TLDR (Summary)
Square Invoices processes payments but takes 3.3% + $0.30 per card transaction on the free plan, has no project management, no time tracking, no proposals, and no client portals. Plutio puts invoicing, project management, time tracking, proposals, and client portals into one workspace. Proposals convert to live projects on signature, tracked hours populate invoices automatically, and clients pay from a branded portal, all without switching apps or paying per-transaction fees.
Project management that Square Invoices doesn't have
Square Invoices has no project management: no task lists, no Kanban boards, no Gantt timelines, no milestones. Plutio includes all of those plus task dependencies and project templates, connected to invoicing and client portals.
Square was built for retail and point-of-sale transactions. The invoicing product is an extension of that payment infrastructure, not a business management tool. There's no concept of phases, deliverables, or task assignments inside Square, and reviewers consistently note that Square Invoices sends bills but stops short of managing the work behind them.
Freelancers running multi-phase projects like website builds, brand campaigns, or ongoing retainers need a separate project tool on top. Asana, Monday, or Trello end up running alongside Square, each with its own login, its own client data, and no connection to invoicing.
Plutio's project management starts with Kanban boards and adds what Square doesn't have: Gantt timelines that show dependencies between tasks, milestones that mark phase transitions, and templates that create entire project structures from a single click. A website project can have design, development, and launch phases with tasks that automatically unlock when the previous phase finishes.
The difference is how project work connects to billing. In Plutio, time tracked on a task feeds into an invoice line item, a completed milestone triggers a client notification, and the project status updates in the client portal without a single email.
Plutio's project management connects tasks to time tracking, invoicing, and client portals, so the work and the business run from the same place.
Invoicing that connects to the work, not just the payment processor
Square Invoices sends bills and processes payments, but every invoice is a blank slate with no time tracking or project data behind it. Plutio's invoicing populates from tracked hours automatically.
Square's free plan charges 3.3% + $0.30 per card payment, which means a $1,000 invoice costs $33.30 in processing fees. A freelancer sending $75,000 in invoices per year pays roughly $2,500 in fees on the free plan alone. The Plus plan reduces fees to 2.9% + $0.30 but costs $49/month after Square's October 2025 pricing overhaul, a 145% increase from the previous $20/month tier.
Beyond the fees, every Square invoice starts blank. Hourly billing means opening a separate time tracker, copying numbers, and creating each line item from memory or a spreadsheet. There's no project data, no tracked hours, and no automated population.
In Plutio, invoices populate from a date range with every tracked hour, task name, and rate already filled in. Recurring invoices auto-send on schedule with late payment reminders built in. Payment processing runs through Stripe, PayPal, or bank transfer, and multi-currency support lets international freelancers bill clients in local currencies.
Plutio's invoicing turns tracked hours into paid invoices without copying numbers between apps or losing 3.3% per transaction.
Proposals and contracts that create projects automatically
Square Invoices offers no proposals, no e-signatures on custom documents, and contracts are limited to the $49/month Plus plan. In Plutio, a signed proposal creates the project, attaches the contract, and activates the client portal in one step.
Square added basic contract templates in 2024, but those require the Plus plan at $49/month and only cover one-page service agreements. There's no proposal builder, no pricing tables, and no workflow that connects a signed document to project creation. The entire pre-project process happens outside Square, through tools like PandaDoc, Canva, or DocuSign.
Plutio's proposal builder includes drag-and-drop sections, pricing tables with optional line items, and built-in e-signatures. Clients review, select service packages, and sign from any device. When the signature goes through, Plutio creates the project with pre-configured tasks and deadlines based on the proposal scope.
Contracts attach to proposals and projects, so the signed scope stays connected to the actual work. The client portal activates with branded access, and the first invoice generates directly from the approved pricing in the proposal.
With Square, every step after sending the invoice needs manual recreation in separate tools. The gap between the client saying yes and the project actually starting is filled with copy-pasting details across platforms.
In Plutio, a signed proposal becomes a live project with contracts, tasks, and client portal access, all from one signed document.
Time tracking built into every project
Square Invoices has no time tracking at all. Freelancers billing hourly need Toggl, Harvest, or Clockify on top, then manually create invoice line items each billing cycle.
Square's product is built around transactions, not the work that leads to them. There's no timer, no manual hour logging, and no concept of billable versus non-billable time anywhere in the platform. Hourly freelancers using Square Invoices track time in a completely separate app, then re-enter those hours as manual line items on each invoice.
Plutio's time tracking runs inside every project. A built-in timer starts from any task with one click, or hours get logged manually with notes and rates attached. Billable and non-billable hours stay separated so only client-facing work hits the invoice.
At invoice time, tracked hours convert to line items with the task name, duration, and hourly rate already filled in, so there's no guesswork at the end of the month.
Time reports break down hours by project, client, or date range. The data shows exactly where billable hours went and which projects ran over budget, all from the same place where the projects and invoices live.
Every hour tracked in Plutio turns into an invoice line item without manual entry or app switching.
Client portals that show project progress
Square Invoices provides no client portal. Clients receive an invoice by email and pay through a Square-branded link. There's no way for clients to view project progress, upload files, or track milestones.
Square's customer directory stores names and contact information, but there's no CRM beyond basic records and no portal where clients log in to see their projects. Every status update, file share, and progress check happens through email or a separate tool.
Plutio's client portals are branded with a custom logo, colors, and domain. Clients log in and see project progress alongside milestones, shared files, unpaid invoices, and messages, all under the freelancer's brand instead of a third-party logo.
Files upload directly to the project instead of arriving as email attachments. Messages attach to specific tasks so conversations stay in context. Clients approve deliverables and pay invoices from the portal without downloading separate apps or juggling multiple logins.
The portal replaces the email chains, the "just checking in" messages, and the status update requests that pile up between meetings. Clients see what's happening without asking, and the freelancer's brand stays front and center instead of Square's.
Plutio's client portals replace status update emails with a branded space where clients track progress, share files, and pay invoices.
With Plutio we don't jump between apps anymore! Everything from projects to invoicing is finally connected in one fully-branded app.
How to switch from Square Invoices to Plutio
Most freelancers switch between projects, finishing active billing in Square while starting new clients on Plutio.
- Start a free trial: Plutio offers 14 days of full access with no credit card required. Every feature, including projects, invoicing, proposals, time tracking, and client portals, works from day one.
- Import client contacts: Export the customer directory from Square as a CSV and import into Plutio. Client names, emails, and details carry over in minutes.
- Set up a project template: Create one project template with the standard task list, milestones, and deliverable structure. Every new project starts from the template instead of building from scratch.
- Start new clients on Plutio: Send the next proposal from Plutio. When the client signs, the project creates automatically with the template structure, portal access, and contract attached.
- Finish Square invoices where they are: Active billing stays in Square until the current payment cycle completes. Running both platforms in parallel avoids disrupting client relationships mid-cycle.
- Cancel Square: Once active invoicing wraps up, downgrade or close the Square Invoices account. Export transaction history for bookkeeping records.
The hardest part of leaving Square Invoices isn't the client list. The hardest part is accepting that a payment processor built for retail point-of-sale was never going to replace the project management, proposals, time tracking, and client portal features a freelance business actually needs.
The switch happens between projects, not mid-project. New clients start on Plutio while Square billing cycles finish naturally.
