Alternatives to Square
Payments and POS for in-person and online
Square ranks #4 of 13 in Payment processors, with an Alt Score of 89. It is proprietary and available on Web, iOS and Android. 13 of 13 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
Small and medium-sized businesses across food & beverage, retail, beauty, and services that need to take payments in person and online.
A bundled suite of point-of-sale hardware (readers, terminals, registers, kiosks) and software covering payments, invoicing, online ordering, customer marketing, staff scheduling/payroll, and business banking.
Businesses set up Square hardware or Square Online/APIs to process card, contactless, and digital-wallet payments, with transactions, reporting, and other tools managed from the Square dashboard.
Why people leave Square
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
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Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
PayPal's enterprise/developer payment gateway (formerly standalone Braintree).
Feature comparison
Rows come from the Payment processors checklist (17 rows). Human-verified cells only. ? means the value has not been verified.
| Payment processors checklist | Square | Stripe | Adyen | Mollie | Checkout.com | PayPal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
| Starts at | ||||||
| License | ||||||
| Platforms | ||||||
| Hosted checkout / payment links | ||||||
| Recurring billing & subscriptions | ||||||
| In-person / POS payments | ||||||
| Local payment methods (wallets, bank debit) | ||||||
| Multi-currency settlement | ||||||
| Marketplace / split payments | ||||||
| Built-in fraud & risk tools | ||||||
| Dispute / chargeback management | ||||||
| Sales-tax calculation add-on | ||||||
| PCI DSS Level 1 | ||||||
| Developer API & SDKs | ||||||
| Interchange++ / cost-plus pricing | ||||||
| Instant / fast payouts |
Every fact and feature listed for Square is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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Pricing model Usage-based verified 2026-07-12
2.9% + 30¢",tier_plus:"2.9% + 30¢",tier_premium:"2.9% + 30¢""
tier_free:
https://squareup.com/us/en/pricing -
Starts at 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction verified 2026-07-12
Online API",tooltip:"Applies to card payments made within your web or mobile application's workflow using our payments APIs.",tier_free:"2.9% + 30¢",tier_plus:"2.9% + 30¢",tier_premium:"2.9% "
feature:
https://squareup.com/us/en/pricing -
License Proprietary verified 2026-07-12
© 2026 Square, Inc. Developer terms of service
https://developer.squareup.com/docs/payments-api/take-payments-and-collect-fees -
Status active verified 2026-07-12
Square Introduces New ChatGPT and Claude Integrations, Helping Sellers Reach Customers Through AI-Powered Discovery
https://squareup.com/us/en/press/claude-chatgpt-integrations -
Platforms Web, iOS, Android verified 2026-07-12
Square Point of Sale - iPhone/iPad app on the App Store
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/square-point-of-sale/id335393788 -
Hosted checkout / payment links Yes verified 2026-07-12
A payment link that does it all | Square Payment Links
https://squareup.com/us/en/payment-links -
Recurring billing & subscriptions Yes verified 2026-07-12
Set recurring payments for donations, membership fees, professional services, and more. Generate recurring revenue today.
https://squareup.com/us/en/subscriptions -
In-person / POS payments Yes verified 2026-07-12
POS Systems | Point of Sale Systems for all Businesses | Square
https://squareup.com/us/en/point-of-sale -
Local payment methods (wallets, bank debit) Yes verified 2026-07-12
Customers can also pay using digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay, or choose installment options through Afterpay.
https://squareup.com/us/en/payments -
Multi-currency settlement No verified 2026-07-12
The ability to charge your customers in different currencies with Square Point of Sale is not available.
https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/5415-can-i-accept-multiple-currencies-with-square -
Marketplace / split payments Yes verified 2026-07-12
You can create an application integrated with Square to process payments on behalf of sellers that sign up to use the application. You can collect a portion of each payment that your application proce
https://developer.squareup.com/docs/payments-api/take-payments-and-collect-fees -
Built-in fraud & risk tools Yes verified 2026-07-12
Risk Manager helps you detect fraud and prevent loss without slowing the growth of your online business. Create custom rules and automatically block suspicious cards.
https://squareup.com/us/en/security -
Dispute / chargeback management Yes verified 2026-07-12
Allow our team of experts to help shepherd your dispute through the process.
https://squareup.com/us/en/security -
Sales-tax calculation add-on Yes verified 2026-07-12
Step 1: Add tax enrollments to automatically calculate US taxes
https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/5061-create-and-manage-your-tax-settings -
PCI DSS Level 1 Yes verified 2026-07-12
PCI Data Security Standard, Level 1
https://squareup.com/us/en/security -
Developer API & SDKs Yes verified 2026-07-12
Square API and SDK Documentation. Your toolkit for building custom apps with Square.
https://developer.squareup.com/docs -
Interchange++ / cost-plus pricing Partial verified 2026-07-12
If you process over $250,000 per year, talk to our team to see if you're eligible for custom pricing and processing fees.
https://squareup.com/us/en/pricing -
Instant / fast payouts Yes verified 2026-07-12
Same-Day and Instant Transfers — Get Paid Instantly | Square Transfers
https://squareup.com/us/en/payments/instant-transfers