The verdict for tumbler makers: Square is solid software, but at $29/month it costs $1,168 over 3 years. Nexa does most of what Square does for $279 once. For solo tumbler makers and small teams, Nexa is the better deal.
Nexa: $279. Once. You keep $889. And you own it — no more "we're updating our pricing" emails.
| Feature | Square | Nexa |
|---|---|---|
| Invoicing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Scheduling | ✗ | ✓ |
| CRM | ✗ | ✓ |
| Time Tracking | ✗ | ✓ |
| Full Accounting | ✗ | ✓ (SIMPL) |
| Task Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Price | $29/mo | $279 once or 3 × $99 |
| 3-Year Total | $1,168 | $279 |
| You own it? | No — stop paying, lose access | Yes — forever |
Square plus whatever else you're paying for:
Email yourself this comparison?
The math doesn't lie.
Tumbler Makers deal with unique challenges that generic software was not built for: Per-tumbler cost math is invisible: a single 30oz cup quietly eats a blank, three epoxy coats, glitter, a vinyl decal, sandpaper, gloves, and a torch fill, and most makers price off a vibe instead of the real landed cost. Custom orders multiply into chaos, where a single buyer wants four cups, three name spellings, two glitter colors, and a logo, and the spec lives across DMs, a screenshot, and memory until something gets made wrong. Trademarked-design requests (Stanley dupes, Disney, team logos, band art) arrive daily, and saying yes risks a takedown while saying no risks losing the sale, with no clean line drawn in advance. Curing time is the real bottleneck, not labor, since three coats at 8 to 12 hours each plus a 72-hour pre-ship rest means a 20-cup bulk order can occupy every turner arm for over a week before a single box ships. Square charges $29/month on top of these daily realities. The median tumbler maker earns $24,000/year — $348/year in software subscriptions is a significant percentage of that income, paid every year, forever.
Nexa is $279 once. Invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking, accounting — all connected, built for tumbler makers. You own it like you own your Single- or dual-arm cup turner (motorized spinner that rotates blanks while epoxy self-levels).
The day starts at the turner, lifting last night's cups to check for lint, dimples, or a soft spot that means the ratio was off and the cup gets sanded back. Blanks for today's batch get washed, dried, and taped at the rim and base so the epoxy line is clean. Vinyl comes next: a name cut, weeded letter by letter, transfer-taped, and burnished onto the curved wall without a wrinkle, which never goes fast on a tapered 40oz. Then glitter and the first epoxy pour, mixed by weight, spread with a gloved finger, and chased with the torch as bubbles rise, before the cup goes back on the arm to spin for hours. While those turn, it's the office shift: pricing a wedding order of twelve, fielding a DM asking for a copyrighted character, photographing yesterday's finished cups in the lightbox, and wrapping the cured ones in bubble wrap and tissue. Afternoons mean second coats, troubleshooting a cup that's curing tacky or cloudy, and re-taping for the next pour. Nothing about the rhythm is fast, because every cup is gated by hours of spinning and a hard 72-hour rest before it can be packed, so the real craft is sequencing the queue so the turner is never empty and no order ships before it's truly cured.
Real tumbler makers near you who run their business on Nexa — book directly, no platform fee. Are you a tumbler maker? Post your business and get found in your area — $2.99 one-time. Or browse every tumbler maker on Nexa →
For solo tumbler makers and small teams, yes. invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking, task management, and full accounting — all for $279 once. Square may be better if you have a large team (10+) or need enterprise-specific features.
Square has features like No monthly fee on Free plan and Instant setup that some businesses rely on. For most solo tumbler makers, these aren't dealbreakers.
At $29/month, Nexa pays for itself in 9.6 months. After that: $348 saved every year.
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.
Own your tools. Stop renting your software.
Get Nexa — $279 Once