Square POS is genuinely excellent. Beautiful interface, exceptional checkout UX, deep integration ecosystem in the US/UK/Canada. If you're running a shop in San Francisco or London, Square is a strong default choice.
In Kuwait, the answer is more complicated — because Square's business model is built on card-payment processing, and card-payment processing is the one thing Square doesn't do here. The app still installs. The app still works. But you can't actually accept payments through it.
This is what that looks like in practice.
Quick verdict
Pick Square if: You're operating in a country Square supports (US, UK, Canada, Australia, Japan, Ireland, France, Spain), OR you're using Square purely for inventory tracking and cash sales while your card payments flow through a completely separate KNET terminal.
Pick QuickBiz if: You're in Kuwait or the wider Gulf, you want POS + inventory + reports built around how local payments actually work, you need Arabic, or you want a single tool that handles cash, online, credit, and partial payments as first-class concepts.
The payment processing problem
Square's revenue model is taking a cut of card transactions — typically 2.6% to 3.5% per swipe. That's how the "free" app stays in business. To take that cut, Square needs to handle the actual card processing.
Square processes payments in: USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Japan, Ireland, France, Spain.
Square does NOT process payments in: Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Egypt, or any other Gulf or Middle East country.
If you install Square POS in Kuwait and try to take a card payment, the app won't connect to Square's processor. You'd need to swipe the card on a separate KNET-certified terminal, then manually mark the sale as "paid by card" in Square afterward. The whole point of integrated POS — one tap completes the transaction — is broken.
What people sometimes do anyway
Some Kuwait shops install Square's free app and use it purely as a cash-and-inventory tracker, with cards processed through a separate KNET terminal in parallel. Two systems running side-by-side, with the owner manually reconciling them at end of day.
This works. It also doubles your administrative work. Every card transaction is recorded twice (once on the KNET printout, once in Square), and they have to match. Reconciliation gets harder when refunds, partial payments, or split tenders enter the picture.
The Kuwait shops we talk to who tried this approach almost universally moved off it within 3-6 months. Two-system POS isn't sustainable.
Where Square wins outside Kuwait
To be fair to Square — for the markets Square supports, the product is genuinely best-in-class:
- Single integrated experience — POS, card processing, online store, payroll all from one company
- Hardware — Square Reader, Square Terminal, Square Register are all polished products
- App design — the Add Sale UX is probably the cleanest in the industry
- Free baseline tier — for cash-only or volume-low businesses, the free plan is generous
- Online store integration — Square Online builds a working e-commerce site in minutes
- Loyalty and marketing tools — built-in, mature, used by millions
If Square ever launches payment processing in Kuwait, it would immediately become one of the strongest options. As of 2026, it hasn't.
Where QuickBiz wins for Kuwait
- Works with KNET terminals — record "Online" payment with the KNET terminal alongside, no double-entry
- KWD-native with proper 3-decimal arithmetic (Square uses 2-decimal currencies; KD 0.250 ≠ KD 0.25)
- Full Arabic interface and receipts — first-class, not bolted on
- Customer credit ledger — for the credit-sale workflow Kuwait shops actually use
- Supplier ledger — for the credit-purchase side
- Single subscription, no per-transaction fee — predictable monthly cost
- Built in Kuwait for Kuwait — every feature decision starts from a Kuwait shop's reality
If you currently use Square in Kuwait (the 2-system approach)
Migrating off the two-system setup is straightforward:
- Export your product catalog from Square as CSV
- Import into QuickBiz
- Enter your opening customer credit balances (the part Square wasn't tracking anyway)
- For one week, run QuickBiz and Square in parallel to confirm nothing's missing
- Cancel Square (no commitment, no fee) — it has no hold over you
The most common feedback after migration: "I forgot how much time I was spending matching two reports."
Frequently asked questions
Does Square POS work in Kuwait?
The app installs and runs, but Square's payment processing doesn't work in Kuwait. You can use Square for inventory and cash sales, but card payments must be processed through a separate KNET terminal.
What is the alternative to Square POS in Kuwait?
QuickBiz (Kuwait-built, KWD, Arabic), Loyverse (free tier, global), or Odoo (enterprise). None of them lock you into proprietary payment processing.
Does Square support Arabic?
Square's app interface supports Arabic in some regions. Arabic receipt printing is limited. QuickBiz provides full Arabic UI and Arabic receipt printing.
What does Square POS cost?
The app is free. The cost is 2.6%-3.5% per card transaction in markets Square processes. In Kuwait, the app is free but you still pay KNET fees separately. QuickBiz charges a flat KWD subscription, no per-transaction fees.
Should I use Square POS without payment processing?
Some shops use Square's free app for inventory + cash only, with cards through a separate KNET terminal. It works but doubles your admin work. Tools built for Kuwait skip this disconnect.
The honest answer
If Square processed payments in Kuwait, this would be a much closer comparison and we'd talk you through specific feature differences. Since Square doesn't process payments in Kuwait, the answer is structural: you'd be using a product that's deliberately optimized for a workflow you can't actually execute here.
For Kuwait, use a Kuwait-aware tool. That doesn't have to be QuickBiz — Loyverse and Odoo are real options. But it shouldn't be Square unless Square launches local processing.
For the broader comparison across all Kuwait POS options, read Best POS App for Small Businesses in Kuwait (2026). For the direct free-tier competitor, read QuickBiz vs Loyverse.