Shopkeep vs Square

If you've been on the hunt for a low-risk POS solution with a wide variety of professional features, you've probably already come across both Square and ShopKeep.

Investing in a quality POS system can end up costing quite a bit, which is why researching your options before settling on one is key.

Today, we're going to perform an in-depth ShopKeep Vs. Square POS comparison to ensure that you select a system that has everything you need.

Continue reading to find out more.

Choose ShopKeep If...

ShopKeep is a great choice for small or mid-sized businesses in food service or retail. And thanks to its numerous integrations, it's a particularly good POS system if you run a quick-service business or specialty vendor business. The beauty of ShopKeep is that it is completely customizable, fitting a wide range of operations.

Choose Square If...

Square POS is an excellent choice for small and mid-sized businesses that want a budget-friendly POS system. It comes with the Square Retail app, an intuitive piece of hardware that you can use for free on just about any smart device. This POS solution works for a variety of businesses, including restaurants, boutique retailers, coffee shops, vendors, and more.

ShopKeep POS vs Square POS System Comparison

	Shopkeep	Square
Ideal For	Small or mid-sized retail and food businesses that need a variety of POS hardware solutions	Small retail businesses or restaurants that want a low-cost POS service
Hardware Cost	$39 to $1,500	$49 to $799
Software Cost	$49 per month starting	$0 per month starting
Online Transactions	Quote-based	2.9% +$0.30
In-Person Transactions	Quote-based	2.6% +$0.10
Mobile Device	Yes	Yes
Customer Service	24/7 Live Support	Customer support from 6 AM to 6 PM PST over phone, email, and live chat. 24/7 support for Premium plan users
Contract	No contract	No contract
What’s Missing	Industry-specific plans, website-building features,	24/7 support hours with free plan, tiered payment processing fees, and vendor management tools in the free plan

Digging Into The Details

ShopKeep's Best Features:

Top-Notch Customer Support

When it comes to customer service, ShopKeep beats out Square by leaps and bounds because 24/7 live chat is available.

If you run an after-hours business, such as a bar or nightclub, having this kind of support outside of regular business hours can be incredibly beneficial.

Beyond live chat, ShopKeep offers customer support through email and text as well. You'll also find a large database online with information regarding this POS solution.

If you need more answers to specific small business questions, we recommend heading on over to the ShopKeep Small Business Hub blog, where they supply plenty of information regarding your POS system's marketing and sales features.

Quality Hardware

Though Square has plenty of notable hardware options for its customers, ShopKeep comes out on top with its bundles. You can start running ShopKeep on a sixth-gen or higher iPad, iPad Mini, or iPad Pro, though you can also hook up a wide range of hardware accessories, such as credit card readers and printers.

Most of the products that ShopKeep offers are compatible with popular iPad models, utilizing Bluetooth connection and more.

If you use Android devices, ShopKeep works just as well, making it that much more flexible than Square.

Shopkeep Pocket App

While the Square POS app does have a lot going for it, there's something about the ShopKeep app, which is available for both iOs and Android devices, that we love. It's an ultra-streamlined app that takes your business anywhere you go, sending you notifications in real-time regarding the happenings of your brick-and-mortar business or online store.

You can even make online sales from your phone using the Pocket app. The ability to make transactions while on the go and take care of back-office needs from wherever in the world you may be provides unmatched flexibility to business owners.

Reporting and Analytics

ShopKeep has an extensive reporting suite that can deliver all the information you'd possibly need about your business.

It recently added sales by discount reporting, sales by customer reporting, and average cost reporting to its long list of data collection.

With the high-end reporting and analytics features found in ShopKeep, you can print real-time reports using a printer attached to your register. These reports range from simple overviews of daily sales to in-depth variant reports with modifiers.

Online Ordering

While Square takes the cake in the website-building sphere, allowing customers to build their own websites for free, the online ordering capabilities of ShopKeep provide better ease for customers who want to purchase your products online in a pinch.

Beyond your standard online ordering, you can use ShopKeep's marketing features to run ads on Google, which can spit out reports to tell you whether or not the ads you're running are working to create leads and gather more customers.

The online ordering features make it super easy for you to work with popular search and social media platforms, such as Instagram or Facebook.

