Square vs Shopify, and the clause about outside processors.
Shopify's card rates are lower than Square's on both channels, and start at $39 a month. Square's free tier costs nothing. The figure neither comparison mentions is Shopify's extra fee for using any processor other than its own.
What this page settles.
Three questions, in the order most people ask them.
The short answer
Shopify’s rates are lower. Square’s floor is free. The crossover is arithmetic you can do in two minutes.
Shopify Basic is $39 a month and charges 2.6% + 10¢ in person and 2.9% + 30¢ online. Square’s free plan charges 2.6% + 15¢ in person and 3.3% + 30¢ online. So Shopify’s online rate is 0.4% cheaper and its in-person per-item is 5¢ cheaper, against a $39 monthly fee.
On $10,000 a month of online volume, Shopify’s online rate saves $40 — which about covers the plan fee. Below that, Square’s free tier wins on cost. Above it, Shopify pulls ahead, and keeps pulling ahead on its higher plans.
But the clause worth reading first is the one about outside processors. Shopify charges an extra transaction fee if you use any processor other than Shopify Payments: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced, 0.2% on Plus. That is a penalty for leaving, applied per transaction, for as long as you stay on the platform.
Published pricing, side by side
| Square | Shopify Payments | |
|---|---|---|
| In person | 2.6% + 15¢ tapped, dipped or swiped on the free plan; 2.5% + 15¢ on Plus, 2.4% + 15¢ on Premium |
2.6% + 10¢ Basic; 2.5% + 10¢ Grow, 2.4% + 10¢ Advanced, 2.3% + 10¢ Plus |
| Keyed | 3.5% + 15¢ | Not published separately |
| Online | 3.3% + 30¢ 2.9% + 30¢ on Plus and Premium |
2.9% + 30¢ Basic; 2.7% + 30¢ Grow, 2.5% + 30¢ Advanced, 2.25% + 30¢ Plus |
| Pricing model | Flat rate | Flat rate, inside a plan |
| Monthly | $0 on the free plan; $49/mo per location (Plus); $149/mo per location (Premium) | $39/mo Basic, $105/mo Grow, $399/mo Advanced, from $2,300/mo Plus (monthly billing) |
| Contract | No contract. The page says “no hidden fees or locked-in contracts. Cancel or switch anytime.” | No term stated; plans are monthly or annual |
| Monthly minimum | Not stated | Not stated |
| Funding | Next business day free; instant transfer for a fee | Not stated on the pricing page |
| Chargeback fee | Not published on the pricing page | Not published on the pricing page |
| Hardware | Sold outright; prices on a separate page | Sold outright |
| Account type | Aggregator (sub-merchant under Square) | Aggregator (sub-merchant under Shopify) |
Square: squareup.com — read 2026-10-08. Shopify Payments: www.shopify.com — read 2026-10-08.
Published prices change. These were read on the dates above and are list prices for a business buying direct — a quote you are given may differ, and should be compared as a quote rather than against a price list.
Square, also published:
- ACH via invoice 1%, $1 minimum
- Afterpay 6% + 30¢
- EBT 1.8% + 5¢
- Custom pricing available above $250,000 a year
Shopify Payments, also published:
- An extra transaction fee applies if you use an outside processor: 2% Basic, 1% Grow, 0.6% Advanced, 0.2% Plus
- Annual billing is cheaper: $29, $79, $299 a month
Where they actually differ
What you are actually buying. Shopify is an e-commerce platform with payments attached. Square is a point-of-sale system with an online store attached. Both do both, and each is clearly stronger on its own home ground. If your business is primarily an online store, Shopify’s commerce tooling is in another league. If it is primarily a shop or restaurant with a website, Square’s.
The outside-processor fee. The 2%-to-0.2% surcharge for not using Shopify Payments is the single most consequential line in this comparison. It means that once you are on Shopify, the processing decision is largely made, and the saving you might get from interchange-plus has to beat both your current rate and the surcharge. On Basic, that is almost never possible; on Plus at 0.2% it frequently is.
Annual billing. Shopify’s headline prices — $29, $79, $299 — are the annual-billing figures. Monthly billing is $39, $105 and $399. A real difference worth 25%, and a reason to be sure before committing a year.
Hardware. Both sell hardware outright. Square’s range is broader and built around the counter; Shopify’s is built around a retail store attached to an online business.
Disclosure. Neither publishes a chargeback fee or a funding timetable on its pricing page. Square at least states next-business-day funding elsewhere. Both gaps to fill in before committing.
The account. Both are aggregators — you are a sub-merchant, not underwritten in your own right. Same risk profile, same failure mode. Merchant account versus aggregator.
Who each one suits
Shopify suits a business whose centre of gravity is online, doing enough volume that the plan fee is small against the rate saving, and that intends to stay on the platform. The higher plans are genuinely cheaper on processing than Square and the commerce tooling is the reason to be there.
Square suits a shop, restaurant or service business taking most of its money in person, a very small online seller for whom $39 a month is a real cost, and anyone who wants no monthly fee at all.
Neither suits a business doing substantial volume that wants its processing priced properly. Square cannot be improved on — it is Square’s rate or nothing. Shopify can, but only after the outside-processor surcharge, which is why Shopify Plus merchants shop their processing and Shopify Basic merchants cannot afford to.
What the comparison does not show
Work out the crossover with your own numbers, not these. Take your monthly online volume and your in-person volume separately, apply both rate sets, add the plan fee, and compare. The answer moves a lot between $5,000 and $50,000 a month.
The outside-processor fee compounds the lock-in. If you are considering Shopify and you expect to grow past flat-rate pricing, the plan you choose decides how expensive it will be to act on that later.
Both rates are averages across your card mix. Flat rates charge the same for a plain debit card and a premium rewards card. What rewards cards cost.
Your online cost is not mostly your rate. For most online sellers, decline rate and dispute rate move more money than the gap between these two providers. Selling online.
How to settle it with your own numbers
Both of these are flat rates, which means both charge you the same whether your customer handed over a plain debit card or a premium rewards card. The published difference between Square and Shopify is therefore real but narrow, and neither figure is your cost.
Your cost is your effective rate: total fees for a month divided by total card volume. Work it out, then price Square and Shopify against it at your own average ticket — the per-item is often what separates them — and remember that neither can show you the card mix underneath, which is what decides whether a flat rate is treating you generously or not.
The calculator works it out from two figures on a statement, and what an effective rate is explains why it so often differs from the rate on the quote.
What we charge
Interchange + 0.50% + 10¢ in person, interchange + 0.75% + 25¢ keyed, with no contract, no monthly fee and no monthly minimum.
Both Square and Shopify are flat rates, and so is the limitation they share: above roughly $25,000 to $40,000 a month in card volume, interchange passed through at cost generally costs less than either. Send us a statement and we will tell you which side of that line you are on — including when the answer is that you should stay where you are.
While we are on the subject
Is Shopify Payments cheaper than Square?
On rate, yes on both channels. Whether it is cheaper overall depends on whether your volume covers the monthly plan fee, which starts at $39 on monthly billing.
Can I use my own processor on Shopify?
Yes, and Shopify charges an extra transaction fee for it: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced, 0.2% on Plus.
Are Shopify's advertised prices the monthly prices?
The headline figures are for annual billing. Monthly billing is $39, $105, $399 rather than $29, $79, $299.
Which is better for a shop with a website?
Square, usually — its point-of-sale and hardware are built for a counter. For an online business with a shop attached, Shopify.