Can Square run your own delivery drivers?
Updated October 20, 2026
Yes. Square Online lets you deliver orders with your own staff, but it gives them no driver app and your customers no live map. In-house delivery in Square is a set of rules: where you deliver (by postal code or radius), what you charge, your minimum order, delivery hours and how many orders fit in each 15-minute window. Who drives, and how the customer follows the order, is up to you. For tracked delivery Square offers on-demand couriers from DoorDash or a "Best Available" courier picked through Nash, and outside apps such as Shipday sell driver tracking in Square's App Marketplace. Since 6 February 2025 Square charges no dispatch fee on either kind of delivery.
In short
- In-house delivery: your own couriers or staff, with delivery areas by postal code or radius, a fee per area, a fallback fee, a minimum order and delivery hours.
- No driver app or tracking for in-house delivery in Square's help article.
- On-demand couriers: DoorDash or "Best Available" (powered by Nash); you or the customer pay the courier fee.
- No dispatch fees since 6 Feb 2025: Square dropped its $0.50 in-house and $1.50 on-demand fees.
- For a driver app: Shipday is listed in Square's App Marketplace (since 2021) and is billed by Shipday.
What does Square offer for in-house delivery?
Square's help article "Set up delivery options for your online ordering profile" (read 20 Oct 2026) lists these settings:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Delivery areas | Draw areas by postal code or radius; each area has a name and its own fee |
| Delivery fee | Free, a flat fee, free above a minimum, or distance-based; a fallback fee covers addresses outside your rules |
| Service fee | Optional, on top of the delivery fee; you keep it minus processing fees |
| Minimum order | A dollar amount an order must reach to be delivered |
| Hours | Use your location hours, or set separate delivery hours |
| Timing | Prep time, an estimated pickup-to-drop-off time, automatic delivery times from driving routes, and a limit per 15-minute delivery window |
| Other | Order scheduling, no-contact delivery (not with alcohol) and ticket printing |
Who can use it: Square for Restaurants and Square Online subscribers on the Free, Plus and Premium plans (and Square Free, Plus or Premium sellers with advanced restaurant features), per the same article.
What's missing when Square runs your own drivers?
- No driver app. The in-house settings decide which orders you accept; they don't send the address to a driver's phone.
- No live location. Square's article mentions no tracking for in-house deliveries, for you or the customer.
- No assignment step. There's no list of drivers to pick from; your team hands each order to whoever is driving.
To fill the gap, Square's App Marketplace lists Shipday ("listed since 2021-04-02"), which describes a connected driver app and real-time tracking on Google Maps. It's a separate subscription from Shipday.
Worked example: 400 deliveries a month
A neighborhood restaurant on Square Online does 400 delivery orders a month. Driver wages, mileage and insurance are the same in every in-house row, so the table shows only what each option adds. Run your own wage numbers in the own delivery cost calculator.
| Option | Monthly cost added | Driver app / tracking |
|---|---|---|
| Square in-house delivery, today | $0 in Square dispatch fees | None |
| Square in-house delivery, before 6 Feb 2025 (non-Premium plans) | 400 × $0.50 = $200 | None |
| In-house + Shipday Professional Lite ($29, 300 orders, $0.06 each after) | $29 + 100 × $0.06 = $35 | Shipday Drive app, tracking link, SMS/WhatsApp notifications |
| In-house + Shipday Professional ($49, 300 orders, $0.10 each after) | $49 + 100 × $0.10 = $59 | As above, unlimited drivers |
| On-demand DoorDash or Best Available couriers | Courier fee per order, which Square's article doesn't publish | Courier tracking |
What the numbers say:
- Square's fee change saved a busy in-house restaurant about $200 a month at this volume; in-house delivery on Square now costs only your drivers.
- Adding tracking costs $35–59 a month through Shipday at 400 orders, plus a second app for staff.
- On-demand courier fees aren't in Square's help article, so check the quote in your dashboard before you compare.
How do I deliver with my own staff on Square?
- Open your online ordering delivery settings (account owner or a team member with online permissions).
- Turn on in-house delivery and draw your areas by postal code or radius, with a fee for each.
- Set a fallback fee and a minimum order, so far or small orders still pay their way.
- Set delivery hours and a 15-minute window limit that matches how many drivers you have on shift.