Square's Best Features:

Third-Party Integrations

Square has a massive app marketplace that offers a wide range of third-party app integrations. There are so many that it would take an entirely new guide to list all of them. However, a few of the most popular third-party integrations include WooCommerce, Zoho Books, MailChimp, and Wix.

If you want to hook up accounting software to your Square plan, for example, you can integrate your Square account with QuickBooks or Xero.

Square also offers its customers a wide range of in-house integrations, including loyalty programs, marketing, and payroll services.

Inventory Management

Though both of these POS systems come with inventory management tools, those available with Square are far more robust. As a small business owner, you know how important it is to accurately keep up with your stock needs. With good inventory management, you can build customer loyalty and avoid unnecessary expenses regarding deficiencies and excess.

The beauty of Square's inventory management system is that it comes free with the Square app. You can start importing existing stock right away using a simple CSV spreadsheet or enter items manually using your Square POS or Square dashboard.

Low stock alerts can be set up to make sure you're always ready to go with your most popular items.

It's also worth noting that Square's inventory management features don't come with limits, while ShopKeep's smaller plans limit you to 3,000 items. This may not be enough for large businesses or businesses that plan on growing with more robust inventory management software.

Loyalty Programs

While the Square POS loyalty program isn't free (it starts at $45), you'll find that the success of the highly customizable software addition pretty much pays for itself. You can do everything from creating classic digital punch cards to consolidating customer data to learning what your customers like best.

You can also reach out to your customers with text updates to spread the word about new deals or sales, or personalize your customer service with data regarding buying behavior.

The Square for Retail system has incredible inventory tracking features for just about any kind of retail business.

Employee Management

Square's employee management software provides all of the tools you need to track employee performance, draw up advanced reports, or customize permissions. The potential seems nearly endless once you get under the hood.

Even with your most basic Square account, you can set limitations on which employees can initiate refunds or allow certain employees to take payments via mobile device.

We love the employee sales reports that this POS software generates, giving you insight into the daily work of your employees, so you can reward those who are putting in the most effort.

Intuitive Software

One of the reasons Square POS software has blown up in the past decade is that it is some of the most simple and streamlined POS software on the market. The Square POS system is excellent for restaurant businesses with high employee turnover rates, as it doesn't require much effort to train new employees.

While you won't find the same kind of 24/7 phone support that you get with other point of sale providers, you'll find a large community of Square users and a never-ending knowledge base to answer any questions you might have.

ShopKeep Drawbacks:

One of the most common complaints we see with ShopKeep is that it can be quite glitchy. The new updates in the software are often accompanied by bugs. After the company's merger with Lightspeed, problems seemed to have gotten worse, and updates are no longer there for new customers.

When it comes to monthly fees, ShopKeep is a bit pricier than Square, which is why it's not one of the best choices for small businesses that are just starting out.

Lastly, while ShopKeep integrates with a number of quality third-party apps, Square integrates with many more, making it a far more flexible POS system overall.

Square Drawbacks:

When focusing on ShopKeep vs. Square, one of the main drawbacks of Square is that the company does not offer 24/7 support like ShopKeep does. This can be a major downside for businesses that operate after normal business hours, such as bars or nightclubs.

It's also worth noting that there are quite a few complaints from customers regarding fund holds. If Square deems activity on your account suspicious, it can place immediate holds on your account, going so far as to terminate based on the severity of the issue. If they make a mistake, it can leave you in a pickle. Many note that these kinds of problems take a while to resolve, and without the 24/7 phone support like you'd get with a ShopKeep POS system, getting in touch with someone ASAP can be challenging.

Lastly, while Square offers a bargain for small businesses that want free POS software to get them up and running, the pricing model can make it expensive for large businesses to run. If you suddenly find that your business is more successful than you imagined it would be a year ago, the flat fee credit card processing can start to add up, forcing you to look for a more affordable POS system.

Which is A Better Value?

In the end, both of these developers provide excellent cloud-based POS solutions. When it comes down to it, the best one for your needs will depend on what exactly you are looking for in a POS system.

If you want a wide range of third-party integrations and a feature-rich POS system for the best value, Square is the ideal choice. The POS software is top-notch, and the payment processing model is intuitive. On the other hand, if you need more advanced, around-the-clock support from your POS solution, ShopKeep may be right for you.