A Square Invoices alternative on your own Stripe rails.
Square's free invoicing is paid for in processing — 3.3% + 30¢ per invoice card payment — and payment schedules cost $20/month. PayPolka is $5/month flat: staged billing against the estimate, through your own Stripe account at Stripe's standard rates.
14-day refund for new accounts. Cancel anytime.
PayPolka vs. Square Invoices at a glance
Square Invoices is good software attached to an ecosystem that wants the rest of your business — the POS, the banking, the payroll. The free plan is real, but the economics live in the processing spread and the Plus tier. If your billing is estimates, deposits, and progress draws settled to an account you control, the comparison looks like this — verified as of June 2026, including Square's January 2026 rate update:
| PayPolka | Square Invoices | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $5/mo beta (locked for life), $9/mo standard — one plan | Free plan · Plus $20/mo · Premium (higher tier) |
| Invoice card processing | Your own Stripe account, Stripe's standard rates (2.9% + $0.30 published), no markup | 3.3% + $0.30 free plan · 2.9% + $0.30 on Plus |
| ACH | Via your Stripe account, Stripe's standard ACH pricing | 1% ($1 min); $10 cap on Plus |
| Deposits & payment schedules | Deposit, progress, and final invoices tracked against the estimate — included | Deposits included; payment schedules require Plus |
| Estimates | Public link, typed-signature acceptance, timestamp + IP, terms acknowledgment | Estimates with e-signature contracts |
| Recurring invoices | Drafts generated on your schedule, you review and send | Recurring invoices included |
| Client payment portal | Included | Customer accounts via Square |
| In-person hardware / POS | — | Yes — readers, terminals, full POS |
| Where the money settles | Your own Stripe account | Square balance / Square Checking |
| Users | Up to 3 included, no per-seat fee | Varies by Square plan |
Square details from squareup.com plan pages and published fee schedule, as of June 2026. Square is a trademark of Block, Inc.; PayPolka is not affiliated with Square or Block.
When Square is the better choice
If you take cards in person — a counter, a truck with a reader, a shop — Square's hardware and card-present rates are the point, and PayPolka has nothing like them. Same if you want invoicing, banking, and payroll under one login. Choose PayPolka when your billing is remote and staged: an estimate the client signs online, a deposit before work starts, progress draws that reconcile, and settlement into your own Stripe account at standard rates.
The mechanics are on the deposit & progress invoicing page; payment options are on invoice payment links.
Where PayPolka is the better fit
Your own Stripe account, standard rates
Square processes invoice card payments at 3.3% + $0.30 on its free plan — the lower 2.9% + $0.30 rate now requires the $20/month Plus plan. PayPolka connects your own Stripe account at Stripe's standard published rates, adds no markup, and lets you pass the fee to the client.
Staged billing without the $20/month tier
Square puts payment schedules behind Invoices Plus. PayPolka includes deposit, progress, and final-balance invoicing — each tracked against the accepted estimate so the remaining balance is always right — in the one $5/month beta price.
Estimates that start the whole job
Your client opens a public link and accepts the estimate with a typed signature — timestamp, IP, and acknowledgment of your terms on the record. From that acceptance you bill the deposit, the progress draws, and the final balance.
A billing system, not an ecosystem
Square wants your POS, your payroll, your banking. PayPolka is deliberately just the billing layer — clients, estimates, invoices, payments, receivables, sales-tax summaries — and connects to the Stripe account you already control.
An invoice paid by card — settled into the business's own Stripe account.
Square Invoices vs. PayPolka, answered.
Square Invoices is free — why pay PayPolka $5?
Square's free plan is real, and you pay for it in processing: invoice card payments run 3.3% + $0.30 versus Stripe's standard 2.9% + $0.30 through your own account, as of June 2026. On $5,000/month of card-paid invoices that's roughly $20/month in extra processing — more than PayPolka costs. Add that payment schedules need Square Plus at $20/month, and the flat $5 usually wins once billing is regular.
What does Square have that PayPolka doesn't?
The ecosystem: POS hardware and in-person card-present rates, contracts with e-signatures, instant transfers to Square Checking, payroll, and the rest of the Square stack. If you're already running your shopfront on Square hardware, staying inside it is reasonable. PayPolka is US-only, web-based billing through your own Stripe account.
Can I take deposits and milestone payments like Square's payment schedules?
Yes — included on every account rather than a paid tier. Bill a deposit (percentage or fixed) from the accepted estimate, invoice progress as the work moves, and send the final balance in one click. Every invoice reconciles against the original estimate.
How do clients pay?
Each invoice carries a payment link for credit/debit card, ACH bank transfer, and Cash App Pay through your own Stripe account — plus cash and check you record yourself. Clients also get a portal with their invoices, balances, and history.
Does PayPolka do in-person payments like Square's reader?
No hardware. Clients pay the invoice link on their own phone, or you record cash/check on the spot. If tap-to-pay hardware at a counter is core to your business, Square genuinely fits better.
Is there a free plan?
No — PayPolka is pay-or-no-account at $5/month during beta (locked for life while subscribed; $9/month standard after beta), with a 14-day refund for new accounts and cancel-anytime.
Keep the schedule billing. Skip the tier.
Start for $5/month during beta and lock that rate in for life. Connect your own Stripe account and send your first estimate today.
14-day refund for new accounts. Cancel anytime.