Pick Square if most of your sales happen at a counter, a table or a salon chair and you want to start on a free plan, then add a simple online store later. Pick Shopify if the online store is the business and the shop counter is the extra, because its themes, checkout and selling channels are built around ecommerce first. Both run in-person and online sales from one dashboard, so the real question is which side of your business leads.
People treat these two as rivals, but they come at selling from opposite ends. Square's pages lead with in-person payments and point of sale, with websites added on. Shopify's pages lead with the online store, with a point of sale added on. I read Square's point of sale, online store and plans pages and Shopify's POS, plans and how-it-works pages to see where each one lands today.
Square and Shopify side by side
| Square | Shopify | |
|---|---|---|
| What its pages lead with | In-person payments and point of sale | Online stores |
| Free way in | Square Free plan with no monthly charge, you pay a processing charge when you sell | A short free trial with no card needed, then a paid plan before you can sell |
| Point of sale | Modes for food and drink, retail, bookings, services and a standard mode | Shopify POS, with POS Pro for staff roles, exchanges and pickup options |
| Online store | A website builder (Square renamed Square Online to websites) that syncs with the POS | Full online store with more than 1,250 pre-built themes and an AI assistant called Sidekick |
| Selling without signal | Offline payments stored for 24 hours | Not described on the pages I read |
| Card payments | Built into every plan | Shopify Payments where available, or a third-party provider with extra transaction charges |
| Help with writing and setup | Square Specialists you can hire | Sidekick, included with your plan, and Shopify Partners |
The Square detail that matters for markets and pop-ups
Square's point of sale page says you can keep making sales when you lose service or Wi-Fi, and it stores offline payments and receipts for 24 hours. If you sell at markets, festivals or anywhere with patchy signal, that's the line to check first. Square also lets you move takings to an external bank account the next business day at no charge, or instantly for a charge, which helps when cash flow is tight.
Its modes are the other strength. A cafe gets table and course management and bar tabs, a shop gets low-stock alerts and vendor sales reports, and a salon gets online booking, waitlists and no-show protection. You choose the mode that matches the way you work and the screen changes to suit it.
The Shopify detail that matters for online brands
Shopify's plans page is clear that you start with a short free trial, and its own guide says you'll need to select a paid plan to start selling. What you get in return is an ecommerce system built for growth: every store comes with a free myshopify.com address, hosting, unlimited bandwidth and an SSL certificate, and Shopify says stores are PCI compliant by default because it's certified Level 1 PCI DSS. Shopify Payments is available only in certain countries, so check yours before you plan your checkout.
For stock, Shopify's guide points to print on demand, dropshipping apps and the wholesale platform Faire, so you can sell products you never hold yourself. Square's online store is simpler and leans on the items you already sell in person.
Five questions that settle it
- Where do most of your sales happen today? A counter or a booking diary points to Square; a website points to Shopify.
- Do you need to start without a monthly bill? Square Free has no monthly charge; Shopify needs a paid plan before you sell.
- Do you sell where signal drops? Square stores offline payments for 24 hours.
- Is your brand built on design, product pages and online marketing? Shopify's themes and channels give you more room.
- Is Shopify Payments available in your country? If not, factor in a third-party provider and its extra charges.
If you're weighing card readers too, my comparison of Stripe and Square for small businesses covers the payments side, and this Shopify marketing strategy shows how online brands grow once the store is live.
My advice on Square or Shopify
I'd start with Square if you run a cafe, a salon, a shop or a service business where customers pay in person, because the free plan lets you sell from day one and the online store grows from the same item library. I'd choose Shopify when you're building an online brand and the shop counter, if you have one, comes second. Don't pick on habit or on what a friend uses. Look at where your money comes in right now, and choose the system built for that side.
Want AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.
Do you make point of sale or ecommerce tools? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place in comparisons like this one.
Frequently asked questions
Is Square free to use?
Square's online store page says that with the Square Free plan there are no monthly charges or startup charges, just a processing charge when you make a sale. Paid plans add features such as advanced POS tools and staff management.
Do you need a paid Shopify plan to sell?
Yes. Shopify starts with a short free trial, and its own guide says you'll need to select a paid plan to start selling.
Can Square take payments offline?
Square's point of sale page says you can keep making sales without service or Wi-Fi, and it stores offline payments and receipts for 24 hours.
Does Shopify have a point of sale?
Yes. Shopify POS runs in-store and pop-up sales from the same back office as your online store, and POS Pro adds features such as staff roles and permissions and exchanges.
What happened to Square Online?
Square says it renamed Square Online to websites to highlight its website-building tools. The features stayed the same; only the name changed.
