thread Re: Square Ipad POS vs Square Register in Hardware Setup & Troubleshooting

Square Ipad POS vs Square Register

RobinM — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 08:03:42 GMT

I currently use Square Stand and Reader for my brick and mortar retail store with our Ipad. I am looking at opening a 2nd location and wondering if I should get another ipad, stand and reader or should i get a Square Register instead? Any positives or negatives to consider? Thank you in advance.

Re: Square Ipad POS vs Square Register

RobynR — Tue, 03 May 2022 15:44:54 GMT

Hey @RobinM,

Congratulations on opening a second location!

It's always nice to have options, and we have them.

Have you heard of our NEW Square Stand? It has built-in dip and tap card readers: You’ll have everything you need to accept all major cards and devices, all without extra wires or connectivity issues.

To see which iPad models are compatible with Square Stand, head over to our Device Compatibility page.

On the other hand, we have Square Register allows you to accept tap, chip, and swipe payments all from one device to create a complete point-of-sale. Square Register also features a customer-facing display to let your customers track items, complete sales, and update contact information on their own.

See what other sellers are saying about the new Square Register in our Seller Community.

Let me know if I can assist you with anything else.

Re: Square Ipad POS vs Square Register

RobinM — Tue, 24 May 2022 20:03:47 GMT

Thank you @RobynR, but that didn't really answer my questions. I'd like to know the differences between Square Stand and Square Register. And to hear from those that have maybe used both for their input.

Re: Square Ipad POS vs Square Register

Anthem — Fri, 27 May 2022 16:22:10 GMT

Congrats on location #2 - awesome to hear growth stories!

I've used Stand, Register, and Terminal - some thoughts.

If $ isn't a concern, Register looks really good and provides a first rate impression for customers. It flows a little different than Stand but I've found it really easy to get used to. Overall, it feels a little less buggy (but that may not be fair as most of the time I ran beta versions of POS when using Stand. I will say Register seems to get things second (meaning after POS), so features aren't as quick, and when bugs did present it seems to take me a little longer to figure them out on Register (only a little). Again, years of using Stand and working through beta glitches probably taught me solutions I've not had to learn on Register as it's been less problematic.

If $ is a concern, Stand will save you a little. Honestly, not all that much but a little. My biggest comment around Stand was replacing 4 iPads because the batteries would swell and pop the screen off the iPad. I talked many times with both Square and Apple, both blamed the other. I stopped messing with it and gave up. Not sure if an answer was ever identified. I did stop buying Stand because of those issues.

If customers don't interact with your POS device, I might suggest neither as Terminal may give you all you need.

Re: Square Ipad POS vs Square Register

Pamalupagus — Sat, 20 May 2023 15:22:40 GMT

I have the Register. I use Appointments on it, which didn’t work smoothly for us. As Anthem said Register definitely gets things second. If you have an iPad that you can use, the stand is a lot cheaper than $899. Yes, it looks great, and the customer display is pretty slick, but I got tired of having to deal with support every time I had a problem. A number of times they had no idea there was even a change to it when I called. It seems likes the Register an afterthought. Which kinda sucks, because it’s the best looking option they have.