Disclosure: ChaChaCha is a POS vendor, powered by AppsPOS, and publishes this page. Neither brand compared here is ours. We only used information published on each vendor’s own website as of September 2026.
- Square is not sold in Singapore. Its own help centre lists card acceptance in eight countries only, and Singapore is not one of them.
- HitPay is a Singapore payments provider with a POS, no monthly fee and published per-transaction rates, including in-person PayNow at 0.4%.
- If you wanted Square for pay-as-you-go pricing and simple hardware, HitPay is the closest like-for-like option we found.
- If you need a fuller restaurant POS, look at an all-in-one or package vendor instead.
Last reviewed: September 2026
Many Singapore owners have used Square overseas or read about it in American small-business guides, so “Square vs HitPay” is a natural search. The honest answer comes first: you cannot sign up for Square here. This page explains what Square’s own website says, then compares HitPay with the things people usually want from Square, and names other Singapore options. We do not rank Square as an option, because it is not one here. Our Square in Singapore guide covers the availability question in more depth.
Short answer: Square is not available in Singapore
Square’s help article on accepting cards says card acceptance with the Square app is available in the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, France and Spain, and that Square does not support card processing outside those countries. It also says you must be located in the country where you activated your account, and that Square hardware is approved only for the country it was sold for. When we checked on 28 September 2026, Square’s Singapore address (squareup.com/sg/en) returned an error page.
So a Square card reader bought overseas will not give you a working Singapore merchant account, and you cannot settle Singapore dollars through Square. Any comparison is really “what Square would give me” against “what I can actually get here”.
How we compared:
- Vendor websites only. Square facts come from its US help centre and US pricing page. HitPay facts come from its Singapore pages. All were checked in September 2026.
- “Not stated on their website” means we could not find it on the pages we reviewed.
- US prices are context, not an offer. Square’s US rates are shown in US dollars only to explain its model.
What people like about Square (and how it prices)
Square’s US pricing page describes a toolkit “starting at $0”. The free plan has no monthly fee and charges per transaction: in-person card payments are 2.6% + 15 cents (USD) on Square Free, lower on the paid Plus and Premium plans, which carry a per-location monthly fee. Extras such as the kitchen display app and the kiosk app are priced per device per month. The appeal is simple: no contract, pay only when you take a payment, and hardware you can buy once.
Those are the three things to look for in a Singapore substitute: a no-subscription option, clear published rates, and hardware you own rather than rent.
What HitPay offers in Singapore
HitPay’s Singapore site describes an all-in-one payments platform with zero monthly fees, used by 20,000+ businesses in 10+ countries, with support seven days a week. HitPay says it is licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore as a Major Payment Institution. Its pricing page publishes per-transaction rates in Singapore dollars:
- In-person PayNow: 0.4%, minimum S$0.10.
- In-person cards: 2.5% + S$0.50 for domestic cards, 3.2% + S$0.50 for international cards, on terminals and Tap to Pay alike.
- Online cards: 2.8% + S$0.50 domestic, 3.65% + S$0.50 international.
- Point of Sale software: adds 0.2% on top of processing when you use it, with no monthly fee.
- Hardware: Tap to Pay on a supported phone is free. Devices are one-off purchases: SoundBox S$30, WisePad 3 S$85, FlexiPOS S$500, All-in-One S$680 and POS MAX S$700, with no rental.
Non-card payouts arrive the next calendar day and card payouts from the next business day. The POS page lists product and stock management with low-stock alerts, multi-location selling, customer records, discounts, reports and online store sync. HitPay also connects to Xero, QuickBooks, Shopify and WooCommerce.
Square vs HitPay at a glance
| Area | Square | HitPay |
|---|---|---|
| Available to Singapore merchants | No. Singapore is not in its eight card-acceptance countries. | Yes. Singapore company, MAS-licensed. |
| Monthly fee | US$0 on Square Free (US only). | None. |
| In-person card rate | 2.6% + 15 cents USD on Square Free (US only). | 2.5% + S$0.50 domestic; 3.2% + S$0.50 international. |
| PayNow | Not applicable. | 0.4% in person, minimum S$0.10. |
| Hardware | Sold per country; not approved outside it. | Tap to Pay free; terminals S$30 to S$700, one-off. |
| Kitchen display | Paid app per device (US). | Not stated on their website. |
| Table management | Listed for US restaurants. | Not stated on their website. |
| Support | US support hours on its pricing page. | 7 days a week. |
Mapping what you wanted from Square to HitPay
“I just want to take cards and PayNow without a contract”
HitPay matches this closely. There is no setup or monthly fee, Tap to Pay turns a supported phone into a card reader, and PayNow in person is 0.4%. For a market stall, pop-up, tutor or home business, this is the most direct replacement. Our payment terminal guide compares other ways to accept cards here.
“I want a simple POS with stock and reports”
HitPay’s POS covers products, variants, stock levels, discounts, customer records and sales reports, with the 0.2% software fee on processing. Retailers and simple counters will find the basics there.
“I want Square for Restaurants”
This is where the match is weaker. Square’s US restaurant tools include a kitchen display and table layouts. HitPay’s Singapore pages do not state kitchen display or table management features. A café with a kitchen, table service or QR ordering should compare restaurant-first systems as well.
What a month could cost on HitPay
Using HitPay’s published in-person rates, you can estimate your own costs before talking to anyone. Take last month’s sales and split them by payment type. PayNow at 0.4% (minimum S$0.10) is the cheapest route for most small tickets. Local cards cost 2.5% plus S$0.50 each, so the fixed S$0.50 weighs heavily on a S$5 coffee but matters little on a S$150 dinner bill. Add 0.2% on processing if you use HitPay’s POS, and the one-off cost of any terminal. HitPay’s pricing page shows its own worked examples. Our HitPay pricing guide explains the rate card in more detail, including online and overseas payments.
Other Singapore options
- Qashier: its Singapore pricing page shows one all-in-one plan at $5 a day, excluding GST, including POS, payments, a kitchen display, QR ordering and delivery-app integration, with card rates quoted separately. It suits F&B outlets that want more than a payment app.
- Loyverse: a free global POS app, but its payments page does not list Singapore for integrated payments, so card sales need a separate terminal and manual entry.
- Package vendors: local companies that supply hardware, software, installation and support together, usually on a quote.
See our HitPay alternatives guide for a longer list grouped by need.
Questions to ask before you choose
- What is my real card mix (local, foreign, PayNow), and what does that cost per month at each provider’s published rates?
- Do I need a kitchen display, table plan or QR ordering, or just payments?
- Which hardware do I own outright, and what happens if it fails?
- How fast are payouts, and how are refunds and chargebacks handled?
- Who do I call during a Saturday night rush?
The bottom line
You cannot use Square in Singapore, so the real decision is which local option gives you what you liked about it. For pay-as-you-go payments, published rates and hardware you buy once, HitPay is the closest match. For a restaurant that needs kitchen and table tools, a fuller F&B POS will serve you better, and it is worth comparing all-in-one and package vendors side by side.
Where ChaChaCha fits
If you run an F&B outlet and want payments and restaurant tools in one supported package, ChaChaCha, powered by AppsPOS, is one option to add to your list. It takes PayNow, PayLah!, NETS, Visa/Mastercard and GrabPay, and AppsPOS is a NETS Certified Vendor. It also covers table management, a kitchen display and QR ordering. Pricing is quote-based, with hardware supplied, so compare our quote with the options above in our best F&B POS guide or contact us.
