# The best Square alternatives in 2026

URL: https://www.paydude.io/resources/best-square-alternatives
Type: Guide
Published: 2026-11-04 · Updated: 2026-11-04
Summary: The best Square alternatives in 2026 for in-person and online businesses, compared on published fees and fit, plus when staying on Square makes sense.

## Summary

The best Square alternative depends on whether you sell in person or online, because Square serves both groups with one product. In-person sellers should compare Clover, Toast, Shopify POS, Stripe Terminal and Helcim, judging each on card-present rates, monthly software fees and hardware. Online, invoicing and software businesses that have outgrown Square should compare Paydude, Stripe, Braintree and Helcim. Paydude charges 2.6% + 25¢ online against 3.3% + 30¢ on Square's Free plan (2.9% + 30¢ on Plus and Premium), but it is not a point-of-sale system and is the wrong choice for counter sales. Staying on Square makes sense when its register and hardware work well for you and the fee gap is small.

Square made card payments easy for small businesses: a free account, a card reader and a register app in one afternoon. It now covers both in-person and online sales. But **one product for every business does not suit every business**. The 3.3% + 30¢ online rate on the Free plan (2.9% + 30¢ only on the $49 and $149 a month Plus and Premium plans), flat pricing that does not fall as you grow, and occasional holds on payouts send many Square users looking elsewhere.

This guide is written by Paydude, which is one of the options. We are not a point-of-sale company, so we rank ourselves only for the businesses we fit and say plainly where we are the wrong answer. Our [Paydude alternatives](https://www.paydude.io/resources/paydude-alternatives) page takes the same approach.

## Which kind of Square user are you?

People searching for a Square alternative usually fall into one of two groups, and the right answer for each group is different.

- **You sell in person.** You run a shop, café, restaurant, salon or market stall, and most payments happen at a counter or table. You need hardware, a register and staff tools as well as a processor. Look at options 1 to 5: Clover, Toast, Shopify POS, Stripe Terminal and Helcim.
- **You sell online, by invoice or through software.** You started on Square for invoices, payment links or an online store, and you now take most payments online, often on subscriptions. You need a lower online rate, a better API or recurring billing that does not cost extra. Look at options 5 to 9: Helcim, Paydude, Stripe, Braintree and PayPal.

Helcim appears in both groups because it offers card readers and online payments on the same interchange-plus pricing.

## Square alternatives at a glance

**Published standard rates for domestic online card payments, November 2026. Negotiated rates can differ.**

| Provider | Best for | Published online card rate | Fee on a $100 online sale | In-person |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Square | The baseline: simple POS plus online | 3.3% + 30¢ (Free); 2.9% + 30¢ (Plus, Premium) | $3.60 (Free); $3.20 (Plus) | Yes, 2.6% + 15¢ (Free) |
| Clover | General retail and service businesses | 3.5% + 10¢ (card-not-present) | $3.60 | Yes, rate varies by plan |
| Toast | Restaurants | 3.5% + 15¢ | $3.65 | Yes, quote-based |
| Shopify POS | Shops that sell online and in person (Shopify plan from $29 a month) | 2.9% + 30¢ (Basic) | $3.20 | Yes, 2.6% + 10¢ (Basic) |
| Stripe Terminal | Businesses building their own checkout | 2.9% + 30¢ | $3.20 | Yes, 2.7% + 5¢ |
| Helcim | High, debit-heavy volume | Interchange-plus | Varies | Yes, interchange-plus |
| Paydude | Online, SaaS and subscription businesses | 2.6% + 25¢ | $2.85 | No |
| Braintree | PayPal and Venmo in one integration | 2.89% + 29¢ | $3.18 | No |
| PayPal | Customers who want to pay with PayPal | 3.49% + 49¢ (PayPal Checkout) | $3.98 | Not covered here |

> **Check rates before you decide:** These are list prices. In-person rates often depend on your plan, your industry or the reseller who signs you up, and point-of-sale systems add monthly software and hardware costs that a per-payment rate does not show. Use your own statement to work out your [effective rate](https://www.paydude.io/resources/what-is-an-effective-rate) before you compare.

