PayPal Zettle vs. Square POS

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
PayPal Zettle
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
PayPal Zettle (formerly PayPal Here) is a POS and payment processing system that includes either a mobile card reader or a chip reader (hardware), and is powered by the mobile PayPal Here app. Admins can add up to 1,000 users per account, and the app also includes invoicing, reporting, and inventory management features. The pricing structure for payment processing is: 2.7% per US card swipe. 3.5% + $0.15 to key in cards. 2.9% + $0.30 to invoice. 1% for cross-border transfers.N/A
Square POS
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
Square POS is a point-of-sale software solution with features such as accept credit cards with your iPhone, Android, and iPad along with the flexibility to accept credit card payments anywhere, from Square headquartered in San Francisco, California.
$10
per each additional reader; first reader free
Pricing
PayPal ZettleSquare POS
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Each Transaction
2.6% + $0.10
per transaction
Square Reader for magstripe
$10
per each additional reader; first reader free
Square Stand for contactless and chip
$16
per month
Square Terminal
$27
per month
Square Register
$39
per 24 months
Square Reader for contactless and chip
$49
per reader
Square Point of Sale
Free
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
PayPal ZettleSquare POS
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
PayPal ZettleSquare POS
Considered Both Products
PayPal Zettle
Chose PayPal Zettle
Square POS is substantially similar to PayPal Here in cost and function, but it doesn't allow us to collect the necessary data for campaign finance reporting and compliance. In past campaigns we would have to process a card donation and then still make donors fill out an …
Chose PayPal Zettle
The main selection criteria were ease of use and the presence of a plugin for WooCommerce. However, in practice it turned out that an important factor is also the availability of the product for purchase in a small batch and at an affordable price. I chose PayPal Zettle because …
Chose PayPal Zettle
Paypal's rates are slightly higher than my rates with Square or Stripe. While I can accept card payments with the Stripe app it isn't a true POS system.
Chose PayPal Zettle
They are both comparable and honestly could not say one is better than the other. I suggest looking at both options and picking what works best for you!
Chose PayPal Zettle
Square has good software and is relatively easy to use. The Square payment screen is more advanced than the basic model that PayPal uses. However, PayPal was a service that I already used-- and the company made it easy to integrate it into our business. Convenience and ease of …
Chose PayPal Zettle
It's been a while now since I've compared the two, but PayPay and Square were relatively similar for what we needed them for. I think the physical PayPal product at the time was a little bit more of what we needed, but I don't remember it being a very large margin between the …
Chose PayPal Zettle
Ultimately we selected PayPal Here because PayPal is such a trusted and well-known name, because of the easy-to-navigate user interface, because the card reader was inexpensive but performs well, and because the organization was already using PayPal to collect donations through …
Chose PayPal Zettle
I received my Square reader faster and it does its job well but, but the reader itself is small and very easy to lose. Unlike PayPal, I had to create a new account that would only be used for that single purpose. PayPal Here is an extension of PayPal so set-up was flawless and …
Chose PayPal Zettle
Compared to Square, PayPal Here is less much less reliable. I have never struggled to take a payment with Square whether I was swiping the card or manually entering the card information. I feel like our customers are more accustomed to seeing the Square card reader as well …
Chose PayPal Zettle
I have used Square. It worked okay most of the time. The card reader went bad a couple times and happened pretty fast. It was not the best for how many cards we needed to swipe on a daily basis.
Square POS
Chose Square POS
Square and paypal are very similar, both work well and are trustworthy. Both also charge small service fee for payments received but I prefer the ease of Square.
Chose Square POS
The only other real competitor that we looked at was PayPal Here and we went with Square because the fee structure felt fairer, and because our customers were much more familiar with the Square hardware and ecosystem, rather than trying to convince them that Paypal was a viable …
Chose Square POS
While PayPal Here had lower fees for swiped transactions, we often had issues which could not be resolved quickly and caused us to have to invoice customers instead of take payments while on site. I prefer Square POS because it is reliable. Additionally, we may eventually …
Chose Square POS
We chose Square because the simplicity of setup and reduced fees over its competitors. We liked the ease of setting up inventory alerts, tracking and sales reports. Its competitors had good functionality and even some things that Square does not, but in overall respect, Square …
Chose Square POS
Square offers about 70-80% of what all the others do, but when stacking out the pricing and efficiencies, it's competitively priced leaving more money in our pockets while the spend to get that other 20%-30% doesn't make sense operationally.
Chose Square POS
Square POS outshines both Paypal and Authorize.Net in terms of doing the whole kit and kaboodle (website sales, in-person sales, and inventory management). The API is easier to work with, is more supported for e-commerce, and payments are swift and available almost instantly. …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
PayPal ZettleSquare POS
Small Businesses
Square POS
Square POS
Score 9.1 out of 10
Shopify
Shopify
Score 8.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Epicor Eagle
Epicor Eagle
Score 8.2 out of 10
Epicor Eagle
Epicor Eagle
Score 8.2 out of 10
Enterprises

