Ginta vs Square Online
Ginta vs Square Online: which is better for a bakery or small shop that takes orders online?
Square Online is the online shop that comes with Square's point of sale, free to start, with pickup, delivery (including DoorDash couriers) and in-person payments in one system. Ginta builds a small business's website with the shop already in it, takes card payments through your own Stripe account on every plan (Free too), and takes 0 % of your sales.
Both are free to start, and both suit a bakery or café that takes orders for pickup. Pick Square if you already use its till, need delivery couriers, or take payments at the counter. Pick Ginta if Square doesn't take cards in your country, if you want your own domain without a $49 plan, or if you want the whole website written for you.
Checked on Square Online's own website on . We make Ginta.
Ginta vs Square Online at a glance
| What | Ginta | Square Online |
|---|---|---|
| Price to start selling | Free plan with the whole shop. Your own domain from €5 a month (Hosting: you build with your own Claude or ChatGPT) or €19 (Light: Ginta's AI). Prices include VAT. | Square Free: $0 a month per location (US). Plus: $49 a month per location (US) or £20 a month billed annually (UK), with a 30-day free trial. |
| Free plan | Yes: up to 25 products per website with card payments, at name.ginta.page with a small “Made with Ginta” badge. Paid plans hold up to 500 products per website. | Yes: sells online at a free square.site address. Your own domain needs Plus (US and UK); UK Free keeps Square branding. |
| Fee on each sale | 0 % on every plan. Stripe's card fee applies, paid to Stripe. | No platform fee; Square is the processor. Online cards (US): 3.3% + 30¢ on Free, 2.9% + 30¢ on Plus. UK: 1.4% + 25p per UK card, 2.5% + 25p non-UK. |
| How buyers pay | Cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay on Stripe's checkout, into your own Stripe account. Or orders sent to you on WhatsApp. No PayPal. | Cards, Afterpay (6% + 30¢), Cash App Pay and ACH (US). Square takes cards only in the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, UK, Ireland, France and Spain. |
| Delivery and pickup | Delivery options by country or zone: flat, by weight or by order total, free from an amount. Pickup with time slots the buyer picks. | Pickup with prep time, lead time and scheduling; in-house delivery by postal code or radius, DoorDash or other couriers; shipping labels; a full POS. |
| Discounts, gift cards, upsells | Every plan: discount codes, buy X get Y, automatic discounts, volume prices, sets, gift cards, cart add-ons, back-in-stock emails, product reviews. | Discounts and coupons on every plan; abandoned cart emails and product reviews from Plus; gift cards with a 2.5% load fee (0% on Premium). |
| Digital products, subscriptions | Not yet: physical products and pickup only, no subscriptions. | Digital items, but you email the file to each buyer yourself (or use the SendOwl app). Subscriptions from Plus. |
| Build from Claude/ChatGPT | Yes: Ginta's MCP server (ginta.app/mcp, also in Claude's connector directory) lets Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code, Codex or Cursor build, publish and change the site, using no Ginta credits. | Partly: Square's MCP server (beta) connects Claude to Square's customers, orders and items. It doesn't mention building or editing the site. |
Ginta's prices include tax and are the same number in euros (eurozone) or US dollars (everywhere else). Square Online's prices can differ by country: check its pricing page before you buy.
When to pick Square Online
- You already use Square at the counter. Square Free includes the POS app, item library, invoicing and booking, so in-person and online orders sit in one place. Ginta has no point of sale.
- You need couriers. Square's on-demand delivery sends orders to DoorDash or a local courier, and you choose who pays the fee. Ginta's delivery is your own, priced by zone, weight or order total.
- Kitchen timing matters. Square sets prep time in minutes, lead time in days, order scheduling and a daily cut-off for pickup orders.
- You want Afterpay or Cash App Pay. Square offers both in the US. Ginta takes cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay.
- You ship parcels. Square prints shipping labels on every plan, and Premium shows real-time shipping rates. Ginta has no labels or carrier rates.
