Short on time? Here’s our quick verdict:
- Square POS: Best overall for UK small businesses. Stronger software ecosystem, richer feature set, and Square AI give it a clear edge for growth-minded operators.
- PayPal POS (formerly Zettle): Best for simplicity. Ideal for single-location businesses, pop-ups, and market stalls that need to start selling in minutes with minimal setup.
Who Should Choose Which Platform?
Before diving into specifications and pricing, the most useful thing this article can do is help you route yourself to the right choice. Both platforms share a £0 monthly fee, 1.75% in-person transaction rate, and a £149 + VAT terminal — so on paper they look identical. The real differences emerge in software depth, hardware range, and long-term scalability.
Choose Square if you are:
- A retail shop or restaurant planning to grow beyond one location
- A business that sells online as well as in-person and wants a unified system
- Looking for industry-specific POS software (Square for Retail, Square for Restaurants) with features like table management, kitchen display, or advanced inventory
- A multi-location business that needs consolidated reporting across sites
- A business wanting AI-powered insights built into its POS dashboard at no extra cost
Choose PayPal POS if you are:
- A solo trader, market stall, or pop-up shop that needs to start accepting cards today with minimal setup
- Already using PayPal for online payments and want seamless fund access through your existing PayPal Business account
- A single-location business with a small, simple product range that doesn’t need advanced reporting or integrations
- A food truck, mobile beautician, or events trader who values maximum portability above all else
Square vs PayPal POS: At a Glance
| Feature | Square POS | PayPal POS |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly software fee | £0 | £0 |
| In-person transaction fee | 1.75% | 1.75% |
| Online (UK cards) | 1.4% + 25p | Not offered (app-based) |
| Manually keyed-in | 2.5% | Not available |
| Bespoke rates from | £200,000/yr card turnover | £10,000/yr card turnover |
| Card reader (first) | £19 + VAT | £29 + VAT |
| Additional readers | £19 + VAT each | £69 + VAT each |
| Terminal | £149 + VAT | £149 + VAT |
| Register / countertop till | £599 + VAT (Square Register) | Not available |
| Handheld POS device | Square Handheld (available) | Not available |
| Free POS software | Yes | Yes |
| Industry-specific plans | Retail, Restaurant, Appointments | None |
| Offline payments | Yes (up to 24 hrs) | No |
| Funds availability | Next day (instant for 1% fee) | PayPal balance: minutes; Bank: 1–2 days |
| AI assistant | Square AI (free, built-in) | None |
| App marketplace / integrations | Hundreds of apps | Dozens of apps |
| Contract required | No | No |
| Chargeback fee | £0 | £0 (up to £250/mo protection) |
| Learn more | Visit Square | Visit PayPal POS |
Pricing: Is Square or PayPal POS Cheaper?
Both platforms advertise £0 monthly fees and the same 1.75% in-person transaction rate, which can make the pricing comparison feel like a dead heat. It isn’t. The details matter.
Transaction Fees
For in-person payments, the rate is identical at 1.75% for both platforms, regardless of card type — Visa, Mastercard, or American Express. This is a genuine advantage PayPal POS offers: no premium for Amex, which historically attracted a surcharge on many processors.
Where Square pulls ahead is in online transactions. Square charges 1.4% + 25p for payments made with UK-issued cards through Square Online — significantly cheaper than most competing processors. For non-UK cards, that rises to 2.5% + 25p. PayPal POS doesn’t offer a standalone online transaction rate in the same way because its system is primarily designed for in-person payments; online selling through PayPal uses the separate PayPal Commerce product with different pricing.
Square also supports keyed-in transactions manually at 2.5% — useful for businesses that take phone orders. PayPal POS does not offer this facility for its POS product, which is a meaningful gap for service businesses.
Bespoke Pricing Threshold
One genuine area where PayPal POS has an advantage is bespoke rate eligibility. PayPal POS will discuss custom pricing with businesses processing as little as £10,000 per month in card payments. Square’s threshold for custom pricing is £200,000 per year — so businesses processing between £10,000 and roughly £200,000 annually are better served by exploring a PayPal POS custom rate conversation first.
If your business takes around £10,000–£16,000 per month in card payments, ask PayPal POS about custom rates before committing to either platform. At that volume, even a small rate reduction makes a meaningful annual difference.
