Key takeaways
- Shopify and Square are two of the most popular point-of-sale (POS) system providers and ecommerce store platforms.
- Square is best for businesses that primarily sell in-store and may need a simple online store.
- Shopify is best for businesses that focus on ecommerce sales and may also need in-store payment processing.
Businesses that sell in-store and online need a reliable multichannel POS system and a good online site builder that is seamlessly integrated. Square and Shopify are two of the top options for small businesses, entrepreneurs, and online sellers looking for a reliable platform for their ecommerce and POS needs.
I compared Square vs Shopify and looked at their key differences and how each can fit different business needs.
Featured partners
Square vs Shopify: Key differences
Monthly fee
Starts at $0
Starts at $5
Payment processing
- Flat rate
- Square Payments only
- Depends on payment processor and Shopify plan
- Shopify Payments for POS; also compatible with third-party processors
Online store
Basic website builder with limited customization included in the free plan
Simple online store included in the lowest plan
Hardware options
- Free magstripe reader
- Paid devices start at $49
- Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android
- No free device
- Prices start at $49
- Tap to Pay on iPhone
Customer support
- Mon to Fri phone support
- 24/7 automated chat support
- Seller community
- Resource library
- 24/7 phone support
- Community forum
- Resource library
Expert Tip
Are Shopify and Square not right for your needs? Check out our list of the Best POS systems for business.
Square: Best for in-person sales
Overall Score
4.03/5
Pricing
4.69/5
Hardware
4/5
Features
3.5/5
Support and reliability
3.13/5
User experience
4.38/5
User scores
4.5/5
Pros
- Basic plan requires no initial upfront costs
- Free online store and POS software
- Free card reader
Cons
- Limited customer support hours
- Shipping tools are for higher plans only
- Only works with Square Payments as its payment processor
Square is an all-in-one POS system designed specifically for startups, independent sellers, and small businesses. I find it particularly appealing for its user-friendly interface, cost-effectiveness, and accessibility. With various plans and POS devices, I see how Square provides the flexibility businesses need to thrive. Its lowest-tier plan eliminates the need for an initial investment, allowing businesses to start accepting payments with ease.
Its free basic plan comes with a simple online website ideal for people just starting their ecommerce business or for brick-and-mortar merchants looking to extend their business into online selling. Square also offers solutions to accommodate the specific needs of restaurants and appointment-based businesses.
Read more: Restaurant POS systems
Square handles its payment processing through Square Payments, and businesses cannot use third-party processors.
Square’s POS software is a free, feature-rich platform that simplifies business operations. It includes essential tools for sales tracking, inventory management, and customer relationship management, all within an intuitive interface.
The software integrates seamlessly with Square’s hardware and allows businesses to process in-person, online, and mobile payments with ease. I find this integration particularly beneficial for maintaining consistency across sales channels.
The software is highly customizable, offering industry-specific features like table management for restaurants, appointment scheduling for service-based businesses, and barcode scanning for retail. It also includes robust reporting tools that provide real-time insights into sales, inventory, and customer behavior. From my experience, these insights are invaluable for making data-driven decisions.
The cloud-based system keeps data synced across devices and eliminates the need for long-term commitments, making it a practical choice for businesses of all sizes, even very small and new ones.
Square’s POS devices are designed to cater to startups and small businesses, while options for growing businesses are also available. The magstripe reader comes free upon signing up, and Square’s Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android allows you to accept contactless payments using a compatible mobile phone.
If you require more robust solutions, Square also has the following:
- Square Stand: Transforms an iPad into a POS terminal
- Square Register: A fully integrated POS system
- Square Terminal: A portable all-in-one device for in-person payments.
I like that these options provide flexibility, whether you’re running a pop-up shop or managing multiple storefronts.
The Square website builder is free to use, even with its lowest-tier plan that has no monthly fees. With Square Online, businesses can quickly create a simple, functional website where customers can place orders for shipping or pickup. I think this can make it very easy for existing brick-and-mortar businesses to expand into ecommerce without any additional costs.
