Square for Retail vs Shopify POS

PayPal

Shopify

Square Point of Sale

WooCommerce

Clover

Compare Square for Retail and Shopify POS based on features, pricing, verified reviews, integrations & more on GetApp. Find out which software is best for your business in 2026.

Clover is an all-in-one platform designed to help on and offline retailers, quick service restaurants, and other service businesses manage their point-of-sale operations, with secure payment solutions and reliable business management features

PayPal provides an end-to-end suite of tools that can integrate with a business's existing systems and service providers. Its network of shoppers and businesses provides AI-driven data insights to help businesses reach new customers and drive results.

Shopify is a commerce platform that allows anyone to easily sell online, at a retail location, and everywhere in between

Square for Retail is a point of sale (POS) system for retail businesses, with integrated inventory management, customer profiles, employee timecards, and more

Access Controls/Permissions

Accounting

Accounting Integration

ACH Payment Processing

Activity Tracking

Alerts/Notifications

Appointment Management

Backorder Management

Barcode Recognition

Barcode/Ticket Scanning

Barcoding/RFID

Billing & Invoicing

Catalog Management

Clock In/Out

Commission Management

Cost Tracking

Credit Card Processing

Customer Accounts

Customer Database

Customer History

Customization

Delivery Management

Discount Management

eCommerce Management

Electronic Payments

Electronic Signature

Email Marketing

Employee Management

For iPad Devices

For Liquor Stores

For Retail

Gift Card Management

Historical Reporting

Inventory Management

Inventory Optimization

Inventory Replenishment

Inventory Tracking

Invoice Management

Item Management

Label Templates

Loyalty Program

Mail Order

Merchandise Management

Mobile Access

Multi-Channel Management

Multi-Location

Order Entry

Order Fulfillment

Order Management

Order Processing

Payment Processing

Point of Sale (POS)

Pricing Management

Product Identification

Purchase Order Management

Purchasing & Receiving

QuickBooks Integration

Real Time Order Entry

Real-Time Data

Real-Time Updates

Receipt Management

Remote Order Entry

Reorder Management

Reporting/Analytics

Retail Inventory Management

Retail Management

Retail POS

Returns Management

Returns Tracking

Sales Order Management

Sales Reports

Sales Tax Management

Sales Trend Analysis

Search/Filter

Shipping Labels

Shipping Management

SKU/UPC Codes

Stock Management

Supplier Management

Touch Screen

Transaction History

Square for Retail

Web-based

iPad

Business Owner

I had to sit with my bank to file a dispute with Square, put a hold on all charges by Square, and start using an entirely different payment processor just to avoid Square stealing my money.

Lighting

The super cheap and easy to use interface is awesome. Being able to carry a card reader at all times has improved the way I take deposits for gear rentals.

Creative Lead

The compactness of it was definitely appreciated and it was nice to have one, easy to find location for all the important statistics.

Office Manager

The ease of use, the sleek feel, great customer service and great rates. I trust Square with my business and so should you.

Personal Trainer

Overall Square for Retail is a quality option to have at your disposal. I think it represents the best product of its kind; plus the company sends a Square reader to you for free.

Independent Crafter

Square brought a big increase to our sales, and makes it so much more convenient for our customers. And we love the ability to create a personal web page for all of our products.

A client purchased multiple packages totally thousands of dollars from my company, received the services, and then disputed the charges as 'unrecognized. I provided the following to square.

Assistant Manager

Great experience overall, perfect for just about any small business.

Hayley

I love how easy to use Square is and the look is very in trend. Square makes the buying experience easy for me and my customers.

Owner

Easy to accept payments on the go and fantastic integration.

Square permits fraudulent chargebacks against your company.

Educator

Setting up the software on a mobile is a breeze and the app and software explain everything about the process and fees. The software never glitches and customer support is fantastic.

Executive Director

Very expensive and cumbersome. Square has made accepting credit cards cost effective and very easy.

Ticket Sales/Promotions

Square is easy to use and super simple to learn. It doesn't take long to set up at all, and transactions can be completed easily.

CASHIER

I love the fact that square is available for me to use for my small buiness.

Director of Delivery

It is also difficult to add individual inventory items. Also the register display format is not customizable, you are limited to the defaults.