Hardware Costs
Square offers the cheapest entry point on the market: the Square Reader starts at £19 + VAT. PayPal’s first reader is £29 + VAT for new businesses, and subsequent readers jump to £69 + VAT each — a high cost if you run multiple tills or need staff-specific devices. Square charges £19 + VAT for every reader.
At the terminal level, both the Square Terminal and the PayPal Terminal are priced at £149 + VAT. The PayPal Terminal with a built-in barcode scanner costs £199 + VAT. Square’s equivalent barcode scanning is available via accessories or through the Square Handheld.
For established businesses, Square’s hardware range is considerably broader (covered in the hardware section). The Square Register at £599 + VAT is the only purpose-built dual-screen countertop till system available from either provider.
| ✓ Winner: Square on pricing for most businesses Lower card reader costs, cheaper online transaction fees for UK-card payments, and broader hardware options make Square the better overall value. PayPal POS wins only if you process £10k–£16k/month and qualify for custom rates, or if you process a high volume of international (non-UK) card payments in person. |
Hardware: Card Readers, Terminals and Registers
Payment hardware is where the gap between Square and PayPal POS is most visible. Square has invested heavily in building a full hardware ecosystem; PayPal POS has two products.
Square Hardware Range
Square Reader — £19 + VAT
The Square Reader is a compact Bluetooth device that pairs with your smartphone or tablet via the Square app. The current second-generation model has a USB-C charging port and accepts chip & PIN and contactless payments, including Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay. It’s the cheapest entry point of any mainstream UK card reader.
The one functional limitation to understand: the Reader does not have a built-in PIN pad. Customers enter their PIN on the connected smartphone screen, which creates a mild accessibility consideration for businesses with visually-impaired customers. For most retail and hospitality scenarios, this is a non-issue in practice.
Square Handheld — Available from Square Shop UK
New to the Square lineup and the hardware product we were most impressed with during testing. The Square Handheld is a slim, purpose-built POS device with a large, responsive touchscreen, built-in camera and barcode scanner, and a battery designed to last a full trading shift. It’s smaller and lighter than the Terminal, making it genuinely handheld for table service.
For hospitality operators specifically, the Handheld is the standout piece of hardware: staff can take full orders at the table, split bills by item, and send orders directly to the kitchen display without returning to a central terminal. It connects via Wi-Fi, with offline payments available for up to 24 hours.
Square Terminal — £149 + VAT
An all-in-one countertop terminal with a built-in receipt printer, touchscreen, and the full Square POS software. It processes chip & PIN, contactless, and digital wallets standalone — no smartphone required. Offline mode keeps transactions running during Wi-Fi outages for up to 24 hours.
During testing, the Terminal’s interface was responsive and intuitive. Switching between the item library, running a refund, and accessing sales reports took seconds. The built-in printer is quiet and fast.
Square Register — £599 + VAT
A dual-screen countertop till with a merchant-facing display and a separate customer-facing payment screen. The Square Register has the POS software pre-installed and requires no tablet or additional device. It’s the system we’d recommend for established retail shops or restaurant front-of-house where permanence and speed matter more than portability.
PayPal POS Hardware Range
PayPal Reader — £29 + VAT (first reader for new customers)
Formerly branded as the Zettle Reader 2, the PayPal Reader is a well-built, compact device with a large touchscreen and Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE) certification. It connects via Bluetooth or USB-C cable to a smartphone or tablet running the PayPal POS app. Available in white and black, with UV fade-resistant casing. The Reader includes a physical PIN keypad on the device itself — an advantage over Square’s Reader for accessibility and customer confidence.
One important cost note: while the first reader is £29 + VAT for new customers, each subsequent reader is £69 + VAT. For a business equipping two or three staff members with individual readers, this escalates quickly compared to Square’s flat £19 + VAT per reader.
PayPal Terminal — £149 + VAT (£199 + VAT with barcode scanner)
The PayPal Terminal is an all-in-one device with the POS app pre-installed, designed primarily for mobile use. Unlike the Square Terminal, it cannot run third-party POS software — it’s locked to the PayPal POS ecosystem. The terminal version with a built-in barcode scanner costs £199 + VAT, making it a reasonable option for retailers who need inventory scanning without separate hardware.
