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PAYMENT PROCESSING · MIGRATION GUIDE

Switching from PayPal to Square

Square has no PayPal importer. You open a new merchant account, add Square’s checkout button or POS hardware, and run both in parallel briefly before cutting over.

Jump to migration steps Read the full comparison
By Bill Belcamino · Last updated September 23, 2026 · Our methodologyResearched and fact-checked by the HelpCompare team
Switching from PayPal to SquareVerified Sep 23, 2026
Bill Belcamino
Bottom line up frontby Bill Belcamino, founder of HelpCompare
Editorial assessment

Bottom line up front: Should you move your payments from PayPal to Square?

Move for the rate and the in-person setup, but don't pull the PayPal button until you know what it does for your checkout.

Square's no-subscription online rate is 3.3% + 30¢ against PayPal's 3.49% + 49¢, and in-person runs 2.4 to 2.6% + 15¢ on hardware Square sells itself. There's no importer: you open a new merchant account and set up fresh reporting, so download your PayPal transaction history before you close anything. The quiet cost is recurring billing. Card-on-file tokens don't transfer between processors, so every subscriber has to re-enter a card, and some won't, which means a migration can lose revenue the rate savings never show. Email subscribers well ahead with a simple update-your-card link, and move them in small groups while PayPal stays live.

My read of the verified data on this page, checked against vendor sources on September 23, 2026. Disagree or spot an error? Tell Bill

Estimate · your inputs

Switching Cost & Friction Estimator

Most buyers only budget for the new subscription. This estimates the hidden labor, data-cleanup, and retraining cost of actually making the switch.

25,000
10

Estimate assumes: 1 hour of data-mapping/cleaning labor per 2,000 records, a blended $75/hr ops rate, tiered migration & cleaning tooling fees, and 4 hours of retraining per seat at a $45/hr fully-loaded rate.

Estimated Migration Time —
Data Friction Rating —
Total Hidden Switching Cost $0

    Why teams move from PayPal to Square

    Lower processing rate

    3.3% + 30¢ against PayPal’s 3.49% + 49¢.

    Unified POS hardware

    One account for online, in-person and phone.

    Cheaper in-person rate

    2.4–2.6% + 15¢.

    How the migration actually works

    You lose PayPal’s widely recognized wallet and checkout button, which some shoppers specifically trust or look for.

    StepWhat you do
    1Sign up for a Square accountCreate your Square account and, if you sell in person, order card readers or a terminal.
    2Add the Square button or SDKAdd Square’s checkout button or SDK to your site, or set up its POS app/hardware for in-person sales.
    3Test with a small real transactionRun a small live transaction end to end to confirm the checkout, receipt and settlement all work correctly.
    4Run both processors in parallel brieflyKeep the old processor active for a short overlap window in case of a rollback, while directing new transactions to the new one.
    5Update any recurring billingRecreate subscriptions or saved payment methods in the new processor; card-on-file tokens do not transfer between processors.
    6Close the old accountOnce settlement is confirmed clean in the new processor, close or downgrade the old merchant account.

    What this path doesn’t do for you:

    PayPal’s buyer-side brand recognition has no equivalent at Square — if your conversion rate depends on offering the PayPal option, consider keeping it alongside Square rather than fully replacing it.

    Pricing side by side

    PlanPayPalSquare
    Online rate3.49% + 49¢ (PayPal Checkout)3.3% + 30¢ (no subscription)
    In-person rateVia PayPal Zettle, varies2.4–2.6% + 15¢
    Monthly feeNone requiredNone required
    POS hardwareSeparate Zettle product lineSold natively
    Built forOnline checkout, buyer-side brand recognitionUnified online + in-person + POS

    Rates checked on each vendor’s pricing page on September 23, 2026.

    Feature parity check

    CapabilityPayPalSquare
    Online rate3.49% + 49¢3.3% + 30¢
    Buyer recognitionVery highLower
    In-person hardwareVia Zettle, separate lineNative

    Going the other direction, or want the full comparison first?

    Read the Square vs PayPal comparison Switching from Square to PayPal instead?
    Verified data

    Security & access: what changes when you switch

    Security, offline and access rules that differ between PayPal and Square. Rows where both tools are the same (3) are left out; the full side-by-side is on each tool’s page: PayPal, Square.

