Stripe vs. Square: Which Is Better for Your Business?

Stripe vs. Square Compared

Who do we recommend Stripe for?

Stripe is a versatile, easy-to-use online payment service that gives your customers a speedy and convenient checkout experience. Its reasonably low rates, broad payment options and variety of mobile- and online-focused tools make it ideal for businesses doing international e-commerce or operating mostly (or exclusively) online. We especially love that Stripe accepts various currencies from all around the world.

Stripe may also be a better choice if you have an in-house developer who can make the payment processor work for you. Although it requires some coding, Stripe can be customized to match the look of your brand and be integrated into your online or mobile checkout processes. The company provides extensive documentation and tutorials to speed things along.

These are a few of Stripe’s primary benefits: 

• Stripe accepts over 100 payment methods and 135 currencies.
• With developer help, you can customize the payment process. 
• You can set up recurring payments and send invoicing for low rates. 

Stripe lets you create a customized checkout process and accept over 100 payment methods. Source: Stripe

Who do we recommend Square for?

Square is another big name in POS and payment solutions for businesses, and for a good reason: It’s been a dominant market force since 2009. It’s one of the best choices for small businesses, especially those with a physical presence, thanks to its excellent POS tools and hardware solutions. 

Square is also an appropriate choice for restaurants, retail businesses and service providers looking for an easy way to start selling online. No developer experience is necessary to use Square, and it can help you manage your company and your customer base relatively quickly. Plus, Square offers a number of different services, like payroll and email marketing, that seamlessly integrate into the Square platform. 

However, Square isn’t quite as versatile in terms of accepted currencies. On the plus side, Square is a little cheaper if you need a POS hardware terminal, since you get your first one for free when you sign up.

These are some of Square’s main benefits:

• Square offers a variety of affordable POS devices, including a free card swipe reader.
• There are a number of different plans with industry-specific features.
• All plans come with a website builder and social media tools to help build your online presence. 

Stripe vs. Square Comparison

Still not sure which of the two payment processors you should choose? Let’s break down the major features of Stripe and Square to see which software has the advantage.

Plans and Pricing

Stripe

• Stripe offers two plans: one with set fees and one with custom pricing.
• Pricing is transparent — and there are no monthly service fees.
• Online transaction fees are 2.9% plus $0.30; in-person rates are 2.7% plus $0.05.

Stripe offers two main plans for its customers. The Standard plan is a complete payment platform for online business owners who want to accept credit card payments. We love that the pricing is transparent, with no monthly or hidden fees. You’ll only pay extra if you add on some of Stripe’s additional services. 

The Custom plan lets you design a tailor-made package for your business and choose precisely what you want to pay for. This plan could be a better choice for larger businesses with many international customers, as Stripe may offer you better rates.

Here’s how additional pricing breaks down for the Custom plan:

• Online transactions (Payments): 2.9% plus $0.30
• In-person transactions (Terminal): 2.7% plus $0.05  
• Hardware: $59-$349 
• International cards: 1.5%
• Manually entered cards: 0.5%
• Currency conversion: 1%
• Tap to Pay: $0.10 
• Custom checkout domain: $10/month
• Chargebacks: $15
• Invoicing: 0.4%

Square

• Square has three plans for online payments, including a free option, with many features.
• Online processing rates start at 2.9% plus $0.30; in-person rates are 2.6% plus $0.10.
• You can also get Square’s other services like POS, invoicing and a virtual terminal.

Square offers a number of distinct plans geared towards different types of businesses with a ton of industry-specific features. Square Online is the product most similar to Stripe’s services, although you can easily combine it with any of Square’s other products, many of which have free entry-level plans.

Here’s a breakdown of Square Online’s three plans:

We love how easy it is to combine Square Online with other Square products. These are the additional payment processing solutions Square offers:

• Square POS: Sell online and in-person with Square’s POS systems. There’s a free plan that includes POS software and different paid plans with industry-specific features for restaurants, retail and appointments. 
• Virtual Terminal: Use your desktop to offer remote billing or phone payments. Starts at $0. 
• Invoices: Invoicing comes free with Square Online, but for $20 a month you can get a lower rate of 2.9% plus $0.30.
• Afterpay: With Afterpay you can let your customers pay in installments. The standard rate is 6% plus $0.30.
• Payment links: Send payment links or create a buy now button or QR payment codes. The standard rate is 3.3% plus $0.30.

Payments

Stripe

• Stripe is a versatile payment processor, accepting over 100 payment methods.
• You can accept international payments in 135 currencies from 195 countries.
• Stripe lets you customize the payment process.

Stripe offers a wide range of payment features for small business owners. You can process over 100 payment methods, including all major credit cards, mobile wallets and ACH payments. This makes it easy for businesses to accept niche payments from customers — another reason Stripe is well suited to online purchases. For an additional fee of 5.99% + $0.30, customers can even choose to pay later in installments through Klarna. 

Stripe excels at helping businesses operate internationally, accepting payments from 195 countries in 135 different currencies, including from popular international methods like WeChat Pay. No matter the currency your customer pays in, Stripe will convert it for a flat fee of 1%. We especially like that, no matter where you do business, you can customize your payment screens to match your branding and display local payment methods and currencies. 

Square

• Square accepts all major credit cards and mobile wallets.
• It only accepts payments in one currency. 
• Customers can pay later at no cost to you through Afterpay.

Square can accept credit cards from all U.S. providers and most international card companies. Like Stripe, it accepts mobile wallets, including Google Pay and Samsung Pay. We were disappointed that Square does not accept foreign currencies. You can only accept payments in the currency your account was set up to use. When foreign customers purchase your service, they will most likely have to pay an additional fee for their bank to convert the funds. 

