Top 9 Square Competitors & Alternatives

Clover is a top Square alternative because it offers a lot of the same features and benefits. It features an advanced and all-in-one POS and payment processor, a native customer loyalty program, employee scheduling and custom permissions, and proprietary hardware. We also highly recommend Clover if you want a Square alternative for affordable iOS-based credit card readers with payment apps.

Use Clover if you want to keep your current merchant account while upgrading Clover’s system. Unlike Square software, which only works with Square Payments, Clover can be purchased through many different merchant account providers. Note, though, that Clover hardware is tied to the original merchant account and cannot be reprogrammed.

Your hardware options are also integrated into each subscription, which can be a hiccup if you want the features of a certain plan but not the hardware that comes with it.

• Monthly software fee:
  • Retail:
    • Subscription: $13 – $225 per month for 36 months
    • Purchase: $279 – $2,398 + $0 – $104.90 per month
  • Quick-service restaurants:
    • Subscription: $105 – $200 per month for 36 months
    • Purchase: $799 – $2,398 + $59.95 – $79.90 per month
  • Full-service restaurants:
    • Subscription: $165 – $325 per month for 36 months
    • Purchase: $1,699 – $4,097 + $89.95 – $129.85 per month
  • Service businesses:
    • Subscription: $0 – $170 per month for 36 months
    • Purchase: $279 – $1,799 + $14.95 – $84.95 per month
• Payment processing: Depends on payment processor
  • In-person: 2.5% – 2.6% + 10 cents
  • Online: 3.5% + 10 cents
• Hardware: $49 – $1,799

Like Square, Clover is cloud-based and offers everything that a standard POS does, including payment processing, inventory management, and analytics reporting. It also has advanced customer loyalty and employee scheduling features even in its base plan, which is more than what Square offers in its lowest-tier plans.

Other Clover features include the following:

• Credit card preauthorization: This allows businesses to ensure that payment is available for capture or refund.
• Rapid Deposit: For a 1.5% fee, payments from sales will be transferred to your account in minutes, ensuring constant cash flow.
• Offline payment processing: Accept card payments without an internet connection for up to seven days.
• Customer profiles and promotions: The software automatically builds customer profiles based on their credit card purchases. These profiles include contact information and purchase preferences, which can enhance your marketing results and speed up transactions.
• User permissions: Choose between four standard user roles to give different dashboard access levels to staff members.

Zettle uses PayPal for its payment processing and provides a POS system for tablets or mobile devices. Startups can accept payments immediately using their own hardware or purchase a POS terminal or an entire hardware kit. The software is free to use, has affordable processing rates (even lower than Square for in-person transactions), and allows you to accept PayPal payment options in-store. If customers often ask if you accept PayPal at checkout, then PayPal Zettle is your best alternative to Square.

Use PayPal Zettle to set up a storefront for your online business that runs on PayPal. PayPal payments are now accepted at physical shops like Walmart, Best Buy, and Home Depot. But you don’t have to be a big name or have deep pockets to start accepting PayPal in your store—all you need is a free PayPal Business account. Read our guide on how to set up a PayPal Business account.

• Monthly software fee: $0 (POS app) – $30 (Virtual Terminal)
• Payment processing rates:
  • In-person: 2.29% + 9 cents
  • Online: 3.49% + 9 cents
  • Invoicing: 2.99% + 49 cents – 3.49% + 49 cents
• Mobile card reader: $29 for first reader; $79 per additional reader
• Offers discounted rates for qualifying nonprofit organizations

PayPal offers a variety of standout products, such as Payflow, which makes our list of the best payment gateways. However, what makes PayPal Zettle stand out is that, unlike Payflow, it doesn’t require integration for PayPal users to accept payments. As one of the easiest means to accept recurring payments, it is the best choice even for microbusinesses.

Other PayPal Zettle features include:

• Accepts international credit cards: Send invoices to customers in different countries and select the appropriate currencies for international sales. Your customers don’t even need to have their own PayPal accounts to send payments to you.
• $1 transaction minimum: Zettle’s $1 minimum transaction amount per payment lets you process sales for small items. The maximum amount for chip or tap payments is $50,000 while the maximum for manually keyed transactions is $10,000.
• PayPal deposit speed: If you receive payments through a PayPal account, payments processed via Zettle will reflect within minutes—no extra fees necessary.
• Built-in invoicing and receipt tools: Zettle includes built-in invoice and receipt tracking tools. You can search for receipts in the software, filtered by date. You can also create custom receipts that display your company name and logo and add details like discounts and tax amounts.

Helcim offers the cheapest payment processing for growing businesses, with free tools for invoicing and recurring billing. It also includes multicurrency payment processing features, so you can receive international sales in your local currency at no extra cost. It has in-person hardware similar to PayPal Zettle, and Helcim’s mobile card reader comes in at just $99.

