Shift4Shop vs. Square Online

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Shift4Shop
Score 2.3 out of 10
N/A
Shift4Shop (formerly 3dcart) is a customizable eCommerce platform designed to build an online store. Some features include Level 1 PCI security compliance, the same level used by banks and large financial institutions, along with search engine optimized templates and no transaction fees. The former 3dcart was acquired by Shift4 Payments in November, 2020.N/A
Square Online
Score 7.8 out of 10
N/A
Square Online (formerly Weebly) is a basic content management system with blogging and eCommerce features. It can be utilized for building standard websites or specialized webpages for online stores.
$6
per month
Pricing
Shift4ShopSquare Online
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Personal
$9.00
per month
Professional
$16.00
per month
Performance
$29.00
per month
Free
Free
Free
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Shift4ShopSquare Online
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsShift4Shop offers a free enterprise-grade plan for US customers who use their payment processing.Pricing decreases when paid annually: Personal - $6/Month Professional$12/Month Performance - $26/Month
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Shift4ShopSquare Online
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Shift4ShopSquare Online
Online Storefront
Comparison of Online Storefront features of Product A and Product B
Shift4Shop
1.0
8 Ratings
154% below category average
Square Online
-
Ratings
Product catalog & listings1.08 Ratings00 Ratings
Product management1.08 Ratings00 Ratings
Bulk product upload1.06 Ratings00 Ratings
Branding1.07 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile storefront1.08 Ratings00 Ratings
Product variations1.08 Ratings00 Ratings
Website integration1.08 Ratings00 Ratings
Visual customization1.08 Ratings00 Ratings
CMS1.07 Ratings00 Ratings
Online Shopping Cart
Comparison of Online Shopping Cart features of Product A and Product B
Shift4Shop
1.0
8 Ratings
153% below category average
Square Online
-
Ratings
Abandoned cart recovery1.06 Ratings00 Ratings
Checkout user experience1.08 Ratings00 Ratings
Online Payment System
Comparison of Online Payment System features of Product A and Product B
Shift4Shop
1.0
8 Ratings
157% below category average
Square Online
-
Ratings
eCommerce security1.08 Ratings00 Ratings
eCommerce Marketing
Comparison of eCommerce Marketing features of Product A and Product B
Shift4Shop
1.3
8 Ratings
141% below category average
Square Online
-
Ratings
Promotions & discounts1.08 Ratings00 Ratings
Personalized recommendations1.07 Ratings00 Ratings
SEO1.98 Ratings00 Ratings
eCommerce Business Management
Comparison of eCommerce Business Management features of Product A and Product B
Shift4Shop
1.0
8 Ratings
154% below category average
Square Online
-
Ratings
Multi-site management1.04 Ratings00 Ratings
Order processing1.07 Ratings00 Ratings
Inventory management1.06 Ratings00 Ratings
Shipping1.07 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom functionality1.08 Ratings00 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Shift4Shop
-
Ratings
Square Online
7.0
28 Ratings
14% below category average
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings7.028 Ratings
Platform & Infrastructure
Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Product A and Product B
Shift4Shop
-
Ratings
Square Online
7.9
19 Ratings
3% above category average
API00 Ratings6.014 Ratings
Internationalization / multi-language00 Ratings9.915 Ratings
Web Content Creation
Comparison of Web Content Creation features of Product A and Product B
Shift4Shop
-
Ratings
Square Online
7.1
40 Ratings
7% below category average
WYSIWYG editor00 Ratings9.033 Ratings
Code quality / cleanliness00 Ratings9.036 Ratings
Admin section00 Ratings9.736 Ratings
Page templates00 Ratings2.040 Ratings
Library of website themes00 Ratings2.040 Ratings
Mobile optimization / responsive design00 Ratings9.039 Ratings
Publishing workflow00 Ratings7.032 Ratings
Form generator00 Ratings9.033 Ratings
Web Content Management
Comparison of Web Content Management features of Product A and Product B
Shift4Shop
-
Ratings
Square Online
6.6
37 Ratings
10% below category average
Content taxonomy00 Ratings7.123 Ratings
SEO support00 Ratings4.033 Ratings
Bulk management00 Ratings4.018 Ratings
Availability / breadth of extensions00 Ratings9.030 Ratings
Community / comment management00 Ratings9.027 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Shift4ShopSquare Online
Small Businesses
Ecwid by Lightspeed
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Score 10.0 out of 10
Divi
Divi
Score 9.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
IBM Digital Commerce
IBM Digital Commerce
Score 9.0 out of 10
Image Relay
Image Relay
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
IBM Digital Commerce
IBM Digital Commerce
Score 9.0 out of 10
Tridion
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Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Shift4ShopSquare Online
Likelihood to Recommend
1.0
(9 ratings)
9.0
(41 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Shift4ShopSquare Online
Likelihood to Recommend
Shift4
At this point I would recommend looking elsewhere - 8 years with a platform and finally have to switch due to the unreliability is not something a business likes to do! They should sell the platform to a company that actually cares about owning an ecommerce builder. Research Shift4 - the parent
Read full review
Block, Inc (Square)
If you are having students create websites or information pages about something they are studying in class, this is a great option. The fact that students can spend less time getting situated and learning the app and get right to work researching and creating their pages is great. For middle to high school, this is a fantastic app to use. However, if you want more nuanced analytics or want students to focus on blogging more than webpage building, this is limited.
