Quick verdict?
If you need something simple, affordable, and easy to set up — Zettle is your best bet.
If you want more features, better integrations, and room to grow — Square wins.
Now let’s break it down properly.
I’ve used both Zettle and Square. I’ve tested them in live retail environments. I’ve helped store owners make the switch in both directions.
So what you’re getting here isn’t theory — it’s real, on-the-ground insight about how each system actually performs in retail settings.
Let’s walk through it all: hardware, software, payments, support, and where each tool shines (or falls short). No fluff, no jargon — just a real comparison that helps you make the right call.
✅ Quick Summary: Zettle vs Square
| Feature | Zettle | Square |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Simple, low-cost setups | Growing retail businesses |
| Ease of Use | Very easy to set up and run | Slight learning curve, more tools |
| Hardware | Basic card reader + accessories | Full range: reader, terminal, register |
| Software Features | Core retail features only | Advanced tools, CRM, loyalty, online |
| Integrations | Limited (PayPal, Shopify, Xero) | Deep integrations + app marketplace |
| Fees (in-person) | 1.75% flat rate | 1.75% (varies for online/keyed-in) |
| Support | Basic weekday support | Live chat, phone, and large community |
👉 Zettle is ideal if you want simple, reliable, and low-cost.
👉 Square is better if you need more flexibility, features, and growth potential.
What Are Zettle and Square?
Zettle (by PayPal) and Square (by Block) are two of the biggest names in mobile POS systems. They both let you take card payments, track sales, manage inventory, and handle business on the go or in-store.
Both are popular with:
- Small shops
- Market stall owners
- Coffee shops
- Boutiques
- Service providers like barbers or nail salons
If you're just getting started in retail, or you're running a lean setup with low overhead, both tools can seem like they offer the same thing. But when you actually use them — day to day, on the floor, during busy hours — the experience can be totally different.
Zettle is more of a plug-and-play solution. You connect the reader, download the app, and you're good to go.
Square gives you more to work with, especially if you're running multiple branches, want loyalty programmes, or plan to sell online alongside in-store. It’s less about which is “better” — and more about what fits your current setup.
And as your business grows, the differences between Zettle and Square start to show. You’ll feel it in the features, the hardware options, the reporting tools, and the integrations.
One will either help you scale or hold you back.
Hardware: What You Actually Use in Store
Let’s talk about what sits on your counter or in your pocket. Because at the end of the day, it’s not just software — it’s the physical tools you and your staff touch all day long.
Zettle Hardware
Zettle’s core product is the Zettle Reader 2, which is clean, minimal, and works with both iOS and Android via Bluetooth.
It’s about the size of a deck of cards, and it doesn’t have a screen — so you’ll need a smartphone or tablet to process transactions.
Zettle also offers:
- Receipt printers
- Cash drawers
- Barcode scanners
- Stands and accessories
You can either buy these separately or go with one of their bundles. The bundle option is popular with small stores that want a “ready-to-go” setup without having to research every single piece of kit.
Pros:
- Sleek, compact design
- Long battery life
- Lightweight
Cons:
- No screen on the reader — you need a phone or tablet
- Less custom hardware compared to Square
Zettle hardware is great if you're mobile or have a small countertop. But it’s not built for complex setups with lots of peripherals.
If you're growing and need more functionality built into the hardware itself, you might find it limited.
Square Hardware
Square has a full ecosystem. You’ve probably seen their little white card readers, but they’ve gone way beyond that now. And if you're looking to turn your counter into a professional-grade till, Square gives you serious options.
Their lineup includes:
- Square Reader (for contactless + chip)
- Square Stand (turns an iPad into a till)
- Square Terminal (all-in-one reader + receipt printer)
- Square Register (full touchscreen POS system)
Each product is designed to fit a certain type of business. For example, if you’re a food truck or running pop-ups, the Square Terminal is compact, wireless, and self-contained.
For permanent retail setups, the Square Register gives you dual screens — one for the customer, one for the cashier — and integrates everything.
Pros:
- Bigger range of hardware options
- Built-in receipt printing and displays
- All-in-one devices mean fewer moving parts
Cons:
- Higher upfront cost
- Some features locked behind more expensive hardware
The investment is higher, but the payoff is a smoother checkout process. If your average queue is more than three customers deep during peak hours, Square’s integrated hardware can shave seconds off every sale — which adds up.
Software and Features: What’s Under the Hood?
This is where things start to split.
The real difference between Zettle and Square becomes clear when you look past just processing payments.
It’s about how you manage the entire retail operation — products, staff, reports, and customer experience.
Zettle Features
Zettle is great for basic retail needs. It’s designed to be easy, fast, and functional — especially for businesses that don’t want to spend weeks setting things up or training staff.
