The best Square Online alternative when free costs 3.3% of every order
Square Online's free plan charges 3.3% plus 30 cents on every online sale, the highest rate in its own price list. Getting to 2.9% costs $49 a month per location. Grigora is $12 a month, on Stripe or Razorpay at their rates, with a real site, a CMS and a newsletter around the store.
Last updated September 2026
Square Online is the natural choice for a shop that already rings up sales on a Square reader: one catalogue, one settlement, online and in person. Its pricing shows its priorities. The free plan is paid for through a 3.3% online rate; the $49 Plus plan buys a lower rate; both are per location; and every plan runs on Square payments and nothing else. The website around the store is basic, the blog minimal, and campaign email is a separate Square product. Grigora is a website platform with a store on your own gateway, a CMS and a newsletter, priced by plan rather than by location or by rate.
- Your own gateway's rate, not a premium for the free plan
- One price, not one price per location
- A real site with pages, a CMS and directories
- A newsletter included rather than sold separately
- An AI-designed site rather than a Square template
- •Take payments in person on Square and want one catalogue
- •Run a restaurant or shop that needs pickup, delivery and QR ordering
- •Want to start at $0 and accept the higher rate
Square Online alternatives at a glance
How the payments-led stores and all-in-one builders compare.
Swipe the table sideways to see every column
| Platform | Best for | Free plan | Starting price | Sales commission | Export your site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grigora | A site with a store on your own gateway | Yes | From $12/mo | 0% (processing only) | |
| Square Online | Square merchants selling online | Yes (3.3% online rate) | $49/mo per location | 0% (processing 2.9% to 3.3%) | |
| Weebly | Simple sites on Square payments | Yes (Weebly ads) | From $13/mo | 0% (Square processing) | Static HTML |
| Ecwid | A store on any existing site | No | From $5/mo | 0% (processing only) | Partial |
| Shopify | Serious online stores | No (trial) | From $29/mo | 0% w/ Shopify Payments | Partial |
| Big Cartel | Artist and maker shops | Yes (Gold) | From $15/mo | 0% (processing only) | Partial |
Pricing as of September 2026. Square Online plans are per location; processing rates shown are Square's online card rates. Verify current pricing on each provider's site.
Why people switch from Square Online to Grigora
The friction points Square Online users hit when the business is a website.
The free plan's rate
3.3% plus 30 cents on every online sale. The plan is free; the sales are not.
Per location
$49 a month for each premises. A second shop doubles the bill.
Square or nothing
One payment provider, at its rate. No Stripe, no Razorpay.
The site is an ordering page
Basic design, minimal blog, and the newsletter sold separately as Square Marketing.
What Square Online does well
- One catalogue and settlement across the till and the website
- Excellent pickup, delivery and QR ordering for shops and restaurants
- A genuinely free starting plan
- Phone support, 24/7 on Premium
Where Square Online falls short
- The free plan charges 3.3% online, the highest rate in its price list
- Paid plans are per location
- Square payments only
- A basic site, minimal blog, and email sold separately
Grigora vs Square Online at a glance
The rate column is where the free plan is paid for.
Store on Square payments
All-in-one platform
Grigora vs Square Online: feature by feature
A category-by-category breakdown, pricing, AI, design, e-commerce, email, SEO, performance, and support.
How the free plan is paid for
Grigora winsSquare Online's free plan charges 3.3% plus 30 cents on online card payments. Plus and Premium charge 2.9% plus 30 cents. The difference between free and $49 a month is four tenths of a percent on every sale. Grigora charges no platform fee and your gateway charges its own rate.
| Feature | Grigora | Square Online |
|---|---|---|
| Online rate on the free plan | Gateway rate, no platform fee | 3.3% + 30 cents |
| Online rate on paid plans | Gateway rate, no platform fee | 2.9% + 30 cents |
| Extra cost of free on $10,000 of sales | $0 | $40 versus Plus |
| Break-even for Plus at $49/mo | Not applicable | About $12,250 a month in sales |
Takeaway: Square's free plan is not free. It is a rate.
