Shopify vs Square: Pros, Cons, and Which Platform to Pick

Square and Shopify are both highly respected in the e-commerce world, and for good reason. They each offer a complete set of tools to help you create and manage your own  online store, plus they both have offline point-of-sale (POS) systems to support your business.

Choosing between them depends on your business needs. To make it easier, we are going to compare Square vs Shopify side by side, looking at how simple they are to use, their pricing, features, and reporting tools.

What is an eCommerce Platform?

An ecommerce platform is a tool that websites use to manage products, handle purchases, and interact with customers online.

Whether your business is big or small, B2B or B2C, selling physical products or offering services, it’s important to meet customers where they are – and more people are shopping online.

In 2020, 80% of Americans shopped online, and as of 2021, over 30% are online "constantly," according to Pew Research. This trend is likely to grow, so successful businesses are using ecommerce platforms to connect with their customers.

Shopify vs Square: Quick Overview

Shopify might be a familiar name for anyone entering the eCommerce space. It powers over 5 million stores in 170+ countries, making it one of the biggest eCommerce platforms globally. With its range of features, Shopify helps businesses of all sizes quickly set up online stores and start selling fast.

Square, known as a leading payment provider, expanded into eCommerce after acquiring Weebly in 2018. Now, more than 290,000 merchants use Square Online. Square Online offers new features, a free plan, and syncs easily with Square’s POS system, keeping inventory up to date across stores.

Here’s a quick look at how Shopify and Square compare.

That’s a big picture of comparison between Shopify vs Square. Now, let’s together look into the details and find out which would suit you most.

Features Comparison

1. Ease of Use

Both Shopify and Square have user-friendly interfaces. Shopify offers detailed explanations for each step, while Square features a drag-and-drop editor that lets merchants easily make adjustments.

Shopify Ease of Use

Unlike many eCommerce platforms that find it hard to balance power and simplicity, Shopify offers great features along with a simple and easy to use interface. With minimal technical knowledge, you can launch your online store by following the Shopify's Get-Started checklist.

We tested the platform for firsthand experience in this Shopify comparison. No one had any issues creating a Shopify site, and the whole process was enjoyable. As mentioned before, Shopify guides you through each step, and everything is organized clearly.

When it comes to daily interactions with Shopify, everything remains simple and easy to use.

Square Ease of Use

While Shopify requires more time to build, customize, and set up an online store, Square simplifies things by doing most of the work for you. You just need to enter your business name and address, select the features you want, upload a logo, and choose your preferred color.

Your store will then be set up with the information you provided. With just a few more text entries and products, your online business will be ready to launch!

Additionally, Square offers a drag-and-drop editor that lets you easily access and change anything right away. This level of flexibility isn't available with Shopify's section-based editor.

2. Ecommerce Features

When you're setting up an online store, the eCommerce features should be your top priority. Shopify is well-known as a leading eCommerce platform, while Square is a newer player in the market.

Check out the table below to learn more:

Shopify offers all the sales tools you need to run and grow an online business, which is why it outshines its competitors in this comparison. No matter if you're just starting or trying to expand an existing business, Shopify provides everything necessary to help you reach your long-term sales goals.

3. Point of Sale System (POS)

The competition between Square POS and Shopify POS is very close. However, Square POS has a slight edge because it’s free to install and includes a free card reader in its starter pack.

Shopify POS System

(Image Source: https://www.shopify.com/pos/features)

The Shopify POS system provides top-notch features for managing products, employees, and inventory easily. This point-of-sale software allows you to add as many items as you want, automatically categorize products, and create different product options based on materials and colors.

(Image Source: https://www.shopify.com/pos/pricing)

There are two pricing plans for the Shopify POS system: Shopify POS Sell in person and Shopify POS Sell everywhere. 

Shopify POS Sell in person

• Shopify POS Starter ($5/month) is great for sellers at pop-up shops and markets who don’t need a full online store. 
• Shopify POS Retail ($89/month) is better for busy retail businesses with a lot of foot traffic, large inventories, and multiple employees.

Shopify POS Sell everywhere

• Shopify POS Basic: $25/month
• Shopify POS Retail: $65/month
• Shopify POS Advanced: $399/month

Shopify has tested various hardware options to ensure they work well with the POS software. Recommended hardware includes the Countertop Kit, Tap & Chip Card Reader, POS Go and Tap to Pay on iPhone.

Square POS System

As a leader in the point-of-sale system industry, Square provides four types of POS software:

1. A regular point-of-sale app
2. Three specialized apps for restaurants, retail, and appointment bookings.

All of these options come with strong features for tracking inventory (for both online and physical stores), managing customers and orders, and providing real-time analytics.

