The main difference between Square Online and Shopify is that Square Online offers a free plan with no setup or monthly fees, so you only have to pay processing fees when receiving a payment. On the other hand, Shopify offers a 3-day free trial without the need for a credit card, but you will need to buy a plan to continue using the platform. Another difference between the two is that Square Online provides limited payment options like Square Pay, PayPal, Stripe, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and credit cards, while Shopify offers over 100 payment gateways to choose from, making it a more versatile option.
In this versus, we compare Square Online vs Shopify in-depth to help you choose one of them. If you want to know more details, we recommend you to read our Square Online review and Shopify review.
However, you can also directly find the Best Ecommerce Platform, we list them by ranking (based on our review rating), you can find all the comparisons we made and we explain how you should choose the proper one.
Here is what we will talk about in the rest of this article:
Quick overview
vs at a Glance
To make your choice quick and efficient, here is a short summary about our comparison of Shopify vs Square Online. Find out their ratings, features, prices and then discover the winner of the versus.
Pros and Cons comparison
Square Online Review, Pricing, Features with Pros and Cons
Shopify Review – Pricing and features – The most Popular eCommerce Platform
Specifications comparison
| Details | Square Online | Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| Features | 100% Customer Support / Automatic Fraud Alerts / Checkout & Payments / Collect Payments Easily / Connect with Customers / Customization Features / Easy Customization / Easy Payments / Generates a QR code / Integrate seamlessly / No Coding Skills Needed / Online Payments / PayPal Checkout / Pre-made Websites / SEO Recommendations and Suggestions / Sell Products & Subscriptions / Shipping Tools / Social Media Integration / Templates and Customization / Website Builder | Connect with Customers / Manage Finances / Manage each operation / Promote Everywhere / Sell anywhere around the world |
| Best suited for | Small businesses, Mid size businesses, Large enterprises | Individuals, Freelancers, Small businesses, Mid size businesses, Large enterprises |
| Website languages | English / French / Japanese / Spanish | English |
| Website URL | Visit official website | Visit official website |
| Support link | Support page | Support page |
| Support email | support@shopify.com | |
| Live chat | Yes | Yes |
| Company address | United States | Ottawa, ON |
| Year founded | 2009 | 2006 |
Pricing comparison
Compare the price between vs
Find out which software has the best valuable pricing, which one offers a free trial and money back guarantee.
| Pricing comparison | Square Online | Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing range | From $0 to $79 per month | From $25 to $399 per month |
| Pricing types | Annual subscription / Free | Annual subscription / Monthly subscription |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | No | Yes, 90 days |
| Money back guarantee | No | No |
| Pricing page link | See plans | See plans |
Square Online Pricing details
Square Online offers three pricing tiers to suit various business needs. The Free Plan comes with no monthly fees and a transaction fee of 2.9% + 30¢, providing basic features like website building and multiple payment options.
The Plus Plan, priced at $29 per month when billed annually, adds advanced customization and customer account features, along with a free domain for a year.
The Premium Plan, at $79 per month billed annually, offers the lowest transaction fees and additional perks like real-time shipping rates and premium customer support. Each plan is designed to offer increasing levels of functionality and support.
Free Plan
- Monthly Fee: $0
- Transaction Fee: 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction
- Features Included: Website builder with SEO tools, sync with Square POS, pickup, local delivery & shipping, sell on social, and accept multiple payment types like Google Pay, Apple Pay, Afterpay, Cash App Pay, and Square Pay.
Plus Plan
- Monthly Fee: $29 (billed annually)
- Transaction Fee: 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction
- Features Included: All features from the Free plan, plus website themes, expanded site customization, self-serve (QR code) ordering, customer accounts, personalized ordering, advanced item settings, and accept PayPal. Also includes a free domain for 1 year.
Premium Plan
- Monthly Fee: $79 (billed annually)
- Transaction Fee: 2.6% + 30¢ per transaction
- Features Included: All features from the Plus plan, plus lower processing rate, real-time shipping rates, premium customer support, and waived in-house delivery fees.
Shopify Pricing details
Shopify offers a variety of pricing plans to fulfill the needs of businesses of different sizes. The plans range from Basic Shopify, Shopify, to Advanced Shopify.
Basic Shopify is suitable for small businesses starting their online journey. It offers essential features to set up a store. The Shopify plan offers all the basic features along with additional tools and resources for growing businesses.
Then there is the Advanced Shopify plan. It is designed for high-volume businesses, providing advanced features and enhanced scalability. Shopify’s all plans provide core features such as secure hosting, access to various payment gateways, and mobile responsiveness.
Additional features include discount code creation, abandoned cart recovery, and access to advanced reporting. It’s important to note that transaction fees may apply if you use a third-party payment provider instead of Shopify Payments.
The availability of certain features, like advanced report builder and third-party calculated shipping rates, may depend on the chosen plan.
Shopify’s pricing plans offer businesses the flexibility to choose a plan that aligns with their needs and budget. It also allows them to upgrade or downgrade as their business grows.
