Private Cooks 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 Private Cook earns $35,000/year, so Square's annual cost is roughly 1.0% 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.
Private Cooks face unique challenges: Every client has a different diet, allergy, and dislike list, and a single mistake (nut in a nut-free house, gluten for a celiac) is unforgiving, so preferences have to be exact and at hand. Grocery shopping is unpaid time and you're often fronting the receipts, so reimbursement plus your fee has to be tracked or you eat the cost. Recurring weekly clients in different homes mean a route and a schedule that has to flex around their travel, guests, and last-minute menu changes. Menus are expected to rotate so families don't get bored, which means constant planning on top of the cooking itself. On top of all that, Square charges $29/month ($348/year) — money that comes directly from your revenue. The median Private Cook earns $35,000/year. Software at $348/year is a meaningful percentage of that income, every year, forever. And you do not own anything.
Your a roll of personal knives (chef's, paring, boning) and a honing steel 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 private cooks 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.
You plan the week before you cook a thing: pull up each household's diet sheet (the Tuesday family is dairy-free, the Thursday client is doing low-carb, one kid won't eat anything green), build menus that don't repeat last week's, and write the grocery list by store. Shopping morning you're at the market with a cooler in the cart, scanning labels for hidden gluten and saving every receipt because that's a reimbursement, not your money. At the first home you set up in their kitchen, find their pans, and cook four or five days of dinners at once: a braise going low, proteins portioned and labeled, vegetables you can reheat without turning to mush. You vacuum-seal and date everything, wipe the kitchen cleaner than you found it, and leave heating notes on the fridge. Then you drive to the second house and do it again with a different diet. Between stops you answer a text from a client adding two dinner guests Saturday, which changes a menu and a shopping count. End of day you total your hours and grocery receipts per client so the invoices are right, and you start sketching next week's menus so nobody eats the same braise twice.
Real private cooks near you who run their business on Nexa — book directly, no platform fee. Are you a private cook? Post your business and get found in your area — $2.99 one-time. Or browse every private cook 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 $2,300/year on software — and Private Cook face their own version of that math. Maryland income tax up to 5.75% plus county piggyback taxes (2.25-3.2%). Baltimore City rate is 3.2%, among the highest. Maryland MHIC license required for home improvement contractors. Baltimore City requires a Trader's License for most businesses.
Numbers reflect typical solo operators in the Baltimore metro. Your situation will vary.
Specific gaps Private Cooks 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