Square Payments vs Square Virtual Terminal

PayPal

Venmo

PayPal Point of Sale

Clover

Bindo POS

PayPal Checkout

Compare Square Payments and Square Virtual Terminal 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

The PayPal Here app is a mobile point of sale (POS) software designed to help businesses securely process debit or credit card payments and generate invoices. The application enables retailers and manufacturers to create and organize product lists and add details including photos and descriptions.

Venmo is a digital wallet and payment gateway that allows customers to send money and make purchases via mobile device, and share activity via the purchase feed

Square Payments is an online payment processing solution which integrates with Square hardware & POS software to allow businesses to accept payments

ACH Payment Processing

Activity Dashboard

Billing & Invoicing

Cash Management

Compliance Management

Contactless NFC

Credit Card Processing

Cryptocurrency Processing

Customer Database

Data Security

Debit/Credit Card Processing

Electronic Payments

Electronic Signature

Fraud Detection

Gift Card Management

In-Person Payments

Invoice Management

Mobile Access

Mobile Card Reader

Mobile Payments

Multiple Payment Options

Offline Access

Online Payments

Partial Payments

Payment Fraud Prevention

Payment Links

PCI Compliance

Point of Sale (POS)

Receipt Management

Recurring/Subscription Billing

Reminders

Reporting & Statistics

Reporting/Analytics

Sales Reports

SSL Security

Third-Party Integrations

Transaction History

Square Payments

Android

Web-based

iPad

iPhone

eCommerce

I like that it is straight forward and easy to use, plus they offer additional products like financing and capital advances that are useful for growing businesses.

Reservation sales representative

I love the simplicity of the software. I love being able to accept credit card or debit card payments directly on my phone with the small noninvasive  card reader that i attach to my phone.

I do not think I have have anything I do not like about square payments. I guess if you put in the wrong email that can be annoying but that more user error.

Manager

I love this software, our employees love it too because it gives them better tips at the end of the day.

Owner

Simple reporting is my favorite feature, especially compared to other platforms. Helping my clients with meaningful reporting without having to modify the data is super convenient.

Student 

I love the ease of use this product provides. I feel it is especially beneficial for small businesses and often see the product used at places like farmers markets which I love to support.

Outreach Worker

I love how with the ease of just hooking as an adapter up to my phone I am able to accept payments. It's fast and easy to use.

Owner/ Founder

We love the  user experience so clean and easy to use. We also love the accessibility to use on different devices.

Video and Motion Graphics Designer

People love how popular this is because it recognizes them and saves their preferences.

We do not use this software very frequently, but when we do it is super easy to pick back up and use even after not using it for a while. Very user friendly and convenient.

Great - love their customer service, they quickly send out new square devices and have always felt the transactions are safe and protected.

Owner 

I had to walk around & often ended up some distance away from the customer. It was awkward because I had to have their card with me & this probably made the customer feel uneasy.

PTO secretary 

Our school has had great luck using Square and it has helped overall with our fundraising and money intake.

Owner/operator 

It also bothered me that they charge more to type in the card numbers when you’re unable to swipe the card in person.

Behavioral Analyst

There are none that impede function. Maybe sometimes it won't read cards and that is inconvenient when you're trying to move a lot of customers.

LMT Owner

I've been using Square since 2011 and I can't talk about how important it's been to my business enough. Great small investment for a huge return.

This product is easy to use and integrate into you website or appointment bookings and great for collecting fees from clients.

Educator

Very helpful customer service. Ease of end user payments for your business.

Square Payments screenshot: Square Payments details

Square Payments screenshot: Square Payments digital receipts

Square Payments screenshot: Square Payments virtual terminal

Square Payments screenshot: Square Payments
application dashboard

Freelancers

Large Enterprises

Mid Size Business

Non Profit

Public Administrations

Small Business

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.

PayPal Checkout is a payment checkout platform that enables retailers to process payments via various payment modes.

Bindo is a cloud-based iPad POS solution which facilitates online shopping for the end consumer through the Bindo Marketplace, with features for multi-store management, purchase orders, time clock, credit card processing, API integration, analytics & reports, inventory management, & more

Square Virtual Terminal is a cloud-based software that helps businesses process and accept payments from multiple payment methods including cash, checks, gift cards and more. Managers can charge payments on customers' credit or debit cards and maintain a record of all payments in the database.

Accounting Integration

Credit Card Management

Data Import/Export

Purchasing & Receiving

Real-Time Reporting

Square Virtual Terminal

Portrait artist

My overall experience has been great. I've only needed their customer service help once and they were awesome.

Buyer

The worst part of Square Virtual Terminal is the Square part. Ive had horrible experience using Square in the past.

propietor

I can have access to my funds immediately for an additional fee, I can use it with my phone, they offered stock options when they first did an IPO, and I love the ease of use.

Implementing this with Squarespace and QuickBooks was super easy.

The transactions fees are a bit higher if you don't have the card present. Meaning if you take payment over the phone you will be charged a higher processing fee for that transaction.

Chiropractic Assistant

Overall Square Virtual Terminal has been an amazing way for us to collect payments while we are out of the office at events.

President

Having the virtual terminal is wonderful when you need to spin up a dynamic POS / additional processing lines.

I love how easy it is to collect payments and keep track of patrons.

I enjoy the ease of use / UI they managed to keep it similar across all platforms (iOS, Virtual terminal in a browser / android along with their terminal too).

I liked their software easy to use and setup pos system and easy to program inventory and design.

The lack of features, cost and general lack of worth.

Square virtual terminal is one bright spot in an otherwise terrible program.

Senior Software Engineer

I can get help quickly from the Customer Service. Everything i need on a daily basis is here.

Square Payments vs Square Virtual Terminal Comparison (2026)

Square Payments

Square Virtual Terminal

Overview

Video & Screenshots

Pricing

User reviews

Key features

Integrations

Alternatives