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Best Square Payments Alternatives — 10 Compared, With Free Tools (2026)

Explore 10 alternatives to Square Payments — vetted by our editors with real user reviews, pricing, and feature comparisons.

A quick look at the 10 best free Square Payments alternatives

Quick answer

The best Square Payments alternatives to try first are PayAnywhere, Heartland Payment Processing and Shift4 Payments. PayAnywhere leads the list with a 4.67★ rating from real users. Compare all 10 on rating and pricing below.

Not every team clicks with Square Payments, and that's fine. These 10 payment processing software free alternatives give you real choices on price, features, and usability. We rank them by SpotScore, which combines real-user satisfaction with market presence, then layer in ratings and pricing. Scan the comparison table first, then read the detail for each pick.

ProductSpotScoreRatingPricingBest for
PayAnywhereSecure payments made easy on the go!—★★★★★ 4.67(3)Quotation Basedteams of all sizes
Heartland Payment ProcessingEfficient payment processing for your business.—★★★★★ 4.75(20)Quotation Basedsmall & mid-size businesses
Shift4 PaymentsSecure, affordable, and effortless payment processing.—★★★★☆ 4.49(132)Quotation Basedteams of all sizes
PayPal HereEmpowering businesses with secure mobile payments.—★★★☆☆ 2.67(112)Quotation Basedteams of all sizes
Merchant OneEfficient, secure payment processing for any business.—★★★★★ 4.77(1505)Quotation Basedteams of all sizes
Stripe PaymentsSeamless payments, anytime, anywhere.—★★★★★ 4.69(243)Quotation Basedteams of all sizes
AfterpaySplit your payments, expand your possibilities.—★★★★★ 4.72(34)Quotation Basedteams of all sizes
EPXStreamline Your Payments with EPX.—★★★★★ 4.55(30)Quotation Basedteams of all sizes
ChargezoomEffortless payment processing for your business.—★★★★★ 5(1)Freefrom $20/moteams of all sizes
Global PaymentsTransforming payment processing for seamless transactions.—★★★★☆ 4.25(4)Quotation Basedteams of all sizes
PayAnywhere - Payment Processing Software

PayAnywhere

Secure payments made easy on the go!

Best for: SMB teams · Mid-market · Enterprise

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4.7

3 verified reviews

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What is PayAnywhere?

PayAnywhere is payment processing software that enables you to accept secure payments anywhere on the web.. It offers the ability to take payments for goods and services through your mobile device or tablet, where you are. Businesses of any size can take advantage of PayAnywhere to process ...

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PayAnywhere offers custom pricing plan

Heartland Payment Processing - Payment Processing Software

Heartland Payment Processing

Efficient payment processing for your business.

Best for: SMB teams · Mid-market

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4.8

20 verified reviews

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What is Heartland Payment Processing?

Heartland Payment Processing software was designed with convenience in mind. A "point of sale payment processing" system, it offers the ability to run a business without having to purchase bulky expensive equipment or hire a pricey staff. The software's date and time stamp can record customer ...

Read more about Heartland Payment Processing

Heartland Payment Processing offers custom pricing plan

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Shift4 Payments - Payment Processing Software

Shift4 Payments

Secure, affordable, and effortless payment processing.

Best for: SMB teams · Mid-market · Enterprise

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4.5

132 verified reviews

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What is Shift4 Payments?

Shift4 Payments is a revolutionary merchant account payment processing solution. From our patented online technology that displays your shopping cart directly on a mobile phone or computer to the dynamic web-based reporting provided by Shift4's comprehensive suite of applications, we deliver ...

Read more about Shift4 Payments

Shift4 Payments offers custom pricing plan

PayPal Here - Payment Processing Software

PayPal Here

Empowering businesses with secure mobile payments.

Best for: SMB teams · Mid-market · Enterprise

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2.7

112 verified reviews

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What is PayPal Here?

PayPal makes online shopping (and in-store shopping) easy, safe and more secure wherever you want to accept payments. It is one of the most innovative mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) solutions available today.It is Designed to make business on the go easier than ever, PayPal Here is a credit card ...

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PayPal Here offers custom pricing plan

Merchant One - Payment Processing Software

Merchant One

Efficient, secure payment processing for any business.

Best for: SMB teams · Mid-market · Enterprise

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4.8

1505 verified reviews

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What is Merchant One?

Merchant One Payment Processing Software is the easiest cloud-based solution on the market today. Merchant One fuses together the ease of a POS system with powerful processing and shopping cart functionality. It is one payment processing software allows you to quickly and easily setup and ...

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Merchant One offers custom pricing plan

Stripe Payments - Payment Processing Software

Stripe Payments

Seamless payments, anytime, anywhere.

Best for: SMB teams · Mid-market · Enterprise

Get Pricing Details

4.7

243 verified reviews

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What is Stripe Payments?

Stripe Payments is the most powerful and flexible way to accept payments on the web. It is a simple way to accept credit cards on your website, in your mobile app, or wherever payments are made.  In addition to accepting payments online, Stripe provides you with all the tools you need to ...

Read more about Stripe Payments

Stripe Payments offers custom pricing plan

Afterpay - Buy Now Pay Later Platforms

Afterpay

Split your payments, expand your possibilities.