## Fees at different ticket sizes

The fixed fee matters most on small sales and the percentage on large ones. Here is what each flat rate on this page costs per online card payment.

**Fee per online card payment at published list rates, November 2026. Paydude figures are its starting tier (under $100k a month). Helcim (interchange-plus) and Toast (quote-based) are left out because their fee per sale varies.**

| Provider | $10 | $25 | $50 | $100 | $500 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Square online, Free plan (3.3% + 30¢) | $0.63 | $1.13 | $1.95 | $3.60 | $16.80 |
| Paydude (2.6% + 25¢) | $0.51 | $0.90 | $1.55 | $2.85 | $13.25 |
| Stripe, or Square Plus and Premium online (2.9% + 30¢) | $0.59 | $1.03 | $1.75 | $3.20 | $14.80 |
| Shopify Payments, Basic (2.9% + 30¢) | $0.59 | $1.03 | $1.75 | $3.20 | $14.80 |
| Braintree (2.89% + 29¢) | $0.58 | $1.01 | $1.74 | $3.18 | $14.74 |
| Clover, card-not-present (3.5% + 10¢) | $0.45 | $0.98 | $1.85 | $3.60 | $17.60 |
| PayPal Checkout (3.49% + 49¢) | $0.84 | $1.36 | $2.24 | $3.98 | $17.94 |

## What it adds up to over a year

Small differences per sale compound with volume. On the Free plan, Square's 3.3% + 30¢ online rate is higher than Stripe's 2.9% + 30¢. Square Plus brings the online rate down to Stripe's, but costs $49 a month per location, which is included in its column.

**Online card fees only, standard domestic cards at a $50 average ticket, at published list rates. Square Free at 3.3% + 30¢; Square Plus at 2.9% + 30¢ plus its $49 monthly plan fee for one location. Paydude uses its 2.55% + 20¢ tier at $250k a month, which applies from $100k. Square's in-person rates, other software and hardware are not included.**

| Monthly volume | Square Free per year | Square Plus per year | Paydude per year | Stripe per year | Paydude saving vs Square Free |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| $10,000 | $4,680 | $4,788 | $3,720 | $4,200 | $960 |
| $50,000 | $23,400 | $21,588 | $18,600 | $21,000 | $4,800 |
| $250,000 | $117,000 | $105,588 | $88,500 | $105,000 | $28,500 |

## Why businesses look for a Square alternative

- **Online cost.** On its Free plan, Square charges 3.3% + 30¢ on online card payments; Plus and Premium bring that to 2.9% + 30¢ for $49 or $149 a month per location. Either way it is a [flat rate](https://www.paydude.io/resources/what-is-flat-rate-pricing) that does not fall as you grow. At $50,000 a month in online sales and a $100 average ticket, it costs about $1,800 a month on Square Free, or $1,649 on Plus including the plan fee.
- **Industry fit.** Square is a general-purpose POS. Restaurants with many tables and large retailers with complex inventory often need more specialised software.
- **Developer needs.** Software businesses that charge their own customers often want a payments API built for subscriptions, saved cards and webhooks, not a register with an API attached.
- **Account holds.** Like any [payment facilitator](https://www.paydude.io/resources/what-is-a-payment-facilitator), Square can hold payouts or apply a [reserve](https://www.paydude.io/resources/what-is-a-reserve) after an automated risk review, with limited ways to resolve it quickly.

## 1. Clover — best for general retail and service businesses

Clover is a point-of-sale system from Fiserv, sold directly and through banks and resellers. It has a wide range of hardware, from handheld readers to full countertop stations, and an app market for extras. Online and keyed-in payments are 3.5% + 10¢. In-person rates depend on your plan and on who sells it to you, so get a written quote. Our [Clover fee calculator](https://www.paydude.io/resources/tools/clover-fee-calculator) shows what the published rate costs at your volume.

**Choose it when** you want strong hardware and a POS that a local bank or reseller will set up and support. **Skip it when** you mostly sell online, because its 3.5% card-not-present rate costs more than Square Free online on sales above $100, and more than Square Plus or Stripe above about $33, or when you want one simple price list.

