Alternatives — Payments & Billing APIs
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Alternatives to Square
Common alternatives buyers consider, plus the simplest rule for when switching is worth it.
Sources linked — see verification below.
Freshness & verification
Alternatives to Square
PayPal Commerce Platform
Decision brief →
Same problem / SMB payments
Evaluated when buyer brand trust and fast checkout matter more than unified POS tooling.
Stripe
Decision brief →
Step-up / developer-first payments
Compared when teams want deeper APIs, subscription billing, and marketplace/platform features.
Braintree
Decision brief →
Step-sideways / PayPal ecosystem
Considered when PayPal/Venmo integration is important but the team needs a more API-first stack.
Authorize.Net
Decision brief →
Step-sideways / legacy gateway
Evaluated by merchants choosing between modern all-in-one tooling and traditional gateway + processor setups.
Head-to-head comparisons
Square vs Stripe →
Most common comparison for small businesses and startups deciding between simple all-in-one (Square) vs developer-focused platform (Stripe)
Square vs PayPal →
Teams compare Square and PayPal when choosing between an all-in-one POS commerce platform and the consumer payment brand with the broadest…
Square vs Braintree →
Teams compare Braintree and Square when choosing between a developer-focused payment gateway with PayPal/Venmo integration and an…
Next steps
Sources & verification
Pricing and behavioral information comes from public documentation and structured research. When information is incomplete or volatile, we prefer to say so rather than guess.