Read full review
Pros
Shift4
  • Membership rewards (a points awarding system) is really easy to set up and manage
  • Gift certificate issuance and redemption is simple to use and manage
  • Site design and redesign is straightforward and they are very helpful with design packages to customize.
  • They offer comprehensive SEO services and are very knowledgeable about how to engage customers and create traffic.
Read full review
Block, Inc (Square)
  • Drag and drop interface makes it very easy to add all types of content, including images, text, video (and YouTube videos), embeddable applications and more.
  • It's very easy to set up navigation features like cascading menus and sticky navigation (where the menu stays put - may depend on the template chosen though).
  • A technical backend is fairly straight-forward for setting up a fav icon, 301 redirects, SEO, Google Analytics, etc.
Read full review
Cons
Shift4
  • Page structure is all over the place. It can be difficult to find where to go to make page edits.
  • Base platform isn't very robust and requires multiple add-ons in order to add CRM, Taxes, and other capabilities
  • Reporting isn't very strong, necessitating outside analytics
  • File system is also pretty wonky and feels very primitive
  • Customer service and technical help leaves MUCH to be desired.
  • Not as many supported add-ons/plug-ins as other platforms, and many of them cost additional fees. Many of them also don't seamlessly integrate, meaning you'll need to dev the integration yourself.
  • In general, what you see in the WYSIWYG is not what you get.
  • Order System is not very intuitive for the modern era
Read full review
Block, Inc (Square)
  • Weebly doesn't have a lot of templates to choose from, so if you don't have any experience with CSS or HTML, it's hard to customize your site to an extent.
  • Weebly isn't fully SEO friendly. They don't allow you to add H1 tags to pages out of the box.
  • You can't create folder structures when it comes to web page URLs. You can put web pages under a main menu dropdown, but they don't allow you to put all sub-menu items in a structured folder (like site.com/folder/page-1 and site.com/folder/page-2).
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Shift4
Not applicable - as a franchisee, the franchiser took over the web site and shopping cart capabilities, so I no longer need the tool. But I would recommend it.
Read full review
Block, Inc (Square)
Weebly is consistently adding features that line up with our needs. The ease of use makes it the perfect program for us since we have users of multiple age brackets and knowledge of web design. We love that we can give users access to only the pages they are affiliated with
Read full review
Usability
Shift4
No answers on this topic
Block, Inc (Square)
It is simple to use and offers enough customization to make a website that is personalized. Templates are pretty standard and the help section is laid out well by topic with frequently asked questions. Some design knowledge is helpful, but through trial and error anyone can get a hold of the reins fairly quickly.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Shift4
We used them for 2 years and had minor problems up until the end. For the last 2 months, customers were unable to checkout, or connect to our payment processor. We put in like 3 to 5 hot tickets to get fixed and day after day nothing was fixed and support got ruder and ruder with us! We lost thousands of dollars online with this company and now they are chasing us for a renewal payment! Simply put, this is bad software with a poor customer care staff!
Read full review
Block, Inc (Square)
Weebly's designs, plugins, and customization options are a little more advanced in some cases than other similar programs. WordPress requires a different level of expertise and knowledge of code, keywording, and plugins, so I wouldn't even compare them. Wix is a little more user-friendly because you can drag and drop your design, which was very convenient for customizing your site. I didn't personally select Weebly, but it is user-friendly and nearly anyone comfortable with a computer could figure it out. Weebly support is also pretty good.
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Return on Investment
Shift4
  • Because 3dcart ended up not being the best for our business, we decided to go with BigCommerce instead.
  • It was an excellent platform to consider, and we tried it for a time but quickly realized it did not provide what our business needed.
Read full review
Block, Inc (Square)
  • Weebly has allowed our business to create a connection with our customers by offering home decor, cooking and styling tips.
  • Weebly gives us the chance to relay information to customers regarding merchandise, current sales and promotions, store hours and locations etc. Which has helped increase business.
  • Weebly has given our not very tech savvy business the opportunity to have a website and stay relevant with our competitors.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Shift4Shop Screenshots

Screenshot of Screenshot of