Card reader / mobile POS · United States

PayPal (Zettle) vs Square in United States: the share of card sales each one takes

At $5,000 of card sales a month, PayPal (Zettle) costs 2.67% of everything taken and Square costs 3.20% — a difference of $961 over three years.

The advertised rates are 2.29% + $0.09 and 2.60% + $0.15, the same order as the effective figures.

Side by side

Both columns use the cheapest plan each provider publishes for this market, with the fixed costs it publishes alongside the rate.

Cheapest published plan on each side, United States pricing. Sources: PayPal (Zettle) checked 2026-08-25 and Square checked 2026-08-25.
	PayPal (Zettle)	Square
Cheapest published plan	Point of Sale (in person)	Free
In person	2.29% + $0.09	2.60% + $0.15
Online or keyed	3.49%	3.30%
Monthly fee	none	none
Hardware	$29 once	free
Minimum monthly charge	none stated	none stated
Contract	not stated	not stated
Effective rate at $1,000 a month	2.73%	3.20%
Effective rate at $2,000 a month	2.69%	3.20%
Effective rate at $5,000 a month	2.67%	3.20%
Effective rate at $10,000 a month	2.66%	3.20%
Effective rate at $25,000 a month	2.65%	3.20%
Effective rate at $50,000 a month	2.65%	3.20%
Three-year cost at $5,000 a month	$4,799	$5,760
Owner	PayPal	not confirmed

How that is worked out

transactions = monthly card sales / average sale processing = monthly card sales x rate + transactions x per-transaction fee monthly cost = software fee + terminal rental + PCI fee + processing (never below the provider's monthly minimum) three-year cost = monthly cost x 36 + hardware bought outright effective rate = three-year cost / (36 x monthly card sales) what you keep = 100% - effective rate

The average sale is an assumption of this site, not a published figure: $25.00 in the United States and £20.00 in the United Kingdom. It decides how heavily a per-transaction fee lands, so the calculator lets you change it. Interchange, chargebacks, refunds, currency conversion, sales tax and VAT are not in any figure on this site, because the pricing page does not price them for a given shop. Every figure here is a floor. The full method is at Method.

Where does the answer change?

The ranking above holds only under the conditions listed here.

Size does not change the ranking here. PayPal (Zettle) is cheaper as a share of card sales at every volume we compute, so the question is not how busy you are.
Neither carries a monthly fee on these plans, so a quiet month costs nothing on either side.
Do not decide yet if $961 over three years is less than what switching would cost you — neither provider publishes what leaving involves, and chargebacks, refunds and foreign-card surcharges are in neither figure and could change the order.

Who this is not for

This compares published prices and nothing else. It is not a judgment about hardware, apps or support, and neither product has been used by us. If the two figures are close, this page will not decide it for you and should not.

Sources

PayPal (Zettle) pricing page. checked 2026-08-25
Square pricing page. checked 2026-08-25

Written by Kaz (pen name). Figures are copied from providers' published pricing pages on the dates shown. We have not used these products. Corrections: contact form.