What is the difference between Stripe and Square?

Stripe is best for Developers wanting the best payment API, while Square is best for Small businesses wanting POS and online payments. Stripe starts at 2.9% + $0.30 and Square starts at 2.6% + $0.10.

Is Stripe or Square cheaper?

Stripe starts at 2.9% + $0.30 with a free tier. Square starts at 2.6% + $0.10 with a free tier.

Is there a free alternative to Square?

Both Stripe and Square offer free tiers.

Stripe vs Square (2026) — notanothertool

At a glance

	Stripe	Square
Best for	Developers wanting the best payment API	Small businesses wanting POS and online payments
Starting price	2.9% + $0.30	2.6% + $0.10
Free tier	✓	✓
Open source	—	—
Free tier available	✓	✓
Open source	—	—
Connect	✓	—
Hardware	—	✓
Invoicing	✓	✓
Online Payments	—	✓
POS	—	✓
Payments API	✓	—
Subscriptions	✓	—

Stripe

Strengths

Includes Payments API as a core feature, purpose-built for payment processing workflows
Includes Subscriptions as a core feature, purpose-built for payment processing workflows
No monthly fees — generous enough for most small teams to get real work done
Established product with 16+ years on the market and a mature ecosystem

Weaknesses

Free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade
Developer-oriented tooling may not suit non-technical team members
Ecosystem of third-party integrations is smaller than the market leaders in payment processing
Mobile experience lags behind the desktop version in features and polish

Try Stripe → Full review

Square

Strengths

Includes POS as a core feature, purpose-built for payment processing workflows
Includes Online Payments as a core feature, purpose-built for payment processing workflows
No monthly fees — generous enough for most small teams to get real work done
Established product with 17+ years on the market and a mature ecosystem

Weaknesses

Free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade
Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
Ecosystem of third-party integrations is smaller than the market leaders in payment processing
Limited team/admin features if your organization eventually scales up

Try Square → Full review

The bottom line

Pricing: Both tools offer free tiers, so you can test each before committing. Stripe's free plan: No monthly fees. Square's free plan: No monthly fees.

Feature gaps: Stripe offers Connect, Payments API and Subscriptions that Square lacks. Square brings Hardware, Online Payments and POS that Stripe does not have. Both share Invoicing.

Team fit: Stripe is geared toward any size teams, while Square is aimed at small teams teams. Pick the one that matches where your team is today and where it is headed — migrating tools later is always painful.

Where each tool shines: Stripe's biggest strengths are: includes payments api as a core feature, purpose-built for payment processing workflows. includes subscriptions as a core feature, purpose-built for payment processing workflows. Square's biggest strengths are: includes pos as a core feature, purpose-built for payment processing workflows. includes online payments as a core feature, purpose-built for payment processing workflows.

Watch out for: With Stripe, users commonly note that free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade. With Square, the main complaint is that free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade.

Choose Stripe if...

Your profile matches its sweet spot: developers wanting the best payment api
You specifically need Connect and Payments API
You care about includes subscriptions as a core feature, purpose-built for payment processing workflows
Your team size fits the any size profile Stripe is designed for
The free tier works for you: no monthly fees

Choose Square if...

You need a tool built for small businesses wanting pos and online payments
You specifically need Hardware and Online Payments
You care about includes online payments as a core feature, purpose-built for payment processing workflows
Your team size fits the small teams profile Square is designed for
The free tier works for you: no monthly fees