Clover VS Square: Which POS System Is Best For Your Small Business?
Clover and Square both have innovative hardware, user-friendly interfaces, and affordability. The size of your business may determine which one is better for you.
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Expert Analyst & Reviewer
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In the world of point of sale systems, Clover and Square are two industry heavy-hitters, and for good reason. Clover and Square have a lot in common — innovative hardware, user-friendly interfaces, and affordable pricing plans. However, a few distinct differences between the two products may make one a better option for your small business than the other.
It’s easy to spend hours researching Clover and Square, weighing the pros and cons, and identifying the differences between the two. But as a small business owner, who has time for that? Instead, we’ve done the hard work, putting Clover vs. Square head-to-head so that you can easily make the most informed decision for your business.
If you’re ready to upgrade to a POS system, looking for a way to take online orders, or want tools for managing your employees, inventory, and marketing, keep reading to find out whether Clover or Square is the best POS solution for you.
Table of Contents
Clover VS Square
In the Square vs. Clover debate, they are both strong POS solutions, boasting numerous features, user-friendly interfaces, and sleek hardware options. But Clover has strong back-end features better suited for larger and growing businesses. Meanwhile, Square’s easy, affordable pricing model and ease of use make it a popular choice among smaller businesses.
The Key Differences Between Clover & Square
On the surface, Clover and Square are pretty similar. But when you dig a little deeper, you’ll see that there are a few key differences between the POS providers, including:
- Rates & Fee Structures: Square offers pricing plans starting at $0/month up to $60/month if you opt for Square for Retail or Square for Restaurants. Additional paid add-ons include Square Appointments, Square Marketing, and Square Payroll. Clover also offers basic payment processing with no monthly software fees, but a Square device is required. Other plans range from $9.95/month to $69.95/month.
- Hardware Options: Clover has numerous hardware options to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes. Options include the compact Clover Go, the handheld Clover Flex, the small yet powerful Clover Mini, and the more robust solutions Clover Station, Clover Station Solo, and Clover Station Duo. Square also has several hardware options to select from, including card readers, tablet stands, startup packages, the handheld Square Terminal, and the all-in-one Square Register.
- POS Software Features: The built-in features you’ll find with Clover are hard to beat. Some of its standout features include online ordering, customer invoicing, inventory management, kitchen printing, order management, tableside ordering, custom digital and physical gift cards, built-in loyalty, and a solid selection of reports. Square boasts its own strong feature set. Notable features include inventory management, employee management, menu creation, table management, tableside ordering, delivery integration, free online store, marketing tools, and reporting. Note that the features you have access to for either Clover or Square are dependent on the plan you select.
- Marketing Tools: Clover has a handful of marketing tools in its paid plans, such as communication tools and real-time promos via text or email. Square users can access several free marketing tools, including a customer directory, customer insights, and feedback. Additional tools are available by purchasing the Square Marketing add-on, which includes unlimited marketing emails with customizable templates, automated emails, and smart groups for targeted marketing.
- Multichannel Selling: Square offers numerous ways to easily connect with your customers, from payment links and QR codes to direct connections to Instagram and Facebook for social media sales. Clover users can use plug-ins and integrations for their multichannel selling needs.
- Website & eCommerce Tools: If you want to take your business online, Clover and Square both have eCommerce options. Clover partners with BigCommerce and Ecwid. Free trials may be available, and a separate monthly subscription fee would be required after that. Square users can get a free basic online store hosted by Weebly or use one of Square’s integrations for more complex eCommerce needs.
- Inventory Management: All of Clover’s software plans feature inventory management, although you will need to purchase a more expensive plan to access advanced inventory. Some of the features you can expect from Clover include variants, labeling, item tracking, and modifiers. Inventory can be managed across multiple locations. Square has similar inventory management features. For the most advanced features, you will need to invest in the Square for Retail plan. Some of Square’s inventory management features include transfers across multiple locations, bulk importing, real-time tracking, variants, and daily stock alerts.
