When it comes to Clover vs. Square, you’re looking at two very popular payment service providers with high-tech POS hardware and software. In our analysis, we found that Clover is superior for merchants who want a highly customizable, scalable solution and Square is better for merchants who want a low-cost POS solution with industry-specific software.
If you’ve done some research on point of sale (POS) options, you’re likely curious about how Clover vs. Square stack up, as they’re two of the leading names in payment solutions for small businesses.
In this guide, we’re going to compare Clover vs. Square to determine which is best for your business based on the following criteria: POS hardware, POS software, pricing, ease of use, and payment methods accepted. Let’s get started.
| Clover | Square | |
|---|---|---|
| Hardware Cost |
$69 – $1,349
|
Free – $799
|
|
Software Cost
|
Free – $29.95/month
|
Free – $299/month
|
|
Payment Processing Fee
|
Starting at 2.7% + $0.10
|
Starting at 2.6% + $0.10
|
|
Mobile POS Device
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Countertop POS Device
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Customer Service
|
24/7
|
6 a.m. – 6 p.m. PT Monday through Friday
|
Here’s a more detailed overview of the criteria we’ll be comparing:
Now let’s see how each of these payment service providers stack up.
Good POS hardware allows you to process payments efficiently, whether that be behind the counter of a retail store, or on the go at an outdoor event. Here’s what Clover and Square offer in that regard.
Clover POS gives merchants the option to select from four different POS hardware kits. They are as follows:
All of these hardware devices can work alone, or together—choose whichever tools you need to serve your particular business.
With Square POS, you can choose whether to purchase an all-in-one POS terminal to process your payments, or to use your own iPad or smartphone as your POS terminal—in which case, you’ll need to download the Square POS app and purchase a external hardware that can accept card payments.
Here’s a quick rundown of Square’s hardware, and the types of payments each can accept:
Winner: Square
Square’s POS hardware is more affordable than Clover’s (more on this later), and is generally more popular among small business owners. The fact that Square also gives you a free mobile magstripe reader is a nice bonus. While Clover does have a nice variety of options, it can’t match Square in terms of cost or popularity.
Next we’ll look at the POS software Clover and Square offer to pair with your POS hardware. This is a key consideration when selecting any POS system, as it dictates what you’ll actually be able to do with it.
Clover offers three service plans for its software. The tier you choose dictates the amount of credit card transactions your business can processes per year, and the level of functionality you’ll get from you Clover POS terminal:
Payments Plus is Clover’s most basic service plan. With it, you can accept all payment types, and also receive a few additional functions, like employee time tracking and customer engagement tools.
With Register Lite, you can accept cloud-based payments and get some pretty powerful employee and customer management tools. This plan is designed for any business with under $50,000 in annual credit card sales. The complete list of what you can do with Register Lite is as follows:
Clover’s third service plan works for businesses that have more than $50,000 in annual credit card sales. This plan includes everything that comes with Register Lite, plus the following tools:
There are also some powerful tools for running restaurants and retail businesses, including the ability to push orders to the kitchen, manage reservations, perform exchanges, and add variants to your inventory.
Other perks that come with all Clover plans include 24/7 support and the ability to create and distribute gift cards. Note that Clover software only runs on Android devices.
In terms of software, Square offers a free POS app, as well as paid apps for retail and restaurants. The free Square POS app comes with most of what you’ll need, including inventory, employee, and customer relationship management tools. There’s also reporting functions, a virtual terminal, 24/7 support, and (of course), the ability to accepts all major payment forms and methods.
In terms of add-on services, Square offers tools for marketing, payroll, and customer loyalty, all of which will cost you an additional monthly fee.
Square’s paid POS apps are a bit more complex. Let’s look at what you can do with both:
Let’s start by saying Square for Restaurants can do everything the free Square POS can do. Additional tools include menu management, front of house management (table mapping, custom floor plans, order modifications etc.), a delivery and takeout tool, and the ability to run restaurant-specific reports.
As the name suggests, Square for Retail offers tools for brick-and-mortar and online retailers of all sizes. This means the inventory management tools are a bit more robust (print barcode labels, organize your stock by category, link vendors to specific items in your catalog etc.). You can also access more in-depth employee management tools with Square Team Management, which you can get for an added monthly fee.
Note that Square is also compatible with iOS and Android devices.
Winner: Clover
When it comes to comparing Square and Clover’s free POS options, we feel Square offers more functionality. However, Clover’s paid options offer more functionality than Square’s paid options at a lower cost. With Square, you can upgrade to an industry-specific POS, but it will cost you quite a bit more than if you stuck with Clover’s POS software. So if you want a free option, use Square. Otherwise, Clover is your best bet.
