Stripe or Square: Which Payment Processor is Better for Your Business?
As an online business, convincing customers to purchase your products is only the first step. You’ll also need a way to accept and process those payments.
Fortunately, payment service providers and payment processors can perform much of the heavy lifting for you. With the right provider in place, you can sit back and watch the profits roll in.
In this post, we’ll help you decide whether Stripe or Square is the right payment service provider for you, including a detailed comparison of Stripe vs. Square fees. We’ll talk about the platforms’ features, benefits, and any hidden costs that you need to know. Let’s get started!
Stripe or Square: An overview of both payment processors
Both Stripe and Square are payment service providers. Sometimes known as merchant service providers, these are third parties that help sellers accept and process payments.
Stripe is a white-label online payment service that you can customize to reflect your branding and desired checkout experience. It combines the functionality of a merchant account and payment gateway in one. Its ultimate aim is to provide a seamless payment processing service. Ideally, your customers won’t even realize they’re using a third-party provider:
Today, Stripe is used by well over one million websites and has nearly 21 percent market share in the payment processing category. Furthermore, its users are spread worldwide, as Stripe is currently available in 51 countries.
Meanwhile, Square initially specialized in in-person payment solutions via an iPad Point Of Sale (POS) system. In 2016, the company branched out and launched its own online payment solution. This online system was a success, and over 357,000 websites currently use Square:
Square is most well-known for its POS system, with a market share of less than 1 percent in the payment processing category. This makes it the 23rd most popular payment solution as of 2025.
Both offer comprehensive and robust customer support for merchants. But let’s dive into the details for each payment processing service.
Stripe vs. Square: Setup
There are several ways to add Stripe to your WordPress site, including using a plugin. You’ll find several plugins on the official Stripe website, offering various types of integration:
Alternatively, you can create a Stripe payment link. You can then either add this URL to your site or share it with your customers directly. When the consumer clicks on this link, it will launch the Stripe checkout page:
Both methods are relatively straightforward. However, if you want more control over the payment experience, then look into Stripe Web Elements. This is a drag-and-drop builder that allows you to build custom UIs and a customized payment flow.
You can set up Square using a supported plugin if you’re a WordPress user. There are several options available, but WP EasyPay can process payments in the U.S, Canada, Australia, Japan, and the UK:
If you don’t have a website, you may want to consider using Square Online Checkout. You can use this service to create a ‘Buy Now’ link. This URL will send your customers directly to the Square checkout page:
Furthermore, if you want greater control over the checkout process, Square has a Web Payments SDK and a server-side Payments API. This API enables you to create a custom, Stripe-powered solution for your eCommerce site. However, this approach requires a significant amount of technical knowledge.
Stripe vs. Square: Feature comparison
Stripe and Square dominate the digital payment landscape but cater to distinct business needs. Stripe excels in online transactions, global scalability, and developer-first tools, while Square prioritizes seamless in-person sales, user-friendly hardware, and all-in-one solutions for small businesses.
In this section, we look at their core features, highlighting how Stripe’s customization and global reach contrast with Square’s accessible POS ecosystem and integrated tools. Understanding their strengths ensures businesses can align their choice with operational priorities and growth goals.
What Stripe offers
Stripe is notable for its sheer variety of supported payment methods. These include major credit cards, digital wallets like Google Pay, real-time payments, and Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) vendors such as Klarna and Affirm.
The Stripe payment platform also offers in-depth financial reporting via Stripe Sigma. You can use this tool to perform detailed data analysis.
For example, you can identify the type of card used on transactions, displayed graphically by month:
Stripe is notable for its sheer variety of supported payment methods. These include everything from Microsoft Pay to Alipay, Bacs Direct Debit, Giropay, and Klarna.
The Stripe payment platform also offers in-depth financial reporting via Stripe Sigma. You can use this tool to perform detailed data analysis.
When it’s time to collect payments, Stripe Billing uses flexible payment logic. It enables you to process everything from one-time fees to recurring payments and even per-seat pricing and metered billing.
To help you streamline the billing process, Stripe also offers automated failed payment emails and an automatic card updater:
Stripe offers POS sales integration through Stripe Terminal, allowing you to use a custom POS app, or one of hundreds of third-party integrations.
What Square offers
Similarly, Square accepts a range of payment methods. These include all major credit and debit cards, plus Square eGift cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. The company also offers Square Pay for easier checkout, enabling shoppers to save their payment information for future use.
Square famously offers POS software. You can use this application to perform essential tasks such as inventory tracking and managing your employees.