- Decide how drivers get orders: printed tickets, a group chat, or a dispatch app such as Shipday from the App Marketplace.
- Set the fee from your real cost per mile with the delivery fee calculator.
When is Square the better choice?
- You already sell in person on Square and want online, in-store and stock in one system.
- You have one or two drivers and a small area: Square's postal-code areas and 15-minute caps are enough, and there's no extra fee.
- You want courier delivery without your own drivers: on-demand DoorDash or Best Available couriers come with tracking.
How Menuthere compares
Menuthere is an ordering system with its own driver app. On the Pro plan ($39 a month):
- drivers use the Menuthere Delivery App on iPhone and Android and get a New Delivery Assignment notification when you assign an order;
- you pick the driver from a list where online drivers come first, and the order is marked dispatched;
- the customer's order page shows the driver's name, an arrival estimate, a live map and a Call button, with nothing to install (how it works);
- there's no per-delivery fee from Menuthere, and delivery radius, zones and fees work on every plan.
What it doesn't do: you assign each order by hand (no auto-dispatch, route optimisation, batching or photo proof of delivery), and it doesn't connect to Square POS, so orders arrive in Menuthere's dashboard.
Menuthere Pro can also send WhatsApp order updates from your own number. In the US, Meta doesn't deliver WhatsApp marketing messages to +1 numbers, so WhatsApp sends order updates (utility messages, about US$0.0034 each) but not promotions; use email for offers.
See Menuthere vs Square Online, the rider app and the full guide to in-house delivery for restaurants.
Comparing driver tools side by side? See the best restaurant delivery management software, scored.
Give your drivers an app and your customers a live map, with no per-delivery fee.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use my own drivers with Square Online?
Yes. Square's in-house delivery lets you use your own couriers or staff, with delivery areas by postal code or radius, a fee for each area, a minimum order and delivery hours. Square doesn't give those drivers an app or a tracking link.
Does Square have a driver app?
Not for in-house delivery, per Square's help article read on 20 October 2026. Dispatch apps such as Shipday are listed in Square's App Marketplace and billed separately by their makers.
Does Square charge a fee for in-house delivery?
Not any more. Square removed its delivery dispatch fees for Square Online on 6 February 2025: $0.50 per in-house delivery order and $1.50 per on-demand order on non-Premium plans.
Which couriers does Square use for on-demand delivery?
DoorDash, or "Best Available", which is powered by Nash and picks a local courier for each delivery. You choose per location, and you or your customer pay the courier fee.
Can customers track my own drivers on Square?
Not through Square's in-house delivery, which has no tracking for your own staff in the help article. You'd need a separate app such as Shipday, or a system with its own driver app and tracking page.
Sources (5)
- Square Support Center, "Set up delivery options for your online ordering profile": https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/8609-set-up-delivery-options-for-your-online-ordering-profile (no date shown; read 20 Oct 2026): "Set up in-house delivery to use your own couriers or staff, giving you full control over the delivery experience"; areas by postal code or radius; fee types and fallback fee; service fee; minimum order amount; location vs delivery hours; prep time, automatic delivery times, limits per 15-minute window; on-demand DoorDash or "Best Available" (powered by Nash); eligible plans: Square for Restaurants and Square Online Free, Plus and Premium. No driver app or tracking for in-house delivery mentioned.
- Square Community, "Improvement: Square Online delivery dispatch fees removed": https://community.squareup.com/t5/Product-Updates/Improvement-Square-Online-delivery-dispatch-fees-removed/ba-p/775895 (posted 7 Feb 2025; read 20 Oct 2026): fees removed 6 Feb 2025; non-Premium plans had paid $1.50 per on-demand and $0.50 per in-house delivery order.
- Square App Marketplace, Shipday listing: https://squareup.com/us/en/app-marketplace/app/shipday (read 20 Oct 2026): "Empower drivers with a connected app"; "Track drivers in real-time using Google Maps"; listed since 2021-04-02, updated 2024-02-07.
- Shipday pricing: https://www.shipday.com/pricing (read 20 Oct 2026, default USD view): Professional Lite $29 (300 orders, +$0.06), Professional $49 (+$0.10).
- Worked example: arithmetic by hand (400 × 0.50 = 200; 29 + 6 = 35; 49 + 10 = 59).