Basic Plan ($25/month)
This plan is for individuals & small businesses, it includes:
- allows you to create your online store with drag and drop
- allows the promotion and selling of products on multiple platforms and sales channels
- you can track inventory
- also includes management of staff
- 24/7 technical support in both email and chat
- allows the creation of basic reports
- inventory locations are provided up to 1,000 in number
- 2 accounts for staff
Shopify Plan ($65/month)
This plan is for small businesses. It has all features of the Basic plan, plus:
- Reports are professional as compared to basic reports of the Basic Plan
- 5 accounts of staff as compared to 2 accounts in the Basic Plan
Advanced Plan ($399/month)
This plan is for medium to large businesses. It includes all features of the Shopify plan, and:
- The report builder is set to Custom
- 15 accounts for staff are provided
Square Online pricing starts from $0 a month for basic features with processing fees and can be upgraded to the Plus plan at $29+ per month with additional advanced features designed for specific businesses. On the other hand, Shopify pricing starts at $25 per month for their Basic plan, which includes everything you need to create your online store, process payments, and ship products. It also offers a 3-day free trial without entering any credit card information. However, in terms of overall pricing, Square Online wins with its free plan and lower pricing options.
🏆 Winner: Square Online
Learn more in the section below with our comparison of the different features of Square Online vs Shopify.
Features comparison
We highlight the main differences between vs
Here is a quick summary of the differences between the features and services offered by Square Online vs Shopify:
Features overview
In this section, we will compare only the big differences between Square Online and Shopify, and we will assign a winner for each feature or service.
So we will compare first:
- Marketing Tools
- Payment Gateways
- Security
- App Store
- Ease of Setup and Use
Marketing Tools
Both Square and Shopify offer a range of marketing tools to help businesses reach their target audience and drive sales. With Square Online, you can easily create and send email marketing campaigns through Square Email Marketing, as well as reach customers directly with text message campaigns through Square Text Message Marketing. On the other hand, Shopify offers a variety of tools, including SEO, social media, and content marketing tools. So, in this section, it’s clear that Shopify offers a vaster range of marketing tools than Square Online.
🏆 Winner: Shopify
Payment Gateways
For any e-commerce business, a smooth and seamless payment process is crucial for customer satisfaction. Square Online and Shopify both offer various payment options to accommodate different types of transactions and cater to a wider audience. Square Online’s main payment option is Square Pay; it also accepts payments via all major credit cards, PayPal, Stripe, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. This is a decent range of options, but Shopify takes it one step further by offering 100 different payment gateways. So, in this round, the “Payment Gateway King” title goes to Shopify.
🏆 Winner: Shopify
Security
Whether you’re using Square Online or Shopify, you can rest assured that your store, payments, and customers’ information are fully protected. Square Online offers robust account protection with multiple layers of defense to keep hackers away from your money. This includes fraud protection, 2-step verification for added security, and employee permissions to control who has access to your account. In contrast, Shopify also offers advanced security features such as encryption for all online and offline transactions, fraud detection tools, and compliance with industry standards like PCI DSS.
🏆 Winner: Both
App Store
Both Square and Shopify have their own app stores, where you can find a variety of integrations and add-ons to enhance your online store’s functionality. With Square Online, you can access the Square App Marketplace, which offers integrations for accounting, inventory management, loyalty programs, and more. Similarly, Shopify’s App Store features thousands of apps that can help with everything from marketing and sales to shipping and customer service. Plus, both platforms allow for custom integrations through their APIs.
🏆 Winner: Both
Ease of Setup and Use
When it comes to getting your online store up and running, both Square Online and Shopify make the process easy. Square Online boasts a simple, user-friendly editor that lets you build your store quickly and easily without any coding knowledge. Shopify also offers an intuitive interface and drag-and-drop editor, making it painless for anyone to create a professional-looking online store. However, Square Online may have a slight edge in terms of ease of use, as it is specifically designed for small businesses and offers more straightforward features.
🏆 Winner: Square Online
User Reviews
Find out what current users think about and
If you need some external reviews of Ciroapp, you can read the reviews written by their users. Feel free to add your own on these platforms once you are an experienced user of Square Online or Shopify, to help our community to choose.
Square Online Reviews
Square Online Review, Pricing, Features with Pros and Cons
Shopify Reviews
Shopify Review – Pricing and features – The most Popular eCommerce Platform
Now that you have read everything and know all the differences between Square Online and Shopify, it’s time to define a winner! Find out in the following whom the winner of this versus is ⚡.
Winner
vs : Who is the winner?
The winner of this comparison is Shopify because it offers more advanced features, hundreds of payment gateways, and multi-channel integrations to help you grow your business.
However, Square Online is a strong contender with its easy setup and user-friendly interface, making it a great choice for small businesses or those just starting out in the world of online sales. It also offers a free plan, and the pricing is slightly lower than Shopify, making it a more cost-effective option for some businesses. Ultimately, the choice between Square Online and Shopify will depend on your specific business needs and objectives.