If you run a brick-and-mortar store, you can also use the POS app to accept offline payments:
Fraudulent activity can quickly eat into your profits. With this in mind, you’ll likely be happy to learn that Square uses advanced machine learning to spot and block payment fraud. Moreover, the company doesn’t charge a transaction fee for refunds and chargebacks.
Benefits of Stripe and Square
Stripe’s primary benefit is the sheer number of payment methods that it supports. This flexibility could be significant if you’re selling to an international audience.
The popularity of different payment methods can vary dramatically depending on geographical location. For example, 82 percent of online shoppers in the US prefer to pay by credit card or debit card payments. This statistic is in stark contrast to European shoppers, as 80 percent of these customers would rather use a provider such as PayPal or Alipay.
Stripe supports several types of payment methods where users can make mobile payments with these supported credit card brands include:
- American Express
- Discover & Diners
- Mastercard
- Visa
By offering more options, you increase your chances of supporting your customers’ go-to payment methods. This can be great news for your conversion rates.
Meanwhile, much of Square’s value lies in its ecosystem. If you don’t already have an eCommerce store, you can use Square Online to create a professionally designed site and accept payments.
You can manage your eCommerce business from a single location by opting for Square as your payment provider and store builder. For example, you can access integrated shipping labels, track your inventory, and market your products all from one place.
Square’s in-person payment option us also beneficial. These platforms include the POS application and the Square Contactless Card Reader:
This free Square reader works with the Square Point of Sale (POS) application to accept payments on your smartphone or tablet. If you run a brick-and-mortar store in addition to your eCommerce venture, this may be a major reason to opt for Square over Stripe payments.
Stripe vs. Square fees: Cost comparison breakdown
Stripe charges 2.9% + $0.30. for transactions charged to domestic credit cards and digital wallets. Fees for bank-based payments are typically lower, while those charged for BPNL transactions are higher, around 6% + $0.30.
Stripe’s pricing is relatively straightforward, but each transaction type can include additional fees in certain situations. For example, the 2.9% + $0.30 charged for domestic credit card transactions bumps up by 0.5% for manually entered cards, 0.8% for international cards, and a further 2% if currency conversion is required.
These fees vary by transaction type, so it’s important to familiarize yourself with these amounts if you accept international payments or funds via direct transfers.
Square offers a free starter plan. If you opt for this plan, you’ll usually only pay a processing fee of 2.9% + $0.30 when you make a sale, charged on a per-transaction basis.
Paid plans include Plus, at $29 a month billed annually, and Premium, at $79 a month billed annually. Premium also nets you a discount on the per-transaction fees, dropping them to 2.6% + $0.30. The percentage decrease is small, but it would certainly add if you move a lot of volume.
Square typically charges higher transaction fees for manually entered transactions due to the greater risks associated with these payments. If you accept these transactions, it’s important to consider the increased deductions when deciding whether Square is suitable for you.
Stripe vs. Square: The best choice for your business
Both Stripe and Square are robust, secure platforms with plenty to offer online sellers. However, some characteristics make them better suited to certain businesses.
To start, its variety of supported payment methods makes Stripe a good choice for organizations that target international customers. The broader your target audience, the more likely you will encounter different payment methods. These may include some obscure platforms that other payment providers do not support.
With its extensive technical documentation, libraries, and APIs, Stripe is also a very developer-friendly platform. While you can use Stripe without access to a dedicated development team, you may be missing out on some of the platform’s more powerful features:
Even if you don’t have access to a developer or specialist knowledge, there’s plenty of scope to customize the Stripe platform using templates and the drag-and-drop builder. This makes Stripe a good choice for any business with very specific requirements.
While you can integrate Square with an existing site, managing your online store is much more convenient when using the platform with Square Online. For this reason, Square is an excellent choice for anyone looking to create a brand-new store.
Furthermore, with its range of in-person payment solutions, Square is ideal for a small business or brick-and-mortar types of businesses looking to expand into eCommerce. By opting for Square, you can manage all your physical and digital payments using the same technology.
Conclusion
Processing an online payment or in-person payments can be complicated, especially for a small business. That’s why so many successful businesses rely on the services of a payment processor or a payment gateway to streamline operations.
If you’re currently torn between Stripe and Square, then let’s quickly recap these two popular providers:
- Stripe: A developer-focused provider that supports a wide range of payment methods for international customers.
- Square: With in-person payment options and a complimentary website builder, Square is perfect for brick-and-mortar business owners looking to expand into eCommerce.
Whether you choose Stripe or Square, carefully analyzing their features and Stripe vs Square fees will ensure the best fit for your business model and budget, but your hosting provider also has a huge role to play. By opting for specialist WordPress eCommerce hosting, you should have no problems convincing customers to hit that ‘Buy Now’ button!