When to pick Ginta
- Square doesn't take cards where you are. Square processes cards in 8 countries (the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, the UK, Ireland, France and Spain). Ginta's checkout runs on your own Stripe account; where Stripe doesn't work, orders can come to you on WhatsApp.
- Your own domain without a $49 plan. On Square, connecting your domain starts at Plus. On Ginta it's €5 a month (Hosting, with your own Claude or ChatGPT) or €19 (Light, Ginta's AI), prices including VAT.
- Selling tools on the free plan. Ginta's free plan has gift cards, product reviews, buy X get Y, volume prices and back-in-stock emails, with up to 25 products per website. On Square, abandoned cart emails and reviews start at Plus.
- Pickup slots with a limit. Buyers pick a day and time from your slots (every 15 to 120 minutes), and you cap how many orders each slot takes, so Saturday morning doesn't overflow.
- The website is written for you. Describe the bakery; Ginta writes the pages (story, opening hours, contact) and sets up the shop. Receipts are PDFs with your VAT number, in 9 languages.
Is Square Online free?
Yes: Square Free costs $0 a month and sells online at a square.site address. You pay per payment instead: 3.3% + 30¢ for each online card payment in the US, against 2.9% + 30¢ on Plus. Take a bakery with 20 online orders of $30 a month: on Free that's 20 × $1.29 = $25.80 in fees; on Plus it's $49 + 20 × $1.17 = $72.40. Plus's lower rate (0.4 points) only pays for itself above about $12,250 of online card sales a month, so for a small shop the reason to pay for Plus is the domain and the extra features, not the rate. In the UK, Free and Plus have the same online rate (1.4% + 25p per UK card).
On Ginta the plan is €0 on Free or €19 on Light; Ginta adds nothing per order, and Stripe charges its card fees (Stripe's page for Lithuania shows 1.5% + €0.25 for standard EEA cards).
Moving from Square Online to Ginta
Export your item library from Square (Items → Item library → Actions → Export Library, as CSV). Ginta's CSV import matches the columns of any spreadsheet, shows a preview first, and updates products with the same name. Set up pickup time slots, connect Stripe and your domain. Ginta has no point of sale, so sales at the counter stay in Square.
Sources (checked 8 November 2026)
Square pricing (US) · Square Online plans (UK) · Online store features (US) · Free square.site subdomain · Website builder · Card payments by country · Online ordering · Pickup options · Delivery options · Digital items · Export your item library · Square MCP server · Stripe pricing · Ginta: pricing, Ginta Commerce and limits
See your website before you decide
Describe your business in one sentence and see it live in about a minute. Free to start: 25 credits when you confirm your email, then 5 a day.
Start freeQuestions
Is Square Online really free?
The plan is: Square Free is $0 a month per location and sells online at a square.site address. Each online card payment costs 3.3% + 30¢ in the US (2.9% + 30¢ on Plus). Your own domain, abandoned cart emails and subscriptions need Plus ($49 a month per location in the US).
What does Square charge per online order?
In the US, 3.3% + 30¢ per online card payment on Free and 2.9% + 30¢ on Plus and Premium, plus 1.5% for international cards. In the UK, 1.4% + 25p per UK card and 2.5% + 25p per non-UK card (15p instead of 25p on Premium). Ginta takes 0 % on every plan; Stripe charges its card fees.
Is Square Online available in my country?
Square processes cards in the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, the UK, Ireland, France and Spain, and says it doesn't support card processing elsewhere. Ginta's checkout runs on your own Stripe account, one currency per shop.
Can I sell digital downloads on Square Online or Ginta?
On Square you can sell a digital item, but you email the file to each buyer yourself (or add the SendOwl app). Ginta's Shop doesn't sell downloads.
How do I switch from Square Online to Ginta?
Export your item library from Square as a CSV and import it into Ginta, which matches the columns and shows a preview. Add photos, set your pickup times and delivery, connect Stripe, and keep Square running until the first Ginta order.
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