Per location
Grigora winsSquare Online's paid plans are $49 or $149 a month per location, because they are built for merchants with tills. A business with two premises pays twice. Grigora's plans are priced by site, and Business carries five.
| Feature | Grigora | Square Online |
|---|---|---|
| Plus for one location | Starter, $12/mo | $49/mo |
| Plus for three locations | Business, $45/mo, 5 sites | $147/mo |
| What a location buys | A full site | A store front for that till |
Takeaway: Square counts tills. Grigora counts sites.
Living on Square
Square Online winsThe honest category. If you sell in person on Square, one catalogue that serves the counter and the website, one inventory, one settlement, plus pickup, delivery and QR ordering, is a genuine advantage that Grigora does not offer.
| Feature | Grigora | Square Online |
|---|---|---|
| Sync with in-person sales | ||
| Pickup, delivery and QR ordering | Basic shipping and pickup | Best in class |
| Single settlement with the till | ||
| Choice of gateway | Stripe, Razorpay | Square only |
Takeaway: For a Square shop or restaurant, Square Online is the obvious online half.
The website around the store
Grigora winsSquare Online's site builder covers a homepage, an ordering page and a few extras with limited design control. Grigora generates a full site with its own design, unlimited pages and a CMS.
| Feature | Grigora | Square Online |
|---|---|---|
| AI first-draft site | ||
| Templates | 131 | Square themes |
| Design control | Block editor | Limited |
| Directories and collections | Built in | |
| Blog | Full CMS | Minimal |
Takeaway: Square builds an ordering page. Grigora builds the business's website.
Newsletter & email
Grigora winsCampaign email on Square is Square Marketing, a separate paid product. Grigora includes the list, the campaigns and the automations in the plan.
| Feature | Grigora | Square Online |
|---|---|---|
| Email marketing in the plan | 2,500 to 25,000 subscribers | |
| Campaign builder | Included | Square Marketing, paid |
| Automation and segmentation | Included | Square Marketing, paid |
| Abandoned-cart mail | Included | Paid plans |
Takeaway: Square sells the newsletter separately. Grigora includes it.
SEO
Grigora winsSquare Online covers basic metadata. Grigora provides schema controls, IndexNow and 210 free tools.
| Feature | Grigora | Square Online |
|---|---|---|
| Meta and sitemap controls | Basic | |
| Schema controls | Limited | |
| IndexNow submission | ||
| Free SEO tools suite | 210 tools |
Takeaway: Square assumes customers already know the shop. Grigora is built to be found.
Ownership & export
Grigora winsSquare exports items and customers; the site does not export. Grigora exports content and catalogue.
| Feature | Grigora | Square Online |
|---|---|---|
| Export items and customers | ||
| Export site content | ||
| White label for agencies | $199/mo plan | |
| Support | Email, priority on higher plans | Phone and chat; 24/7 on Premium |
Takeaway: Square wins on support hours. Grigora lets the site leave.
Grigora vs Square Online pricing
Square's plans are per location and paid for partly through the rate.
Website, newsletter & store in one plan
Annual rates shown. 0% platform commission; your gateway's processing rate applies.
Per location, on Square payments
Square Online pricing and rates as listed 2026-09-02 on squareup.com/us/en/online-store. All plans run on Square payments. Campaign email is Square Marketing, sold separately.
Grigora Starter at $12/mo includes the site, the CMS and the newsletter, on your own gateway's rate. Square Online's free plan is paid for at 3.3% a sale, and its $49 Plus plan is per location.
The real cost: Grigora vs Square Online
A single-location shop doing $10,000 a month online.
| What you pay for | Square Online | Grigora |
|---|---|---|
| Plan | $0 (Free) or $49/mo (Plus) | $12/mo |
| Online processing on $10,000 | $330 + fees on Free; $290 + fees on Plus | Gateway rate, no platform fee |
| Email marketing | Square Marketing, paid | Included (2,500 to 25,000 subs) |
| A real website with a blog | Basic | Included |
| Second location | Another $49/mo | Pro, $20/mo total for 2 sites |
| In-person sync | Included | Not offered |
Grigora vs Square Online, side by side
Square sells the online half of a till. Grigora sells a website with a store.
