Shopify vs. Square

Scalability, unified buyer experiences, and a platform obsessed with commerce. This is why the world’s fastest-growing brands choose Shopify over Square.

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At the checkout counter, a customer pays for an item using Shopify’s POS Terminal. A sales associate hands the purchase to the customer.

Join the mass migration

Hundreds of leading brands have switched from Square to Shopify.

Why Shopify

Four reasons brands are switching

Scalability without limits

Stress-tested for growth at scale

Shopify is the most scalable commerce platform on the planet with enterprise-grade POS, hardware, and commerce tools all offered out of the box.

10%

of all ecommerce in the United States is powered by Shopify

50%

conversion lift with Shop Pay compared to guest checkout

Made for the world’s fastest-growing brands

Keep those SKUs coming

Add unlimited SKUs to your product catalog with no impact to site performance.

Expand into retail like never before

Open shop with up to 1K locations and manage your brand empire from one Shopify account.

Streamline your checkout

Accept payments with award-winning, first-party hardware, like POS Go and our Countertop Kit. Process 10K+ checkouts per minute with 99.9% uptime.

Go global with your brand

Expand into new markets and create localized buyer experiences. Accept multiple currencies, easily manage duties and taxes, and more in 175+ countries.

Unified commerce

The all-in-one platform that does it all

Shopify unifies inventory, sales, and customer data so you can fulfill orders across channels, in store, online, and beyond. This is omnichannel at its best.

30%

YoY revenue growth for brands using Shopify to sell in person and online1

88%

of Square replatformers agree Shopify better unifies in-store and online selling2

1 Shopify Plus: Retail and Point of Sale

2 Based on an online survey of 1,000 Shopify POS customers. (November, 2023)

Flexible fulfillment, no matter your sales channel

Show real-time product availability

Ensure online buyers always see accurate product availability across all your retail locations.

Fulfill orders in store

Transform local retail locations into fulfillment centers and drive store traffic with in-store order pickup.

Don’t miss out on sales

Take advantage of endless aisle features to quickly fulfill orders for out of stock items from stores with inventory on hand.

Simplify returns and exchanges

Easily complete returns and exchanges for online orders in store, right from Shopify POS.

The fact that Shopify offers a great ecommerce platform and POS system that work so well together for an omnichannel business like ours made it a very easy choice.

Unmatched innovation

Dedicated to the future of commerce

Shopify is the only platform moving at the speed of commerce, from infrastructure to the most cutting edge features. We’re already building today, what you’ll need tomorrow.

1,000s

of Shopify engineers committed to building the best commerce tools and features

$1.7B

invested in research and development alone at Shopify in 2023

All eyes on commerce

Trust the commerce experts

Shopify’s sole focus is commerce. 100% of our employees are on one mission—make commerce better for everyone.

Be the brand to beat

Stay competitive in your industry with a team of engineers releasing 100s of commerce features and platform updates 24/7.

Infinite extensibility

Commerce solutions made for every business

Shopify understands no business is the same. With headless commerce, the Shopify App Store, and robust APIs, you can build your business any way you want.

8K+

apps for commerce, the biggest app ecosystem in the industry

10K+

Shopify Partners supporting brands across the globe, from store builds to marketing

Unbelievably customizable—we mean it

Build your online brand, your way

Choose from 100+ website themes and customize without limits to match the look and feel of your brand.

Integrate your tech stack

Install powerful apps made for Shopify and connect to your favorite business tools with Shopify APIs.

Create workflows you’ll actually use

Design custom workflows and automate tasks, minus the code. Work with POS UI extensions to build a one-of-a-kind, performant POS solution for your business.

Get the support you need in a click

Partner with a Shopify expert or agency for professional services unique to your business, from store setup and development to branding, marketing, and more.

From seamless checkout experiences and powerful reporting tools to all the ecommerce integrations and apps, there’s no beating Shopify POS.

Featured Apps

Essential apps for when you make the switch

Smile.io

Smile.io

Power brand loyalty, boost repeat sales, and engage buyers with rewards, VIP programs, and referral incentives.