Use Helcim if you have an established business with growing sales for both commercial retail and business-to-business (B2B). It offers zero monthly fees, automated volume discounts, and an excellent recurring payments platform. However, you may find it lacking in terms of back-office integration.

• Monthly software fee: $0
• Payment processing:
  • Online transactions: Interchange plus 0.15% – 0.5% + 15 – 25 cents
  • In-person transactions: Interchange plus 0.15% – 0.4% + 6 cents – 8 cents
  • Domestic ACH/ Wire transfers: 0.5% + 25 cents, $5 return fee
• Chargeback fee: $15 (refundable if dispute is won)
• Hardware:
  • Card reader: $99
  • Smart POS Terminal: $339 (monthly financing available)

Of all the Square alternatives on our list, only Helcim offers interchange-plus pricing—and without a monthly fee. This kind of pricing structure is often reserved for large-volume merchants, but Helcim makes it available for small businesses—even for startups. Automated discounts begin if your monthly sales reach more than $25,000 per month.

For businesses looking for zero-cost payment processing, Helcim provides an easy way to pass on the processing fees to the customer through Fee Saver. With this feature, businesses can collect convenience fees that are equivalent to the processing fees when a customer pays an invoice online.

Specific Helcim features include the following:

• Free mobile payment app and POS: Helcim’s payment app and POS system require no contracts and are entirely free to use—no fees for monthly use, setup, or cancellation.
• Multichannel sales management: Helcim’s online checkout tools let you set up an end-to-end ecommerce store with shipping and pickup, tipping and discount codes, and guest checkout—for both desktop and mobile devices.
• Recurring billing and subscription management: Set up automatic collection of credit card and ACH payments. You can create non-expiring subscriptions, a limited number of payment cycles, one-time setup fees, and trial periods.
• JavaScript-based payment security functionality with Helcim API: Embed payment options into your online store, without needing to handle sensitive information or worry about payment security.
• International sales and payments: With Helcim, you can accept credit card payments from anywhere in the world while receiving the funds in your local currency. This gives you unparalleled flexibility and more potential for sales and profits whether you are running a remote business, ecommerce store, or physical store targeting tourists or foreign customers.

Use Stripe if you accept online business orders requiring flexible payment tools for checkout pages, payment links, and even invoicing.

Customization is Stripe’s key feature. It offers open API software that allows businesses with the technical resources to build a branded checkout experience, making it one of our top payment gateways. It is also one of our recommended B2B payment solutions because of its compatibility with various payment types and billing processes.

Although Stripe started as an online-only platform, its release of the Stripe Terminal to accommodate in-person payments has made it a solid Square alternative to process online payments for businesses of all sizes. Because it is so popular, many ecommerce platforms and website builders have Stripe Payments built right into their software.

• Monthly software fee: $0 – $10 (Stripe Checkout)
• Payment processing:
  • Ecommerce: Starts at 2.9% + 30 cents
  • Touchless: 2.9% + 30 cents
  • Virtual terminal: 2.9% + 30 cents
  • Card-present (in-person): Starts at 2.7% + 5 cents
  • Keyed-in: 3.4% + 30 cents
  • ACH: 0.8%, $5 cap
• Hardware: $59 – $349

You can purchase Stripe credit card readers from the Stripe dashboard once you sign up for a merchant account.

Stripe is a popular choice for custom online checkouts and is, therefore, a good Square alternative for businesses looking to streamline their customer checkout experience. However, unlike most of the other options on this list, Stripe is strictly a payment processor, with extremely basic POS features (pretty much non-existent when compared to most Square competitors).

Specific Stripe features include:

• Customizable in-app checkouts: Create custom checkout pages for customers, with options for recurring (subscriptions) payments and memberships, one-time payments, and local or international payments.
• Hosted checkout pages with easy setup: Online checkout is more convenient with features like auto-complete, one-click payments, card brand identification, and optimization for any device.
• Customizable payouts: You will be able to receive funds from transactions on a two-day rolling basis and can choose between a weekly and monthly deposit schedule.
• Security and fraud protection: The software includes several tools to enhance your security and defend against fraud: Stripe Radar (machine learning that detects fraud using data), Stripe Identity (verifies users based on ID data), and Stripe Terminal Encryption (multiple levels of end-to-end encryption for Terminal users).

Learn how to accept online credit card payments and set up recurring billing.

Not many competitors can compare with Square’s mobile payment solution, but SumUp comes close. It is a payment processor with a free payment app and a wide range of affordable mobile card readers that allow you to access more payment processing features as you upgrade.

