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Food & Restaurant · head to head

Square for Restaurants vs HotSchedules

Square for Restaurants logo

Square for Restaurants

Food & Restaurant

Restaurant POS system that works for you

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
HotSchedules logo

HotSchedules

Food & Restaurant

Restaurant employee scheduling software

From
$2/employee/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Square for Restaurants has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Square for Restaurants the Square KDS and Square Kiosk apps are not available on the free plan; HotSchedules hotSchedules is sold by Fourth and its pricing page publishes no rate, no per location or per employee cost, no module price and no minimum commitment
  • They diverge on capability: Square for Restaurants covers Table management, HotSchedules covers Employee scheduling.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Square for Restaurants and HotSchedules actually diverge.

Attributes where Square for Restaurants and HotSchedules differ
AttributeSquare for RestaurantsHotSchedules
Starting priceFree$2/employee/month
Free tierYesNo
Founded20181999

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), platforms (Web, Ios, Android), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Food & Restaurant).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Square for Restaurants

  • Table management
  • Menu customization
  • Split checks
  • Offline mode
  • Real-time reporting
  • Kitchen display
  • Caviar
  • DoorDash

Only in HotSchedules

  • Employee scheduling
  • Time tracking
  • Team messaging
  • Labor forecasting
  • Shift swapping
  • Compliance
  • All major POS
  • Payroll systems

Both cover

  • Web support
  • Ios support
  • Android support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Square for Restaurants

  • Point of Salenot HotSchedules
  • Order Managementnot HotSchedules
  • Inventory Controlnot HotSchedules
  • Staff Schedulingnot HotSchedules

HotSchedules

  • Shift scheduling and shift swapping for hourly restaurant staffnot Square for Restaurants
  • Labour forecasting against sales volumenot Square for Restaurants
  • Time and attendance tracking across restaurant locationsnot Square for Restaurants

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Square for Restaurants

  • The Square KDS and Square Kiosk apps are not available on the free plan
  • KDS and Kiosk are billed per device per month on top of the plan, so cost scales with terminals rather than locations
  • Restaurants processing over $250,000 a year are moved to custom pricing rather than the published rates

HotSchedules

  • HotSchedules is sold by Fourth and its pricing page publishes no rate, no per location or per employee cost, no module price and no minimum commitment
  • Obtaining a price requires a sales call or a demo request
  • Fourth sells HotSchedules alongside separate products including Adaco and MacromatiX, each quoted rather than listed

Pricing, plan by plan

Square for Restaurants

Free
  • FreeFree
    • POS
    • Menu management
    • Basic reporting
  • Plus$60/month
    • Advanced features
    • Live sales
    • Seat management
  • PremiumFree
    • Custom pricing
    • Dedicated support

HotSchedules

$2/employee/month
  • Scheduling$2/employee/month
    • Scheduling
    • Communication
  • EnterpriseFree
    • Custom pricing
    • Full platform

Which should you pick?

Choose Square for Restaurants if

  • You need table management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want menu customization.
Square for Restaurants review

Choose HotSchedules if

  • You need employee scheduling.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want time tracking.
HotSchedules review

Questions people ask

Is Square for Restaurants or HotSchedules better?
Neither clearly leads. Square for Restaurants starts at Free and HotSchedules at $2/employee/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Square for Restaurants or HotSchedules?
Square for Restaurants has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Square for Restaurants and $2/employee/month for HotSchedules.
Does Square for Restaurants or HotSchedules run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, Ios, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Square for Restaurants for free?
Yes. Square for Restaurants has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. HotSchedules starts at $2/employee/month.
What is Square for Restaurants best used for?
Square for Restaurants is most often used for point of sale, order management, inventory control, staff scheduling. Of those, point of sale and order management are not what HotSchedules is typically brought in for.
What can Square for Restaurants do that HotSchedules cannot?
Square for Restaurants covers Table management, Menu customization, Split checks, Offline mode. HotSchedules covers Employee scheduling, Time tracking, Team messaging, Labor forecasting. Both handle Web support, Ios support, Android support.
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Related pages

More on Square for Restaurants

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