PayPal Point of Sale (Zettle) vs Square POS

Updated November 2026 · AppBreakup editorial

PayPal Point of Sale (Zettle)

PayPal's card reader, terminal and POS app for small shops, formerly sold as Zettle.

Paid

Visit PayPal Point of Sale (Zettle) PayPal Point of Sale (Zettle) profile

Square POS

Point-of-sale app and hardware from Square for restaurants, retail and service businesses.

Free plan + paid

Visit Square POS Square POS profile

The short answer

PayPal Point of Sale (formerly Zettle) is a simple card reader and POS app with a flat card rate and no monthly fee, best for small UK and European sellers already on PayPal. Square POS offers deeper POS features, tailored restaurant and retail versions, and paid tiers for growing businesses. Choose PayPal for simple card taking tied to PayPal; choose Square for a fuller system.

PayPal Point of Sale (Zettle) or Square POS: our take

Both let small sellers start without a monthly fee, but they sit at different depths. PayPal Point of Sale, the new name for Zettle by PayPal, is a free POS app for phones and tablets that takes contactless and chip payments through the PayPal Reader, an all-in-one terminal, or Tap to Pay with no hardware. It handles product libraries, receipts, discounts and sales reports and connects to accounting and ecommerce tools. Square POS goes further: tailored versions for restaurants, retail and appointments, menus, inventory, customer profiles, gift cards, and its own terminals, registers, stands and kiosks.

Pricing models differ. PayPal charges 1.75% per transaction in the UK, the same flat rate including American Express, with no contracts or recurring fees. Hardware is a one-off cost: the card reader is £29 excl. VAT for new business users, an additional reader £69 excl. VAT, and the terminal £149 excl. VAT. Square Free is $0/month with in-person cards at 2.6% + 15¢; Square Plus is $49/month per location and Premium $149/month per location, adding advanced floor plans, kitchen display, multi-location tools and lower processing rates. Square's hardware is sold separately, and kitchen display and kiosk software cost extra per device.

The ecosystems differ as well. PayPal sends funds to the seller's PayPal Business account, usually within minutes, and requires one; Payment Links are temporarily closed to new sellers. Square requires its own processing and connects the POS to Square payroll, banking, online stores and marketing tools, and can accept offline card payments for up to 24 hours, at the seller's risk if they later fail. Products and rates vary by country for PayPal, and both are lighter than specialised restaurant systems at the top end.

Pick PayPal Point of Sale if you are a café, market stall or pop-up in the UK or Europe that already runs on PayPal and mainly needs simple card taking. Pick Square POS if you need restaurant or retail features, plan to grow to several locations, or want payroll and online sales in the same system.

Choose PayPal Point of Sale (Zettle) if…

Small UK and European sellers who already run their business through PayPal
Same flat rate for major cards, including American Express
Free POS app with Tap to Pay, no hardware needed

Choose Square POS if…

Small cafes, food trucks and shops that want a POS with no monthly fee to start
You want a free option (PayPal Point of Sale (Zettle) is paid only)
Free plan with no monthly fee, only processing charges
Pricing and hardware are listed openly and sold online

What is PayPal Point of Sale (Zettle)?

PayPal Point of Sale is the new name for Zettle by PayPal, the card reader and POS service PayPal bought to serve small in-person sellers. Merchants use the free POS app on a phone or tablet to ring up sales and take contactless and chip payments with the PayPal Reader, an all-in-one terminal, or Tap to Pay with no extra hardware. The app handles product libraries, receipts, discounts and sales reports, and connects to accounting and ecommerce tools. Pricing is a flat percentage per card transaction with no monthly fee, plus the one-off cost of hardware; QR code payments and invoices are also available. Money usually lands in the seller's PayPal Business account within minutes. It suits cafés, market stalls, pop-up shops and retailers in the UK and Europe who already use PayPal. Products and rates vary by country, and restaurants with table service often need a more specialised POS.

What is Square POS?

Square POS is the point-of-sale system from Square, part of Block. It runs on iPhones, iPads and Android devices or on Square's own terminals, registers, stands and kiosks, and covers checkout, orders, menus, inventory, customer profiles, gift cards and reports. Restaurant, retail and appointment businesses each get a tailored version of the app. The Free plan has no monthly fee and charges only card processing, which makes it a common first POS for food trucks, cafes and pop-up sellers. Paid Plus and Premium plans add features such as advanced floor plans, kitchen display, multi-location tools and lower processing rates, and add-ons like the KDS and kiosk software are billed per device. Card payments can keep working offline for a limited time. Square also sells payroll, banking, online stores and marketing tools that connect to the POS, and it publishes its pricing openly.

Side by side

Attribute	PayPal Point of Sale (Zettle)	Square POS
Pricing	Paid	Free plan + paid
Open source	No	No
Self-hostable	No	No
Platforms	iOS, Android, Web	iOS, Android, Web
Best for	Small UK and European sellers who already run their business through PayPal	Small cafes, food trucks and shops that want a POS with no monthly fee to start
Status	Active	Active