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Alternatives to Square
SumUp if you take payments occasionally and want the cheapest reader, Clover if you run a restaurant or shop needing full POS, Stripe if most of your revenue is online. PayPal Zettle makes sense if you are already inside PayPal. Square's flat rate is genuinely competitive — the usual reason people leave is an account hold, not the fee.
Pricing verified 2026-07-29 · we re-check quarterly · how we compare
Best for: Occasional in-person sales at the lowest fixed cost
Pricing: Cheap card reader plus a flat per-transaction rate, no monthly fee. source
Verdict: The lowest-cost way to accept cards in person if you do it occasionally.
Best for: Restaurants and retail needing full POS
Pricing: Hardware plus monthly software plans, usually via a merchant account. source
Verdict: The right pick when you need real POS rather than a card reader. Read the reseller contract carefully.
Best for: Online-first businesses that need a real API
Pricing: Per-transaction pricing with no monthly fee on the standard product. source
Verdict: The answer when online is the majority of revenue and in-person is secondary.
Best for: Sellers already inside PayPal
Pricing: Per-transaction rates with hardware sold separately. source
Verdict: Reasonable if PayPal is already your hub. Otherwise it trades one hold risk for the same one.
We say this on every page. A comparison that never recommends staying put is an advert, not a comparison.
For occasional in-person sales, SumUp is cheaper. For restaurants, Clover offers deeper POS. For online-first businesses, Stripe. Square is hard to beat as an all-round package for small retail.
No processor is free — all take a per-transaction cut. SumUp and Square both have no monthly fee, so you pay only when you sell, which is the closest thing available.
Square is easier to start with, has no contract, and its software is free. Clover offers deeper restaurant and retail features but is usually sold through a merchant account with a contract and variable rates. Square for simplicity, Clover for complex operations.
The most common complaint is account holds and sudden deactivations, often triggered by unusual volume, with slow resolution. Its flat rate also becomes less competitive at higher volume, where interchange-plus pricing wins.