Data & Finance Mgr

They make it very inexpensive to get started if you are willing to use their simplest reader and yet they also offer have equipment that is more robust for later.

Square is an easy payment processing solution that we have been able to integrate into our retail store operations.

Square for Retail screenshot: Square for Retail edit price and inventory


Square for Retail screenshot: Square for Retail search


Square for Retail screenshot: Square for Retail search inventory items


Square for Retail screenshot: Square for Retail tax


Square for Retail screenshot: Square for Retail search customers

Square for Retail screenshot: Square for Retail payment details


Square for Retail screenshot: Square for Retail digital receipts


Square for Retail screenshot: Square for Retail pricing

Square for Retail screenshot: Square for Retail search functionality


Square for Retail screenshot: Square for Retail inventory item details

Freelancers

Large Enterprises

Mid Size Business

Non Profit

Public Administrations

Small Business

Square Point of Sale is a POS solution for Android and iOS devices which includes tools for managing payments, digital receipts, inventory, reports, and more.

Designed for store owners and developers to build & run eCommerce sites, WooCommerce is an extendable, adaptable, open-sourced eCommerce platform for WordPress

Wix is a website-building and business management platform that helps users create any type of website and expand the brand's online presence. Wix offers its users different ways to build sites; for those less tech-savvy, the Wix Editor is the way to go. It boasts a choice of various pre-designed templates that can be personalized with a drag-and-drop editor and various other AI capabilities, such as an automated text generator.

Shopify Point of Sale (POS) is a retail management system that integrates everything needed to run a successful brick-and-mortar or omnichannel business. The POS software and hardware work seamlessly together to streamline daily operations, from inventory management and staff controls to smooth checkout and detailed reporting.

Activity Dashboard

Contactless NFC

Data Synchronization

Forecasting

Inventory Control

Kitting

Layaway Management

Mobile Card Reader

Mobile Device Management

Ordering Automation

PCI Compliance

Product Catalog

Promotions Management

Reporting & Statistics

Shopping Cart

Timeout

Website Management

Shopify POS

Android

iPhone

Director

What's great about Shopify is that it is constantly improving and the costs remain the same. I'm sure that any issues I have now will only get smaller or fully solved.

Hygiene Coordinator

Shopify has been great as a shopper because it helps me have all of my information in one place.

Owner 

Also the way that the hands held card reader is shaped is very nice. The software itself integrates smoothly with my Shopify store, and it runs perfectly.

Visitor Services Director

Inability to set up a variable-priced item. To do this, the item must be rung in as a "Quick Sale", so there is no identification of sold products or inventory tracking.

Silversmith

I normally am trying to fit in when I can during my off hours so the more simple it is, the better for me.

Ecommerce and Marketing

Easy to navigate in the backend; can handle many users on the website at once; great customer service to reach out to.

We don't use barcodes, but I love that that's an option to make it even faster. But being able to search quickly for a item and add to cart worked great.

Relatively easy to set up with recommended hardware for not a ton of money. Runs off an iPad and supports multiple users and cash management.

My favourite thing about this software is how user friendly it is. As someone with limited computer knowledge, I found the set and up upkeep to be very easy.

Many users on the site at once and not having to worry about the website crashing.

Overall  this is very convenient to use and i love how it integrates directly with shopify.

Shopify makes it easy to add and edit products to your library. It's great that it tracks inventory and can easily see sales and customer data.

Patent Draftsman

If I had to complain it would be that there are some things you can't customize that you might be able to with one of the self hosted carts such as magento, woocommerce, or even magento 2.

Technology Adviser

Customer service was also very responsive to our needs.

Clerk

The customer support is abysmal. Shopify screwed up the tax rates.

I used shopify POS for a pop up shop for my business. It was very easy to use, simple and functioning.

Operations Manager

Over all it really makes selling items at events really easy and quick.

It was hard to set a temporary sales tax. I live in Oregon where we don't have a sales tax, but sometimes travel to other states for conventions or shows.

Square for Retail vs Shopify POS Comparison (2026)

Square for Retail

Shopify POS

Overview

Video & Screenshots

Pricing

User reviews

Key features

Integrations

Alternatives