.9% + 30¢.
Square Premium$149
per location / month
Adds real-time shipping rates, advanced reporting and 24/7 phone support, with online cards at 2.9% + 30¢ and in-person at 2.4% + 15¢.
Square ProCustom
For businesses processing over $250,000 a year: custom pricing and processing fees, arranged with Square's sales team.