- Integrated payment processing: Accepts credit cards, digital wallets, and ACH payments with transparent flat-rate fees.
- Industry-specific solutions: Offers tailored features for restaurants, appointment-based businesses, and retail stores.
- Management tools: Offers a simple inventory management tool that syncs your inventory across your sales channels. Like Shopify, it comes with reporting, analytics, and team management tools.
- Analytics and reporting: Provides detailed insights into sales, inventory, and customer behavior to support data-driven decisions.
- Employee management: Includes tools for tracking employee hours, managing permissions, and monitoring performance.
- Marketing tools: Features email and SMS marketing campaigns to engage customers and drive repeat business.
- Loyalty programs: Has customizable rewards programs to incentivize customer retention.
- Payroll services: Simplifies payroll management with automated calculations, tax filings, and direct deposits. (has add-on fees)
- Invoicing: Allows businesses to create, send, and track professional invoices for faster payments.
- Mobile payment options: Accepts payments on the go via the Square mobile app and card reader.
- Fraud protection: Offers 24/7 monitoring, PCI compliance, and chargeback assistance to ensure secure transactions. Square also waives chargeback fees up to $250.
| Plan | Free | Plus | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ecommerce monthly fee | $0 | $29 | $79 |
| POS monthly fee | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Online processing fee | 2.9% + 30 cents | 2.9% + 30 cents | 2.6% + 30 cents |
| In-person processing fee | 2.6% + 10 cents | 2.6% + 10 cents | 2.6% + 10 cents |
| Keyed-in processing fee | 3.5% + 15 cents | 3.5% + 15 cents | 3.5% + 15 cents |
Shopify: Best for ecommerce sales
Overall Score
4.06/5
Pricing
3.44/5
Hardware
4/5
Features
4.25/5
Support and reliability
4.38/5
User experience
3.75/5
User scores
4.57/5
Pros
- Customizable website with or without coding
- Wide range of apps on the marketplace to extend online store and POS functionality
- Local shipping options even with the lowest plan
Cons
- Functionalities like shipping calculator and low-stock alerts only on higher plans
- No free plan
- Additional transaction fees with third-party processors
Shopify is an ecommerce platform and POS system that I find ideal for online businesses and multichannel sales. It offers customizable website templates, allowing business owners to create their online store without coding knowledge while giving tech-savvy entrepreneurs the flexibility to build websites from scratch.
I appreciate Shopify’s robust suite of ecommerce tools, including its app integrations, shipping features, analytics, and built-in marketing tools. It also includes essential management features, such as product, inventory, order and fulfillment, and team management, making it a comprehensive solution for growing businesses.
Read more: Restaurant POS systems
Shopify can process payments through its own Shopify Payments system but also supports third-party payment processors, albeit with additional transaction fees on the ecommerce platform. From my perspective, this flexibility makes it a practical option for a variety of business needs. I think Shopify is an excellent option for those who want to build a robust ecommerce website and then venture into in-person sales as well.
Shopify’s POS software easily integrates with its ecommerce platform, creating a centralized system for managing both online and in-person sales. It provides tools for inventory management, order tracking, and customer profiles across all sales channels. Like with Square, I find the ability to manage everything from one dashboard especially convenient for streamlining operations.
The software supports features like local pickup, delivery, and in-store payments, which I think are excellent for meeting the needs of retail businesses. Its advanced analytics and reporting provide valuable insights into sales trends and customer behavior. I also appreciate its extensive app marketplace and how Shopify apps extend the platform’s capabilities and allow businesses to customize and scale their POS systems effortlessly.
Shopify has a range of POS hardware designed to support in-person sales. Its hardware lineup includes:
- Shopify Tap & Chip Reader: For contactless and chip payments
- POS Go: For mobile sales with an all-in-one portable device
- Countertop Kit: With a card reader dock and accessories for fixed retail setups
I find Shopify’s hardware solutions versatile and able to accommodate most businesses, from small market stalls to full-scale retail stores. Each device integrates seamlessly with the Shopify POS software, ensuring smooth transactions, real-time inventory updates, and a cohesive sales experience.
