A Square Appointments alternative where the booking stays on your page
Square Appointments is capable software with a free entry plan and unlimited staff calendars. The honest comparison is where the booking flow lives, what sits behind the paid tiers, and how Australian card rates are stated, including the condition on the 1.6%.
Plans on Square’s Australian pricing page
Free, Plus and Premium, each on a per-location basis, with no employee limit on calendars. Square’s AU pages print a bare $; they do not print “AUD” next to these figures. We write them the way the page does.
$0 for a single location
Free plan on Square's Australian Appointments pricing page. Unlimited staff calendars; no employee limit.
Source: squareup.com/au/en/appointments/pricing · observed 2026-09-15
$40 per month per location
Plus plan on Square's Australian Appointments pricing page (bare $ as printed; no AUD label on that page).
Source: squareup.com/au/en/appointments/pricing · observed 2026-09-15
$90 per month per location
Premium plan on Square's Australian Appointments pricing page (bare $ as printed).
Source: squareup.com/au/en/appointments/pricing · observed 2026-09-15
Per location
Free, Plus and Premium are each on a per-location basis. Unlimited calendars, no employee limit.
Source: squareup.com/au/en/appointments/faq · observed 2026-09-15
BookMyVenue publishes flat tiers from $99 a month +GST, priced by bookable calendars, not by location count. Every number is on the pricing page.
Australian card rates, and the condition on 1.6%
Square’s Australian fees page states 1.6% when a customer taps or inserts in person, and 2.2% for card-not-present. It also labels “the Australian card present processing rate of 1.6%.” The Appointments pricing page carries a footnote that must travel with the headline rate:
“1.6% card present rate applies for Square Sellers who sign up on or after 30 May 2024, or who signed up prior to this date and subscribed to Square Appointments Plus or Premium. The rate of 1.9% will apply for all other Square Sellers who signed up prior to this date when using Square Reader, Square Stand or Tap to Pay, as listed in the Square Fee Schedule.”
Source: squareup.com/au/en/appointments/pricing · observed 2026-09-15
The fees page footnote omits the Appointments Plus/Premium carve-out for pre-30-May-2024 sellers. We quote the Appointments page version above because that is the product this comparison is about.
1.6% per transaction
When a customer taps or inserts their card in person. Conditional: applies for sellers who sign up on or after 30 May 2024, or who signed up earlier and subscribed to Appointments Plus or Premium; otherwise 1.9% (see card-present-footnote).
Source: squareup.com/au/en/payments/our-fees · observed 2026-09-15
2.2% per transaction
Card-not-present on Square's Australian fees page: online, keyed, card on file, invoices, Virtual Terminal.
Source: squareup.com/au/en/payments/our-fees · observed 2026-09-15
Online payments in BookMyVenue are not live yet. When they are, Stripe’s published Australian rates pass through without markup. See Stripe fees (AU). For Square’s wider card-fee picture see Square fees (AU).
What the embed on your site actually does
Square does support a widget or Book Appointment button on an existing website. Their own AU help centre is exact about what happens next: clients are taken to a flow in another tab or window. That quote is load-bearing for any “does the customer stay on your site?” comparison, so here it is, not paraphrased away.
Opens in another tab or window
Square's AU help centre on the embed: "Copy and paste the HTML code to add to your existing website. Your clients will be taken to a flow in another tab or window."
Source: squareup.com/help/au: set up online booking with Square Appointments · observed 2026-09-15
BookMyVenue’s booking widget is a script in your own page. The customer completes the booking on your site under your name.
What sits behind Plus ($40/mo on Square’s Australian page)
Unlimited text reminders are included on every plan, including Free. Confirmations (as Square distinguishes them from reminders), custom SMS wording, and cancellation / no-show protection are Plus and Premium only. Saying “Square charges for SMS reminders” would be wrong. Saying confirmations and no-show fees sit behind the paid tier is what their pages support.
Unlimited text reminders
Included on Free, Plus and Premium. "All Square Appointments plans include unlimited text reminders."
Source: squareup.com/au/en/appointments/features/reminders · observed 2026-09-15
Plus and Premium only
Email and text confirmations (as distinct from reminders) are included on Plus and Premium, not Free.
Source: squareup.com/au/en/appointments/features/reminders · observed 2026-09-15
Plus and Premium only
Cancellation policies and no-show protection require Square Appointments Plus or Premium.
Source: squareup.com/au/en/appointments/features/cancellation-policy · observed 2026-09-15
Side by side
| Square Appointments | BookMyVenue | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $0 for a single location on Square's Australian pricing page | From $99 a month +GST |
| Paid plans | $40/mo and $90/mo per location on Square's Australian pricing page | Flat published tiers by bookable calendars |
| Staff calendars | Unlimited, no employee limit | Priced by bookable-calendar bands |
| Own-site booking | Widget/button supported; embed opens a flow in another tab or window | Widget runs on your page |
| Card present (AU) | 1.6% (conditional; see footnote on this page); else 1.9% for some legacy sellers | Not live yet; then Stripe published AU rates, passed through |
| No-show / cancellation fees | Plus and Premium only | Nothing charged today; deposits on the services you choose are coming |
| Commission | None found on AU Appointments pages; card processing and subscription only | 0% commission on any booking |
Figures observed 2026-09-15, sources linked per figure. Square AU entity: Square AU Pty Ltd, ABN 38 167 106 176. We print nothing about a competitor that we can't source and date.
Where Square Appointments is better than us
The Free plan is a real product: $0 for a single location, unlimited staff calendars, unlimited text reminders, and a Square-hosted booking site if you do not have a website yet. There are no long-term commitments. If you already run Square for payments and want appointments inside that same stack, staying there is often the simpler answer. BookMyVenue is the better fit when the booking must complete on your own page, deposits (coming, not live yet) sit on the services you choose without a paid-tier gate, and you want a published flat subscription that is not tied to Square’s processing.
Source: squareup.com/au/en/appointments/pricing · observed 2026-09-15