Note that PayPal does not offer an equivalent to the Square Register. There is no dual-screen countertop till, no self-service kiosk option, and no kitchen display system compatible with PayPal POS.
| ✓ Winner: Square on hardware Square wins clearly. Its Reader is cheaper, its hardware range is broader, and the Square Handheld is a genuinely new device category that PayPal POS has no answer to. PayPal POS’s Reader scores a point for its built-in PIN keypad, but the ecosystem advantage belongs to Square. |
Software and Features
This is the area where Square and PayPal POS diverge most sharply. Both are free to use at the entry level, but the scope of what each platform offers is in a different category.
Square POS Software
Square’s software has evolved from a simple card acceptance app into a full business management platform. The free Square Point of Sale app covers inventory management, sales reporting, team management, customer profiles, and invoicing. For businesses that need more:
- Square for Retail (free; £49/mo for Plus): adds purchase orders, cost-of-goods tracking, multi-location inventory, advanced vendor management, and barcode label printing
- Square for Restaurants (free; £69/mo for Plus): adds table management, course management, kitchen display integration, floor plan customisation, live sales reporting by section, and 24/7 phone support
- Square Appointments (free for individuals; £0–£69/mo): adds online booking, no-show fees, and calendar management for service businesses
Square AI – Free for all UK sellers
In February 2026, Square launched Square AI in the UK — a conversational AI assistant built directly into the Square Dashboard. This is not a gimmick. We used it during testing and found it genuinely useful for the kinds of questions business owners actually ask: ‘What were my three best-selling items last Tuesday between 12 pm and 3 pm?’, ‘How did this week’s sales compare to the same week last year?’, ‘Which team member processed the most transactions last month?’
The assistant surfaces AI-generated charts that can be pinned to your dashboard, maintains conversation history so you can continue a line of enquiry across sessions, and is available via the Square Dashboard mobile app. It costs nothing. PayPal POS has no comparable feature.
According to Square’s own research published at launch, UK SME owners spend on average 4.3 hours per week analysing data manually. Square AI is designed to reclaim meaningful portions of that time.
PayPal POS Software
PayPal POS offers a clean, functional, and genuinely easy-to-use app. Inventory management, sales reporting, and basic staff management are all included in the free app. The product library allows bulk import, category assignment, and low-stock notifications. For a business with a small, stable product range, it covers the essentials well.
Where it falls short is in depth and scalability. There are no industry-specific plans. There is no table management, no kitchen display support, no appointment scheduling, and no customer loyalty programme. The reporting tools are adequate for single-location basics but lack the multi-location comparison and granular trend analysis available in Square.
One genuine advantage PayPal POS has in the software domain: if your business already operates within the PayPal ecosystem for online payments, the integration between PayPal POS and your PayPal Business account is seamless. Funds from in-person sales typically arrive in your PayPal balance within minutes, and you can spend directly via the PayPal Business Debit Mastercard.
| ✓ Winner: Square on software Square’s software is substantially deeper at every level. The free plan alone outperforms PayPal POS, and the addition of Square AI creates a meaningful competitive gap. PayPal POS’s simplicity is a genuine feature for its target market, but businesses with growth ambitions will outgrow it quickly. |
Integrations
Both platforms support third-party integrations, but the scale of what’s available differs significantly.
Square App Marketplace
Square’s App Marketplace connects to hundreds of third-party applications across every operational category. For UK businesses, key integrations include:
- Accounting: Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, ANNA Money
- E-commerce: WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Ecwid, Magento
- Delivery and ordering: Deliverect, Otter, Mr Yum, TapTable
- Loyalty: TapMango, Gift Up!, Digital Loyalty
- Booking: Wix Bookings, Booxi, Planday, GoDaddy Appointments
- Marketing: Mailchimp, Trustpilot Reviews, LiveChat, Local Inventory on Google
- Inventory: Thrive Inventory, DEAR Systems
- HR and payroll: Deputy, Staffology Payroll
This breadth matters practically. Making Tax Digital (MTD) requires businesses above the VAT threshold to keep digital records and file returns through compatible software. Square’s Xero and QuickBooks integrations make MTD compliance straightforward. It also means Square can function as a genuine business hub — not just a payment terminal.
PayPal POS Integrations
PayPal POS supports a narrower but still useful set of integrations. Accounting integrations include QuickBooks, Xero, and the Starling Bank Business Toolkit (which automatically captures VAT for HMRC submission — a useful feature for Starling customers). E-commerce integrations include Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and Adobe Commerce. For third-party POS software, PayPal POS’s Reader is notably compatible with other POS systems, including Lightspeed, Goodtill, Hike, and Vend — something Square’s Reader does not offer.