## 2. Toast — best for restaurants

Toast is built only for restaurants: table management, kitchen display screens, handheld ordering, online ordering and payroll. Online orders cost 3.5% + 15¢ at published rates, and in-person pricing is quoted for each restaurant. For a full-service restaurant, the restaurant features often matter more than a few tenths of a percent.

**Choose it when** you run a restaurant and Square's restaurant tools feel thin. **Skip it when** you are not a restaurant, or when you want month-to-month flexibility and published in-person rates.

## 3. Shopify POS — best for shops that also sell online

If your online store already runs on Shopify, Shopify POS puts in-store and online sales, inventory and customers in one system. Shopify Payments only works with a paid Shopify plan: Basic is $29 a month billed yearly, Grow $79 and Advanced $299. On Basic, Shopify Payments charges 2.9% + 30¢ online and 2.6% + 10¢ in person, with lower rates on higher plans. Advanced store features need the paid POS Pro add-on. See [Paydude vs Shopify Payments](https://www.paydude.io/resources/paydude-vs-shopify-payments) and the [Shopify Payments fee calculator](https://www.paydude.io/resources/tools/shopify-payments-fee-calculator).

**Choose it when** ecommerce is a large part of your business and you want one inventory across channels. **Skip it when** you have no Shopify store, because Square already gives you a free online store. Its 3.3% + 30¢ online rate on the Free plan is higher than Shopify Basic's 2.9% + 30¢, but Shopify charges for a plan before you take a single payment.

## 4. Stripe Terminal — best for businesses that build their own checkout

Stripe Terminal is Stripe's in-person product: card readers and SDKs that let your own app take card-present payments, priced at 2.7% + 5¢ per in-person payment. It is not a ready-made register. You, or a software vendor, build the checkout. This suits businesses with custom apps, kiosks or field teams that want in-person and online payments on one account. See [Stripe vs Square fees](https://www.paydude.io/resources/tools/stripe-vs-square-fees).

**Choose it when** you have developers and want in-person payments inside your own software. **Skip it when** you want to unpack a register and start selling the same day; Square or Clover does that better.

## 5. Helcim — best for high, debit-heavy volume (in person and online)

Helcim offers card readers, a free POS app, invoicing and online payments, all on [interchange-plus pricing](https://www.paydude.io/resources/what-is-interchange-plus-pricing). It passes [interchange](https://www.paydude.io/resources/what-is-interchange) through at cost and adds a published markup that falls as volume grows. On debit-heavy volume, this can cost much less than any flat rate, because regulated debit interchange is far below a blended card rate. The trade-off is that your fee changes with each card type, so statements are harder to predict. Compare it with the [Helcim fee calculator](https://www.paydude.io/resources/tools/helcim-fee-calculator) or [Paydude vs Helcim](https://www.paydude.io/resources/tools/paydude-vs-helcim-fee-calculator).

**Choose it when** you process meaningful volume, in person or online, and want pricing that rewards it. **Skip it when** you want one predictable rate or a deep restaurant or retail feature set.

## 6. Paydude — best for online, SaaS and subscription businesses

**This option is for the online group only.** Paydude is a payment processor and API for software businesses: online card payments and [ACH](https://www.paydude.io/resources/what-is-ach) in the US. It does not sell card readers or a register. If you take payments at a counter, it is the wrong choice, and options 1 to 5 will serve you better.

For businesses that started on Square for invoices or payment links and now take most payments online, Paydude costs less. Cards are 2.6% + 25¢ ($2.85 on a $100 sale, against $3.60 on Square Free or $3.20 on Square Plus), falling to 2.55% + 20¢ and then 2.5% + 15¢ as monthly volume grows. Subscriptions and invoices cost **no extra percentage**, ACH is 0.6% capped at $3, and disputes cost $12. The API follows the Stripe style: customers, payment methods, payment intents, refunds and signed webhooks, with typed SDKs and an open sandbox. Software platforms that embed payments for their own merchants can apply to the partner program, with pricing by quote. See [Paydude vs Square](https://www.paydude.io/resources/paydude-vs-square) and our [pricing explained](https://www.paydude.io/resources/paydude-pricing-explained).