- Employee Features: Clover makes it easy to manage your employees with features such as scheduling, shift management, customizable tips, tip pooling, customizable employee access, and performance metrics. Square Team Management is free for all plans and has scheduling, a time clock, break tracking, and the Square Team app. Users can upgrade to Team Plus for an additional monthly fee, which has more advanced features, such as open shift scheduling, shift swapping, team reminders, customizable access levels, and reports and analytics.
- Loyalty: Clover’s loyalty program is built into most of its hardware. Clover Mini, Flex, and Station users can customize their loyalty programs, create text and email campaigns, and even get customer feedback. Square also has a loyalty program — Square Loyalty — that is available as a separate add-on starting at $45/month.
- Virtual Terminal: Both Clover and Square have virtual terminals, allowing you to accept credit card payments through your computer. With Square, there is no monthly fee; you’ll only pay credit card processing fees. If you choose Clover, you must subscribe to the No Hardware plan, which includes invoicing, online payments, and other features for $9.95/month in addition to processing fees.
Clover VS Square Software Features
| Clover | Square | |
|---|---|---|
| Payment Processing | ✔ | ✔ |
| Split Payments | ✔ | ✔ |
| Loyalty Program | ✔ | Add-on |
| Employee Management | ✔ | ✔ |
| Inventory Management | ✔ | ✔ |
| Stock Alerts | X | ✔ |
| Offline Mode | ✔ | ✔ |
| Gift Cards | ✔ | ✔ |
| Appointments | X | Add-on |
| Online Ordering | ✔ | ✔ |
| Delivery | X | ✔ |
| Payroll | X | Add-on |
Payment Processing
Clover and Square allow you to take multiple forms of payment, from debit and credit cards to contactless EMV payments. The difference between the two lies in the payment processors that each require you to use. Square is its own payment processor and offers competitive processing fees. With Clover, you’ll be locked into a Fiserv merchant account. While Fiserv has competitive rates, there have been numerous complaints about customer service, so make sure to review your options before taking the plunge.
Loyalty Program
If you use Clover Flex, Mini, or Station, you’ll have a built-in loyalty program at no additional cost. Clover’s loyalty program allows you to store customer information, track spending habits, create and send custom promos, and get feedback from your customers. Customers can also use a mobile app to track reward points. Square also has a loyalty program. However, you must subscribe to Square Loyalty for an additional monthly fee.
Stock Alerts
Square has stock alerts that let you know when stock levels are running low. This feature is even included on the Square Free Plan. Clover does not have built-in stock alerts, although you can use inventory management integrations from the Clover App Market that include this feature. Additional fees may apply.
Appointments
Square makes it easy to take appointments with its Square Appointments add-on. This option is ideal for beauty salons, spas, barbershops, photography studios, and other service-based businesses. Pricing is free for an individual and $50+/month for teams. Clover does not have its own appointment app or add-on, although you can find integrations through the Clover App Market.
Delivery
Through Square Online, you can easily set up your business for delivery orders by enabling On-Demand Delivery. This service is very easy to set up and use, and pricing is $1.50 per order. Clover users that want to offer delivery to customers will have to download an integration through the Clover App Market.
Payroll
With Square, you can easily handle your payroll right through your POS system. To run payroll, you’ll have to subscribe to the Square Payroll add-on for a monthly fee. Clover does not have its own built-in payroll, but you can again search the Clover App Market for payroll integrations.
Clover VS Square Pricing
What you’ll pay for in Square vs. Clover fees is dependent upon several factors, including but not limited to the software plan, hardware, and add-ons you select. Fortunately, Clover and Square both offer numerous plans and hardware options suitable for almost any budget.
Square offers free POS software that also includes one free card reader, making it one of the best free POS options on the market. For more advanced features, you will have to upgrade to Square for Retail or Square for Restaurants, each priced at $60/month. Square’s hardware ranges from free for a basic card reader to $799 for the Square Register. Additional costs to consider are add-ons, such as Square Appointments, Square Marketing, Square Loyalty, and Square Payroll. To learn more about the costs associated with Square, check out our complete Square POS review.