Shopify offers a comprehensive suite of ecommerce tools that allow businesses to create and manage their online stores with ease. It provides everything a business needs, from customizable website themes to secure payment gateways that helps you establish a professional and engaging online presence.
I think Shopify’s strength lies in its robust ecommerce tools. Compared to Square’s website builder (which is great for simple, quick setups), Shopify offers significantly more customization and scalability. Its platform supports multichannel selling, allowing businesses to list products on social media platforms, marketplaces, and integrate with Shopify POS for in-person sales.
Shopify also outshines Square in its app marketplace, providing endless opportunities to add features like dropshipping, subscription management, and advanced analytics. I appreciate the flexibility Shopify offers for businesses aiming to scale and diversify, making it a better fit for those seeking a long-term ecommerce solution.
- App marketplace: Access to thousands of third-party apps for functionalities like marketing, customer support, and inventory management.
- Shipping tools: Discounted shipping rates, label printing, and order tracking capabilities.
- Marketing tools: Built-in SEO tools, email marketing campaigns, and integration with social media platforms.
- Customer management: Detailed customer profiles, purchase history tracking, and tools to manage customer loyalty programs.
- Analytics and reporting: Advanced reporting tools for sales, traffic, and customer insights to guide data-driven decisions.
- Multichannel selling: Integration with social media platforms, online marketplaces, and Shopify POS for unified sales management.
- Subscription and recurring payments: Ideal for businesses offering subscription-based services or recurring billing.
- Mobile app: Manage your store, track orders, and monitor sales from anywhere with the Shopify mobile app.
- Global selling features: Support for multiple currencies, international shipping options, and multilingual store capabilities.
| Plan | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter (POS Lite) | Retail (POS Pro) | Basic | Shopify | Advanced | |
| Monthly fee | $5 | $89 | $39 | $105 | $399 |
| Online processing fee | 5% + 30 cents | 2.9% + 30 cents | 2.9% + 30 cents | 2.7% + 30 cents | 2.5% + 30 cents |
| In-person processing fee | 5% | 2.6% + 10 cents | 2.6% + 10 cents | 2.5% + 10 cents | 2.4% + 10 cents |
| Add-on fees for 3rd-party processor | 5% | 2% | 2% | 1% | 0.6% |
*POS plans come with free use of limited online store
**Ecommerce plans come with free use of POS lite
Square vs Shopify: A detailed comparison
Ecommerce monthly fees
$0–$79
$39–$399
POS monthly fees
$0
$5–$89
Transaction fees
Starts at 2.6% + 10 cents
Starts at 2.4% + 30 cents
Hardware options
- Free magstripe reader
- Paid devices start at $49
- Standalone terminal costs $299 or $37 in 12 months
- Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android
- No free device
- Prices start at $49
- Standalone terminal costs $299
- Tap to Pay on iPhone
Payment processing
Square Payments only
Shopify Payments or third-party payment processor
Key features
- No chargeback fees
- Industry-specific POS
- Online ordering and online booking sites
- 8,000+ integrations
- Cryptocurrency payments
- Highly customizable online store
Customer support
- Mon to Fri phone support
- 24/7 automated chat support
- Seller community
- Resource library
- 24/7 phone support
- Community forum
- Resource library
Square vs Shopify Pricing
The main difference between Square and Shopify POS when it comes to pricing is that Square offers a free plan, while Shopify does not. Shopify’s lowest plan requires a monthly fee, unlike Square’s basic free plan, which allows you to start your online store and start accepting payments immediately.
Both Shopify and Square offer discounted processing fees for high-volume sellers, and contracts are month-to-month. For payment processing, their transaction fees are very similar, with some small differences across plans. The payment processing fees of Shopify’s Basic plan match Square’s Free plan. The two plans have the same online and in-person processing fees, but Square will come out cheaper with its $0 monthly fee compared to Shopify Basic’s $39 monthly fee.