Similar to Stripe, Square offers consumers the option to pay later through Afterpay, an additional service offered by Square’s parent company. Customers can pay in four interest-free installments, but you get the total payment right away. 

Additional Services

Stripe

• Stripe offers additional services for a fee.
• Its features include recurring payments, invoicing, tax calculation and fraud detection.

Stripe will screen payments and block any fraudulent transactions. Source: Stripe

Stripe offers a host of features to enhance how you take payments, most for an additional fee. You can accept recurring payments or send invoices. Stripe also lets you create custom virtual and physical cards. We especially love Stripe’s security features, including advanced fraud protection and identity verification tools. 

The platform can even calculate your taxes, including internationally. ​​On top of that, financial reporting tools are built into Stripe’s plans, along with customer reporting tools if you sign up for Stripe Sigma. 

Square

• Square Online comes with a website builder and social media tools.
• There are tools for invoicing, recurring payments and tax calculation.
• Square also offers solutions for payroll, marketing and customer loyalty. 

Square offers so much more than payment processing, even with its free plan. When you sign up to Square Online, you’ll get access to tools to build a business website, a free domain name for a year, delivery functions and social media selling assistance. Square also has features for sending invoices, calculating taxes, creating gift cards and setting up recurring payments. Analytics and reporting only come with paid plans.

We especially love that Square offers a ton of other business products that integrate seamlessly with your payment processing dashboard. You can add payroll, email marketing, text message marketing, a customer loyalty program and a customer directory. Some of these features can be accessed for free. Square can even set you up with a business debit card, a savings account or a business loan. 

Hardware 

Stripe

• Stripe offers card readers and POS devices.
• You can enable Tap to Pay on your mobile devices for a fee.

Compared to Square, Stripe’s hardware options for accepting in-person payments are quite limited. You can get a basic card reader for $59. There are also two touchscreen POS devices that go for either $249 or $349. If you don’t want to purchase a card reader, you can also enable Tap to Pay on your mobile device for $0.10 per transaction. As Stripe doesn’t offer POS software, you’ll have to build an integration into your native checkout solution. 

Square

• Square provides a free card swipe reader.
• There are multiple hardware options from card readers to POS kits.
• Tap to Pay doesn’t cost extra.

Square provides multiple hardware devices to accept in-person payments. Source: Square

Square stands out for the variety of hardware devices it offers. When you sign up, Square will send you a free swipe reader that attaches to any mobile device. Beyond that, you can choose from any of these options for accepting payments in person:

• First generation contactless card reader: $49
• Second generation contactless card reader: $59
• Square Stand (iPad POS for chip and contactless payments): $149
• Square Terminal (includes a built-in printer): $299
• Square Register (includes customer-facing display): $799
• POS Kits (includes register and printer): $579-$1959

Square also lets you enable your iOS or Android devices to accept Tap to Pay payments and there are no extra fees. Whether it’s Tap to Pay or a POS device, we love that set up is easy, as Square provides its own POS software. 

Ease of Use

Stripe

• Stripe isn’t overly complicated, but customization requires a developer.
• Stripe integrates with almost 200 third-party business solutions.

Stripe is relatively easy to use, though its reliance on some third-party tools makes getting started more of a challenge. One area where Stripe stands out is the developer tools. It offers a branded and custom UI toolkit, which is ideal for business owners who know how to code or have in-house developers. However, small businesses without a tech person might find it challenging to get the most out of all the customization options Stripe offers.

Stripe is known for how easily it integrates with almost 200 third-party apps and tools like WooCommerce and Squarespace. You can also integrate these tools with Stripe Billing or similar apps. 

Square

• You can get up and running with Square right away. 
• It’s easy to integrate payments with Square’s POS system and other services.
• There are over 300 integrations available.

One of Square’s biggest benefits is how easy the software is to use. You can get it up and running fairly quickly. Whether you need to build a website from scratch or integrate payment processing into your retail storefront, Square makes it painless. 

Also, Square’s POS devices are better than Stripe’s overall and sync with Square’s easy-to-use POS software. Plus, using the same simple dashboard, you can access Square’s other services, like payroll and marketing. Square also integrates with over 300 business solutions, like Quickbooks Online and Wix.

Support

Stripe

• Stripe offers three support plans, but pricing isn’t listed.
• All plans get 24/7 live chat, email and phone assistance, plus online resources.

Stripe offers an excellent range of customer service options through three plans, all including live chat, email, 24/7 phone support, an educational blog, and a detailed knowledge base. Email response times vary based on your plan level, and you’ll have to call to get a pricing quote. In general, we found Stripe offers reliable and timely support.

Square

• Basic support is available weekdays from 6 a.m to 6 p.m. PT.
• Premium subscribers get 24/7 phone support.
• There’s an online article database and a community forum.

Square provides all businesses with live customer service via phone and chat Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT. If you pay for the Premium plan, you get round-the-clock phone support. There’s a searchable online database with useful articles. Square also hosts a seller community with a forum where you can ask other users for help troubleshooting problems. 

Stripe vs. Square Recap

Choose Stripe if:

• You want a custom solution and have experience with coding or an in-house developer.
• You need to accept multiple payment methods and your business is mostly or entirely online.
• You’re looking for a payment processor that lets you accept payments in multiple currencies. 

Choose Square if:

• You want an easy solution to help your business take payments in person and online. 
• You need high-quality POS hardware and software with additional features for building an online presence.
• You’re looking for tools and features designed specifically for your industry.