Square vs Salesforce
Which is better in 2026? Five scores, side by side.
Square is the better app overall, scoring 8.8 to 8.2. Square wins on 3 of the 5 scores, Salesforce on 2.
Shops, cafes and service businesses that want simple payments and POS
Midsize and large companies with complex sales processes and admin resources
Score by score
The details
| Feature | Square | Salesforce |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Business & Sales | Business & Sales |
| Category rank | #3 of 8 | #7 of 8 |
| Developer | Block, Inc. | Salesforce, Inc. |
| Pricing | Free + paid plans | Subscription |
| Usable for free | Yes | No |
| iPhone & iPad | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android | ✓ | ✓ |
| Web | ✓ | ✓ |
Strengths and weaknesses
Square
- Free POS software with no monthly fee to start
- Easy setup with simple, well-designed hardware
- Grows with add-ons for staff, loyalty and payroll
- Processing fees apply to every card payment
- Advanced features need paid plans or add-ons
Square makes taking payments simple for small businesses. The free point-of-sale app handles sales, inventory, receipts and customer lists, and you can add online ordering, appointments, invoices, payroll and loyalty as you grow. The hardware is easy to set up and pleasant to use. The trade-off is that you pay processing fees on every card sale, and advanced restaurant or retail features need paid plans.
Full Square review
Salesforce
- Adapts to almost any sales process or industry
- Huge ecosystem of apps, partners and admins
- Powerful reporting and forecasting tools
- Expensive, especially with add-ons and AI
- Complex setup that often needs an admin
Salesforce is the most powerful and customizable CRM you can buy. It can model nearly any sales process, connects to the huge AppExchange marketplace, and Agentforce adds AI agents that work across your customer data. For large companies it is often the standard. For small teams, though, it is expensive, complex to set up, and usually needs an admin or consultant. Choose it when scale and flexibility matter more than simplicity.
Full Salesforce review