We’ve touched a little bit on price when comparing Clover and Square, but now let’s get into specifics. Here’s the breakdown on pricing for both Clover and Square.
Here’s how Clover’s costs pan out, for both their hardware and software options:
As we already mentioned, the Square POS app is totally free. But to accept and process physical payments at your point of sale, of course, you’ll need to purchase necessary hardware—though the exception is the Square magstripe reader, which you’ll receive for free.
Let’s go through those prices for each Square product:
Additionally, you’ll need to pay Square processing fees for every transaction, and fees depend upon the type of hardware you choose and the type of transaction you’re processing. Prices start at 2.6% + $0.10 for in-person transactions, 2.9% + $0.10 for digital transactions, and 3.5% + $0.10 for virtual terminal transactions.
Winner: Tie
This is a tough one. While Square’s POS hardware is much cheaper than Clover’s, Clover has lower payment processing costs, and the paid version of its POS software is also cheaper than the paid version of Square’s POS software. You also don’t pay extra for add-on features with Clover. Overall, you can probably get a Square POS system for cheaper if you use their free app and cheap hardware. However, a fully-functional POS system will be cheaper with Clover.
Having an easy to use POS system makes your job a lot less stressful. Here’s how functional Clover and Square are:
Clover is generally considered a very easy to use POS system. The software features a main dashboard from which you can access important business functions like updating menus, checking inventory, and adjusting scheduling. When you sign up for Clover, you can get assistance installing your system via CompuCom, a service Clover partners with.
With Clover, you’ll get 24/7 phone support as long as you’re in the U.S. Merchants can also send email inquiries for less urgent matters. On their website, Clover has a dedicated Help Center where you can access guides and tutorials on how to use various Clover products and services. There’s also an FAQ page, blog, and developer support page.
Furthermore, as we previously mentioned, Clover is a payment service provider. This means they group all of their merchants together into one large merchant account in order to allow each of them to accept credit card payments. This makes things much easier for the merchant, as they don’t have to undergo an in-depth underwriting process in order to receive a merchant account.
Like Clover, Square is extremely easy to use. Their software features sleek, minimalist interfaces, and their software is elegant in its simplicity. Phone support is available on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and email inquiries are typically handled within 24 hours. If you need information faster, Square operates a Support Center full of useful guides and how-to’s, a blog with tips and advice on how to get the most out of Square, and a community forum where you can ask fellow merchants about the platform.
And like Clover, Square is a payment service provider, which means your signup process will be nice and easy.
Winner: Clover
This is almost a tie, but we appreciate that Clover offers 24/7 support. This is critical for some businesses, because if their POS breaks down, they can’t take payments. So it’s nice to have the peace of mind that a Clover representative can also be reached.
Obviously, you need your payment service provider to accept the forms and methods of payments your customers like to use. Fortunately, Square and Clover both hit the mark in that regard. Here’s the payment methods they both accept:
Winner: Tie
If they both accept the same payments, you can’t really say that one is better than the other. Just rest assured you’ll be able to accommodate your customers any which way they want to pay.
If you’ve evaluated Clover vs. Square and found neither to your liking, here are two additional options to consider:
Shopify is a POS system tailored made for ecommerce merchants—which is something neither Square or Clover specialize in. With Shopify POS, you get a POS already integrated into your ecommerce website when you sign up for the Shopify Basic plan ($29 per month). This will give you access to all of Shopify’s customer and inventory management software, plus a payment processing rate of only 2.7% per transaction. What’s more, Shopify’s more expensive software plans feature lower payment processing rates. Shopify also sells POS hardware if you need to sell in-person as well as online.
If you read this Clover vs. Square review and thought the price of both was out of your range, Payment Depot is a good option for you. Payment Depot is primarily a payment processor. With Payment Depot you get membership pricing and wholesale interchange rates on credit card transactions. Memberships range from $49 to $199. With your membership, you’ll get the lowest interchange rate possible plus transaction fees ranging between $0.15 and $0.05. Payment Depot also partners with several POS system providers so you can get a complete payments platform.
Now that you have an overview of Clover vs. Square, how do you know which of these POS systems will work best for your business?
Clover is likely a better option for businesses that want some of the most flexible features available in a POS terminal. Merchants who also want a POS system they can grow with would benefit from choosing Clover.
Square works well for businesses that need a no-fuss POS solution that reliably accepts and processes a variety of credit payments in several formats.
All told, you’ll need to take stock of what you want from your POS terminal and, of course, how much you’re willing to pay for it. Whether you choose Clover vs. Square, though, know that you’ll be taking advantage of some of the most advanced and secure all-in-one payment processing systems on the market—and if you find that neither option are right for your business, know that there are plenty of other top POS system options available to you.