However, PayPal POS currently has no booking and scheduling integrations, no loyalty or rewards integrations, no marketing integrations, and no delivery management integrations. For a simple retail or hospitality business, this may not matter. For any business planning to run email marketing, a loyalty programme, or delivery ordering through the same system, it’s a significant gap.
| ✓ Winner: Square on integrations Square’s marketplace is substantially broader. PayPal POS scores a point for third-party POS compatibility and the Starling Bank integration, but the overall ecosystem advantage is Square’s by a wide margin. |
Ease of Use and Setup
Both platforms are designed for businesses without dedicated IT support, and both succeed at this. Neither requires a long-term contract, a credit check for the basic product, or specialist installation.
Square
The Square app has been consistently refined over the years, and it shows. Adding a new product, processing a refund, setting up a discount, and running a sales report are all reachable within two or three taps from the home screen. The checkout flow is fast, and the interface does not feel cluttered despite the breadth of features available.
The Square Terminal’s physical setup is straightforward: power on, connect to Wi-Fi, sign in to your Square account, and the existing product library is ready immediately. Staff members can be added with individual PINs and appropriate permission levels — no training beyond showing someone the checkout screen is typically necessary for basic operation.
PayPal POS
PayPal POS’s primary strength is simplicity, and this genuinely shows during setup. The onboarding flow from signing up to taking a first payment is faster than Square’s — primarily because there are fewer configuration choices to make. For a business that needs to start selling at a market stall or pop-up event within the hour, PayPal POS’s immediate availability is a practical advantage.
The PayPal POS app is clean and uncluttered. Adding products, applying discounts, and issuing digital receipts are all intuitive. The simplicity that makes the app approachable for first-time users does, however, mean that more experienced operators will encounter the limits of the interface sooner.
| ✓ Winner: Tie — with different strengths Square is easier to use for complex operations. PayPal POS is faster to get started with. Neither is difficult. Choose based on your business context: if you’re setting up for a trading day this weekend, PayPal POS’s speed advantage matters. If you’re configuring a permanent shop floor, Square’s depth is worth the slightly longer setup time. |
Security
Both platforms take security seriously and meet the standards required for UK businesses.
Square Security
Square is PCI DSS Level 1 compliant — the strictest security standard in the industry. All card-present payments are end-to-end encrypted from the moment the card is presented. Square uses machine learning to monitor transactions for fraud patterns and will proactively contact merchants about suspicious activity. Two-step verification is available for accounts. Disputes are managed through the Square Disputes Dashboard, where Square communicates directly with the bank on the merchant’s behalf. There is no chargeback fee.
PayPal POS Security
PayPal POS (formerly Zettle) is PCI DSS compliant and holds Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE) certification on its Reader hardware. Card data is encrypted by HSM cryptographic servers. PayPal operates 24/7 fraud monitoring on all accounts. One notable difference from Square: PayPal POS offers chargeback protection of up to £250 per month on eligible transactions, which functions as a financial safety net for lower-volume businesses — Square handles chargebacks at no cost but provides no equivalent insurance provision.
| ✓ Winner: Square on overall security — slight edge Both platforms are robustly secure and suitable for UK businesses. Square’s machine-learning fraud detection and proactive merchant alerts give it a marginal edge. PayPal POS’s £250/month chargeback protection is a practical benefit for businesses new to card acceptance that want financial certainty on disputes. |
Customer Support
| Support channel | Square POS | PayPal POS |
|---|---|---|
| Phone support | Mon–Fri 9am–5 pm (0203 467 8316) | Mon–Fri 9 am–5 pm (0203 467 8316) |
| 24/7 phone support | Yes (Plus / Premium plans) | No |
| Email support | Yes (24–48 hr response) | Yes (24 hr response) |
| Live chat | Yes (website, app, social media) | Yes (website only) |
| In-app help resources | Yes (built into Terminal and Register) | Help Centre articles only |
| Community / forum | Square Seller Community | No |
| Learn more | Visit Square | Visit PayPal |
Both platforms offer weekday phone support during business hours. For the majority of queries — setting up a new device, understanding a transaction report, resolving a card that didn’t process — the support available from either platform is adequate.
Square’s notable advantage is 24/7 phone support for Plus and Premium plan subscribers. For a restaurant doing dinner service at 9 pm on a Saturday, that availability is not a nice-to-have — it’s a meaningful operational safeguard. PayPal POS currently offers no out-of-hours phone support.
