Clover vs. Square: Which Is Right for Your Business in 2024?

Clover and Square can both help you accept credit card and mobile wallet payments at your brick-and-mortar business or online. The biggest difference between these point-of-sale systems is their payment processing flexibility.

Square is a simple, all-in-one solution, whereas Clover has more moving parts. For example, Clover requires you to set up an individual merchant account and allows you to work with third-party processors. If you go with Square, though, you have to use its in-house payment processing services and aggregated merchant account.

Clover's customization can make it a solid choice if you want to tailor the payments process to your individual business’s needs and ensure processing fees fit your budget. But if you just want a quick, straightforward way to start accepting payments, Square is likely the better fit.

Square is simple, plug-and-play software that can run on iOS and Android devices. Because Square users are automatically added to Square's merchant account, you don’t have to shop around for merchant account providers. Plus, the base software plan is free (and you can even get a free magstripe reader) so commitment is low. You can easily cancel your plan if it doesn’t suit your needs. Read our full Square POS review.

Payment processing and merchant account included

With Square, users buy hardware from the company and become sub-merchants under Square’s merchant account rather than having to open their own accounts. This shortens the startup time since no credit check or lengthy application is needed. It also means faster funding times, with transfers into your bank account typically happening within 24 to 48 hours.

When you purchase a Clover POS, however, you have to apply for a merchant account. If you already have a merchant account and don’t want to switch, this may be a plus — provided your existing account is supported. But if you’re just starting to accept payments, it may introduce extra confusion.

» MORE: What is a payment processor?

Easy-to-understand pricing

Square gets high marks for its transparent pricing, listed clearly and in multiple places across its site. Square follows a flat-rate pricing model, meaning you pay a flat fee plus a percentage of the total sale amount for each transaction. Fees vary by payment type (in-person, online, manually keyed and invoiced) but not by payment method (swiped, dipped or contactless) or credit card tier, which makes it easier to estimate your total monthly fees. Square also offers volume discounts: If you process more than $250,000 per year, you may be eligible for lower transaction rates.

Clover also lists its flat-rate pricing on its site, but it’s often a bit buried and certainly harder to navigate since Clover varies monthly software fees and transaction fees by industry and plan tier. Plus, the costs listed on Clover’s website aren’t necessarily the prices you’ll pay if you purchase Clover through a third party.

More affordable POS hardware

You can start using Square with its free, quarter-sized card reader that connects to smartphones. Clover doesn’t offer any free hardware options, and its card reader alone costs $199.

Square’s other hardware options, like its countertop register and handheld terminal, are also significantly less expensive than the Clover equivalents. Both providers, however, do allow you to pay off your hardware in installments, which reduces the upfront cost.

» MORE: Best card readers for small businesses

Free online store

Square lets businesses build a website for free and, unlike many of its competitors, doesn’t charge extra for online ordering capabilities. You can upgrade your Square Online plan if you’d like your own custom domain name and additional features.

Clover charges more per online transaction, and retailers must pay extra to build an online store or integrate with an existing one. Its restaurant plans, however, do include online ordering pages at no additional cost.

With a variety of plan tiers and hardware solutions designed for different industries, Clover is likely to offer a solution that fits your needs. With Clover, you secure your own merchant account through a separate merchant services provider, which affords you flexibility to shop for your preferred provider (if you don't already have one) and possibly secure better rates than you'd get through a payment services provider (PSP) such as Square. Like Square, Clover's software can run on both iOS and Android devices. Read our full Clover POS review.

Flexibility in payment processing

If you value having your own merchant account or working with a different payment processor provider, Clover can likely support that. More than 3,000 retailers sell Clover products, many of which also offer merchant accounts and payment processing services. If you already have a merchant services account, you can call Clover to see whether it’s supported. Just make sure to purchase hardware directly from that provider, so that it’s programmed correctly.

There are pros and cons to using your own merchant services provider rather than working with a PSP like Square. In particular, PSPs allow you to start accepting payments almost immediately, but because they aggregate other businesses’ funds into one account, there’s a greater chance of account freezes. When you have your own merchant account, you don’t cede control of your funds in that way.

» MORE: Check out our list of best credit card processing companies

Lower transaction fees for some users

Clover’s in-person transaction rates start low at just 2.3% plus 10 cents. If you work with your own payment processor, your transaction fees may be lower than what’s quoted on Clover’s website. The larger your business is, the more you stand to benefit from opening your own merchant account because the per-transaction savings can add up over time.

If you’re looking for the most affordable POS solution, do some math to see whether Square or Clover would be cheaper for your business over time — particularly when you also compare merchant services providers.

» MORE: Try our credit card processing fees calculator

Square can support the bulk of a business’s payments and POS needs, from its reasonably priced hardware options to its all-in-one, built-in payment processing services.

With Clover, you’ll need your own merchant services account, which makes the shopping process more complex but could save you money on transaction fees. Plus, it’s less likely your transactions will temporarily be suspended, which has been a source of frustration for some Square users.