Best for: SMB teams · Mid-market · Enterprise

Get Pricing Details

4.7

34 verified reviews

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What is Afterpay?

Afterpay enables customers to acquire what they need and want, while simultaneously building strong financial wellbeing and managing their expenses, by splitting the payments up over four installments, for online and in-store purchases. This innovative solution is dedicated to granting our ...

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Afterpay offers custom pricing plan

EPX - Payment Processing Software

EPX

Streamline Your Payments with EPX.

Best for: SMB teams · Mid-market · Enterprise

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4.5

30 verified reviews

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What is EPX?

Our EPX payment processing software is a cloud-based software program designed to handle multiple credit/debit/cash transactions and customer data. EPX is PCI-DSS compliant, easy-to-use, and comes in three editions, all written in Java programming language. This payment processing software is ...

Read more about EPX

EPX offers custom pricing plan

Chargezoom - Payment Processing Software

Chargezoom

Effortless payment processing for your business.

Best for: SMB teams · Mid-market · Enterprise

Try for Free

5.0

1 verified reviews

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What is Chargezoom?

ChargeZoom is a payment processing solution that makes accepting credit card payments easy. Our advanced online software and mobile app allow our clients to process payments from their own websites and mobile apps, using highly secure methods of encryption and proprietary processes. ChargeZoom ...

Read more about Chargezoom
Global Payments - Payment Processing Software

Global Payments

Transforming payment processing for seamless transactions.

Best for: SMB teams · Mid-market · Enterprise

Get Pricing Details

4.3

4 verified reviews

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What is Global Payments?

Global Payments offers full-service, in-house, state-of-the-art Payment Processing Software that's been designed to simplify credit card processing through one central solution. Its comprehensive feature set provides easy access controls and reconciliation for merchants' businesses while ...

Read more about Global Payments

Global Payments offers custom pricing plan

The main Square Payments competitors

Across Payment Processing Software, 10 products compete directly with Square Payments. The strongest overlap is with PayAnywhere, Heartland Payment Processing and Shift4 Payments. Each is compared against Square Payments on rating, pricing and feature coverage below.

Sites and apps like Square Payments

Searches for "sites like Square Payments" and "apps like Square Payments" land on the same shortlist as "Square Payments alternatives" — the 10 options below cover both, whether you want a like-for-like replacement or something lighter.

The case for each pick

PayAnywhereBest for teams of all sizes

Mobile payment capabilities

Watch for: Limited international support

Heartland Payment ProcessingBest for small & mid-size businesses

User-friendly interface

Watch for: Limited advanced features

Shift4 PaymentsBest for teams of all sizes

Advanced payment technology

Watch for: Limited international support

PayPal HereBest for teams of all sizes

Mobile point-of-sale functionality

Watch for: Limited advanced features

Merchant OneBest for teams of all sizes

Easy cloud-based setup

Watch for: Limited advanced reporting tools

Stripe PaymentsBest for teams of all sizes

Flexible payment options

Watch for: Fees can add up

AfterpayBest for teams of all sizes

Convenient payment plans allowing users to spread out payments and manage finances effectively.

Watch for: Limited availability on websites and lack of extended payment plans restrict usage.

EPXBest for teams of all sizes

Cloud-based solution

Watch for: Limited features in lower editions

ChargezoomBest for teams of all sizes

Easy credit card acceptance

Watch for: Limited international support

Global PaymentsBest for teams of all sizes

Full-service payment processing

Watch for: Can be expensive

Why teams look for a Square Payments alternative

Most teams that replace Square Payments do it to get past issues like these:

  • Limited features compared to competitors
  • Transaction fees can be high
  • Not suitable for large businesses

What to prioritize in a Square Payments alternative

Here's how these 10 payment processing software free alternatives stack up on the numbers: 1 offers a free tier; paid plans run $20, with Chargezoom the cheapest entry point; and Chargezoom is the highest rated at 5★ across 1 reviews.

Our scoring approach.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Stuck on something? We're here to help with all the questions and answers in one place.

The top-rated alternatives to Square Payments are Chargezoom (5.0★), Merchant One (4.8★), Heartland Payment Processing (4.8★). Compare all 10 alternatives side-by-side above.

When evaluating alternatives to Square Payments, prioritize: Payment Processing, Payments, Credit Card Processing, Mobile Payments, Point of Sale (POS), transparent pricing, free trial availability, and integrations with your existing tools. Use the filters above to compare by feature, budget, and team size.

Migration difficulty depends on how deeply Square Payments is integrated into your workflows. Most alternatives offer data export/import tools and dedicated onboarding support. We recommend narrowing to 2–3 options, running a free trial, and checking each vendor's migration guides before committing.

Which Square Payments alternative makes sense for you?

  • On a budget / just exploring: start with a free tier — Chargezoom let you evaluate without paying upfront.
  • If real-user ratings matter most: Chargezoom has the strongest star rating (5★) among the options with verified reviews.

What switching from Square Payments takes

Moving away from Square Payments is lower-risk with a phased approach. Export your data, test that the new tool imports it, and verify your key workflows. Run a small pilot before the full switch, and don't drop Square Payments until the migration's complete. Free trials above help you test first.

Disclaimer: This research has been collated from a variety of authoritative sources. We welcome your feedback at [email protected].