No answers on this topic

No answers on this topic

All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
PayPal ZettleSquare POS
Likelihood to Recommend
8.6
(18 ratings)
9.0
(58 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(1 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(1 ratings)
9.6
(9 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(5 ratings)
8.7
(18 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
PayPal ZettleSquare POS
Likelihood to Recommend
PayPal
I recommend PayPal Zettle quite a bit, actually. Its flexibility is easy enough to use for people who are not used to technology. Square has good traits, too, but since so many people already have PayPal accounts, it makes it much easier to use. It is perfect for everyday use of bot large and small transactions.
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Block, Inc (Square)
Square POS is by far the easiest POS software to use at events and train additional team members on - even with temporary or first-time employees. It's easy to see how each event is doing in live time. It gives the event manager a real-time view of revenue earned. Its really easy to create/manage/delete users to keep the platform secure.
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Pros
PayPal
  • The PayPal Here hardware connection is very effective, my mobile device recognizes it immediately and the PayPal Here application to receive payments also recognizes it immediately. I don't have to wait a long time like some other POS.
  • Transactions are made instantly, you just have to pass the NFC chip inside the PayPal Here system, and in a second the transaction will be carried out and it will be shown in the history of the PayPal account registered in the POS.
  • It is very easy to provide a receipt to the customer when they use their card within our PayPal Here POS system, as it allows us to digitally send a ticket to the customer and also allows us to send the invoice by email.
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Block, Inc (Square)
  • Mobile transactions (not like from a phone, but in terms of the ability to physically relocate rapidly).
  • Simple setup.
  • Generally uncomplicated pricing.
  • Widespread customer familiarity: because it's so regularly in use in our industry (musicians/entertainment professionals), people know and trust it in a way that you might not with a different provider.
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Cons
PayPal
  • While swiped payments are easy, manual entry of payment information often fails. This is a major roadblock when you are in the service industry because not everyone who is making payment is on site.
  • In almost every instance of accepting a payment, we have to call in and reverify every piece of information about our business before we are successful.
  • Whatever system they use to determine how high risk your business is can limit your usage if they get it wrong.
  • Customer service is inconsistent at best. Sometimes issues are handled quickly and easily, other time you have to jump through hoops.
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Block, Inc (Square)
  • Too much going on for simple users. There are so many different apps and pages now that I get lost almost every time I log onto Square
  • The high percentage of fees taken from sales
  • The difficulty in changing default settings
  • The layout of the “website” you can create is truly a nightmare
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Likelihood to Renew
PayPal
There are no monthly costs, the only expense is the card processing fee which is lower than nearly everyone else out there.
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Block, Inc (Square)
I don't really foresee anything being able to dislodge Square from our organization—we're not evangelists or anything like that—it's just the best solution we've found for our use case. Being able to quickly handle transactions from customers and then track all of those sales for analysis/bookkeeping later on.
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Usability
PayPal
I absolutely LOVE this system. It is very fast and easy to use, and integrates with my eCommerce platform perfectly. The card processing fees are really low and the money is in my account quickly, even on weekends! I can either keep the funds in my PayPal account and access them with my PayPal business debit, or I can transfer them to my back (or a combination of these). The funds are always in my bank next business day. Also, it was one of the least expensive solutions out there as far as the hardware goes.
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Block, Inc (Square)
Once set up, Square POS is very easy to use. I feel it is a little too easy. Many other solutions have some layer of complexity to them but Square POS is pretty straightforward and this makes it the ideal POS solution in my opinion. If a solution can remove the barriers to use and allow end users to get on with their tasks without being slowed down, then it is a winner. This is what we were able to achieve with Square POS.
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Reliability and Availability
PayPal
Adding skus was down for 1hr one day, otherwise have never experienced an outage.
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Block, Inc (Square)
No answers on this topic
Performance
PayPal
Everything is very fast. Adding products, selling products, processing cards, and receiving funds.
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Block, Inc (Square)
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
PayPal
Support hasn't been needed in the 2 years of using PayPal but I have received calls from the company in the past asking about my experience with the device that was sent to me and they were pretty helpful with advice. Support is all over the internet if needed but for emergencies, so it is best to contact them during business hours.
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Block, Inc (Square)
An admission - I have NEVER had to use Square POS support. The system is seamless, it just works! I have never had any queries about how the system worked as everything is so clearly laid out. I have never had any problems with payments. If their support systems are anywhere near as good as their software, I think we'll be in good hands.
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Implementation Rating
PayPal
It went very smoothly.
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Block, Inc (Square)
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
PayPal
The main selection criteria were ease of use and the presence of a plugin for WooCommerce. However, in practice it turned out that an important factor is also the availability of the product for purchase in a small batch and at an affordable price. I chose PayPal Zettle because I was able to easily and simply purchase it in my country.
Read full review
Block, Inc (Square)
We only used Square POS while we were getting set up with Authorize.Net. It isn't as flashy or recognized by the general public, but in our industry, that isn't a priority. We do very large transactions so the higher rates and fees from Square add up insanely quickly making the lower rates and fees from Authorize.Net the nail in Square's coffin for us.
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Scalability
PayPal
Have not run into any limitations as of yet, with 500 SKUs entered and counting.
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Block, Inc (Square)
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
PayPal
  • PayPal Here has allowed us to have a retail presence when we are away from our home location.
  • We have sold literally millions of dollars in merchandise at events over the last several years that we otherwise would not have been able to.
  • The only negative about PayPal Here is that we did not implement it sooner.
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Block, Inc (Square)
  • The opportunity cost of waiting for payments and manually bringing them to a bank means that we don't have to visit our bank branch. That alone saves us several hours each month.
  • We can use ordinary computers and mobile devices with Square instead of paying for expensive software or terminals.
  • Our clients appreciate not having to process payments to us, and anything that helps our clients and makes them happy carries more import than I can explain in this space.
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