Use SumUp if you have a seasonal business that often sells at different locations such as farmers markets, tourist spots, and trade fairs. Like Square, SumUp does not charge any monthly fees, and transaction rates are competitive. It also does not impose add-on costs for accepting payments from foreign credit cards. However, this provider’s ecommerce tools are limited, so if you need this feature, consider Shopify instead.

SumUp is designed for mobile-based businesses, so you won’t find advanced POS features and tools similar to Square’s. You will, however, find additional payment methods—such as digital invoicing, refunding, and dynamic tip processing—as you upgrade your SumUp hardware.

More SumUp features include the following:

• Affordable 3-in-1 mobile card readers: SumUp offers a few different card reader devices, with increasing functionality as you upgrade. The highest option—a mini printer that also accepts payments as a standalone device—will run you only $169.
• Design, sell, and accept digital gift cards as a payment method: Build gift cards and share them with your customers via the SumUp app. You can share them via your own ecommerce site, social media, or directly with buyers.
• Weekly or daily promotions (depends on POS plan): As you upgrade your POS plan, you’ll unlock weekly and then unlimited promotions via email and SMS, plus automated marketing—allowing you to reach new and existing customers as efficiently as possible.
• Appointment booking: All SumUp POS plans include appointment booking tools accessible from the back office.
• SumUp Business Banking: A SumUp Business Account gives merchants several business-friendly features like digital wallet payments, cash flow reports, downloadable account statements, invoicing tools, payment links, scheduled payments, and quick access to wire or ACH transfers—all from your mobile phone with the SumUp app.

ightspeed is similar to Square in the sense that both are all-in-one POS systems with industry-specific options, built-in payment processing, hardware, ecommerce, industry-specific software, and business management tools. But while Square provides a more affordable solution, Lightspeed’s inventory management, ecommerce, and reporting tools are more robust.

Lightspeed sets the standard for inventory management, so use it if your business has outgrown Square’s inventory management capabilities. If you’re looking for a POS that has greater functionality and granularity than Square’s, then Lightspeed is your best option.

• Monthly software fee:
  • Retail POS: $89 – $289 (annual pricing) or $109 – $339 (monthly pricing)
  • Restaurant POS: $189 – $399
• Payment processing:
  • Chip, Tap & Swipe: 2.6% + 10 cents
  • Keyed-in: 2.6% + 30 cents
• Hardware: Custom-quoted; around $49 – $1,400 based on similar products from third-party websites

Lightspeed tops our most recommended POS inventory systems for its advanced inventory features that can handle multiple revenue streams. For its restaurant software, Lightspeed’s inventory tools make it an excellent choice for quick-service restaurants. It also made our list of multichannel POS systems.

Apart from inventory, Lightspeed also comes with strong reporting features and analytics tools that every growing business needs as it scales—automatic scheduled reports, sales tracking by SKU or brand, returns and basket size monitoring, detailed staff performance tracking, and more. You’ll also find a suite of integrations to customize the system easily based on your requirements.

Lightspeed’s most notable features include the following:

• Robust inventory tools: Lightspeed offers customizable matrix inventory, built-in purchase ordering, low stock alerts, bulk editing, and automated return management.
• Ecommerce platform: Lightspeed eCommerce, an online selling platform built into all the POS plans, lets you build a new online store or connect to an existing one for multichannel sales. You’ll also be able to sell across various social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
• Built-in and customizable reports: Generate and view custom reports for sales, inventory, tax, and payments. You can access all reports from your mobile device for monitoring store performance on the go.
• Automated data visualization: View and analyze information in reports in graphic form, for faster and more effective data assessment.
• More than 3,000 preloaded vendor catalogs: The POS includes an integrated supplier network catalog. This allows you to look up and discover new vendors, make purchase orders, and track these items all from a single dashboard.
• Strong technical support: When you create a Lightspeed account, you’ll get a dedicated account manager to answer any questions, plus 24/7 support. Lightspeed also has a comprehensive library of videos and guides to help familiarize you with the system or troubleshoot if things get confusing.

Shopify is the Square competitor with the most robust ecommerce offering, making it our top recommendation for the best ecommerce platform. You can build automated cart abandonment emails, create custom promotions and discounts, and leverage Shopify’s suite of shipping tools and services. Compared to Square, it offers more advanced and comprehensive features.

Use Shopify if you want to run your business primarily from a website. Small businesses can set up and customize an online store and use Shopify’s payment processing and POS tools to build a well-rounded retail command center. It comes with integrated social selling, local delivery, and curbside pickup options—a great way for retailers to get started on other channels.

• Monthly software fee: $5 – $89 (POS)
• Payment processing:
  • In-person: 2.4% + 10 cents to 5%
  • Online: 2.5% + 30 cents to 5% + 30 cents
• Hardware: $49 – $459

Like Square. Shopify offers tightly integrated online and in-person payment solutions. It is also our top-ranking multichannel POS system for native online businesses.

