An $80 payment typed in online costs $2.62 at Stripe's published rate and $2.94 on Square's entry plan. The same $80 tapped on a card reader costs $2.21 at Stripe and $2.23 at Square. So the answer to "which is cheaper" is that it depends on where your customers pay, and the gap is smaller than most comparison pages suggest.
All rates below are as published on each company's own site, October 2026. Some comparison pages from 2025 still show older numbers, such as Square at 2.6% + 10 cents, so check the date on anything you read, including this page.
The published rates, side by side
| Payment type | Stripe | Square (entry plan, no monthly fee) | Square (Plus plan) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Card online | 2.9% + 30 cents | 3.3% + 30 cents | 2.9% + 30 cents |
| Card in person (reader) | 2.7% + 5 cents | 2.6% + 15 cents | 2.5% + 15 cents |
| Card keyed in by hand | Not listed separately | 3.5% + 15 cents | 3.5% + 15 cents |
| Monthly fee for processing | None (no setup or monthly fees) | None | A paid subscription |
Square names its entry plan Free, meaning no monthly subscription, and you pay only when you take a payment. Plus and Premium are paid plans with lower card rates. Check Square's pricing page for the current monthly price before you assume the saving is worth it. Stripe states that it does not charge setup fees or monthly fees. Both can charge extra for international cards and currency conversion. Stripe lists 1.5% extra for international cards and 1% when currency conversion is needed.
Forty payments of $150 a month
Here is a month for a small service business that takes 40 card payments averaging $150, so $6,000 in card sales. The only thing that changes between the rows is how the customer paid.
| Month of 40 x $150 | Stripe | Square entry plan | Square Plus |
|---|---|---|---|
| All 40 online | $186.00 | $210.00 | $186.00 |
| All 40 in person | $164.00 | $162.00 | $156.00 |
| 20 online, 20 in person | $175.00 | $186.00 | $171.00 |
The arithmetic per payment is $4.65 online at Stripe (2.9% of $150 is $4.35, plus 30 cents), $5.25 online on Square's entry plan, $4.10 in person at Stripe and $4.05 in person on Square's entry plan. Online, Stripe is $24 a month cheaper than Square's entry plan. In person, Square's entry plan is $2 cheaper. On a 20/20 split, Stripe is $11 a month cheaper. These are small sums against $6,000 in sales, a gap of 0.4 percent of revenue at most.
Square's Plus plan lowers the rates, and it saves $24 a month against the entry plan on all-online sales, $6 on all-in-person sales, and $15 on the even split. It also carries a monthly subscription, so Plus only pays for itself if its current price on Square's pricing page is below the saving that fits your mix.
When the payments are smaller or larger than $150
Percentages hide the real money, so here are the dollars for three ticket sizes. They use the published rates above.
| Payment | Stripe | Square entry plan | Square Plus |
|---|---|---|---|
| $80 online | $2.62 | $2.94 | $2.62 |
| $400 online | $11.90 | $13.50 | $11.90 |
| $2,500 online | $72.80 | $82.80 | $72.80 |
| $80 in person | $2.21 | $2.23 | $2.15 |
| $400 in person | $10.85 | $10.55 | $10.15 |
| $2,500 in person | $67.55 | $65.15 | $62.65 |
Now apply it to Dolores, who runs a three-person fence repair business. She takes about 20 deposits a month of $400 online and collects 10 final payments of $2,500 on site with a reader. On Stripe that is 20 x $11.90 = $238 online, plus 10 x $67.55 = $675.50 in person, a total of $913.50. On Square's entry plan it is 20 x $13.50 = $270 online plus 10 x $65.15 = $651.50 in person, $921.50. The difference is $8 a month. The processor barely matters here. What matters is that the final payment is large and a percentage of $2,500 stings, so she should look at bank-transfer options too. Stripe lists ACH direct debit at 0.8% with a $5 cap, which turns a $2,500 payment into a fee of $5, against $67.55 on a card. Whether customers will pay that way is another question.
How fast the money reaches your bank
Stripe's documentation lists standard US payouts at 2 business days. It also says that after your first live payment, Stripe typically schedules your first payout within 7 to 14 days, depending on industry, country and risk. If you are brand new, plan for that wait before your first deposit lands. Stripe lists Instant Payouts at 1.5% with a 50-cent minimum.
Square's transfer page lists a free standard transfer to your bank as soon as the next business day, and an instant transfer for 1.95% of the amount. New sellers may be limited to one instant transfer a day of up to $2,000. If a fast first deposit matters to you, those are the lines to read on both sites.
Costs that show up later
Disputes are the bill nobody budgets for. Stripe lists $15 for each dispute. Check Square's current terms for its own dispute handling before you commit, because the pages we read did not show a dispute fee. Whichever you use, keep a signed quote and a dated photo of finished work, because those are what win a dispute.
Invoicing differs in structure. Stripe's pricing page lists an additional 0.4% on invoices, capped at $2 per invoice, on top of the card fee. Square's invoicing is part of its entry plan, with card fees on top. Before sending your first invoice, confirm the current invoice rate on the vendor's page.
Five checks before the first real charge
Whichever you open, spend ten minutes on these before you send a customer to pay.
- Find the rate for the exact way you will take money, such as online, reader or invoice, and not the headline number.
- Ask or read how long the first payout is held. A new business that expects a deposit on Friday and gets it two weeks later has a cash problem that no fee table shows.
- Find what a dispute costs and what proof is required, then start saving signed quotes and dated photos.
- Find the export button for customers and transactions, in case you leave.
- Run a real $1 charge and a refund, and look at which fees stay behind. Some fees are not returned on a refund, so read the refund terms on the vendor's page.
Switching later is harder than choosing, mostly because saved card details live with the processor. If you plan to bill customers on a schedule, ask the vendor how saved cards can be moved before you build a routine around them.
Which job do you need done
- Most payments happen at a counter, a market table or a customer's driveway. Compare the in-person rows of the table and the reader price. The processors are within a few cents on small tickets.
- Most payments happen on your own website or from a link you text. The online rows matter, and the entry-plan difference is real: about $10 on a $2,500 payment.
- Large jobs paid by invoice. Ask whether the customer will pay by bank transfer, since the percentage on a large card payment dwarfs everything else.
- You need your site and payments to talk to each other. Pick the one your site or booking tool connects to. A processor that does not connect to your site costs you hours of copying numbers, which is the subject of the four hours nobody invoices for.
Sites built in Rocketship take payments through Stripe, and money goes to your own Stripe account, so you are not locked into a platform that holds your customers' details. Our notes on why the website is not the product and who holds the logins when you leave explain why that matters. If you are choosing between Stripe and another processor, Stripe vs PayPal for a small business covers that pair, and how to accept payments on your website shows the three set-ups. Once a quote is out, how to follow up on a quote is the next step.
Getting paid is the last step of getting a customer. Rocketship finds the buyers, emails them from your own Gmail, follows up, and books the meeting on its own. Plans that get you customers start at $24.99 a month (Launch), and every monthly plan starts with a 7-day free trial, card required.