Unlike Square, which is locked in with Square Payments as its payment processor, Shopify allows the use of third-party payment processors instead of its built-in processor, Shopify Payments. However, using a third-party payment processor will incur add-on transaction fees ranging from 0.6% to 5%, depending on the plan.
Square vs Shopify Hardware
When it comes to POS hardware devices, Square is also slightly ahead of Shopify. Square comes with a free magstripe reader and accepts Tap to Pay for both Android and iPhone. Businesses can immediately start accepting payments without paying for any POS device.
Although Shopify does not provide a free device, it accepts Tap to Pay for iPhone. With a compatible iPhone device, Shopify users can immediately start accepting payments by using their iPhones as card readers.
Read more: Best POS Hardware for Business
Square vs Shopify Features
When comparing Shopify and Square’s features, both platforms offer easy-to-use solutions for online store capabilities. Shopify shines with its full-featured online store functionality, available from its Basic plan and up, which allows businesses to establish a professional and customizable online presence with ease.
In contrast, Square Online is free with limited features and requires upgrading to a Plus plan for full online store functionality. This may present a limitation for businesses on lower-tier plans but may be useful for starting businesses that are still just finding their footing with their online business. Additionally, Shopify provides the flexibility of using a custom domain across all plans, offering businesses greater branding opportunities compared to Square’s restriction to higher-tier plans.
In terms of shipping features and tax calculation, Shopify emerges as the superior option. Shopify offers excellent shipping capabilities and automatic tax calculation based on location, which speeds up processes. Conversely, Square’s shipping features are decent, but its manual tax calculation may pose challenges for businesses dealing with multiple tax jurisdictions. Plus, Shopify also offers higher shipping discounts.
Moreover, Shopify boasts extensive inventory management tools that businesses can use to efficiently track and manage their stock levels across all plans, whereas Square’s inventory management is only available for its Plus plans and above. Overall, while both platforms offer valuable features for businesses, those who mainly sell online will find Shopify to be a more comprehensive and versatile solution.
Square vs Shopify Customer support and user reviews
Both Shopify and Square offer excellent support resources and receive positive feedback from users. Square provides phone support from Monday to Friday, along with an automated chat support system available 24/7. Additionally, Square has a seller community and resource library, offering users opportunities to connect with peers and access helpful resources for optimizing their experience.
For those who prefer to have access to live help anytime, Shopify offers 24/7 phone support, a community forum, and a resource library, providing users with multiple channels to seek assistance and engage with the platform’s community.
When it comes to user reviews on platforms like Capterra, G2, and SoftwareAdvice, both Shopify and Square receive high ratings, reflecting their overall satisfaction among users. While Square’s ratings consistently hover around the 4.6 out of 5 range across these platforms, Shopify also maintains strong ratings, typically ranging from 4.4 to 4.6 out of 5.
These positive reviews highlight the effectiveness of both platforms in meeting users’ needs and delivering value through their respective features, customer support, and overall user experience.
Ultimately, businesses considering Shopify or Square can feel confident in their choice, knowing that both platforms have garnered positive feedback and offer reliable support resources to assist users along their ecommerce journey.
Shopify vs Square: Which is right for your business?
For businesses operating in-store: Square
When deciding between Shopify and Square for your business, consider your primary sales channels and the level of emphasis on ecommerce. Square is an excellent choice for businesses that primarily operate in-store and require a simple online store as an additional sales channel. With its user-friendly interface and straightforward pricing, Square offers seamless payment processing solutions that cater to brick-and-mortar establishments.
For businesses focused on ecommerce sales: Shopify
On the other hand, Shopify is the preferred option for businesses that prioritize ecommerce sales and may also require in-store payment processing capabilities. Its robust ecommerce tools, extensive app marketplace, and advanced features make Shopify the ideal platform for businesses looking to establish and grow their online presence effectively.
Whether you’re a retail store looking to expand online or an ecommerce-focused business seeking comprehensive solutions, choosing between Shopify and Square ultimately depends on your specific business needs and sales strategy.
Frequently asked questions