Shopify’s other features include the following:

• Detailed retail analytics and reporting: View custom reports for sales performance, customer behavior, conversions, staff performance, and more.
• Mobile dashboard app: Perform multiple business functions from a single flexible dashboard, including trends, inventory management, and CRM.
• 24/7 support via phone, email, and live chat: Gain access to all-day assistance with multiple ways to contact Shopify’s support team.
• Generous shipping discounts: Choose between USPS shipping options that will get you up to an 88% shipping discount.
• Discount codes: Set up automatic order, product, and shipping discounts for items in the shopping cart. Discounts can be protected by custom staff permissions.
• Marketing and ecommerce automations: Set conditions, timing, and cool-down periods for marketing and online selling automations. These automated tools help you boost revenue and capture new customers more efficiently.
• Smart inventory management: Create purchase orders, view demand forecasts and product suggestions, set low-stock alerts, and receive and track inventory in real time.

Toast is one of the most popular and reliable all-in-one restaurant POS system providers that, like Square, comes with its own payment processing and industry-grade proprietary software.

It’s built for restaurants, so you’ll get streamlined inventory management and payment tools along with a complete suite of industry-specific functionalities, making it the best Square competitor for restaurants.

Use Toast if you run a full-service restaurant that has outgrown Square’s restaurant POS software. Toast is fully loaded with restaurant-specific functions that can easily keep up with your growing business—digital menus, catering and events, mobile orders and payments, food costing, and more.

While hardware is more expensive, it offers a starter kit with zero upfront cost and zero monthly fees. Note, however, that this comes with a two-year contract, and you pay for the hardware with a portion of your sales.

• Monthly fee:
  • Standard plan: $0 – $69+ (base fee), $50 – $75 (optional upgrade)
  • Build Your Own: Custom pricing
• Payments processing:
  • Standard plan: 2.49% + 15 cents
  • Pay-as-you-go plan: 3.09% + 15 cents to 3.89% + 15 cents
• Hardware Fee:
  • Standard plan: $799.20 – $1,339.20 upfront cost
  • Pay-as-you-go plan: $0 upfront cost
• Contract length: Two years

Toast’s software is significantly more advanced compared to Square for Restaurants, although if you look closely, Square’s paid plans offer more value, with more features available at comparable price points. However, Toast is known for matching prices if you are switching from a different POS provider with the proper documentation.

Other notable Toast features include the following:

• Kitchen display system: A robust, proprietary KDS integrated with digital and online ordering means your kitchen staff can easily prioritize and complete orders coming from the dining room, takeout, delivery, and anywhere else.
• Advanced inventory management and recipe costing with xtraCHEF: The xtraCHEF add-on gives you food cost analytics, invoice automation, and accounting sync.
• Workforce management: The base plan includes timekeeping, and you can get add-ons for payroll and tax processing, digital onboarding, HR tools, and more.
• Restaurant operations suite: The base plan gets you order and table management, offline mode, and mobile payments. With add-ons, you’ll get tools for catering and events, plus mobile ordering.
• Loyalty and marketing tools: Add-ons are available for email marketing, loyalty programs, and gift cards.

aymentCloud offers a wide range of payment options, chargeback and fraud protection, next-day funding, and extended-hours customer support. However, its most unique feature is its compatibility with high-risk businesses like firearms, tobacco, and liquor retail. In fact, PaymentCloud got the top spot in our list of the best high-risk merchant account providers.

PaymentCloud’s drawbacks include a lack of transparent pricing (you’ll have to call to get exact figures), difficult website navigation, and some reports of a lengthy application process (though this is to be expected for a high-risk processor). You’ll also have to pay extra fees for a payment gateway and virtual terminal.

• Monthly fee:
  • $10 – $45
• In-person processing:
  • Low-risk transactions: 2% – 3.1%
  • Medium-risk transactions: 2.3% – 3.4%
  • High-risk transactions: 2.7% – 4.3%
• Chargeback fee: $25 – $45

PaymentCloud’s features make it a great pick for merchants who not only sell high-risk products but also want to offer various payment options as well as sell via multiple channels.

• High-risk merchant services: PaymentCloud specializes in medium- and high-risk businesses such as CBD, debt collection, firearms, sports betting, tobacco, and property management. If you run a high-risk business and are having a hard time finding a payment processor who will work with you, PaymentCloud is your best bet.
• Fraud protection and security: You’ll get chargeback protection and analytics, tokenization, data encryption, and payment halts in case of suspicious transactions.
• Payment versatility: Let your customers pay via credit cards, ACH, checks, digital wallets, QR codes, or cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin.