Buff vs Square Appointments
Square Appointments is a brilliant, simple booking and payments system used by salons, barbers and home-repair pros — and plenty of detailers. Buff is a detailing CRM built around vehicles and jobs. Here's how they compare.
14 days free. No charge until day 15.
A diary and card machine, or the whole business
Vehicles, jobs, quotes, invoices and repeat work in one place — with online bookings on a simple monthly plan.
- Vehicle records & AI identification
- Jobs, quotes, invoices & payments
- Customer portal & maintenance plans
- Flat monthly plans, priced in GBP
- FreeAgent accounting sync
A household-name booking diary, payment processing and point-of-sale — free to start, simple and trusted.
- Free plan; easy online booking site
- Excellent in-person payments & hardware
- Reminders, recurring appointments
- Per-transaction fees on card payments
- Not built around vehicles or jobs
The short version: Square is hard to beat as a simple booking diary plus card machine. Buff is a different kind of tool — the job and vehicle behind every booking, with a customer portal, quotes and repeat-work, so the whole business lives in one place.
What a detailing business actually needs
| Capability | Bufffrom £12.50/mo | Square AppointmentsFree / £29+ |
|---|---|---|
| Built around vehicles & detailing work | ✓ | — |
| Vehicle records, reg lookup & AI identification | ✓ | — |
| Job management & quotes that become jobs | ✓ | — |
| Online booking page for customers | ✓ | ✓ |
| Customer portal — rebook, view jobs and pay | ✓ | — |
| Deposits or full payment at booking | ✓ | Limited |
| Maintenance plans & recurring detailer jobs | ✓ | Appointments |
| SMS + email reminders | ✓ | ✓ |
| Team / multi-staff calendars | ✓ | ✓ |
| In-person payments, readers & Tap to Pay | Online | ✓ |
| Invoices with online payment links | ✓ | ✓ |
| Accounting sync | FreeAgent | Yes |
| Free plan to start | Trial | ✓ |
| Clear GBP pricing | ✓ | ✓ |
✓ = included · Limited = partial or limited offering · – = not offered as a headline feature. Square Appointments details reflect its public UK website as of September 2026 and may change; Square charges per-transaction card fees (e.g. 1.6% in person).
Built for the job, not just the appointment
Square books a time in a diary. Buff runs the whole job behind it — and the vehicle that job is on.
Vehicles are the heart of it
Reg lookup, vehicle type and size class, plate history and a full record per vehicle — Square doesn't know a Fiesta from a horsebox.
Jobs, quotes and a real pipeline
Turn an enquiry into a quote and a quote into a booked job — with a sales pipeline on higher plans, not just a list of appointments.
A portal your customers use
Customers rebook, track their job, view invoices and pay — the retention loop that keeps a detailer's diary full between visits.
Repeat work, automated
Maintenance plans and recurring bookings generate jobs and chase renewals — the detailer's bread and butter, which a generic scheduler can't run.
Deposits and flexible payment
Collect a deposit or the full amount at booking with card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Klarna and Clearpay — all online.
Reporting that understands work
Revenue, job values, outstanding invoices and maintenance health — plus FreeAgent sync, so your books stay in step.
Comms that look like you
Branded emails and SMS from your business, with the option to send from your own mailbox on Pro and Max.
Where Square deserves a fair look
Simple and free to start. Square's free plan and clean booking site are genuinely hard to beat if you just want customers to book a slot and you to take a card payment.
Best-in-class in-person payments. Readers, Tap to Pay on iPhone and a polished POS are a real strength if you take payments at a counter. Buff's payments are online-first.
A big, trusted ecosystem. Loyalty, marketing, inventory, contracts and hardware — plus integrations with Xero and more. Great breadth for a general business.
But it's not a detailer's system. No vehicle records, no job/quote pipeline, no per-vehicle history or maintenance plans — you'd be working around its generic appointment model.
What it actually costs
Lite from £12.50 · Pro from £25 · Max from £50. No setup fee and no long-term contract; annual plans save up to 34%. Card payments run through your own Stripe account — standard card fees plus a small Buff processing fee apply. 14-day free trial.
A free plan is available; Plus is £29/month per location with per-transaction card fees (e.g. 1.6% in person; online rates differ). As of September 2026 — check squareup.com for current pricing.
Honest guidance
Choose Square if…
You mainly need an online booking diary, in-person card payments and a trusted free starting point — and you're happy to run vehicles, quotes and repeat work in other tools.
Choose Buff if…
You want the vehicle, the job and the customer relationship all in one system — bookings, quotes, invoices, deposits, maintenance and a portal — all on clear, simple monthly pricing.
Common questions
Is Square Appointments good for detailers?
It's popular with detailers because it's free to start and simple for customers to book and pay. But Square is a generic booking and POS system — it has no vehicle records, job or quote pipeline, or maintenance plans designed for detailing work.
Does Square charge transaction fees?
Yes. Square takes a per-transaction fee on card payments (for example 1.6% for in-person) on top of its plan cost. Buff also charges a transaction fee on card payments, so compare the rates as well as the standard card-processing fees before you commit.
Does Buff accept in-person card payments like Square?
Buff's payments are online-first — card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Klarna and Clearpay via your own Stripe account. If you need a physical card reader and Tap to Pay at a counter, Square's hardware is a real strength to weigh up.
Can I move from Square to Buff?
Yes. Buff is live, and it imports a spreadsheet of your customers and their vehicles — including the fields most systems do not have, like whether there is water or power at the property. You can export your data again at any time, and onboarding help with the move is available.
Square is a trademark of its owner. Buff is an independent product and is not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by Square. Feature and pricing details for Square Appointments, including its transaction fees, are based on its public UK website and were correct as of September 2026; they may change, so please verify current details before making a decision.
Buff against the other tools
Same format, same willingness to say where the other one wins.
Compare it against your own week
Set up your services and import your customers, and put the booking page live. Buff is live today — 14 days free, nothing charged until day 15.
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