Square’s Seller Community is also worth highlighting: it’s an active forum where UK merchants help each other troubleshoot edge cases, discuss integrations, and share operational tips. For new business owners, community-sourced knowledge often resolves questions faster than formal support channels.
Alternatives Worth Considering
Square and PayPal POS are two of the strongest options for UK small businesses, but they’re not right for everyone. Here are situations where you might look elsewhere.
SumUp — Best for pure simplicity at low volume
SumUp’s Air card reader and flat 1.69% transaction rate (lower than both Square and PayPal POS for in-person payments) make it worth considering for very low-volume traders. The software is more limited than either Square or PayPal POS, but if you’re primarily accepting payments and nothing else, the rate difference adds up over time.
Lightspeed — Best for established retail or hospitality
Lightspeed starts at £75/month for retail and £69/month for restaurants but delivers a level of inventory management, analytics, and multi-location capability that outperforms Square at scale. If you’re running a multi-location restaurant group or a retail business with a large, complex SKU library, Lightspeed deserves evaluation.
Shopify POS — Best for ecommerce-first businesses
If your primary sales channel is online and in-person sales are secondary, Shopify POS integrates more naturally with the Shopify ecommerce platform than Square does. Its in-person transaction rate of 1.7% for UK cards on the basic Shopify plan is competitive. Note that Shopify POS charges additional transaction fees if you use a third-party payment processor.
FAQs
What is the difference between PayPal POS and Zettle?
They are the same product. Zettle (originally iZettle, a Swedish company acquired by PayPal in 2018) was rebranded as PayPal Point of Sale. If you have an existing Zettle account, it continues to work without any changes under the PayPal POS name. The hardware (Zettle Reader 2) is now marketed as the PayPal Reader.
Can I use PayPal POS and Square together?
No. They are competing payment processing systems with separate merchant accounts, separate hardware, and separate POS apps. You would need to choose one as your primary system. Running both simultaneously would create fragmented sales data and complicate accounting.
Do Square or PayPal POS require long-term contracts?
Neither platform requires a contract. Both operate on a pay-as-you-go basis — you pay per transaction and for hardware up front, with no cancellation fees. The monthly fee plans (Square for Restaurants Plus, Square for Retail Plus, etc.) are rolling monthly subscriptions, cancelable at any time.
How quickly do funds arrive after a sale?
With Square, funds are transferred to your linked bank account the next business day as standard. Instant transfer is available for a 1% fee. With PayPal POS, funds arrive in your PayPal Business account typically within minutes of the transaction. Bank transfers from your PayPal balance to your bank account take 1–2 business days. If your business already uses PayPal widely and keeps a balance there, the PayPal POS settlement speed is a genuine practical advantage.
What is Square AI, and does PayPal POS have an equivalent?
Square AI is a conversational AI assistant launched in the UK in February 2026, built into the Square Dashboard. It allows business owners to ask questions about their sales, customers, and staff in plain English and receive instant answers with generated charts. It is free for all Square users. PayPal POS currently has no equivalent feature.
How long does account setup take?
Both platforms can be operational within a day. The initial online application takes around 10–15 minutes. Identity and business verification may add time depending on your business type and risk profile. Once approved, the Square or PayPal POS app can be downloaded immediately, and you can accept payments via Tap to Pay on a compatible smartphone before your hardware even arrives.
Our Verdict
For most UK small businesses, Square POS is the better choice in 2026. Its hardware range is broader, its software is deeper, its online transaction fees are lower for UK card payments, and the February 2026 launch of Square AI adds genuine business intelligence value at no extra cost. For growth-oriented businesses — whether a café building towards multiple locations, a retailer looking to unify in-store and online inventory, or a restaurant wanting table management and kitchen display integration — Square is simply the more capable platform.
PayPal POS earns its place in the market through a different set of virtues: simplicity, speed of setup, and seamless integration with the wider PayPal ecosystem. For a food truck operator who needs to accept cards at a market this Saturday, a solo trader who already lives inside PayPal for invoicing, or a pop-up retailer whose needs are truly just ‘take payment, see report’, PayPal POS is a perfectly strong choice and the faster path to getting started.
The key question is honest: how much does your business plan to grow, and how much of your operation do you want your POS system to support? If the answer is a lot, Square. If the answer is not much, PayPal POS is fine.