(Image Source: https://squareup.com/us/en/point-of-sale)

While Shopify POS is suitable for businesses of all sizes, many new stores prefer Square POS because of its simple and clear pricing.

The Square POS system has no monthly or setup fees, and you get a free card reader with the starter pack. However, there is a small transaction fee (starting at 2.6% plus 10¢) for each payment made with Square POS.

Square also provides a range of hardware options, including popular devices like Square Register, Square Terminal, and Square Kiosk.

4. Marketing & SEO Features 

When comparing the two platforms for SEO and marketing, Shopify comes out on top. Both offer basic features, but Shopify has an advantage with its blogging function and good email tools.

Shopify Marketing & SEO Features

Fortunately, Shopify's SEO features are quite good. You can easily add in titles, meta descriptions, and images to your pages. Shopify lets you customize URLs and set up 301 redirects to prevent 404 errors. The site speed is decent, and organizing your site by categories is simple.

Shopify also includes a blogging feature, although there’s still room for improvement. You can also add tags and then modify titles or keywords. Plus, Shopify's SEO settings help you optimize your content, boosting the chances of appearing high on search results.

It's important to highlight that the platform provides great email features for sharing information and promoting products. Shopify's marketing automation lets you automatically send messages across multiple channels to improve engagement. Best of all, you can send up to 10,000 emails for free each month.

Square Marketing & SEO Features

Regarding SEO features, Square Online allows you to customize page titles and meta descriptions, then add alt text, and create headings. It's also very easy to change page and product URLs, and Square won’t add any prefixes to them.

However, if you run a Square Online store, you'll need to set up product redirects yourself. Additionally, the site speed can be slow, and none of the Square Online plans include a blogging option.

Additionally, the platform has strong email marketing features. Square Email Marketing works well with Square POS, making it easy to grow your contact list automatically. No matter you're promoting new products, last-minute deals, or seasonal offers, Square helps you quickly create relevant content using built-in AI technology to design effective campaigns.

5. Payment Options

Now, let’s take a look at the payment options available with Square and Shopify.

Shopify clearly comes out as top in this comparison with Square. The eCommerce leader offers a greater variety of payment options, and its transaction fees are more reasonable. Plus, Shopify provides a way to eliminate transaction fees altogether, which isn’t available with Square Online.

Shopify Payment Options

Shopify works with over 100 payment processors. Along with popular options like Stripe, PayPal, and 2Checkout, the platform also accepts e-wallets such as Google Pay and Apple Pay.

Additionally, Shopify Payments, the platform's own payment service, is available to various  stores in 23 countries, including the US, UK, Germany, etc.

This service removes all transaction fees on purchases made in your store. While you can avoid transaction fees with Shopify Payments, you will still need to pay credit card processing fees, which vary based on your Shopify pricing plan, order amount, and number of purchases.

Furthermore, Shopify Payments gives you complete access to Shop Pay, a checkout button specifically designed for Shopify stores.

Square Payment Options

It's no surprise that Square Pay is the primary payment option for Square Online stores. This processor accepts all major credit cards, including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover.

Although the selection seems limited compared to Shopify's extensive payment options, Square Online users can still accept payments like Google Pay and Apple Pay. So, it's fair to say that Square Online has everything you need to process payments.

Similar to Shopify, Square Online also charges a fee for each transaction. For online store transactions, you'll pay 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction, while in-person payments have a lower rate of 2.6% plus $0.30. However, if customers pay through an invoice or if the card details are filled in manually, the fees are significantly higher.

6. Multichannel Selling

Both Shopify and Square offer great multichannel selling options, but Shopify stands out with a wider range of integrations for multichannel selling.

Multichannel Selling with Shopify

If you're wondering whether Shopify supports multichannel selling, the answer is a resounding yes! Shopify makes it easier for users to manage and sell products through various sales channels.

In addition to the online store as the main sales channel, Shopify also includes Social Media icons, Point of Sale and Buy Buttons with every plan. Plus, it's easy to add other selling channels to your existing Shopify store just by using apps and integrations.

(Image Source: https://apps.shopify.com/categories/sales-channels)

Multichannel Selling with Square

Like its competitor, Square also makes multichannel selling easy. You can link a checkout button to your existing website, blog, or portfolio so customers can easily buy your products or services.

Even if you don’t have a site, you can still collect payments through a link or QR code created by Square Online Checkout. This way, your customers can pay without leaving the platform they're currently on.

