Iron Workers on Square pay $29/month — $348/year. Over three years, that's $1,168. Nexa is $279 once. Break-even runs about 9.6 months. The median iron worker earns $55,000/year, so Square's annual cost is roughly 0.6% of typical revenue — every year, forever.
That's $1,168 gone. And you don't own anything. Stop paying, lose access.
You're not the only one who's had enough.
Iron Workers face unique challenges: Union vs non-union pay rates change per local — invoicing blows up if you mix. Rented crane time bills hourly and you can't recover idle time when steel is late. Per-diem and travel pay across job sites — IRS gets touchy if you miscategorize. OSHA 10/30 cards and fall-protection certs per crew member, with expirations. Progress billings on 30-90 day jobs — service-call apps can't model this. On top of all that, Square charges $29/month ($348/year) — money that comes directly from your revenue. The median iron worker earns $55,000/year. Software at $348/year is a meaningful percentage of that income, every year, forever. And you do not own anything.
Your Oxy-acetylene cutting torch and rosebud tips is yours. You bought it once. Nexa works the same way — $279 once for invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking, and full accounting. All connected. All offline-capable. You own it like you own your tools.
Square is just one piece. What else are you losing money on?
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Your exact Square cost, full stack total, and what switching saves. 10 seconds.
| Feature | Square | Nexa |
|---|---|---|
| Invoicing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Scheduling | ✗ | ✓ |
| CRM | ✗ | ✓ |
| Time Tracking | ✗ | ✓ |
| Full Accounting | ✗ | ✓ (SIMPL) |
| Task Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Price | $29/mo forever | $279 once or 3 × $99 |
| 3-Year Cost | $1,168 | $279 |
| Stop paying? | Lose everything | Keep everything forever |
Most iron workers are fully switched before the weekend.
Go to Square Dashboard → Customers → Export. Also export transactions and item library.
15-minute setup. Import your customer list and service/product catalog.
Run both for 1-2 weeks. Test invoicing and booking through Nexa.
Cancel paid subscriptions. Keep free account for records access.
5am safety meeting on the deck. By 7am you're 80 feet up tying rebar in a column cage. The crane arrives at 9 — you're still waiting on a delivery of #8 bar. By 11am you've eaten 90 minutes of crane time you have to bill back to the GC. Noon you're invoicing last week from the lunch trailer with no signal. By 4pm the GC walks the site and you're filling out three OSHA forms before you can leave.
Real iron workers near you who run their business on Nexa — book directly, no platform fee. Are you an iron worker? Post your business and get found in your area — $2.99 one-time. Or browse every iron worker on Nexa →
For solo operators and small teams (1-5), yes. Nexa includes invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking, task management, and full accounting. Square may be better if you have a large team (10+) or need enterprise-specific features.
It's $7.75/month over 3 years. Square is $29/month — that's $1,168 over 3 years. Which is more? And if you'd rather split it, Nexa is also available as 3 payments of $99.
Yes. Nexa is $279 as a one-time payment, or 3 payments of $99 ($297 total). Either way it's a one-time purchase — no subscription, no recurring fees ever.
30-day money-back guarantee. Full refund. If Nexa doesn't save you $500 in year one, you get every penny back.
Export your data from Square as CSV, import into Nexa in about 5 minutes.
The average solo operator there spends about $1,968/year on software — and iron worker face their own version of that math. PA state licensing requirements apply.
Numbers reflect typical solo operators in the Erie metro. Your situation will vary.
Specific gaps Iron Workers run into with Square, and what Nexa does instead.
$1,168 over 3 years. Or $279 once (or 3 × $99). Own your tools.
Get Nexa — $279 Once