    What changesPayPal (today)Square (after)
    ISO/IEC 27001Not publishedCertifiedsource
    Other certificationsPCI DSS Level 1 (Service Provider)sourcePCI DSS Level 1source
    GDPR data processing agreementDPA offeredsourceNot published
    EncryptionNot publishedCard-present payments encrypted end to end; no unencrypted payment data touches the devicesource
    Offline limitsReconnect within 24 hours of the first offline payment; offline mode requires a PayPal Reader on the latest softwaresourceUpload within 24 hours, no later than 72 hours; not supported on Square Reader 1st gen v1/v2, Kiosk, Tap to Pay, manually entered cards, gift cards, Afterpay, Cash App Pay, Invoices app or services mode.source
    Device & session controlsNot publishedYesRemote device management: device profiles and codes, printer profiles, monitoring from off-site.source
    Office & room hardwarePayPal sells the Bluetooth Card Reader and the PayPal Reader for in-person chip, contactless and mobile-wallet payments through the Point of Sale app.sourceSquare sells its own POS hardware: Reader for contactless and chip ($59), Terminal ($299), Handheld ($399), Stand ($149), Kiosk ($149) and Register ($899).source

    Checked September 19, 2026 against each vendor’s own trust center, help docs and app pages. Hover or tap “source” to see the exact wording we relied on. “Not published” means we could not find the vendor saying it on its own site; it doesn’t mean the feature is missing. Plan names are the lowest plan the vendor says includes the feature. Security · Offline · Remote vs office · Download the data

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Does Square import PayPal transaction history?

    No. You open a new merchant account and set up fresh reporting.

    Will I save money?

    Yes, on both the percentage and fixed fee — 3.3% + 30¢ against PayPal’s 3.49% + 49¢.

    Should I drop PayPal entirely?

    Consider keeping PayPal as an additional checkout option if your buyers specifically look for it, rather than fully replacing it with Square.

    Do I need a new merchant account?

    Yes. Payment processing is tied to underwriting with each provider, so you set up a new merchant account, re-embed the new checkout code or buttons, and run both providers in parallel briefly to confirm settlement before fully switching.

    Canonical data for the tools on this page

    Every pricing fact, rating, AI billing model and switching guide we hold on each tool, on one page, with the date each figure was last verified.

    PayPalPricing, free plan, AI cost & every comparison›SquarePricing, free plan, AI cost & every comparison›
    Square vs PayPalHead-to-head comparisonSquare vs StripeHead-to-head comparisonSquare vs CloverHead-to-head comparisonSquare vs Shopify POSHead-to-head comparisonStripe vs PayPalHead-to-head comparisonPolar vs StripeHead-to-head comparison
    Square to PayPalSwitching guideClover to SquareSwitching guideShopify POS to SquareSwitching guideSquare to CloverSwitching guideSquare to Shopify POSSwitching guideSquare to StripeSwitching guide

    Sources

    Prices on this page were recorded from each vendor’s own pricing page on the date shown at the top of the page. Vendors change pricing often — check the live source before you buy.

    Every figure is also in our open dataset (JSON and CSV, CC BY 4.0), with its source page and verification date. See how we research pricing.

    Cite this page: HelpCompare, “Switching from PayPal to Square”, helpcompare.com/paypal-to-square-migration/ (updated ).

    Source links on this site are checked every month; last check . How sources are checked.

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    01 · CompareWhich tool fits your team, side by side.133 comparisons 02 · Price & approveSourced, dated pricing and a one-page brief for sign-off.Decision brief 03 · SwitchWhat moves, what you rebuild, what it costs.264 guides 04 · ShareDownload and cite the data. CC BY 4.0.Open data
    Bill Belcamino, founder of HelpCompare
    About the author

    Bill Belcamino

    Founder and author, HelpCompare

    Engineer by training, operator by experience, marketer by choice. Bill spent eight and a half years as an engineer at HP, was COO of Auctiva (the number one third-party selling platform on eBay, past 200,000 users) and ran Google’s $70M/year search syndication partnership at Alot.com. Then he spent 13 years building his own web properties with his own money at stake. He has bought, trialled, integrated and cancelled more SaaS tools than he can count, and started HelpCompare because the real cost of switching tools is the part nobody covers.

    “I’ve sat on both sides of the table: the agency recommending the tool and the client paying for it.”

    Researched and fact-checked by the HelpCompare team. Pricing on this page was last verified on September 23, 2026. No paid sponsorships, no affiliate commissions.

    Read Bill’s story How we verify pricingSpot an error? Tell Bill