**Choose it when** you sell online, by invoice or through your own software, especially on recurring billing, and want a lower rate and a developer-first API. **Skip it when** you need in-person hardware, a register, sales tax handled as a [merchant of record](https://www.paydude.io/resources/what-is-a-merchant-of-record), or acquiring outside the US.

## 7. Stripe — best for breadth of online products

Stripe charges 2.9% + 30¢ online, 40¢ less than Square Free on a $100 sale and the same as Square Plus and Premium, so cost is rarely the main reason to switch. You switch for breadth: billing, tax, fraud tools, Connect for marketplaces, a huge number of integrations, and Terminal if you also sell in person. Stripe Billing adds 0.7% of billing volume, and disputes cost $15. Our [best Stripe alternatives](https://www.paydude.io/resources/best-stripe-alternatives) guide covers the trade-offs from the other side.

**Choose it when** you need features Square does not have, and the price of the add-ons is acceptable. **Skip it when** cost is your main reason for leaving Square, because it saves only 0.4% against Square Free, matches Square Plus, and add-ons like Billing can erase the gap.

## 8. Braintree — best for PayPal and Venmo at checkout

Braintree is PayPal's developer platform. Its 2.89% + 29¢ rate is a cent or two under Square Plus at 2.9% + 30¢, so on card price those two are effectively the same; against Square Free (3.3% + 30¢) it saves 42¢ on a $100 sale. What it adds is PayPal and Venmo in your checkout through one integration. See [Paydude vs Braintree](https://www.paydude.io/resources/paydude-vs-braintree) and the [Braintree fee calculator](https://www.paydude.io/resources/tools/braintree-fee-calculator).

**Choose it when** you want PayPal and Venmo built in, or you are a verified 501(c)(3) charity, which Braintree charges 2.19% + 29¢. **Skip it when** lower card fees are the goal: against Square Plus it saves only a cent or two a sale, and Paydude saves more against either Square plan. Read [when 30 cents costs more than a percentage](https://www.paydude.io/resources/when-30-cents-costs-more-than-a-percentage) for how fixed fees and percentages trade off.

## 9. PayPal — best when customers ask for it

When customers pay through PayPal Checkout, PayPal charges 3.49% + 49¢, or $3.98 on a $100 sale, the highest on this list. Standard card payments through PayPal cost less, at 2.99% + 49¢ ($3.48 on $100). Its value is the PayPal button itself, which some customers trust more than typing in a card. Most businesses add PayPal next to a card processor instead of replacing Square with it. See [Square vs PayPal fees](https://www.paydude.io/resources/tools/square-vs-paypal-fees) and [Paydude vs PayPal](https://www.paydude.io/resources/paydude-vs-paypal).

**Choose it when** a meaningful share of your customers ask to pay with PayPal. **Skip it when** you want a cheaper main processor.

## When to stay on Square

Stay if Square's register, hardware, staff tools and online store work well for you and your volume is moderate. Switching a point-of-sale system means new hardware, staff training and some downtime, and a few tenths of a percent rarely pays for that at low volume. Square is also hard to beat for getting a new business taking cards on day one. If online fees are what bother you on the Free plan, price Square Plus before leaving: at $49 a month per location it cuts the online rate from 3.3% + 30¢ to 2.9% + 30¢ and the in-person rate from 2.6% to 2.5% + 15¢, which covers the plan fee above about $12,250 a month in online card sales (less if you also sell in person). The case for leaving becomes strong when most of your volume has moved online, when your industry needs specialised software, or when your monthly fees are large enough that a lower rate pays for the move.

## How to choose

1. Decide which group you are in by looking at last month's sales: what share was in person and what share was online or by invoice.
2. Work out your real [effective rate](https://www.paydude.io/resources/tools/effective-rate-calculator) on Square from one month of statements, including any monthly software fees.
3. If you sell in person, get written quotes for card-present rates, monthly software and hardware from two or three POS providers, and price the same month at each.
4. If you sell online, price the same month at each shortlisted provider's published rate at your real average ticket. The calculator below does this for Square and Paydude.
5. Multiply the monthly gap by twelve. If it is small, choose on features, support and account risk instead of price.

