Squareup and Shopify are both a system that provides POS system support to needed. Both merchant solution apps provide services to merchants to facilitate their online and in-person sales.
Though in many ways Sqaureup and Shopify are the same difference arises when we look into pricing. Squareup is also known as Square. Squareup’s pricing is much lesser, while Shopify charges much higher in every part of the services.
The first difference which comes to notice is the pricing at which the services are provided.
Squareup takes no monthly subscription fee, while Shopify charges a monthly fee starting from $29. Shopify is seen to be very good for new sellers, small retailers, and food service businesses.
While on the other hand, Squareup provides or acts as a much better option for Larger retailers and online merchants.
Key Takeaways
- Squareup focuses on payment processing, while Shopify is an e-commerce platform offering a range of tools for online businesses.
- Squareup suits small businesses and individual sellers, whereas Shopify caters to a wider range of business sizes.
- Shopify offers more extensive features for online store management compared to Squareup.
Squareup vs Shopify
Squareup is a payment processing platform that offers tools for accepting payments, and it is more focused on payment processing and in-person transactions. Shopify is an e-commerce platform that offers tools for creating online stores, and it is more focused on online sales and managing an online store.
Squareup, at its core, is a payment processing service provider thus, we can only use Squareup if we use its payment processor.
The services of Squareup are available in only seven countries, i.e., the US, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and France, making it impossible for other country users to use it.
Shopify can be used with Shopify’s in-house payment processor and other payment processors in conjugation with Shopify.
Shopify is available to serve merchant services in around 175 countries, but payment services are available in only around 17 countries. Countries with no paid services can use non-Shopify payment processes.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Squareup | Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| Payment processing fee | Online processing fee starting from 2.9% plus $0.30 while swiped or dipped or tapped fee starts from 2.6% plus $0.10 | Online processing fee starting from $2.9 plus $0.30 while swiped or dipped or tapped fee starts from 2.7% |
| Monthly subscription | Doesn’t have any minimum monthly fee ($0) | Starts at $29 |
| Credit card reader | Fee charged is in between $0 to $49 | Fee charged is in between $29 to $49 |
| Chargeback fee | No chargeback fee | $15 is the chargeback fee |
| Refund fee | No refund fee is charged | The transaction fee is deducted as a refund fee |
What is Squareup?
Squareup is a service provider of POS system, which though seems similar to Shopify but are different in many features. Squareup doesn’t charge any minimum subscription or monthly charge.
Squareup doesn’t support other payment processors except for its payment processor. It is also available only in seven countries.
Squareup have system is particularly robust and is more focused on industry-specific apps. It also provides more features in industry-specific apps more than Shopify.
Squareup is seen to be ideal for small retail establishments or businesses, or restaurants.
The shipment or movement regions are to be manually set according to the requirement. This further can be controlled according to the place and rates setting the charges or offers of free shipment.
People can use this best if they want to use an online selling system without any monthly fee. For shipping Squareup, we get USPS, UPS, DHL Express, and FedEx, and many shipping discounts.
Squareup provides a very solid POS system with an inventory system along with great team management, and very useful offline management as well.
Along with no monthly fee in Squareup, we get a free domain for one year only with a professional subscription, or a subdomain is also available for free.
What is a Shopify?
Shopify is also a POS system service provider. This is one of the best online places to keep your business. Shopify is the best e-commerce for a business, with online working as its backbone.
This also focuses on large retailers and is the better choice when you need a system that can handle complex inventories.
The payment method of Shopify is much more flexible than Squareup as it allows third-party payment processors. Shopify charges a little extra for third-party payment processors but helps users be flexible in payment.
The payment facilities of Shopify are available in only 17 countries, but the services of Shopify are available in around 175 countries.
The availability of Shopify in such a large number of countries makes it more prone to large retailers. With just extra charges of 0.5% to 2% (depending on the plan), the user can use it.
Shopify also has a very user-friendly and easy-to-use design which is easy to handle even for newcomers. Shopify provides 24/7 customer service.
Shopify provides a very strong POS system and more than 2,000 integration though sadly, this doesn’t provide any free plan and industry-specific apps but is perfect for e-commerce merchants when we go through these features.
Shopify also provides a great system of shipment which gives the customers perfect rates.
Main Differences Between Squareup and Shopify
- Favorable Squareup users of payment processors, if needed, can transfer to this service while users who need a POS app with a facility of a multi-device without extra charges can go for Shopify.
- Users who need an online selling platform without paying a monthly fee fit best for Squareup, while those who are building large and complex e-commerce sites fit best for Shopify.
- Squareup works best for users who own a restaurant business, while Shopify works best for large retailers who need the best e-commerce services.
- Squareup doesn’t provide any customer services, but Shopify provides the security of providing 24/7 customer services.
- Squareup provides no monthly pricing while Shopify provides very high pricing, but both the service providers charge all other features mostly the same.
- Squareup doesn’t provide any third-party transaction processor, but users of Shopify can connect third-party payment processors with it by paying some charges.
- https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-1-4842-2641-4.pdf
- https://dial.uclouvain.be/downloader/downloader.php?pid=thesis%3A25661&datastream=PDF_01&cover=cover-mem
- https://www.indianjournals.com/ijor.aspx?target=ijor:zijmr&volume=8&issue=12&article=002
Last Updated : 14 October, 2023
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Sandeep Bhandari holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computers from Thapar University (2006). He has 20 years of experience in the technology field. He has a keen interest in various technical fields, including database systems, computer networks, and programming. You can read more about him on his bio page.
I find Squareup much more flexible when it comes to location. This puts Shopify at a huge disadvantage as it is only available in 17 countries.
You really think that’s a huge disadvantage? It might be to the customers, but for the company, it’s better to focus on a few countries and provide a better service. There’s a reason Shopify is great.
Overall, Shopify is much more complex but user-friendly. It would be the most appropriate system for a larger retailer.
I think both systems have their advantages, but the fact that Shopify doesn’t provide any free plan and industry-specific apps is a big let down.
It seems like Squareup has a better overall offer for smaller businesses.
The fact that Shopify provides 24/7 customer service is a game changer.
It may be a good service, but definitely not a game changer. It’s just expected.
Yes, it really makes your life easier as a customer.
My take on the two systems is that Squareup is more beneficial for a budding and small retailer trying to make sales both online and in person, while Shopify is the better choice for larger retailers who are more focused on online sales. Personally, I would choose Shopify considering the larger range of business sizes it caters to.
I completely disagree with your point of view. I think Squareup is the ideal option due to its lack of a monthly subscription fee, this is ideal for small retailers, and small retail establishments, or restaurants.