Clover vs Square
Square publishes its card rate in full and sells hardware outright with a listed price; Clover publishes bundled package prices but no processing rate at all. Clover fits a retailer or restaurant that wants a single published hardware-plus-software number and is prepared to negotiate the processing rate separately; Square fits one that wants every number, including the rate, visible before any conversation.
Clover vs Square, side by side
Figures below come from each vendor's own published pricing pages, checked 17 September 2026. Where a vendor withholds a figure, the cell says "not published."
| Factor | Clover | Square |
|---|---|---|
| Software plans, monthly price | Retail: $16/mo (36-mo) or $349 up front, up to $240/mo or $2,648 + $104.90/mo. Restaurant: $179/mo up to $354/mo, or up front plus $89.95–$129.85/mo | Free plan $0; paid-plan prices load dynamically, not published in page source |
| Card processing rate | Not published on either retail or restaurant pricing page; quoted per account, can vary by reseller | Published in full: in person 2.6%+15¢, 2.5%+15¢ or 2.4%+15¢ by plan; online 3.3%+30¢ or 2.9%+30¢; keyed 3.5%+15¢; ACH 1%, $1 min |
| Hardware cost | Bundled into package prices above, paid up front or spread over 36 months | Sold outright, prices published in Square's own shop |
| Contract / early termination | 36-month framing published for the bundled price; cancellation and early termination not published | States no locked-in contracts; cancel or switch at any time |
| Use your own processor | Sold with Clover's own processing; pricing pages state prices shown are for buying online | No — Square processes its own payments |
| Offline mode | Not published on the pricing pages reviewed | Not published on the fees/pricing pages reviewed |
| Retail / restaurant features | Separate retail and restaurant packages; higher plans add online store, gift cards, loyalty; rapid deposit at 1.75% per transfer | Square for Retail and Square for Restaurants as distinct products; same published rate table across both |
Choose Clover if
- You want one bundled number for hardware and software and are willing to negotiate the processing rate as a separate conversation.
- You prefer spreading hardware cost over 36 months rather than paying it outright, and you've confirmed the total cost either way.
- You need retail and restaurant packages from the same vendor across multiple locations or concepts.
Choose Square if
- You want every processing figure visible on the page before you talk to anyone, including on the free plan.
- You have low-to-moderate volume with a simple card mix, where a blended rate tends to be simpler and often cheaper than the alternative.
- You want to buy hardware outright at a listed price with no locked-in term.
Processing rates: fixed either way, only one side is priced up front
Both Clover and Square sell their point of sale bundled with their own processing, and neither publishes a route to run an outside processor through the hardware without checking first — for Clover that depends on who sold the device. The real difference is that Square's rate is already on the page, so you can model the cost before any conversation; Clover's is not, so the first job with Clover is getting that rate in writing. Once you have both rates, an independent agent can compare either against an itemised, interchange-based quote on your own card volume — a blended rate like Square's can beat an itemised one at low volume and stop doing so as debit share and volume rise, and Clover's undisclosed rate needs the same test once it's in hand.
What to get in writing before choosing either
- Clover's processing rate in full — percentage and per-item, by card type and channel — since it is not on the page.
- Your own card mix over the last three months, since that decides whether Square's blended rate is working for you.
- Whether Clover hardware is bought, rented, or financed under a separate agreement, and that agreement's name.
- Clover's contract length, renewal mechanism, notice period and early termination amount as a number.
- How product, customer and sales data export from either system if you switch.
Price both against your actual last three months rather than a brochure number — the free statement analysis does that on your own statements, and our retail payment processing page and restaurant payment processing page cover the vertical-specific detail either platform will run into.
Related reading
- Clover POS pricing: what Clover publishes
- Square POS pricing: what Square publishes
- POS pricing compared: what ten providers publish
- Interchange-plus versus flat rate
- Retail payment processing and POS
Sources
- Clover, retail systems pricing, checked 2026-09-17: clover.com
- Clover, restaurant systems pricing, checked 2026-09-17: clover.com
- Square, payment processing fees (US), checked 2026-09-17: squareup.com
- Square, pricing (US), checked 2026-09-17: squareup.com
Clover and Square are trademarks of their respective owners and are used here for identification only. CELER Merchants is independent and is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, either company. Prices and terms change; confirm current pricing with each provider before deciding.
Related questions
Square publishes its processing rate in full and a $0 free plan; Clover publishes package prices that bundle hardware and software but no processing rate. Checked 18 September 2026, Clover's retail Basic package runs $16/month over 36 months or $349 up front; Square's paid-plan prices load dynamically and were not in the page source. Get Clover's processing rate in writing before comparing totals.
Square publishes them in full: in person 2.6% + 15 cents (free plan), 2.5% + 15 cents or 2.4% + 15 cents (paid plans); online 3.3% + 30 cents or 2.9% + 30 cents; keyed 3.5% + 15 cents. Clover publishes no processing rate on either its retail or restaurant pricing pages, as checked 17 September 2026 — it is quoted per account and can vary by reseller.
Not documented for either as typically sold. Clover's pricing pages state the published prices apply to buying online through Clover, and Clover is sold with its own processing. Square processes its own payments as well. Ask specifically before ordering, since Clover hardware sold through some resellers may carry different terms.
Clover publishes separate packages for retail and full-service restaurants, so it is built to serve both. Square also serves both, with Square for Retail and Square for Restaurants as distinct products, and publishes its processing rate regardless of which side you're on. A retailer weighing debit-heavy volume against Square's blended rate should run the numbers against Clover's device-plus-software bundle separately from the missing processing figure.
Send one statement. Every fee named, back, usually within 4 hours.
It is free, there is nothing to sign and nothing to cancel. We read your current merchant statement line by line, name every fee on it — including the ones buried in the fee schedule — work out your true effective rate, and send the written analysis back, usually within 4 hours. Do not want to wait? Call 1-888-705-7896 and we will read your statement with you on the call in about 5 minutes.
Every fee named, usually within 4 hours. Or call now and we quote you on the spot.
Everyone else in this industry says twenty-four hours. We say four — and if that is still too slow, pick up the phone and get your numbers while you are on the call. No contract, nothing to cancel, no pressure.