Square
Payment Processing · Free · since 2009
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Square is a payment processing with point-of-sale hardware, online payments, and business tools. It handles pos, online payments, invoicing, and hardware, and it's best suited for small businesses wanting pos and online payments. It has been around since 2009, giving it a 17-year head start in building out integrations and refining the product.
The free plan offers no monthly fees. It's designed for small teams, striking a balance between simplicity and collaboration features.
pros
- Includes POS as a core feature, purpose-built for payment processing workflows
- Includes Online Payments as a core feature, purpose-built for payment processing workflows
- No monthly fees — generous enough for most small teams to get real work done
- Established product with 17+ years on the market and a mature ecosystem
cons
- Free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade
- Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
- Ecosystem of third-party integrations is smaller than the market leaders in payment processing
- Limited team/admin features if your organization eventually scales up
top Square alternatives
Stripe Payment processing platform with powerful APIs for online payments, subscriptions, and marketplaces. Free 
Paddle Payment infrastructure that handles tax, compliance, and billing as your merchant of record. Free 
Lemon Squeezy All-in-one platform for selling digital products with merchant of record and tax handling. Free 
Gumroad Simple e-commerce platform for creators to sell digital products, memberships, and courses. Free 
PayPal Global payment platform for online and in-person payments, invoicing, and transfers. Free Square compared
Stripe vs Square · Paddle vs Square · Lemon Squeezy vs Square · Gumroad vs Square · PayPal vs Square · Square vs Braintree · Square vs Adyen · Square vs Mollie
more payment processing tools
Stripe Payment processing platform with powerful APIs for online payments, subscriptions, and marketplaces. Free Paddle Payment infrastructure that handles tax, compliance, and billing as your merchant of record. Free Lemon Squeezy All-in-one platform for selling digital products with merchant of record and tax handling. Free Gumroad Simple e-commerce platform for creators to sell digital products, memberships, and courses. Free PayPal Global payment platform for online and in-person payments, invoicing, and transfers. Free B Braintree PayPal's payment gateway for online and mobile payments with support for multiple payment methods. 2.59% + $0.49