Roots HQ vs. Square

Buyers check out on the seller’s own branded checkout — Roots HQ does not operate a marketplace checkout of its own.

Not confirmed in Square's official public documentation on 2026-10-03, so not rated.

Roots HQ runs the till and books the sale against the same inventory as every other channel. The card itself is taken by YOUR connected Square account — Square processes the payment and you remain the merchant of record. Roots HQ records the total, the processor's transaction reference and the payment status; it never stores card details.

In-person payments are the core of the product — Square Point of Sale takes chip, contactless and keyed-in cards. Limits: Processing rates differ by method; keyed-in and card-on-file are charged at a higher rate. Source: Square Point of Sale, read 2026-10-03.

The Square Tap-to-Pay module ships inside the POS app and the app checks for it at runtime. Tapping a phone to charge still requires Square to grant your account the Tap to Pay entitlement, a registered Square application ID, and a Tap-to-Pay-eligible Android device. Until all three are in place the app falls back to keyed card entry, which is live today.

Tap to Pay on iPhone accepts contactless cards and wallets on an iPhone XS or newer, with no extra hardware. Not available on iPad; requires a passcode, automatic date & time and an internet connection (offline payments not supported). Not usable when signed in to Square POS or Appointments POS with a device code. Source: https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/7786-get-started-with-tap-to-pay-on-iphone, read 2026-10-03.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.

Square Online provides a hosted store and online ordering. Limits: Online card processing is charged at a higher rate than in-person. Source: Square Point of Sale — "Websites" and "Online ordering profiles", read 2026-10-03.

Scoped to the customer contact list specifically (see “Data export” below for the exportable proof of this) — not a claim that every business record is exportable.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.

Square Customer Directory keeps customer profiles tied to payment history. Source: Square Point of Sale — "Customer directory", read 2026-10-03.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.

The capability exists but is gated to a specific pricing plan or subscription tier — you get it, just not on every plan.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.

The capability exists but is gated to a specific pricing plan or subscription tier — you get it, just not on every plan.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.

Item catalogue and inventory tracking are built into Square POS and Dashboard. Advanced inventory features are part of Square Plus and Premium; Free includes basic inventory management. Source: https://squareup.com/us/en/the-bottom-line/inside-square/pricing-plans, read 2026-10-03.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.

Square items have types (e.g. physical, event) and categories, with category pages on Square Online. Source: https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/6873-sell-non-physical-items-in-square-online-store, read 2026-10-03.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.

Square Online supports pickup plus local delivery (in-house or on-demand via courier partners) with delivery regions by postal code or radius, fees and minimum order. Source: https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/8438-set-up-delivery-options-with-square-online, read 2026-10-03.

Shipping integrations — Beta. Integrations with Shippo, Envia.com and ShipStation are built, with real-account verification still pending. Live label purchasing is not available.

Works through the platform’s own first-party connection to an outside service (for example, live carrier rates through a shipping API) — real and supported, not a manual workaround.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.

Square lets you sell event tickets as an 'Event' item (online or in person) and via payment links; redemption details are sent manually and ticket scanning/seating use marketplace apps. Source: https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/6873-sell-non-physical-items-in-square-online-store, read 2026-10-03.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.

Square Invoices is a first-party product included in Free. Invoice processing is 3.3%+30¢ (Free) or 2.9%+30¢ (Plus/Premium). Source: https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/7786-get-started-with-tap-to-pay-on-iphone, read 2026-10-03.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.

The capability exists but is gated to a specific pricing plan or subscription tier — you get it, just not on every plan.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.

Campaigns are composed, scheduled and sent from Roots HQ against a list you own. Delivery runs through YOUR own SMTP provider, billed to you — Roots HQ does not resell email sending, so deliverability is your provider's, not ours.

Email marketing is included with Square Plus and Premium (unlimited one-time or automated campaigns); text messages beyond an included amount are billed separately. Not stated as included on Free. Source: https://squareup.com/us/en/software/marketing/email, read 2026-10-03.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.

Not confirmed in Square's official public documentation on 2026-10-03, so not rated.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.

Real and shipped, but narrower than the feature name suggests. See the note on this cell for the specific boundary.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.

Square AI (conversational assistant in Square Dashboard) and Managerbot are in beta, available to eligible US sellers. Source: https://squareup.com/us/en/press/managerbot-open-beta, read 2026-10-03.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.

Square Dashboard provides sales summary, sales trends and payment-methods reports for sales processed through Square. Source: https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/5381-in-app-summaries-and-reports, read 2026-10-03.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.

Square's cost of goods sold report shows COGS, revenue, profit and margin for items with unit costs set; general expense tracking was not confirmed. Source: https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/8522-track-cost-of-goods-sold, read 2026-10-03.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.

Built in at no extra cost and no separate app — this is how the product ships out of the box.