Clover has a basic free POS plan that is compatible with the Clover Mini, Clover Flex, and Clover Go. If you don’t want to purchase Clover hardware, you can subscribe to the No Hardware plan for $9.95/month. Additional paid plans range from $9.95/month to $69.95/month. Hardware starts at $99 for the Clover Go and can run as much as $1,649 for the Station Duo. Check out our full Clover POS review for more pricing details.
One other cost to consider before making your choice is payment processing fees. Clover’s payment processing fees start at 2.3% + $0.10 per transaction. Square’s payment processing fees start at 2.6% + $0.10 per transaction. Rates vary by plan, and discounts may be available for high-volume sellers.
Which Is Best For My Business Needs: Clover Or Square?
While Clover and Square are both strong contenders in the POS space, what works for one business may not be the right choice for yours. If you’re still undecided between Clover POS vs. Square, consider the following situations to determine which POS solution best fits the specific needs of your business.
Chose Clover If…
- You need strong inventory management and reporting
- You own a restaurant with complex menus and table mapping needs
- You have a large-scale or enterprise business
- You need a scalable solution for a business that’s growing quickly
Choose Square If…
- You need a payment processor and minimal inventory management
- You want a POS system with numerous add-ons and integrations
- You want a simple, easy-to-use, and scalable POS with affordable hardware
- You want an easy POS solution for multichannel selling
Clover VS Square FAQ
Clover VS Square Comparison: The Final Verdict
Clover’s POS software is very intuitive and easy to use. Clover is suitable for businesses of all sizes, from very small businesses to larger enterprises. Clover is a scalable solution, so it’s a solid choice for businesses that are projected to grow quickly. Strong inventory management, an impressive app store, a built-in loyalty program included with most hardware, and an overall solid set of features — all available at a competitive price — make it easy to see why Clover is such a popular POS solution. While it is missing a few key features, numerous apps are available to fill in the gaps and help bolster your business. Clover does boast a bit more firepower than Square when it comes to the depth of some of its back-end features and is probably a slightly better option for large-scale or enterprise businesses.
Square first appealed to the smallest of small businesses with its user-friendly interface, low pricing, and free card reader. Since its launch, the company has continued to make advances in its hardware and software, making Square a viable option for larger businesses as well. This all-in-one POS solution stands out for its simple built-in payment processing, large app store, sleek hardware, and affordable pricing. Square continues to grow and stay on top of POS trends, such as mobile ordering and eCommerce options. While Square certainly is suitable for businesses of all sizes, it’s an excellent choice for smaller businesses that want an easy-to-use solution for accepting payments and making sales through multiple channels.
If you still can’t reach a decision, make sure to check out our full reviews to learn more. You can also sign up for the Square Free Plan or test our Clover’s No Hardware plan with a 30-day free trial to check out the software for yourself. Or, if neither seems to be the perfect fit, give our other POS software reviews a look to find the option that works for you. Good luck!
Erica Seppala
Expert Analyst & Reviewer at Merchant Maverick
An expert in accounting, finance, and point of sale, Erica has been researching and writing about all things small-business since 2018. Erica's insights into personal and business finance have been cited in numerous publications, including MSN, Real Simple, and Reader's Digest. She is a graduate of Limestone College.
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I am sorry, but I feel really bad for the people reading and believing what is written in this article. Not being honest about comparisons is super damaging to long term reputation. You mentioned “flat-rate processing” for Square and not having to worry about qual and non qual transaction, but then show a diagram RIGHT AFTER showing the exact opposite… and this is just one very small example.
It would be one thing to point out all of the HONEST pros and cons in both Clover and Square, but you put no this was wayyy off. Matter of fact, not only does Clover provide all of the things you listed for Square, but much more.
The simple truth is if you are a very small business/startup or someone that has a hobby that brings in some extra income on the weekends, or maybe you run a stand at a flee market a couple times a month, then Square is perfect for you. You run all of your transactions under Squares’ merchant account (under their company).
