Square vs Shopify POS
Square is a free till with a published transaction rate and add-ons for payroll and loyalty. Shopify POS is the in-store arm of a Shopify online store, sharing one catalogue, stock number and customer record, and it needs a paid Shopify plan. Retailers already on Shopify choose Shopify POS; shops with little or no ecommerce, and brand-new businesses, choose Square.
Tomasz WierzbickiData & Market Research
Niels Abrahamsen
Sebastiaan SmitsVendors can pay for visibility on this site; it never changes what we say about a product. How that works.
Choose Square ifyou have no Shopify store, want free POS software and a cheap reader with no contract, and would rather add online selling, loyalty or payroll later.
Choose Shopify POS ifyour online store already runs on Shopify and you want the shop and the website to share one product record, one stock figure and one customer profile.
Square and Shopify POS side by side
| Square | Shopify POS | |
|---|---|---|
| Our point of sale rank | #6 of 12 | #7 of 12 |
| Established in | United States | Canada |
| Pricing | Free plan; Plus $49 and Premium $149 per location per month, published; processing per transaction | Included with a Shopify plan, per month, published; POS Pro add-on per location; payments extra |
| List price, 30 September 2026 | Square Free $0/mo; Square Plus $49/mo per location; in-person processing from 2.6% + 15¢ (US pricing page) | Shopify Basic €28/month including POS; POS Pro add-on €79/month per location, billed yearly (euro pricing page) |
| Free tier | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Self-hostable | — | — |
| Built for | A new business that wants to be selling tomorrow | A retailer whose online store is already Shopify |
| Not for | A high-volume retailer optimising card fees | A shop with no ecommerce |
Both are reviewed in full in our point of sale ranking: Square and Shopify POS.
Where they differ
Square 1 · Shopify POS 0 · open 3- 01
Shop and website on one catalogue
Shopify POS removes the reconciliation problem for existing Shopify merchants: one product, one stock number and one customer across shop and site, with omnichannel features on every plan. Square for Retail makes a similar promise inside its own system, keeping transactions, stock levels and customer data in sync between the counter and a Square online store. The right one is whichever already runs your website.
Depends on the buyer
- 02
Cost for a shop without ecommerce
Square's free plan has no monthly fee and an in-person rate of 2.6% plus 15 cents in the US. Shopify POS is not sold separately: it comes with a Shopify plan, listed from 28 euros a month for Basic, and the POS Pro add-on for staff and inventory management is 79 euros a month per location, billed yearly. For a physical-only shop, Square is the more sensible spend.
Edge: Square
- 03
Payment setup
Shopify's own card readers require Shopify Payments. You may use an external terminal from another processor, but Shopify then records only the payment status, not the transaction details, and its pricing lists a separate fee for third-party providers, 2% on Basic. Square builds processing into every plan at a published rate and offers custom rates above $250,000 a year. Both work best with their own payments.
Depends on the buyer
- 04
Starting out and growing
Square is about speed at the start, with a free plan that already includes an item library, inventory tracking and an online site builder, and Plus at $49 a month per location when you need more. Shopify's POS Pro add-on brings staff, inventory and customer management for chosen locations. A new business benefits from Square; an established omnichannel retailer from Shopify POS.
Depends on the buyer
When neither fits
A speciality retailer that needs purchasing and serious inventory behind the till, without being a Shopify merchant, fits Lightspeed Retail better. A retailer with shops, a webshop and an app wanting one payment platform and interchange-plus pricing should look at Adyen, which needs separate till software.
Square or Shopify POS: questions
4 answersShould I use Square or Shopify POS if I already sell on Shopify?
Shopify POS. Its whole case is that the shop and the online store share one product record, stock number and customer profile, so nothing needs reconciling.
Square keeps stock in sync with its own online store, which does not help if your website already runs on Shopify.
Is Shopify POS worth it without an online store, compared with Square?
Rarely. Shopify POS comes with a Shopify plan, listed from 28 euros a month, with POS Pro at 79 euros per location on top, so you pay for a web shop you do not use.
Square's free plan has no monthly fee and a published transaction rate.
Can I use my own card terminal with Shopify POS?
Yes, with limits. Shopify's supported readers need Shopify Payments, but an external terminal from a third-party processor can be used alongside the app. Shopify then shows only whether the payment succeeded, because the processing happens outside Shopify, so reporting on those sales is thinner.
What do Square and Shopify POS cost per month?
Square lists Free at $0, Plus at $49 and Premium at $149 a month per location, plus processing.
Shopify lists Basic at 28 euros, Grow at 78 and Advanced at 384 a month, with in-person card rates from 1.4% on Basic, and POS Pro at 79 euros per location.
Sources
Checked 30 September 2026- Square pricing page (US): Square plan prices, processing rates, free-plan contents and the custom pricing threshold.
- Square for Retail page: Square for Retail keeping stock, sales and customer data in sync across channels.
- Shopify POS pricing page: Shopify plan prices, card rates, third-party fee, POS Pro price and omnichannel features.
- Shopify Help Center: choosing a card reader: Shopify card readers requiring Shopify Payments and the limits of external terminals.