(Image Source: https://squareup.com/us/en/payment-links)

Additionally, you can sell on social media using Square. The “Order with Google” feature is included with every Square Online site, helping customers quickly find your business and place orders online. The platform also connects with Google Product Listings, making it easy for shoppers to discover your products on Google Search, Shopping, or Images.

7. Scalability & Internationalization

Between Shopify vs Square, Shopify completely makes a better choice if you plan to go globally. Shopify Plus comes with outstanding features that every international seller would need.

Shopify Scalability

Shopify supports millions of online businesses in over 170 countries, making it a great choice for global reach. Its enterprise solution, Shopify Plus, allows your business to grow internationally without limits.

• Ship worldwide in 1-5 business days and track all orders at discounted rates.
• Customers can pay VAT, duties, and local taxes at checkout.
• They can also use local payment methods.
• The product catalog will automatically adjust based on regional import and shipping rules.
• Prices can be converted to over 130 local currencies.
• Communicate effectively in each market with language translation and region-specific content.

Square Scalability

While Square Online doesn’t have a specific version for global sales, it still lets you ship physical products internationally. To support this, Square Online offers an international shipping option for your business.

However, you need to create an international shipping profile, choose the countries you want to ship to, and set the shipping rates.

Note: EasyShip, Shippo, and ShipBob are special shipping partners of Square Online. They aim to provide an automated shipping experience, discounted rates with major global carriers, and easy order fulfillment and warehousing.

8. Help & Support

Shopify clearly comes out on top in the Shopify vs. Square matchup when it comes to help and support. This platform offers excellent customer service that most other eCommerce platforms can’t match.

Shopify Help & Support

Shopify stands out from its competitors because of its excellent customer support. The support team is available 24/7 through phone, live chat, and email, so they can quickly address your concerns.

Additionally, Shopify users can easily look for information in the Shopify Help Center or find answers in the active eCommerce community.

Square Help & Support

Square has a comprehensive Help Center with a lot of information. You can find answers just by using search bar or browsing the categories to locate what you need.

9. Security

It's a tie! Both Square Online Store and Shopify provide good security features. When you run your online business on these platforms, you benefit from built-in SSL security, PCI compliance, and the option to save customer card details.

Shopify Security

When you run a Shopify store, you don't have to worry about security. Shopify handles all security issues behind the scenes.

Each Shopify site comes with SSL certification and two-factor authentication (2FA) ensuring that all data shared between you and your customers is well encrypted. The platform also meets security standards for processing credit and debit card transactions, boosting the trustworthiness of your store.

Additionally, every Shopify plan includes an internal fraud analysis that checks for fraud indicators, supports third-party fraud apps, and provides helpful recommendations.

Square Security

As a leading payment processor, Square Online offers good security features.

Secure card readers and POS systems help protect customer payment information. While all payment data is encrypted, card numbers, magnetic-stripe data, and security codes will not be stored on any devices, so you don’t have to worry about PCI compliance with your Square POS device.

Additionally, every Square account includes free fraud monitoring and dispute management. There’s also a tool called Risk Manage that addresses any suspicious card payments.

10. Integration with other apps

Both Shopify and Square have app stores that let you add additional features to your store or connect with other online applications.

Shopify App Store

Shopify has a variety of apps to help you grow your business. The Shopify app store includes apps for order management, marketing automation, social media integration, inventory management, shipping, and accounting software.

You can also find integrations like Google Analytics and Facebook Ads, they are with popular tools. The app store makes it easy to find the apps that best suit your business needs because it is organized into categories.

For example, if you wish to customize or personalize your Shopify store, you can utilize the Shopify Page Builder app such as EComposer, no code, but various elements.

Square Apps

As of now, Square offers around 400 apps, while Shopify has over 13,000. While Shopify has many more apps, Square Online provides quality extensions suitable for various purposes, including ticketing, team management, and invoicing.

Square's app selection has many options specifically for food and dining businesses, which makes sense since a big part of Square’s POS services caters to this sector.

However, Square's app store lacks tools for customizing your online store. In contrast, Shopify's app store has thousands of apps that add extra features, with over 1,000 focused solely on store design and theme customization.

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Pricing Plan Breakdown

1. Shopify Pricing Plan

(Image Source: https://www.shopify.com/pricing) 

Shopify has five monthly pricing plans:

• Shopify Starter — $5 per month
• Basic Shopify — $25 per month
• Shopify — $65 per month
• Advanced Shopify — $399 per month
• Shopify Plus — starting at $2,300 per month

There's also a free trial for Shopify, but it lasts only 3 days, which is shorter than the 7 or 14-day trials offered by many other eCommerce platforms.