Is Grigora the right Square Online alternative for you?
Where each platform is the right one.
Best Square Online alternative for online-only businesses
No till to sync, so no reason to pay Square's rate or per-location price for the privilege.
… for businesses that publish
A blog with directories and comments, and a newsletter, beside the store.
… for anyone on the free plan
3.3% on every sale is the price of free. At $10,000 a month that is $40 more than Plus and $330 more than nothing.
Square Online is the right call if…
You take payments on Square in person and want one catalogue, one inventory and pickup or QR ordering.
Which one is right for you?
Choose Grigora if…
- You sell online only, or your gateway is Stripe or Razorpay
- You do not want per-location pricing
- You want a real site with a CMS and a newsletter
- You want an AI-designed site
- You are an agency that resells
Choose Square Online if…
- •You already sell in person on Square
- •You need pickup, delivery and QR ordering
- •One catalogue and one settlement matter most
How to switch from Square Online to Grigora
Square exports items and customers; the site is rebuilt, which the AI draft makes quick. Keep Square for the till if you use it, and move the website.
- 1
Decide about the till
If in-person sales stay on Square, keep it there and move only the website and online store.
- 2
Export items and customers
Export the catalogue and customer list from Square.
- 3
Start your Grigora site
Describe the business in a sentence and the AI generates a site with its own design.
- 4
Import products and the list
Bring items into Grigora Commerce on Stripe or Razorpay, and customers into the newsletter.
- 5
Point your domain and redirect
Connect your domain and redirect old URLs so rankings carry over.
Why people look for a Square Online alternative in 2026
Square Online exists so Square merchants can sell on the web without a second system, and for them it is exactly right. The trouble is that its pricing and its website were both designed for that merchant, and a lot of people using it are not one.
Free, at 3.3%
The free plan charges 3.3% plus 30 cents on online card payments. Plus and Premium charge 2.9%. The gap is small per sale and it is the whole business model: the free plan is paid for through the rate, and the $49 plan buys the rate down. A shop doing $10,000 a month online pays $40 more on free than on Plus, and $330 more than a platform that charges no rate of its own.
Per location, on Square
Plans are per location because Square thinks in tills. A second premises is a second $49. Every plan runs on Square payments only, at Square's rate, with no option to bring Stripe or another provider.
A store with a page in front
The site builder does what an ordering page needs and little more: limited design, a minimal blog, and campaign email as a separate Square product. A business that wants to publish and be found is working around it.
How Grigora compares
Grigora is a website platform with a store in it, priced by plan rather than by location, on your own gateway rather than one provider's rate.
One price, your rate
Starter at $12 a month billed annually includes an AI-designed site, the CMS with directories and moderated comments, a newsletter with 2,500 subscribers, and a store on Stripe or Razorpay with no platform commission.
Where Square Online still wins
The till. If you sell in person on Square, one catalogue and one settlement across the counter and the website, plus pickup, delivery and QR ordering, are worth more than anything on this page. Use Square Online for that, and read the rate line before calling it free.
Frequently asked questions
For online-only businesses and anyone who wants a real site with a CMS and newsletter around the store, Grigora is the strongest all-in-one Square Online alternative from $12/mo on your own gateway. For merchants who sell in person on Square, Square Online's catalogue sync keeps it the natural choice.
The free plan has no monthly fee and charges 3.3% + 30 cents on online card payments, the highest rate in Square's price list. Plus at $49/mo and Premium at $149/mo, both per location, charge 2.9% + 30 cents.
As listed in September 2026: Free at $0, Plus at $49/mo and Premium at $149/mo, all per location, with Pro custom pricing above $250,000 a year. All plans run on Square payments.
No. Square Online processes payments through Square only. Grigora connects to Stripe or Razorpay with no platform commission.
Campaign email is Square Marketing, a separate paid product. Grigora includes newsletter campaigns and automations with 2,500 to 25,000 subscribers.
Items and customers export from Square and import into Grigora Commerce and the newsletter. The site is rebuilt, which the AI draft makes quick. Merchants who keep a Square till can keep it and move only the website.
Compare Grigora with other platforms
Make the switch from Square Online to Grigora
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