Comparison

Clover vs Square

Clover and Square both land on Depends.

Clover

Depends

Confidence: Medium

Reasonable for retail or food businesses that need countertop hardware and have a vetted, trustworthy reseller.

Depends

Confidence: Medium

Buy if you're a small or new seller who wants a free, easy POS and can tolerate flat fees and occasional account reviews.

Clover versus Square
Compare	Clover	Square
Verdict	Depends	Depends
Best for	Retail and counter-service shops needing hardware	Pop-ups, markets, and mobile vendors
Who it's not for	Mobile-only or pop-up sellers . Square is simpler	High-volume merchants . flat-rate fees erode margin
Privacy	Core platform markets PCI compliance via Clover Security Plus; third-party online-ordering plugins have had CVEs including a data leak.^⁹	Payments encrypt card data, but parent company Block's Cash App breach exposed 8M users and Square-linked WordPress plugin CVEs exist.
Support quality	2/5 Trustpilot; fee and contract complaints	Reviews report difficulty reaching support
Public sentiment	Sentiment skews negative, with a 2/5 Trustpilot rating and recurring complaints about fees, contracts, and reseller pricing.^¹	Sentiment is polarized: G2 users consistently praise Square while r/smallbusiness threads brand it the worst, citing holds, fees, and support.¹⁴
Biggest gotcha	Same hardware, different price: costs, fees, and contract terms depend on which reseller you sign with.^³	Account reviews can hold your funds for days before you can process