Square Vs. QuickBooks (2024 Comparison) (2024)

Square began in 2009 as a way for businesses to easily accept credit card payments without investing in a massive POS terminal. Since then, it’s grown into one of the leading commerce platforms in the world. Its current POS solutions connect in-store and online sales so you can manage inventory, track revenue and even reward customers.

While you might know QuickBooks as an accounting juggernaut, it offers more than that. Unfortunately, in February 2023, QuickBooks announced it was doing away with its dedicated POS software. To have a full POS solution, you’ll have to use QuickBooks Payments paired with Shopify’s GoPayment app. While this combo gets the job done, the fact that you need additional POS support can be a major drawback.

When comparing Square vs. QuickBooks, you have to remember that they’re not quite the same type of software. Yes, QuickBooks helps you accept payments, but it’s not a fully functional POS system. Square, on the other hand, is not meant to offer all of the accounting functionalities that QuickBooks does.

Upfront, one of the clear differences between these two companies is pricing. Square offers a free plan that might work for very small businesses, while QuickBooks’ lowest option is $30 a month. Both offer similar transaction fees as well as e-commerce support, but Square has the edge in inventory management, freebie card readers and mobile payments.

Per-Transaction Fees

Most businesses looking at a POS system will likely complete transactions in person. When it comes to these fees for both companies, Square has the edge on small purchases. Doing the math, it becomes cheaper to use QuickBooks on sales around $95 or more. On a $100 sale, you’d pay $2.70 to Square and $2.65 to QuickBooks.

But what about other types of transactions? Here’s what Square charges:

• Online purchases: 2.9% + 30 cents
• Manually entered purchases: 3.5% + 15 cents
• Invoiced purchases: 3.3% + 30 cents

And here’s how QuickBooks stacks up:

• Manually entered purchases: 3.4% + 25 cents
• Invoiced purchases: 2.9% + 25 cents
• ACH purchases: 1% (max of $10)

Card Reader and Other Hardware

Square provides you with a free Square Reader that connects directly to your smartphone or tablet, as long as the device still has a headphone jack. It lets you swipe cards so you can take sales anywhere without needing Wi-Fi. You can also pay for more advanced card readers, tablets and all-in-one registers. These range from $49 for a simple card reader to $799 for a full POS register, so they’re not a negligible expense.

QuickBooks, unfortunately, just has one card reader option. It costs $49 and can accept Apple Pay, Google Pay, EMV chips and debit and credit cards. If you want to add on the power stand, it’s an extra $39—or $79 total if you buy them together.

Mobile Payments

If you forgot your card reader or simply don’t want to use one, both services have you covered with mobile payments. QuickBooks uses the GoPayment app that lets you manually enter card details, add new items to your store and even store cards on file.

Square uses the Square Point of Sale app, which allows you to use tap to pay on phones with NFC technology. You can also accept Cash App Pay as well as manage pickup and deliveries on the go.

Both Square and QuickBooks have several plans you can choose from depending on your business needs. First, let’s look at Square plans:

• Free: Includes unlimited transactions and items, next-business-day transfers and end-to-end encrypted payments.
• Plus: Starts at $29 per month. Includes advanced restaurant, retailer and appointment-based business features.
• Premium: Custom pricing. Can be tailored specifically to your needs and may come with custom processing rates.

Here’s what the QuickBooks plans look like:

• Simple Start: Currently $9 per month for the first three months ($30 per month after). Includes income and expense tracking, cash flow management and sales and sales tax tracking.
• Essentials: Currently $16.50 per month for the first three months ($55 per month after). Adds on three additional sales channels, three total users and bill payment and management.

We think Square’s Free plan stacks up nicely with QuickBooks’ Simple Start plan and would be a great solution if you want to save some capital. In fact, we’d really only recommend QuickBooks plans for businesses that already use QuickBooks for accounting and want to keep all of the finances organized in one place.

Our deep dive into Square customer reviews found that it has 4.8 stars on both the App Store and Play Store. It also has a 4.3-star rating on Trustpilot with nearly 4,000 reviews. The QuickBooks app is nearly as beloved, with a 4.8-star rating on the App Store and a 4.1-star rating on the Play Store. Unfortunately, it’s not so well-liked on Trustpilot, as it is currently sitting at 1.2 stars with over 500 reviews.

Customers happy with Square praised its knowledgeable customer service, appointment-booking features and invoicing capabilities. On the QuickBooks side, customers were mostly disappointed with changes to pricing, poor customer service and being forced to switch to QuickBooks Online instead of Desktop.

Square made both our list of the best POS systems for small businesses and our list of the best retail POS systems. Not to be left out, QuickBooks made our list of the best accounting software for small businesses.

While they’re both clearly the cream of the crop, you may still be looking for something else. Here are a few other popular payment processing options you can compare.

Company	Company - Logo	Forbes Advisor Rating	Forbes Advisor Rating	Free Card Reader	Free Trial	In-Person Transaction Fees	Starting Price	Learn More CTA text	Learn more CTA below text	Learn More
Helcim		4.5		No	No	1.94% + 8 cents	$0 per month	Learn More	On Helcim's Website
Shopify		5.0		No	Three days	2.7% + 0 cents	$39 per month	Learn More	Read Forbes' Review
eHopper		4.5		Yes	No	Free	$0 per month	Learn More	Read Forbes' Review

Bottom Line

We think that Square is the better fit for most businesses seeking a dedicated POS solution, such as salons, restaurants and boutiques. It offers everything you need to manage sales, inventory and customers, all in one single software. Plus with its variety of hardware (including a free card reader), you can’t go wrong with setting up shop.

QuickBooks might be a better fit for businesses that do most of their business online or don’t sell tangible items you need to keep track of. While all of your sales are recorded and integrated into your accounting, it doesn’t have inventory management capabilities unless you also sign up for the accounting platform.

Square is best for:

• Businesses with lots of in-person sales, such as restaurants, breweries and boutiques
• Businesses that schedule a lot of appointments, such as salons or vets
• Businesses that want superior inventory management

QuickBooks is best for:

• Businesses that want seamless integration with QuickBooks Accounting
• Businesses without physical products, such as notaries or lawyers