A branded ordering app for your Square business

Your four options

Per Diem lists Starter at $99 per location with $0.50 per pickup and $1 per delivery, passed to customers by default (Per Diem). Craver Core is $99 per location with a 5% guest fee capped at $2 per order (Craver). Gegsy is $69 or $119 per location with $0.40 or $0.20 per pickup (Gegsy).

What it costs as you get busier

The pattern is the same everywhere: a fee on every order means your bill, or your customers' bill, grows with your best months. Crate stays at one price. For vendor-by-vendor detail, see Crate vs Per Diem, Crate vs Craver and Crate vs Gegsy. To weigh five options at once, see Per Diem alternatives for Square cafes.

Why Crate for a Square business

• 01Your own app, not a page inside someone else's. Your name and colors in the App Store and Google Play. We handle submission, signing and updates.
• 02Square stays the source. Items, modifiers, images and sold-out toggles sync from Square, so you change the menu in one place.
• 03Orders land in Square. Each order is a real Square order, with the pickup time on pickup orders, priced and taxed by Square, paid through your Square account.
• 04Rewards included. Crate stamps or points come with the plan. Staff can credit a counter order by the customer's rewards code or phone number. Already on Square Loyalty? App orders can earn there instead.
• 05Square gift cards work. Once we switch them on for your app, customers buy, add and pay with real Square gift cards, the same ones your register accepts.
• 06Menu hours come from Square. Set hours on a menu or menu group in Square Menus, say food until 2 PM, and the app follows them, as does your Crate ordering website if you use one. A pickup outside those hours is turned away with the hours shown. See Square menu hours.
• 07Promo codes. Percent off, dollars off or one free item from the categories you choose, with an optional minimum order, start and end dates, and a limit on uses overall or per customer. Each code works in the app and on your Crate ordering website.
• 08Talk to regulars. Send push promotions to people who have your app.
• 09One flat price. $80/month for up to five locations, with no Crate per-order fee and no revenue share.

Where it may still fit: Square Online alone may still fit if a web ordering page is all you need. Per Diem or Gegsy may still fit if you need QR ordering at the table or group orders.

See what the app looks like on Crate cafe ordering. Crate cafe ordering works with Square today, and Clover is coming soon. Crate wholesale connects to Square, Clover and Shopify catalogs.

Square gift cards in your own app

Square says eGift cards can be redeemed in store, on Square Online, or with select Square partners (Square). Sellers who sell online beyond Square Online keep running into the edges.

• 01Payment links. A studio that hoped to sell classes by payment link found customers could not pay with their Square gift card (Square Community, July 2026).
• 02Short balances online. A seller asked Square to let customers use a $100 gift card on a $150 online purchase and pay the rest by card, and another seller agreed (Square Community, September 2026). At the register Square lets you split the sale (Square).
• 03Leaving Square Online. Square told a cafe moving to another website that gift cards cannot be transferred to another platform (Square Community, November 2025). The cards stay on your Square account, and partner apps can take them through Square's own API (Square developer docs).
• 04Lost eGift card emails. A customer who deleted the email with their eGift card could not get to the card, and two sellers in the thread found no option to resend it (Square Community, December 2025). Another seller could see the eGift sale but not find the card, and a second seller said it happens at least once a month (Square Community, February 2026).

In the Crate app, gift cards are real Square gift cards issued on your Square account, so the same card works at your register and on Square Online. Customers can buy one from $5 to $500 for themselves or send one to a friend by email, add a card they already have by its number, see its current balance, and pay for an order with it. Once a card is in the app it stays in the customer's account, so a lost email no longer means a lost card, and Crate links it to the customer's Square customer profile, where Square shows gift cards on file unless they use custom card numbers (Square developer docs). We switch gift cards on for your app when you are ready.

Where it may still fit: In the app a gift card pays the whole order or none of it, so a customer with a short balance pays by card instead. If customers often split a gift card with a card, the register still does that best.

Getting started

1. 01Connect your Square account to Crate and pick the locations and menu items for the app.
2. 02Send your logo, colors and a few photos. We build the app around them.
3. 03Try a testable draft within 14 business days and tell us what to change.
4. 04We submit it to the App Store and Google Play. Orders start landing in Square.

Questions

Does Square make a branded app for my business?

Not today. Square gives you a website and an online ordering profile, a branded page you share as a link, in every plan. Square's own consumer app, Square Go, is for booking beauty and personal care appointments, not for ordering from your menu. For an app with your name in the App Store and Google Play, you use a partner such as Crate.

How much does a custom ordering app for a Square business cost?

Crate is $80/month for up to five locations, with rewards included and no Crate per-order fee. Per Diem and Craver list $99 per location per month and Gegsy $69 to $119, each with a fee on orders. An agency-built app is a custom quote plus your own upkeep. Payment processing is separate everywhere.

Do I need Square Plus or Premium to use Crate?

No. Crate connects to your Square account and menu; it does not need a paid Square Online plan. Crate rewards are included, so you also do not need Square Loyalty. If you already run Square Loyalty, app orders can earn in that program instead.

Will app orders show up in Square?

Yes. Each app order is created as a real Square order (pickup orders carry their pickup time), with prices and tax taken from Square. It shows up in Square for your staff with your other orders, and the card payment goes through your Square account.

Can customers use Square gift cards in the app?

Yes, once we switch gift cards on for your app. Customers can then buy a Square gift card in the app, add a card they already have by its number, and pay with it. Square issues the card, so the same card works at your register.

Can a customer pay part of an app order with a gift card and the rest by card?

Not today. In the Crate app a gift card pays the whole order or none of it. If the balance is short, the app says so and the customer pays another way instead. At your register, Square lets you split a sale between a gift card and another payment.

A customer lost their eGift card email. Can the app help?

It helps before the email is lost. A card bought in the app for yourself, or added to the app by its number, stays in the customer's app account with its last four digits and current balance, and pays for app orders without the number being typed again. Crate also links it to the customer's Square customer profile, where Square shows gift cards on file. A card that was never added to the app still has to be found or resent from Square.

If I move off Square Online, do my Square gift cards still work?

Yes, as long as you stay on Square for payments. Square has said gift cards cannot be moved to another website platform, so keep them on Square. The cards themselves live on your Square account, so your register and any app that takes Square gift cards through Square, such as Crate, keep accepting them.

Can some items only be ordered at certain hours?

Yes. When your app follows a menu you build in Square Menus, set hours on the menu or on a menu group in Square, for example food until 2 PM. Crate follows them: the app turns away a pickup outside them and tells the customer when the item is available, and a Crate ordering website, if you use one, also shows the hours next to those items. Ship-to-me orders are not limited.

Who publishes the app to the App Store and Google Play?

We handle App Store and Google Play submission, signing and updates. You provide your logo, colors and photos. You get a testable draft within 14 business days of subscribing; Apple controls its review time. App store account costs are separate.

Is it only for coffee shops?

Crate's app is built for businesses that sell from a Square menu for pickup or shipping, such as cafes, bakeries, juice bars and roasters. If your business mostly books appointments, Square Appointments and Square Go are the better fit.