Last reviewed: 2026-04-25 · Pricing verified: 2026-04-25
Square vs Shopify POS: 2026 Comparison
Bottom line up front
If you sell online or plan to within 12 months: Shopify POS — unified inventory and customer data is the only thing that matters for omnichannel retail. If you do not sell online and have no plans to: Square — cheaper, faster setup, no Shopify subscription required. The decision is mostly about your ecommerce trajectory, not POS features.
Quick verdict
| Best for | Winner |
|---|---|
| Existing Shopify merchants | Shopify POS |
| Plan to sell online within 12 mo | Shopify POS |
| Brick-and-mortar only, no online plans | Square |
| Restaurants / quick-service | Square (Shopify POS has no restaurant features) |
| Lowest total monthly cost (no ecom) | Square |
| Multi-channel inventory unification | Shopify POS |
| Smallest-ticket businesses ($2-5 sales) | Square (15¢ vs 30¢ fixed) |
| Same-day launch with no setup work | Square |
Pricing side-by-side (verified 2026-04-25)
| Plan | Square | Shopify POS |
|---|---|---|
| Software entry | Free ($0/mo) | POS Lite free with $39/mo Shopify Basic |
| Software mid | Plus $49/mo | POS Pro $89/mo per location + $39/mo Shopify |
| Software top | Premium $149/mo | POS Pro on Shopify Plus ($2,300/mo, includes POS Pro free for 20 locations) |
| In-person processing | 2.6% + 15¢ Free / 2.5% + 15¢ Plus / 2.4% + 15¢ Premium | 2.5% + 30¢ Basic / 2.4% + 30¢ Plus |
| Online processing | 3.3% + 30¢ Free | 2.9% + 30¢ Basic / 2.5% + 30¢ Plus |
| Third-party processor penalty | N/A (Square only) | 0.5%-2.0% gateway fee |
| Contract | None | None (Shopify is month-to-month) |
| Annual cost (small retail, no ecom) | ~$0/yr software | ~$468/yr software (Shopify Basic only) |
Feature matrix
| Feature | Square | Shopify POS |
|---|---|---|
| Free software tier (no other subs) | Yes | No (requires $39+/mo Shopify) |
| iPad-native | Yes | Yes |
| Online + in-person inventory unified | Limited (Square Online required, weaker) | Yes (deepest in this category) |
| BOPIS / buy-online-pickup-in-store | Limited | Yes (POS Pro) |
| Cross-location returns | Limited | Yes (POS Pro) |
| Restaurant features (KDS, tableside) | Yes (Square for Restaurants) | No |
| Loyalty program | $45-105/mo Square Loyalty | Apps from $9-300/mo (Smile, LoyaltyLion) |
| Apps marketplace | ~250 apps | ~12,000 apps (Shopify App Store) |
| Staff accounts | Unlimited (Plus tier) | Unlimited (POS Pro tier) |
| Same-day setup | Yes | Yes |
| Hardware ecosystem | Square branded only | Shopify hardware + many third-party |
When to pick Square
- You only sell in-person. No online plans, no multi-channel ambitions. Square is genuinely free at the entry tier; Shopify POS requires the $39/mo Shopify subscription whether you use it or not.
- You run a restaurant or food service. Shopify POS has no restaurant-specific features (no KDS, no table management). Square for Restaurants exists.
- Your transactions are small-ticket, high-volume. Square's 15¢ fixed cost beats Shopify POS's 30¢ on $4 coffees, $7 lunches, $12 retail items.
- You want zero-setup and same-day launch. Both can launch fast, but Square requires no ecommerce decisions to start ringing up sales.
When to pick Shopify POS
- You already sell on Shopify. No alternative makes sense — Square next to a Shopify store creates inventory hell.
- You plan to add online selling within 12 months. Start on Shopify POS so when ecommerce launches, inventory and customer data are already unified.
- Multi-channel inventory unification matters. "Sold one online, sold one in-store" without nightly reconciliation is Shopify POS's signature feature.
- You need BOPIS, ship-from-store, or cross-location returns. POS Pro handles these workflows; Square cannot match them.
Decision tree
- Already on Shopify? → Shopify POS. Don't even compare.
- Plan to launch ecommerce within 12 months? → Shopify POS. Save yourself the future migration.
- Restaurant with kitchen / table workflow? → Square (or Toast if higher complexity).
- Pure brick-and-mortar, no online plans, simple SKU set under 1,000 items? → Square.
- Specialty retail with matrix SKUs (size × color)? → Look at Lightspeed vs Square instead.
Frequently asked
Should a Shopify merchant use Square or Shopify POS?
Shopify POS, almost always. Inventory sync between online and in-person is the binding constraint for omnichannel retail and Shopify POS is the only product in this comparison that handles it as one unified count. Adding Square next to a Shopify store turns every inventory question into a reconciliation project.
Is Shopify POS Lite really free?
Yes — POS Lite is included with every Shopify plan from Basic ($39/mo) through Plus. The "free" applies to the POS app and basic features. Processing through Shopify Payments runs 2.5% + 30¢ in-person on Basic, dropping to 2.4% + 30¢ on Shopify Plus. Using a third-party processor adds a 0.5%-2.0% gateway fee that effectively forces Shopify Payments.
Is Square cheaper if I do not have a Shopify store?
Yes, materially. Square Free is $0/mo software with no Shopify subscription required. Shopify POS Lite is "free" only if you are paying $39+/mo for Shopify itself. For a brick-and-mortar without ecommerce ambitions, Square is roughly $470/year cheaper before processing fees.
What is Shopify POS Pro and do I need it?
POS Pro is $89/mo per location ($79/mo annual) on top of your Shopify plan. Adds unlimited staff accounts, advanced inventory, BOPIS workflows, daily reports, custom receipts. You need it once you have multiple sales associates, multiple locations, or BOPIS pickup workflows. Single-location boutique with one or two staff: Lite is enough.
How does processing rate compare?
Square Free is 2.6% + 15¢ in-person; Square Premium ($149/mo) drops to 2.4% + 15¢. Shopify POS Lite (Basic plan) is 2.5% + 30¢. The 15¢ vs 30¢ fixed-cost difference matters on small-ticket sales: a $4 coffee at 2.5% + 30¢ is effectively a 10% processing fee. For high-volume small-ticket businesses, Square wins.
What if I want to sell online but I am not on Shopify yet?
Shopify POS makes this an obvious decision: $39/mo Shopify Basic + free POS Lite gets you both online and in-person on one stack. Square has Square Online which is genuinely good for simple stores but not as deep as Shopify on themes, apps, or advanced commerce features. If you plan to scale online, start on Shopify; if online is incidental, Square is fine.
Can I migrate from Square to Shopify POS?
Yes — Shopify provides a Square-to-Shopify migration tool that imports products, customers, and order history. The catch is that Square stores have often grown organically with messy SKU schemes; budget 2-5 days to clean inventory data before migration. Hardware does not transfer — Square readers will not work with Shopify POS.
How we verified this
Pricing verified against squareup.com/pricing and shopify.com/pos/pricing on 2026-04-25. Square January 2026 free-tier online rate change (2.9% → 3.3%) cross-referenced with AGMS 2026 update. Shopify POS Pro Winter '26 features (Quick count, Markets for retail) confirmed from Shopify Editions.
Sources
- Square Pricing (verified 2026-04-25)
- Shopify POS Pricing (verified 2026-04-25)
- Qualimero — Shopify POS Pricing 2026
- TrueProfit — Shopify POS Fees Complete Guide 2026
Try them
See Square pricing → See Shopify POS pricing →