Here’s what you get:
- Product library with images, variants, and prices
- Simple inventory tracking
- Real-time sales reporting
- Staff accounts and permissions
- Refunds and discounts
- Integration with PayPal and Xero
- Custom receipts
Nice touches:
- You can create custom buttons for fast checkout
- Barcode scanning with your phone camera
- Offline mode works pretty well
For most simple retail businesses, these tools are more than enough. But once you start wanting things like advanced stock alerts, bundled items, or deeper analytics, you’ll start hitting Zettle’s limits.
Zettle doesn’t have its own CRM. It doesn’t offer a loyalty programme. And if you want eCommerce, you’ll have to connect it to Shopify or BigCommerce — it doesn’t have its own built-in online store feature like Square.
So if you’re growing fast or need advanced tools, expect to spend more time piecing things together.
Square Features
Square is built for business owners who want to grow. It's got depth — the kind of stuff you only realise you need once you’re two years in and managing a team or juggling inventory across different locations.
Here’s what it brings:
- Advanced inventory management
- Employee time tracking
- Customer directory and loyalty programs
- Gift card system
- Built-in eCommerce features
- Appointment scheduling
- Analytics dashboard
You also get integrations with platforms like Wix, QuickBooks, WooCommerce, and more.
You can customise nearly everything. Want to track which staff member made a sale? Done. Want to segment customers by purchase history and send promotions? That’s built in. Want to sell online and sync your stock across all channels? You don’t need a separate tool.
In short:
- Zettle = simpler, lighter
- Square = deeper, more powerful
If you’re running a boutique or a single pop-up shop, Zettle gets the job done. But if you’re building a brand, running multiple branches, or selling both in-store and online, Square gives you the horsepower you need.
Payment Processing and Fees
This is where it can hit your bottom line.
Zettle Fees
- 1.75% per card transaction (flat rate)
- No monthly fee for basic use
- No charge for refunds
- Free POS app
Zettle’s pricing is simple. If you're doing face-to-face sales only, it’s easy to calculate your margins. There are no monthly costs unless you’re adding extras like accounting software or advanced hardware.
Zettle doesn’t support custom pricing unless you’re a big enterprise with special terms. So for most businesses, it’s a fixed rate.
Square Fees
- 1.75% per contactless or chip card payment
- 2.5% for keyed-in payments (e.g. over the phone)
- 2.9% + 30p for online payments
- No monthly fees for the free plan
Square does have premium plans (for things like restaurants or appointments) starting at around £60/month depending on the tools you need.
What catches people off guard is the difference in online vs in-person fees. If you're also taking payments online or manually entering card info, Square’s transaction fees go up — and that can eat into your profit if you’re not pricing accordingly.
If you're just doing card-present transactions in person, both are priced the same.
But if you also sell online or take remote payments, Square’s extra fees can add up. It’s not a deal-breaker — but you need to know your numbers.
Ease of Use
Zettle
Zettle keeps things very simple. Setup is fast, and the app layout is clean. You don’t need a manual to figure it out. It’s a good option if you’re training staff quickly or you’re not confident with tech.
Great for:
- People new to POS systems
- Pop-up shops or market sellers
- Low-volume retailers
The design of the Zettle app focuses on simplicity over depth. Everything you need is usually one or two taps away, and the interface feels uncluttered.
If you're after a “set it and forget it” setup that just works, this does the job.
Square
Square is more powerful, but there’s a bit more to learn. The dashboard is more complex, and you’ll need to explore a bit to unlock all the features.
Great for:
- Business owners who want room to grow
- Staff with tech confidence
- Managing multiple locations
But once you’ve used it for a few days, you realise why it’s more complex — it just gives you more to work with.
If you’re willing to spend 30–60 minutes learning the dashboard, you’ll find loads of tools that can help streamline operations.
Customer Support and Reliability
Zettle
- Email and phone support on weekdays
- Help centre is okay but basic
- Community support is limited
Support hours are limited, and response times can vary. If you need help on a Saturday night or during a busy Sunday market, it might be tough to get someone on the line.
That’s something to think about if your trading hours stretch beyond 9–5 weekdays.
Square
- Phone, email, and live chat support
- Strong documentation
- Big user community and forums
- YouTube tutorials for nearly every feature
If you ever run into an issue mid-shift, Square’s faster support and better documentation make a big difference.
There’s also a huge ecosystem of users who’ve probably had the same problem as you, and the community answers are usually legit.
You don’t want to be Googling “how to reprint a receipt” in front of a customer. With Square, the answer is almost always just a click away.
