Comparison

Square vs 5

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Square

Manage your restaurant's front and back-of-house operations with a powerful point-of-sale system. Handle orders, customize menus, accept payments, and gain insights from real-time sales reports. Designed for dining in, takeout, and online orders.

Highlights
  • Order and payment processing
  • Customizable online ordering site
  • Menu management
  • Flexible payment acceptance
  • Offline payment capability
  • Floor plan customization
  • Real-time sales reports
Features
Read full description

The Square for Restaurants Point of Sale app helps you manage front- and back-of-house operations for your full-service restaurant, quick-service restaurant, fast-casual restaurant, bar, or brewery. Get the powerful point-of-sale system designed to serve guests who are dining in, getting takeout, or ordering online. Handle orders, set up menus, manage table layouts, accept payments, enable coursing, get insights from real-time sales reports, and more. ORDERS & PAYMENTS * Turn tables faster and keep lines moving. Increase staff efficiency with an easy-to-use, intuitive interface. * Empower servers to get every order right with the ability to enter orders the way people talk. * Take orders even when you’re short-staffed with QR codes. ONLINE ORDERING * Create a free, customizable online ordering site. * Manage all orders from your POS, including in-person, online, and third-party delivery orders. * Reach more diners with Google, Instagram, and Facebook selling integrations. MENU MANAGEMENT * Create and customize your menus from the office, remotely, or directly from your POS. * Keep service running smoothly with your staff always in the know of what’s selling and what’s about to sell out. FLEXIBLE PAYMENTS * Accept all major credit cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay so you never have to turn a diner away. * Set up automatic tipping, move or assign checks to your staff, reopen closed checks, and manage voids with just a few taps. * Never miss a sale with offline payments. Learn more at https://squareup.com/us/en/payments/offline-payments-guide.  * Square handles all PCI compliance fees or chargebacks on your behalf. * Get deposits in your bank account as fast as the next business day or access your sales instantly with a Square Checking account. Learn more at squareup.com/us/en/banking.  FLOOR MANAGEMENT * Customize your floor plan with intuitive click-and-drag layouts. * Tip out staff, close out the cash drawer, manage comps and voids, and run close-of-day reports all from the POS. * Keep tables turning by monitoring their real-time status. * Stay on pace with coursing — letting the kitchen know when to hold or start firing dishes. SUPPORT * Customer support available to guide you through any questions. Learn more about Square for Restaurants and set yourself up from Square Dashboard before activating this app on an iOS device: https://squareup.com/us/en/point-of-sale/restaurants

About

5

This app helps restaurant managers and employees manage schedules, view sales data, and communicate. Managers can track revenue and labor costs, while employees can manage their availability and shifts.

Highlights
  • Live and forecasted revenue tracking
  • Labor cost optimization
  • Item sales forecasting
  • Staff logbook for communication
  • Shift management for employees
  • Availability and time-off requests
Features
Read full description

5-Out Operator App and Employee Scheduler App: - Easily toggle between both apps with on simple download 5-Out Operator App for restaurant managers: - Quickly view live, historical, and forecasted revenue and covers for your restaurant or group - Optimize your labor on the go by viewing live or upcoming scheduled labor cost to target, SPLH, or capacity - View live, historical, and forecasted check and cover average summary data - View your upcoming and live item wise sales forecasts to inform your prep and purchasing, in a day or beforehand - Staff logbook to create effective team communication, which automatically includes relevant sales and operational metrics - Aggregate all data by multiple restaurants 5-Out Scheduler App for restaurant employees: - See your upcoming scheduled shifts - Manage your availability - Pick up or trade shifts - Chat with your coworkers - Request time off

Screenshots

54 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: 5 at 100% against Square's 34%. 5 also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.3 vs 17.1). Square's advantage is update cadence (every 6 days vs every 6 weeks) and ratings volume (4.2K vs 4). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Square holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Square has 4.2K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 34% of Square's written reviews are positive against 100% of 5's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Square ships an update every 6 days, 5 every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 8, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Square versus 5: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSquare5
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (4.2K ratings) — better4.0 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews34.4% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings4.2K — better4
Update frequencyEvery 6 days — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.115.3 — better
Further details — not scored
Size775 MB40 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperBlock, Inc.5 Out Solutions, Inc.

Customer experience

Square

All ratings4,198 ratings
Positive82.7%
Neutral4.1%
Negative13.2%
Written reviews93 reviews
Positive34.4%
Neutral7.5%
Negative58.1%

5

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Square

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Orders not processing correctly
  • Transactions not completing
  • Inventory updates not syncing
  • Shift reports not printing properly
  • Card reader disconnection issues

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to split items across checks
  • Hold/save orders functionality
  • Improved inventory management
  • Better reporting and analytics
  • Mobile app for managing the restaurant

5

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Square

No in-app purchases

None

5

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Square free?
Square is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is 5 free?
5 is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Square or 5?
Square is rated higher. Square averages 4.3 out of 5 from 4.2K ratings, while 5 averages 4.0 from 4 ratings.
Do Square or 5 have ads?
Neither Square nor 5 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Square or 5?
Square ships an update every 6 days, and 5 every 6 weeks. Most recently, Square was updated on November 8, 2026 and 5 on November 3, 2026.

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