Aria vs Square

Square is free to start. Aria pays for itself.

Why Square's transaction fees add up — and what Aria does instead

Aria vs Square

Square is free to start. Aria pays for itself.

Why Square's transaction fees add up — and what Aria does instead

Honest take: Square has a beautiful free tier, the best iPad experience in the world, and a mature global ecosystem. If you're just starting out and processing under $10K/month, Square's free plan is hard to beat.

Start 14-day trial →Watch demo
Square
1.6–1.9%
per transaction + software
Aria
$59
per outlet/month · zero transaction fees

At $50,000/month revenue (common for a busy bottle shop), Square's transaction fees alone cost $800+/month. Aria: $59. That's a $8,900/year difference — enough to hire a part-time staff member.

Feature comparison

Feature
Square
Aria
Core POS
iPad-native POS
✓
✓
Free hardware starter kit
✓
✗
Online store integration
✓
Roadmap
Gift cards
✓
✓
Offline mode
Limited
✓NEW
Training mode
✗
✓NEW
Layby (buy now, pay later in-store)
✗
✓NEW
Fractional quantities
✗
✓NEW
Inventory
Basic stock tracking
✓
✓
RSA compliance tracking
✗
✓NEW
Supplier sync (ALM, ILG, LMG)
✗
✓NEW
Autonomous reorder agent
✗
✓NEW
Scale integration (deli/produce)
✗
✓NEW
Customers
Basic loyalty
Add-on
✓
RFM scoring & churn prevention
✗
✓NEW
Reporting
Dashboard & reports
✓
✓
Profit & margin analysis
Limited
✓NEW
Ask Aria in plain English
✗
✓NEW
AI / Automation
Any autonomous AI agents
✗
✓NEW
Pricing & AU
Transaction fees
1.6–1.9%
NoneNEW
Australian-hosted data
✗
✓NEW
GST handling
Basic
✓

Why retailers switch from Square

💳
Transaction fees kill margin at scale
A bottle shop doing $50K/month pays $800+/month in Square fees. Aria is $59 flat. The math is clear past $3,700/month.
🤖
Square has no AI. Aria has 12 agents.
Square shows you yesterday's sales. Aria reorders stock, adjusts prices, and schedules staff — automatically.
🇦🇺
Built for Australian compliance
RSA tracking, State-specific hour limits, ALM/ILG supplier sync, AUD-only. Square is built for the US first.

What retailers say

Placeholder — will be replaced with verified reviews at launch.

“Switched from Square last quarter. The reorder agent alone saves me 3 hours a week.”

Alex M.
Owner, Melbourne bottle shop

“Aria's pricing agent caught a margin issue I'd been missing for months. Paid for itself in week one.”

Sarah K.
Manager, Sydney convenience store

“The CSV import took 8 minutes. Staff were trained on the terminal in under an hour.”

James T.
Owner, Brisbane grocery

Switch in 24 hours. We'll import your data for free.

14-day trial, no credit card. Import from Square included.

Start free trial →Talk to founder