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All online businesses need a way to accept and process customer payments. And brick-and-mortar businesses need POS terminals and software to accept payments and process inventory changes.

You can obtain these services and more from a payment services provider like ShopKeep or Square. But different payment service providers offer different advantages, so it can be tough to know which payment processing service is best for your particular business needs.

This article will consider ShopKeep vs. Square and compare these two POS app providers side by side.

Our ShopKeep POS review and review of Square POS show that these products have many similarities. Still, there are key distinctions between the two. Here is an overview of how these two services stack up.

ShopKeep offers POS software, hardware and payment processing services. The hardware must be locally installed, but all of ShopKeep’s other offerings are run from the cloud. That means you can store information on your POS device and sync that data with your cloud server to access it from any internet-connected device. This makes ShopKeep an ideal option for brick-and-mortar and online businesses. 

ShopKeep Payments accepts EMV chip card, magstripe and contactless credit card payments. If you already have a payment processing service, you can use it in conjunction with ShopKeep’s other offerings. However, if you don’t already have a dedicated merchant account, ShopKeep will provide one.

ShopKeep is designed to work on iPad or iOS devices, but it also works with third-party POS hardware. Its tools let you run several stores simultaneously, market your products, and manage your employees.

Key takeaway: ShopKeep is a comprehensive all-in-one payment service solution that offers everything you need to accept payments.

Square’s primary purpose is to provide payment processing for small and midsize businesses. Like ShopKeep, Square is cloud-based, so all business information is stored on remote servers and can be transferred to POS devices through the cloud.

If you do use Square, you’ll also have to use it as your credit card payment processor – you can’t mix and match like you can with ShopKeep. Square is designed to run primarily on iPads and offers a couple of POS hardware solutions: 

The POS software is free, but there are paid versions in case you need more customization.

Key takeaway: Square is an affordable payment services provider that offers reasonably priced plans and excellent software packages for restaurants or retail businesses.

Not sure which service to choose? Let’s compare ShopKeep to Square across several major metrics.

Both ShopKeep and Square offer free mobile POS apps and sell a variety of payment processing services and products. That includes retail POS hardware, payment processing, and back-office or inventory management tools.

ShopKeep does have a monthly fee if you pick one of the paid plans. These fees start at $49 per month. As with Square, though, these plans come with a free POS app. 

ShopKeep is not expensive compared to many other payment services or POS providers on the market. It’s a little more affordable than Square on a purchase-by-purchase basis.

Yes, the Square POS app is free. However, if you want to unlock the full range of tools and functions with this app, you’ll need a paid subscription.

That depends on your needs. ShopKeep could be a better POS provider if you need a more affordable option or want extra back-office tools.