How to set up Square discount codes, and stop making them one by one
Make a code in Square in three steps, ring it up, and fix one that will not apply. Then see how every customer can get their own Square code by text, made for you.
Next: a short form, then about 30 minutes with our team on what you send your Square customers today. GetSetReply is a separate company, not part of Square, and your register stays Square.
Set up a coupon code in Square in three steps
Open Coupons. In Square Dashboard, go to Customers, then Marketing, then Coupons.
Create it. Click Create Coupon. Fill in the code, the discount, when it applies and when it ends.
Turn it on. Click Activate. Anyone with the code can now use it.
Coupon codes are free on Square Free, Plus and Premium. Only the account owner, or a team member with the marketing permission, can make them.
Square's pages, read on 2026-10-09: Square Support Center: Create vanity code coupons
Discounts and coupon codes are not the same thing
Mixing these up is the most common reason a code "does not work".
- A discount lives in your item library: an amount, a percentage, or a figure staff type at checkout. It can also apply on its own when a sale meets your conditions: a date range, a time of day, an item quantity, or a customer group.
- A coupon code is something the customer brings in. You make it under Marketing, then Coupons, and staff enter it at checkout.
The "require a passcode" setting on a discount asks for a passcode when the discount is applied. It is not a code a customer brings.
Square's pages, read on 2026-10-09: Square Support Center: Create and edit discounts; Square Support Center: Create vanity code coupons
How your staff ring up a Square coupon code
In Square Point of Sale, a coupon code does not go in the discounts list. The path is Checkout, then Library, then Rewards, then Use Code. Type the code, pick the reward, add it to the cart and finish the sale.
Staff can also tap the customer's name on the Current Sale screen and apply it from their profile. Each reward works on one sale only, even if part of it is left.
Square's pages, read on 2026-10-09: Square Support Center: Apply coupons and rewards to transactions
Why a Square code is not working: seven usual reasons
| What is happening | What to do |
|---|---|
| Staff typed it in the discounts list | Use Rewards, then Use Code |
| A percent-off coupon, used online | Percent-off coupons apply in store only |
| A minimum-spend coupon, used at the counter | Minimum-spend coupons apply online only |
| It expired or was cancelled (shows Expired) | Duplicate it to run it again |
| It was already used on another sale | One reward, one sale |
| There is already a code in the online cart | One online code per checkout |
| It is an automatic discount, not a code | Check its dates, schedule, item quantity or customer group |
Retyping it in capitals will not help. Square codes are not case sensitive.
Making one code is easy. Making a different one for every customer, every week, is the part that wears you down. We make each customer's Square code for you and text it.
I want to explore my optionsSquare's pages, read on 2026-10-09: Square Support Center: Create vanity code coupons; Square Support Center: Apply coupons and rewards to transactions; Square Support Center: Create and edit discounts
Give each customer a code you can track
A shared code is simple to print. But everyone gets the same offer, and it is harder to tie one redemption to one customer. Square's own article recommends unique codes. In the Dashboard you make each one by hand.
GetSetReply makes a separate Square discount code for each customer, in your Square account, when their offer is due. The text only goes out after Square confirms the code exists.
- One customer, one Square code. Nobody types codes into the Dashboard.
- Nothing new at the counter. Staff enter it in Square as a discount code, on the register they already use. There is nothing to install.
- Every use recorded. Square tells us the code was used, usually within minutes. Results shows which offer it was and what the order came to.
Try it on yourself first. Send yourself a test from any offer and ring up its code at your own register before a customer ever sees one.
(707) 555-0148Sample number
Juniper Street Kitchen: 15% off weekend brunch through Sunday 18 October. Your coupon: getsetreply.com/c/D4KX7MB2 Reply STOP to end, HELP for help.
This is exactly what sends. The grey parts are added for you. Codes shown here are examples; real ones are made when you send.
Square's pages, read on 2026-10-09: Square Support Center: Create vanity code coupons
What you can offer
Make an offer once and use it as often as you like. Burrito shop examples:
- Percent off. 20% off a burrito bowl. You can set a maximum dollar amount, so a catering order cannot take more than you planned. (A capped offer works at your register, not on Square Online.)
- Amount off. $5 off the whole check.
- A free item. Chips and salsa on the house.
- Buy more, save. A percentage off each item when they buy 2 to 5 qualifying items. For example, two specialty burritos at 50% off each. (When both cost the same, that totals the same as buy one, get one free.)
An offer can cover the whole check, a category, items you pick, or any one item the customer chooses. Every offer has an end date, and a reminder can go out before it ends.
Coupon title
15% off weekend brunch
Text message
Juniper Street Kitchen:
{offer_headline} through {expiry_date}. Your coupon: {coupon_link}
Reply STOP to end, HELP for help.
Insert at the cursor
More options
The next text waits until they use this one
A code brings someone in once. A ladder brings them back again. It is a short series of offers where each step waits for the one before it to be used at your register. Nobody gets step two until they have come back for step one, so after the first text, every text goes to someone who just came in.
A burrito shop owner ran a four-step series like this by hand in Square, rebuilding a customer group from the campaign report every week. See what that weekly work looked like, and how the ladder is set up in GetSetReply now.
Who you can text
You can only text people who asked.
- Customers choose to join. They text JOIN to your number or sign up on your sign-up page, and you can print its QR code for the counter. STOP works straight away.
- Limits built in. We only text between 9:00am and 8:00pm on your storefront's clock, and from noon on Sundays. Texting laws set quiet hours. This window is set to keep every text inside them, so it is the same for every account and cannot be changed. No one gets more than 30 texts from you in any 30 days.
- We file the carrier registration. The phone carriers check that a business is real before it can text. Their check takes 10 to 15 days. You can build offers while it runs. The first text waits until it clears.
Where the Square facts on this page come from
Every statement about Square on this page comes from one of Square's own pages, linked here, as they read on the date below. Square changes its pages and its prices, so check them for anything that matters to you.
Facts verified on 2026-10-09
Square discount codes, answered
Where do I enter a coupon code in Square Point of Sale?
Checkout, then Library, then Rewards, then Use Code. Or apply it from the customer's profile on the Current Sale screen.
Do Square coupon codes cost anything?
Making codes is free on every Square plan. Texting them from Square needs Square Plus or Premium.
Are Square codes case sensitive?
No. SAVE10 and save10 are the same code.
Can a customer use a code twice?
One reward works on one sale only.
Can every customer get their own code without me making them?
Yes, with GetSetReply. We make a Square discount code for each person before their text goes out.
Will my staff have to learn anything?
They enter the code in Square as a discount code, on the register they already use. Ring up a test code yourself first.
Do I have to stop using Square?
No. Square needs your permission for us to create the codes we text, and nothing else about your Square connection changes. Your register, items and payments stay as they are.
What does GetSetReply cost?
There are three parts: a Professional or Enterprise plan, your texting number at $10/mo with 500 texts a month, and the Coupons add-on, which is in beta, priced per location, and quoted before you decide. The full breakdown is in Square text marketing pricing.
More on Square and texted offers
Keep Square. Stop rebuilding the list for the next offer.
Tell us how you send offers today. If it fits, we set it up with you and file your carrier registration.
Save 20% with annual billing. See annual pricing.