Alternatives
Why owners look beyond Square, the options worth comparing and how to switch without losing a day of sales.
✓ Installed by our team and supported by phone. Rates and equipment are quoted to your business.
Merchant Fund Express offers Clover POS and credit card processing through our partnership, with on-site installation, training and phone support.
Key facts
Related: Clover vs Square: Which POS Fits Your Business? · POS alternatives · Comparisons and pricing models · Get a Clover quote · Clover devices
People who search for Square alternatives are often businesses that started on a free reader and now have a team, a busier counter or a menu that outgrew the basics. Many want someone to set the system up for them, or want a merchant account underwritten for their business rather than a self-serve signup. Some simply want a second quote before they add more Square hardware.
The alternatives below are grouped by who they fit. If you want a full POS that is quoted to your business, installed on site and supported by one team, Clover through Merchant Fund Express is the option we offer.
Square sells its own point-of-sale software, its own hardware and its own payment processing as one package. Its site lists versions for food and beverage, retail, beauty and services businesses, plus invoices, online ordering, websites, payroll, banking and an app marketplace.
It tends to suit businesses that already use Square tools such as invoices, payroll or Square banking.
Today: Square makes its own handhelds, terminals, registers, stands, kiosks and card readers, sold through its site. Square processes the payments itself. Card readers and software are built to work with Square payments. Square devices will not carry over, so plan new hardware and a cut-over day; your item list can usually be exported and rebuilt.
Plan the data first. Export items, modifiers, taxes and customer records before you cancel anything, and write down open gift card balances so they can be honored after the switch.
| Option | Who it fits | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| Clover through Merchant Fund Express | You want someone to come on site, install the hardware, build your items and train your staff. | Clover vs Square |
| Toast | Multi-location restaurant groups that want one restaurant vendor for POS, online ordering and kitchen screens. | Clover vs Toast |
| Shopify POS | Pop-up and market sellers who mainly sell products, not services or food. | Clover vs Shopify POS |
| SumUp | Very small sellers who want a low-commitment reader to take cards on the go. | Clover vs SumUp |
Clover is one of the alternatives, and the one we offer. Here is where it tends to fit best:
Pick a day with a normal, not record, volume so staff can learn on real sales without a rush.
We read your current statement with you, explain each line and quote Clover to your volume and card mix.
We build your catalog or menu, tax rates and employee permissions in advance so install day is about training, not data entry.
Setup happens with you in the room: devices where they will really be used, your items in the words your staff use, every payment type tested and a short training session for each shift.
We start with what you pay and how you sell today. After a free rate review, we quote the Clover devices and processing that fit, ship them configured and install them on site with your staff in the room.
Facts about Square summarize its own public pages and named announcements as of October 2026. Products and terms change; confirm details with Square before you decide. Merchant Fund Express is not affiliated with Square.
Square is built for self-setup online. Clover through Merchant Fund Express is set up for you: we configure the account, install the devices on site and train your team, so the work on your side is mostly answering questions about how you sell.
At Merchant Fund Express, no. Square hardware is made for Square payments. Moving to Clover means Clover devices, which we quote and install for you.
Our team installs on site, builds your items, connects your printers and drawers and trains your staff, then stays available by phone.
Yes. Send or read us a recent statement and we will walk through it with no obligation.
Call Merchant Fund Express. We install it, train your staff and stay on the line after launch. Ask for a free rate review while you are at it.
