AI-R vs Square

Square takes the payment.
AI-R runs the night.

Orders by seat, tickets to the right printer, delivery orders on the same floor as the tables, the phone answered, tips settled to the cent, and one morning brief that shows where every number came from.

Join the beta →See the demo →

Feature-by-feature comparison

Feature
Square
AI-R
POS hardware
Square-branded terminals, priced per station
Runs on the iPads and iPhones you already own
Monthly fee
$149/mo per location for Restaurants Premium
$199/mo AIR, or $299/mo AIR Express with the delivery apps
Processing fees
2.6% + 15¢ per transaction, in person on the free tier
Your processor or ours: Square or Stripe at the rates they publish, or AIR's own processing, with AIR's fee shown in the rate calculator.
Kitchen display (KDS)
Sold per screen
Included, unlimited devices
Delivery platform fees
Payouts arrive net of the platform fee (DoorDash 15–30%, tier-dependent — 25% on Plus, 30% on Premium)
On AIR Express, every marketplace order matched to its payout, short payments flagged
Phone ordering
Staff takes the call
Ask AI-R, or the name you give it, answers and takes the order, on both plans
Menu changes during service
Edited in the dashboard
86 an item from the floor; it drops off every channel at once
Floor plan / table management
Included from $49/mo Restaurants Plus
Included, drag-and-drop floor editor
The nightly close
Reports to reconcile by hand
Timesheets, cash and tips settled, signed off, frozen

Four things AI-R does with your night

Each one is a working part of the system today, and each one leaves a receipt on the morning brief.

Delivery money you can see

Marketplace payouts land net of the platform fee (DoorDash 15–30%, tier-dependent — 25% on Plus, 30% on Premium). On AIR Express, AI-R matches every marketplace order to the payout line that paid for it, so a short payment shows up on the morning brief with the order number behind it.

The phone gets answered

On both plans, your assistant answers the call, takes a complete order with modifiers, books a table, and hands off to a person when a person is needed. What that is worth depends on how many calls go unanswered in your restaurant today.

The iPad you already own

AI-R runs on the iPads and iPhones that are in the restaurant today. Buy replacements at retail and own them.

Upsells that survive a rush

AI-R prompts the server with the pairing that fits the item just rung, ranked by your own margins. The prompt is the same at 6pm and at 8:30.

What each one costs, at published rates

Software only, one location, from each company's own published pricing. Hardware, stations and processing volume are yours to add.

Square

Restaurants Premium$149/mo per location
Floor plan and table managementPlus, from $49/mo
Kitchen displaySold per screen
Card processing, in person2.6% + 15¢
Square Restaurants publishes Free, Plus and Premium tiers per location.

AI-R

AIR, everything but the delivery apps$199/mo
AIR Express, with the delivery apps$299/mo
Phone answeringOn both plans
Floor plan and kitchen displayIncluded
Card processingSquare or Stripe at their published rates
Setup is free for as long as it takes. The first 30 days are free from the day you download AIR. Then $99 a month for 12 months, with calls past 200 at $0.50. Then the full plan price.

Square is a strong payments product.

AI-R takes Square or Stripe at their published rates and builds the restaurant around it: coursing, kitchen screens, delivery orders reconciled to their payouts, phone answering on both plans, and margin-aware upsell prompts. Square Restaurants Premium is $149/mo per location. AIR is $199/mo for one system: POS, food cost, inventory, scheduling and your assistant together. AIR Express is $299/mo and adds DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub through one connection.

Ready to see what AI-R does for your restaurant?

One hundred restaurants, ten at a time, starting October 12. Setup is free for as long as it takes. The first 30 days are free from the day you download AIR. Then $99 a month for 12 months, with calls past 200 at $0.50. Then the full plan price. The AIR subscription is month to month. Cancel any time. AI-R Pay card processing is the one thing with a term: a 1-year agreement with NMI, the processor, not with AIR.

Join the beta →See the demo →

Frequently asked questions

Can I import my Square data into AI-R?

Yes. Export your Square catalog as CSV and AI-R imports the menu, categories, and modifiers. Setup is free and takes as long as it takes.

Do I need new hardware?

AI-R runs on the iPads and iPhones you already own, and prints to the kitchen printers already on your network.

What happens to my Square integration with DoorDash?

You keep it. AI-R reads the marketplace payouts alongside your own orders, so the cost of each channel shows up on the brief.