Square or PayPal / Zettle? Card reader comparison (08/26)
Two providers, the same criteria, the same table. With no payment product of our own that has to win in the end.
Square (Block) lists from 2.60% + 15 ¢, PayPal / Zettle (PayPal POS) from 1.75%. The two figures are not from the same market — the price lists we could verify apply to different countries. Ranking them against each other would produce a false winner.
Side by side
| Criterion | Square (Block) | PayPal / Zettle (PayPal POS) |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction fee | from 2.60% + 15 ¢ Square Free; Plus 2,5 %, Premium 2,4 % | from 1.75% no monthly fee; hardware excl. VAT |
| Monthly fee | 0 (Square Free plan) | 0 GBP |
| Setup cost | 0 | 0 GBP |
| Contract term | n/a | n/a |
| Certification | n/a | n/a |
| Platforms | iOS + Android | iOS + Android |
| Markets | 8 | 9 |
| SoftPOS24 rating | 3.5/5 | 4.0/5 |
| Source | open source ↗ | open source ↗ |
Square (Block) · PayPal / Zettle (PayPal POS)
And the others?
A duel answers “which of these two”. The question “which of all of them” is answered by the comparison of all 105 providers.
Frequently asked
Is Square cheaper than PayPal / Zettle?
Not across the board. The headline rate applies to consumer debit cards; commercial cards, Amex and cards issued abroad usually cost one to one and a half points more. Add the monthly fee and the fixed amount per transaction — 15 cents on a $4 sale is another 3.75 %.
Can I run both at the same time?
Technically yes, and when switching, two to four weeks in parallel is sensible. Permanently it rarely pays: two monthly fees and a split volume, which costs you volume discounts.
Where do the numbers come from?
From the providers' own pricing pages, retrieved on 26.08.2026. Where a provider publishes nothing, the source is flagged as secondary. Every figure is on the provider profile with its source link.