Square launches AI voice-ordering kiosk for quick-service restaurants

Based on Square's announcement, its kiosk, pricing and help pages, and The Verge's report. Prices as of Nov. 5, 2026.

What happened

Square launched Square Kiosk on Oct. 14, a self-ordering kiosk for quick-service restaurants (QSRs, counter-service places where guests order and pay up front), the company announced. It has a 21.5-inch touchscreen and a voice assistant run by artificial intelligence (AI). Guests can talk to it to ask menu questions, get suggestions and change items, or order by touch.

It costs $1,999 with a counter stand, plus a $99 monthly software fee per kiosk, according to the announcement. It works only with a paid Square plan: Square Plus at $49 per location per month or Square Premium at $149. The Verge reported the same prices.

Why it matters to you

If your lunch line runs out the door, a kiosk is one way to take more orders without another person at the register. Square pitches it at that problem: "peak-rush pressure, labor constraints" and lines at busy times (announcement). The price is a mix of upfront hardware and monthly fees, so it's worth adding up the first year before you buy.

What it costs in the first year

All prices below are Square's, as of Nov. 5, 2026, from its kiosk page and pricing page. The totals are our math. They leave out sales tax, card processing and anything else you'd add, such as a kitchen display.

One location, one kiosk, new to Square Plus:

• Already on Square Plus? The plan fee isn't new, so the kiosk adds $3,187 in year one ($1,999 + $1,188).
• On Square Premium instead? The plan is $149 a month, or $1,788 a year. The first-year total with one kiosk is $4,975.
• Two kiosks at one location on Plus: $3,998 for hardware, $2,376 for software and $588 for the plan, or $6,962.
• Paying for the hardware over time: Square offers $97 a month for 24 months, or $2,328 in all, $329 more than paying up front. That's $1,164 in the first year. The plans carry a 15% annual percentage rate, need credit approval and aren't offered in Alabama, Delaware, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire or Tennessee (kiosk page).

The $1,999 price includes the counter stand. Floor, wall and VESA mounts (a standard screen mount) are also offered, and the total "varies depending on stand type selected," Square says. We didn't find other stand prices on the pages we checked.

Card fees on kiosk orders. On Square Plus, tap and dip payments cost 2.5% plus 15 cents each, paid by the restaurant. On Premium they cost 2.4% plus 15 cents (pricing page). On a hypothetical $10 card order, that's 40 cents on Plus and 39 cents on Premium (our math). Square says businesses processing more than $250,000 a year can ask about custom rates.

What else you need

• A Square setup. The kiosk pulls your menu, prices and modifiers from your Square account, and orders land on your kitchen display system (KDS) or point-of-sale (POS) system (kiosk page). It's built to run inside Square, not alongside another POS.
• POS hardware, if you print kitchen tickets. For now, kitchen printers work with the kiosk only through Square POS hardware, with direct connection "coming soon," Square says.
• A plan switch, if you're on an older plan. Restaurants on legacy plans, such as Restaurants POS Plus or Premium, must move to Square Plus or Premium to use the kiosk (kiosk page). Once you switch, "you will not be able to switch back," according to Square's help article. The article also says some features moved between tiers and processing fees vary by plan.

Square says its plans have no "locked-in contracts" and you can cancel or switch anytime (pricing page). The kiosk comes with 30-day returns and a two-year limited warranty (kiosk page).

Who it fits, and who it may not

Based on Square's own pages, the kiosk is aimed at counter-service restaurants already on Square, or ready to move to it.

It may not fit if:

• Your guests order in languages other than English. Square Kiosk is U.S.-only and supports English only for now (kiosk page).
• Your room is very loud. Square says the voice feature "may not be equipped to handle more extreme environments, like music venues," and recommends touch there. It also recommends placing kiosks at least 24 inches apart.
• You want a cheaper setup. Square sells Square Kiosk Lite, an app that turns an iPad on a Square Stand into a kiosk. The software is $50 a month per device on Plus and $30 on Premium (pricing page), plus the iPad and stand. Square calls the Stand and Kiosk Lite setup "a lower-cost solution" and lists AI and voice ordering as features of Square Kiosk (kiosk page).

Another approach to a long line is QR code ordering, where guests scan a code and order on their own phones. Square's pricing page lists QR code ordering among its features too.

What Square says

Square says the voice layer "fully understands a seller's menu and listens and responds in real time" (announcement). It says the kiosk suggests add-ons based on what's popular at that location, the time of day and what's in the cart. A time-of-flight sensor, which measures distance, wakes the screen as guests walk up (kiosk page).

"For QSR operators, who often have to do more with less, conversational AI does what existing self-ordering solutions can't," said Thomas Templeton, global hardware lead at Block, Square's parent company, in the announcement. The release also quotes two multi-unit operators who tested the kiosk. Both are Square customers, quoted by Square.

Square doesn't publish figures on how much faster lines move or how much order sizes grow. Its own FAQ says kiosks "are designed to help" with busy periods and order values, and "Results vary by business" (kiosk page).

Questions to ask before you buy

1. What does the stand I need cost, if not the counter stand?
2. Does the $99 monthly fee stop if I remove a kiosk in a slow season? Square's help article says removing unused kiosk devices helps "manage monthly device costs."
3. If I'm on a legacy Restaurants plan, what features and rates change when I switch, given I can't switch back?
4. Do I need Square POS hardware for kitchen printing at my location?
5. What does the kiosk record when guests talk to it, and how long is it kept?

Details may change; we'll update this piece as Square publishes more.