Integrations and Add-ons
This matters when you start scaling or need specific tools.
In the early days, you might not think much about integrations. You just want to take payments and track sales.
But once your business starts growing — multiple sales channels, accounting, loyalty, marketing, staff management — that’s when integrations make or break the system.
Being able to plug your POS into your accounting software, email platform, or eCommerce store saves time, reduces errors, and keeps everything in sync.
And here’s where Zettle and Square start pulling in different directions.
Zettle Integrations
Zettle keeps things simple — and that includes how it handles integrations. It plays well with a few core platforms, but it doesn’t go deep.
There’s no native app marketplace, and most advanced setups need third-party tools like Zapier to bridge the gaps.
Here’s what Zettle connects with:
- PayPal (of course — it’s owned by them)
- Xero (for accounting and bookkeeping)
- Shopify (for online stores)
- BigCommerce (another eCom platform)
- QuickBooks (via third-party connector apps)
That’s basically the core stack. You can get the job done if you’re just syncing sales data to your books or running a single online store.
But here’s the trade-off: you can’t easily connect to CRMs, email marketing tools, loyalty platforms, or appointment booking systems without patching things together.
If you’re not tech-savvy, that becomes a headache.
Also worth noting: Zettle doesn’t offer any kind of marketing automation or customer insights beyond basic sales data.
So if you want to segment customers, send abandoned cart emails, or build automated flows — you’re on your own.
It’s fine for basic retail needs, but once you hit a certain level of complexity, you’ll feel boxed in.
Square Integrations
Square is an ecosystem.
It’s built to connect with the rest of your tech stack — right out of the box. That means fewer headaches, less manual work, and more options to expand how you run your business.
You get native support for:
- WooCommerce (great for WordPress-based stores)
- Wix (for simple site + store setups)
- QuickBooks (syncs transactions and tax info automatically)
- FreshBooks (another option for invoicing and accounting)
- Mailchimp (for email marketing and customer follow-ups)
- Jotform (for capturing customer data or feedback)
- OpenTable (for booking if you're in food or hospitality)
And there are dozens more through their dedicated App Marketplace, which includes tools for:
- Inventory and supply chain management
- Staff scheduling and payroll
- Online ordering and delivery
- Loyalty and rewards
- Customer reviews and feedback collection
- SMS marketing
- Reporting and analytics
Square also supports APIs and webhooks, so if you’ve got dev resources or a custom need, you can build out custom connections without relying on third-party hacks.
So what’s the big picture?
If you want a POS that grows with your business and plugs directly into the rest of your systems — Square has the edge.
It’s built for retailers who want control, automation, and scale without needing a degree in software engineering.
And that makes a big difference once your store goes beyond just ringing up sales.
Real-World Scenarios: When to Choose What
Go With Zettle If:
- You’re just starting out
- You don’t need advanced features
- You want a simple, fast, no-fuss setup
- You already use PayPal for your business
- You sell in-person only, and online isn’t a focus
Go With Square If:
- You want to build a scalable retail operation
- You need inventory tools, loyalty systems, or gift cards
- You also sell online
- You want to connect everything — eCommerce, accounting, marketing
- You have multiple staff or locations
Key Takeaways
| Feature | Zettle | Square |
|---|---|---|
| Hardware Options | Basic reader + accessories | Full ecosystem |
| Inventory Management | Basic | Advanced |
| Payment Fees | 1.75% flat | 1.75% in-person, varies online |
| Ease of Use | Super simple | More tools, slightly complex |
| Online Store Integration | Limited | Strong |
| Loyalty/CRM Tools | No | Yes |
| Staff Management | Basic | Detailed |
| Best For | Simple retail setups | Growing businesses |
Final Thoughts
If you want to keep things light and affordable, Zettle is a solid starting point. It’s reliable, easy, and handles the basics without stressing you out.
But if you're trying to build a real business — especially if you sell across channels or want more control — Square gives you tools that grow with you.
You don't want to switch systems in six months because the one you picked couldn't keep up.
So be honest about what your business needs right now — and where it's going.
FAQ
Is Zettle better than Square for retail?
If you’re running a basic retail setup and want a lightweight POS with simple pricing, Zettle works well. But Square has more advanced features for serious growth.
Does Zettle work offline?
Yes — it lets you take payments offline and syncs when you're back online.
Can I use Square without a business account?
Yes. You can sign up as a sole trader or freelancer — no limited company required.
Do Zettle or Square work with eCommerce platforms?
Square has better eCommerce integrations, but Zettle can connect to Shopify and BigCommerce.
Which one is cheaper?
Zettle is cheaper upfront, but Square gives you more tools. So it depends what you value more: simplicity or flexibility.
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