*[Interactive calculator: https://www.paydude.io/resources/tools/paydude-vs-square-fee-calculator]*

For a wider view of list prices, see our [payment processor fee comparison](https://www.paydude.io/resources/payment-processor-fee-comparison) or the [Square fee calculator](https://www.paydude.io/resources/tools/square-fee-calculator). If you are also comparing PayPal or Braintree, read [best PayPal alternatives](https://www.paydude.io/resources/best-paypal-alternatives) and [best Braintree alternatives](https://www.paydude.io/resources/best-braintree-alternatives).

## Sources

- Square processing fees page (squareup.com/us/en/payments/our-fees), checked November 2026
- Paydude pricing page (paydude.io/pricing), checked November 2026
- Stripe pricing page (stripe.com/pricing), checked November 2026
- Shopify pricing page (shopify.com/pricing), checked November 2026
- PayPal Braintree fees page (paypal.com/us/enterprise/paypal-braintree-fees), checked November 2026
- Clover pricing page (clover.com/pricing), checked November 2026
- PayPal business fees page (paypal.com/us/business/paypal-business-fees), checked November 2026

**Taking most of your payments online?** A Stripe-style payments API at 2.6% + 25¢, with no extra fee for subscriptions or invoices. — [See Paydude pricing](https://www.paydude.io/pricing)

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the best alternative to Square?

It depends on how you sell. For in-person sales, the closest alternatives are Clover for general retail, Toast for restaurants, Shopify POS for shops that also sell online, Stripe Terminal for businesses that want to build their own checkout, and Helcim for interchange-plus pricing. For online, invoicing and software businesses, Paydude (2.6% + 25¢), Stripe and Braintree are the usual choices.

### Is there a payment processor cheaper than Square?

For online card payments, yes. On its Free plan Square charges 3.3% + 30¢ online, or $3.60 on a $100 sale; Plus and Premium ($49 and $149 a month per location) bring that to 2.9% + 30¢ ($3.20). Paydude charges 2.6% + 25¢ ($2.85), Stripe 2.9% + 30¢ ($3.20) and Braintree 2.89% + 29¢ ($3.18), all below Square Free at every ticket size. Interchange-plus providers such as Helcim can be cheaper at high, debit-heavy volume. For in-person sales, compare each provider's card-present rate together with its monthly software and hardware costs.

### Can Paydude replace Square at my store counter?

No. Paydude is a payment processor and API for online card and ACH payments. It does not sell point-of-sale hardware, registers or card readers. If you take most of your payments in person, look at Clover, Toast, Shopify POS, Stripe Terminal or Helcim instead.

### What are the main companies like Square?

For point-of-sale systems with built-in payments, the main competitors are Clover, Toast and Shopify POS. Stripe (with Stripe Terminal) and Helcim cover both in-person and online payments. For online-only payments, the main competitors are Stripe, Braintree, PayPal and Paydude.

### When should I stay on Square?

Stay when Square's register, hardware, staff tools and online store work well for you and your volume is moderate. A lower rate elsewhere is worth less than a working setup, and switching a point-of-sale system means new hardware, staff training and downtime. If online fees are the problem, price Square Plus first: $49 a month per location lowers the online rate from 3.3% + 30¢ to 2.9% + 30¢.

### How much does Square charge on a $100 sale?

Online on the Free plan, Square charges 3.3% + 30¢, so a $100 sale costs $3.60 in fees, a $50 sale $1.95 and a $500 sale $16.80, more than Stripe's 2.9% + 30¢. On Plus or Premium the online rate is 2.9% + 30¢ ($3.20, $1.75 and $14.80), and payments through Square's API are 2.9% + 30¢ on every plan. At Paydude's 2.6% + 25¢ the same sales cost $2.85, $1.55 and $13.25. At $50,000 a month in $50 sales, that is $23,400 a year on Square Free against $18,600 on Paydude.