But if you are a regular small business or bigger, Square is going to break the bank, period! It is not designed for volume because of their expensive rates. You would be much more interested in just ab out any other POS System (even if it isn’t Clover). You need customized pricing, and possibly customized capabilities, which Square just simply doesn’t offer and probably never will because it’s not what they are going for.
Anyways, I just wanted to put a bit of truth on here for people out there trying to make an educated decision, because trust me when I say that this article is not going to help provide that. At least not in an honest way…
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Mike,
Thanks for reaching out with these concerns. I hope to clear up a few things for you so that you understand our intent and the information that we share in the post is accurate.
This particular post is only focusing on the mobile versions of either, so you are correct in noting that you won’t find all of the features that come with Clover POS. This post focuses on Clover Go, an entirely separate offering. We make that clear in our introduction.
All keyed entry (which is considered card-not-present) comes at a higher rate than card-present transactions. You’ll find this to be standard practice, and isn’t the same thing as a qualified / non qualified rate. Square won’t qualify transactions based on the card type or whether it’s a rewards card, so every card runs the same regardless of card brand.
Additionally, Square does offer custom rates for larger businesses. The new 2.6% + $0.10 pricing isn’t quite as competitive for businesses with small transaction sizes, but the 2.75% rate Square offered until the change was just about the best deal a lot of these businesses could get. The 2.6% + $0.10 pricing is still a good deal for low-volume businesses because of the lack of monthly fees, monthly minimums, and other costs associated with a traditional merchant account.
As we take a closer look at Clover, it’s important to note that the prices you’ll have ultimately depends on the source and your contract. There are a few good sources, but you’ll find it’s hit or miss as far as the rate you find and even hardware pricing as far as that’s concerned.
We talk to businesses across the country and we know that there is no one-size-fits all solution. However, in the the post, our goal was to accurately describe both Square and Clover so a small business can make the right choice for their needs. Check out Why Tiered Pricing for Credit Card Processing Is The Most Expensive Option (And How To Avoid Overpaying) for a break down on qualified vs. non qualified rates and more on tiered pricing. Best of luck!
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Oh my, I just read their reviews and all thanks to your article. I guess you safe me from a expensive mistake. Thank you so much!!
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Thank you for the analysis.
Hey, I would like to have someone like you who can be good at social media, digital marketing and writing blogs. we are in southern CA and we need someone like you for our CBD specialty store.
Thank you
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Thank you for your points of view. This helped me out a lot!
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Great little article but I have one question I have two different businesses can I use the same Square reader for both going into different accounts?
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Michael,
According to Square’s help forum, “If you have multiple businesses or need individual separate accounts, you have the ability to create multiple accounts and use the same mobile device, reader, and bank account.” I hope that helps answer your question!
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It shouldn’t even be one star, For your well being kick the company out before you even consider the program, the sales person told me the fees are free and cheaper than square but they were more, The figures were around 3.2% and square was 2.9%, then I was told if I dont use it the program will not cost me anything then, when I wanted to cancel using their services I was charged 500 dollars, the worst company I have ever used and because of them I kick every sales person that comes n the shop because I believe that every sales parson is a crook, dont use them you’ll regret it, I went back to using Square and they have never charged me and they’re cheaper by a little but still cheaper
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
I see that you compare Square POS with the non POS of Clover. How does the full service Clover stand up against the Square equivalent?
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi there!
Square vs Clover on the whole is kind of a complicated matter because they’re both so complex. But I’ll try to sum things up succinctly. I’m more inclined to favor Square over Clover, but I admit Square isn’t for everyone.
Clover relies really heavily on leasing and its equipment can be VERY pricey. Leases are rarely a good deal for anyone, and you could easily wind up paying 3x the MSRP on a piece of leased equipment. So you are much better off buying equipment outright. Plus, you can also get a comparable Square setup for less than the cost of a Clover device at MSRP.
I also think overall most of Clover’s equipment is bulky and dated compared to the simplicity of Square. That said, the merchants I’ve talked to don’t seem to /mind/ the equipment. There are still better, more sophisticated solutions (like Square).
