Fees: what each one publishes
Square is the easier of the two to price on paper. Its Canadian restaurant pricing page lists three plans in Canadian dollars. Free costs $0 a month and covers unlimited countertop devices and locations, with phone support on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific. Plus is $60 a month per location and adds course management, floor plan customization, seat management, live sales reporting and 24/7 support. Premium is custom pricing for restaurants that process more than $250,000 a year in credit card sales.
Clover works differently. In Canada it is sold by Fiserv, which owns it, and Fiserv's Canadian site steers buyers to a Canada-based sales team. Clover's developer documentation lists the Canadian merchant plans, including Counter Service and Table Service Restaurant. The prices themselves sit on Clover's Canadian pricing pages, which load in the browser. Our automated check on October 30, 2026 could not read them, so we print no Clover figure rather than guess. Treat Clover as quote-based for this comparison and ask for the monthly software fee per device and per location.
Card processing
Square prints its rates. In person, it charges 2.5% for all major credit cards and 0.75% + 7¢ on debit by chip and PIN or tap. Online and invoice payments are 2.8% + 30¢, and manually keyed or card-on-file payments are 3.3% + 15¢. Restaurants above $250,000 a year in card sales can ask Square sales for custom pricing.
Clover's processing rate was not printed on any Clover or Fiserv page we could read on October 30, 2026. One detail from Clover's own developer documentation matters for Canadian owners: a merchant account can be set up to process in Canadian or US dollars, and only accounts set up in Canadian dollars can take Interac debit. Confirm that your account is in CAD and get the credit and Interac rates in writing.
Hardware approach
Both companies sell their own devices, but they price them differently. Square lists hardware prices on the restaurant pricing page and you buy outright: Square Stand for an iPad at $249 (iPad not included), Square Terminal at $399, Square Handheld at $449, Square Register at $999 and a 21.5-inch kitchen display screen at $899.
Fiserv's Canadian site lists Clover Flex, a handheld it describes for use at the counter or at the table, along with Clover Mini and Clover Station Duo. Clover device prices were not readable on the pages we checked. When a sales rep quotes a bundle, ask whether the monthly figure includes the device, for how many months, and what you owe if you leave early.
Contracts and cancellation
Square's Canadian restaurant page says no long-term contract is required and that you can upgrade or downgrade at any time. Clover's term length and cancellation terms were not printed on the Clover and Fiserv pages we could read. That does not mean there is a long contract. It means you should ask for the term, the early-termination fee and the device ownership terms in writing before you sign.
Restaurant features
Every Square for Restaurants plan includes fast order entry, a menu manager, table management, open bills, auto-gratuity, multi-location management and offline payments for up to 24 hours. Plus and Premium add course management, seat management, floor plan customization and splitting a bill by item or by seat. Square's page also notes that its products are not currently compatible with Quebec's mandatory online sales-recording module, and it points Quebec restaurants to a partner POS.
Clover has dedicated restaurant plans in Canada, Counter Service and Table Service Restaurant, and its handheld can be carried to the table. The restaurant feature list for each Clover plan was not readable on the Canadian pages we checked, so ask for a demo on your own menu and floor plan.
Who each one suits
Square suits a café or counter-service spot that wants to sign up online, start on a $0 plan and see every fee before talking to anyone. It also suits a small table-service room that is fine with published processing rates and pays for Plus to get coursing and seat management.
Clover suits an owner who prefers a sales rep to put together a bundle, likes Clover's device range, and is ready to compare a written quote line by line. If you already have a Fiserv merchant account, Clover may be the shortest path.
Where Waitery fits
Clover and Square both serve many kinds of business, from shops to salons, and offer restaurant plans within that range. Waitery is built only for restaurants. It is a QR-first restaurant POS from Mississauga, Ontario: guests scan a table QR code and order with no app, servers take orders and payments on handhelds, and tickets go straight to a kitchen display that has no per-screen fee. Menus, kitchen tickets and receipts work in English and French.
Waitery is one plan at $14 CAD per location per month, published on our pricing page, with free setup. It runs its own integrated payments on its own hardware, which you can buy or lease over 48 months, so it is a replacement for either system rather than an add-on to one. Processing rates are quoted per restaurant during the demo. If you want the detail, read Waitery vs Square and Waitery vs Clover, see the full restaurant POS tour, or browse every POS comparison. Square's figures are also broken down in our Square for Restaurants pricing guide.
This comparison is based on the vendors' own public pages as they read on October 30, 2026. Prices and plans change, so confirm them with Clover (Fiserv) and Square before you decide. Clover and Square are trademarks of their owners. Waitery is not affiliated with or endorsed by either company and does not integrate with either one.