Currently, Shopify has a promotion that lets you extend the trial to 1 month for just $1. You can find this offer online.

Another way to save money on Shopify is through its ‘credits’ system, where you can apply 1% of your sales towards your Shopify subscription. This is a trial program, and you can check if it’s available in your country.

Additionally, you can reduce your subscription costs by 25% if you pay for a year upfront. For example, the annual prices for the ‘Basic,’ ‘Shopify,’ and ‘Advanced’ plans are $29, $79, and $299, respectively.

The features you can use depend on the Shopify plan you choose. Here are some important differences to note:

• The ‘Starter’ plan doesn't allow you to create a fully customizable online store. Instead, it offers a basic storefront with limited customization options. You can sell on social media channels like Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, as well as in person at a point of sale, and share product links.
• The number of users you can add to your account varies by plan. The ‘Starter’ and ‘Basic’ plans allow only one user, the ‘Shopify’ plan allows five users, and the ‘Advanced Shopify’ plan allows up to 15 users.
• Credit card and transaction fees decrease as you move to higher-priced plans.
• Better shipping discounts are available on the ‘Shopify’ plan and higher, while real-time carrier shipping is only offered on the ‘Advanced’ plan and above.
• The ‘Advanced’ plan provides improved features for international selling, such as estimating and collecting duties and import taxes.
• The ‘Shopify Plus’ plan is specially designed for larger businesses and offers advanced security features, APIs, improved server uptime, task automation, and dedicated support.

2. Square Pricing Plan

(Image Source: https://squareup.com/us/en/online-store/plans) 

Square has a different pricing strategy compared to Shopify. It offers basic access to its point-of-sale (POS) system and online store builder for free.

If your annual sales are under $250,000, you can use the POS service at one location without any charge (though transaction fees apply for each sale).

For the online store builder, there is a free version available, but it includes ads for Square and can't be linked to a custom domain (like yoursite.com).

Pricing Plans for Square Online

Square Online plans (annual plans) allow you to create a free online store, unlike Shopify. Here are the main pricing plans for Square’s POS and software add-ons:

1. Square Online Storefront Pricing

• Free: $0 per month
• Plus: $32 per month
• Premium: $88 per month

2. Restaurant POS Software Pricing

• Free: $0 per month
• Plus: $69 per month
• Premium: $165 per location per month

3. Retail POS Software Pricing

• Free: $0 per month
• Plus: $89 per month
• Premium: Custom pricing

4. Customer Loyalty Software Pricing

• 0 – 500 loyalty visits: $45 per month
• 500 – 1,500 loyalty visits: $75 per month
• 1,501 – 10,000 loyalty visits: $105 per month

5. Payroll Software Pricing

• Contractors: $6 fee per person paid
• Employees: $35 per month plus a $5 fee per person paid.

Like Shopify, Square gives discounts if you pay for a full year of service upfront.

Here are some important differences to know about the Square Online store plans:

• You can’t use a custom domain with a free Square account.
• Free stores have noticeable Square advertisements.
• Custom fonts are only available on the Plus plan or higher.
• Features like abandoned cart emails and product review tools are only on the Plus plan or higher.
• You need to be on the Plus or Premium plan to send customers text alerts about their order status.
• The Premium plan has lower transaction fees for online payments.
• Real-time shipping rates can only be shown on the Premium plan.
• The $0.50 fee for in-house deliveries is not charged on the Premium plan.

As for which company’s plans provide better value, it really depends on the type of business you’re running.

If your focus is on selling in person, especially if you own a restaurant or food business, Square's pricing and POS hardware might be a better fit for you than Shopify's.

On the other hand, if your business relies more on an online store and you have international customers, Shopify's pricing plans provide better features for customizing and expanding your eCommerce business.

Shopify vs Square: Pros and Cons

If you’ve been through all the features above but still haven’t known how to decide, then this Pros and Cons table of comparison between Shopify vs Square might help you.

To explore more details about Shopify pros and cons, please click the link to find out.

Final Verdict for Shopify vs Square: Which Platform to Pick?

When choosing between Shopify vs Square for your business, think about where you primarily sell and how much you focus on e-commerce.

Shopify is an outstanding choice for businesses that want to sell online, in stores, or on social media. If you need e-commerce tools, a wide range of apps, and advanced features, Shopify is a strong option. It’s perfect for businesses aiming to build and grow their online presence effectively.

On the other hand, Square is ideal for businesses that want an easy way to accept payments without a long-term commitment. If you're selling online, in person, or through invoices, Square might be the right option for you.