Bundler

Bundler

Increase average order values and move inventory at volume with custom product bundles and subscriptions.

Easy Team POS Staff Management

Easy Team POS Staff Management

Streamline staff management, from scheduling and payroll to sales performance, all from Shopify POS.

Appointment Booking Appointo

Appointment Booking Appointo

Let buyers book a service or event offered online or in person. Send automated emails and SMS reminders.

Migration partners

Skip the hassle and migrate with minimal downtime. Get the support your business needs from a certified partner that specializes in migrations from Square to Shopify.

Icee Social logo

Icee Social

Experts focused on web development, ecommerce strategy, and consulting.

Maxburst logo: Web design, development, marketing

Maxburst

Web development and digital marketing agency specializing in B2B and DTC.

Sunrise Integration logo

Sunrise Integration

Partner focused on store migration, custom builds, and full site redesigns.

Resources

Migrate from Square

SUPPORT

Migrate from Square

Get step-by-step instructions on migrating your store to Shopify, from exporting product and customer data to setting up shipping and payments.

POS MIGRATION GUIDE

FREE GUIDE

POS Migration Guide

Make the switch to Shopify POS with confidence. Decrease downtime and get your staff back to selling with expert tips from this essential guide.

OS Buyer’s Guide

FREE GUIDE

POS Buyer’s Guide

Discover how Shopify POS powers multi-location retail businesses. Streamline buyer experiences, keep customer and inventory data on hand, and more.

Frequently asked questions

Shopify offers retailers a complete solution for starting, running, and scaling their business, in store and online. Backed by an intuitive POS, powerful commerce features, and transparent pricing plans, Shopify is a great fit for all businesses, whether you’re just starting out or scaling.

Square is easy to use and offers free plans. However, unexpected add ons and simplistic commerce features can make it confusing to understand your monthly costs and difficult to scale for growth.

While you can integrate Square POS with your online Shopify storefront, it’s not recommended.

If you’re looking to manage your business from one place, Shopify is the obvious choice. Shopify’s platform was designed to unify your in-store and online sales experience. Plus, Shopify is dedicated to constant innovation. With commerce features that support growth at scale, entrepreneurs have more time to focus on what matters most to their business. From winning back time spent on inventory management and fulfillment to converting and retaining more buyers, Shopify is the platform made for commerce.

Shopify’s monthly plans include POS, ecommerce, and payments with fast payouts. Card rates on Shopify’s Basic plan start at:

  • 2.6% + 10¢ USD (in person, per transaction)
  • 2.9% + 30¢ USD (online, per transaction)

Shopify offers 100+ professionally-designed themes (templates) that can be customized to match the look and feel of your brand. You can accept online payments, manage inventory, orders, customers, shipping, fulfillment, marketing campaigns, and more—all from one platform. All sales sync, whether in store or online, guaranteeing inventory is always up to date. Plus you get powerful data reporting tools and insights, so you can make impactful decisions to grow your business locally and globally.

Square offers simple website creation with limited customization. While easy to use, these basic templates can limit your ability to create the exact look and feel you want for your brand. Square will sync your in-store and online sales, but offers little data and insights to support business decisions and growth.

Shopify pricing plans include Shopify Payments.3 You can accept payments in store and online with consistent card rates and fast payouts. Card rates depend on your pricing plan, with premium plans offering lower card rates. Card rates on Shopify’s Basic plan start at:

  • 2.6% + 10¢ USD (in person, per transaction)
  • 2.9% + 30¢ USD (online, per transaction)

Square card rates start at:

  • 2.6% + 10¢ USD (in person, per transaction)
  • 2.9% + 30¢ USD (online, per transaction)
  • 3.5% + 15¢ USD (manually entered, per transaction)

3Shopify Payments is available to stores operating in certain countries/regions. Learn more about eligibility requirements and Shopify Payments terms and conditions

SHOPIFY VS. SQUARE

Made for commerce at scale

Discover why the world’s fastest-growing brands choose Shopify to unify their in-store and online commerce experience.