The other issue is that Clover relies on a network of resellers. You can get it directly through Clover Connect, but if you go anywhere else, you’re going to see wildly different pricing on processing as well as the hardware. For that reason, it’s hard to compare pricing in a meaningful way.
I don’t personally have experience using the full Clover POS so I can’t comment on the quality of it. I wasn’t super impressed by the Go app, but it’s not the same experience as a full POS. I recommend checking out our Clover Station, Clover Mini, and Clover Mobile reviews for more information.
https://www.merchantmaverick.com/reviews/clover-mini-review/
https://www.merchantmaverick.com/reviews/clover-mobile-review/
https://www.merchantmaverick.com/reviews/clover-pos-system-review/
I will, however, say that I find Square to be very easy to understand and very intuitive. It’s quite feature-rich and the company is ALWAYS adding something new. It won’t give you the most advanced features (store credit, for example), but it can do a lot more than you’d expect from something that started as a mobile app.
And finally — Square is a third-party processor. That means there’s a certain degree of inherent risk that your account could be terminated with no warning. This is common to any sort of third-party processor. Clover, on the other hand, gives you a merchant account. So you get higher stability — though possibly at the cost of a three-year contract with an expensive ETF. Square has no monthly fees, no monthly minimums, no other hidden costs. It is really straightforward, which stands in major contrast to Clover, which….doesn’t have that reputation for transparency or consistency.
I hope that helps!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
With Cloverguru.com there are NO cancellation fees. No Monthly Minimums. Clover Go and Square are definately not for everyone. Cloverguru.com offers true interchange (cost) plus pricing. Leasing is always an option but not required. Some business owners want this for the extended warranty and overnight replacement. If you’re going to have (10) clover Stations, it may be difficult to come up with $10K in cash to pay, and something always happens within 3 years where you will need a station replaced. I’m also a graduate from University of Kansas (rock chalk Jayhawk). It’s all about having a reputable sales rep, look closely at the contract, get their permission to record their “offer”. I own my own company, I offer clover solutions plus many others. I report to “no manager”. I have no fancy office or huge overhead, my mortgage is paid in full. I’ve been doing this for about 20 years and have offered clover to clients ever since clover was first introduced with only a few apps. Now there’s over 300. Check out cloverguru.com
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It’s not complicated at all. If you don’t do at least $3250 a month in sales, you should not even look at Clover as they’re minimum monthly fee is $49.95 which covers mandatory service, security and support as their Sales Rep explained to me. $3250 is without CC fees and assumed at the 1.5% minimum fee the Sales Rep quoted. He didn’t say how much you have to do in sales to get the 1.5% CC fee, but assuming you have the volume to produce a minimum of $3250 every month to start, you at least cover the $49.95 monthly fee. Always be cautious when prices/fees are not posted, most often it means the sales personnel believe they can justify the cost, but if you read between the lines, you’ll see the lies.
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Great article! I’m simply trying to charge for my Digital Marketing and Social Media services and I need no inventory. Sometimes I charge by hour and others by project. All I need is my client to pay via credit card either on my website or via form. The recurring payments would also be a great option in my case but if I can’t or it’s too expensive I can forget about that. I’m going to read your article again as it is very rich in details but I’d like to hear your opinion! Have a great day 😉
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Melissa I think you are great and so helpful. I would love to speak with you as I have additional questions as a new business owner. Is it possible to email or call you?
Patty
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Hi Patty,
Please feel free to contact us here and we will be happy to answer any questions you have.
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Hi, I don’t understand what “…greater account stability than you would with Square otherwise..”. What is meant by account stability?
Thanks,
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Hi Morten,
That’s a great question. Basically, Square is a Merchant Aggregator, which means that it’s very simple to open an account with them, but, with that being said, they are also quick to shut down or place a hold on the account. With a traditional merchant account, there is a more intense process, but that also means they won’t be so quick to close or hold your account, should something happen (a chargeback, etc). You might find this article helpful as well. I hope this helps and if you have further questions please let us know.
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