Shopify POS vs Square for phone orders and payment links

How does a phone order work on Shopify POS compared with Square?

A phone order has four steps: build it, take a card or send a link, find the sale, and credit the staff member. Shopify POS builds the order from your catalog and saves it as a draft order, while Square takes payment from its Charge screen. Both can key a card or send a link.

As of October 2026:

Draft orders can be viewed across Shopify channels, so an order saved in POS can be charged or shared from the admin. The full Shopify phone-order workflow takes each route step by step.

How does Square’s Virtual Terminal compare with keying a card in the Shopify admin?

Both run in a browser. On Shopify, you key the card into a draft order in the admin, which needs a verified Shopify Payments account. Square’s Virtual Terminal opens from the left-side panel of the Square Dashboard, has no monthly fee, and can text the customer a payment link. For plans and permissions, read whether Shopify has a virtual terminal.

What does Square’s comparison table say about Shopify for phone payments?

Square’s UK comparison page (data “collected as of 21 June 2022”) and its Australian page (“collected as of 20 February 2025”) mark Shopify “No” for a phone-payment Virtual Terminal and for “Invoicing software”, and “Yes” for payment links. Shopify’s help center documents keying a card into a draft order and sharing a draft’s checkout link.

The help center also documents emailing a draft invoice that contains a link to checkout, and Shopify’s changelog shows that since December 10, 2025, Quick Sale in the Shopify app creates payment links you can share by text, email, social or QR code. On Shopify, a phone payment runs through a draft order, POS Manual card entry or Quick Sale.

What does it cost to take a card over the phone on Square?

As of October 2026, Square charges 3.5% + 15¢ in the US for a card number typed in by hand or a saved card on file, on every plan. That applies to Manual Card Entry in the POS app and to typed-in payments in Virtual Terminal. In-person card payments cost less.

Square says manually entered payments cost more “due to the greater risk involved” and should be used only when no other payment method is available. On Shopify Payments, a keyed card is also billed at its own rate, separate from in-person card payments, so check your plan’s rates before you decide.

Should I send a payment link instead of taking the card number?

A payment link is usually the safer choice: the customer types their own card on a checkout page, so your staff never hear or write down the number. Shopify says manual card entry “carries additional fraud risk” (more in keying a card vs sending a link).

On Shopify, pick the link that fits the call:

• A draft’s checkout link. Share > Copy link, then paste it into a message; see how to text a draft’s checkout link. Don’t mark the draft Paid before the money arrives.
• Send cart. Emails a checkout link from the POS cart, on POS Pro.
• Quick Sale. A payment link from the Shopify app on your phone, without the POS app or POS hardware.

What do Shopify’s phone-order routes need?

Keying a card into a draft order needs a verified Shopify Payments account. Saving a POS cart as a draft and Send cart are POS Pro features, and Send cart sends the link by email for the full amount. A checkout link you can paste into a text comes from the draft in the Shopify admin or the Shopify app. The bullet above links the full copy-and-text routine.

Which should I use for phone orders, Shopify POS or Square?

Choose by where the rest of your business runs. Square suits a store that wants a browser terminal with no monthly fee and a link straight from the Charge screen, and doesn’t sell online through Shopify.

Shopify POS suits a store whose online shop and stock are on Shopify, so a phone order is built from the same catalog and saved as a draft every channel can see; see who gets credit for a phone order for when the customer pays later.

If you’re moving over, switching from Square to Shopify POS covers the habits to replace.

How can I send a payment link from the Shopify POS cart?

Send cart on POS Pro emails a checkout link from the cart, and the order stays a draft until the customer pays. Pay Link, from Countermade, makes the payment link right from the POS cart, without a trip to the admin, and the customer pays on Shopify’s own secure checkout, so staff never see or type card details.

While the customer is still on the line, staff see the total up front, with a note when checkout will add shipping, so they can confirm the total with the customer before the link is made. A double tap makes one link, not two, and staff can see whether the link has been paid.

Pay Link needs Shopify POS Pro and takes full payment. Checkout may add shipping, so turn on local pickup at your store and the customer can choose pickup. For how it sits next to Shopify’s own routes, see native POS link options vs Pay Link.

Get Pay Link early

Pay Link isn’t on the Shopify App Store yet. Get early access and we’ll email you when it’s ready to try.