Square vs SkyTab — Which Platform Is Right for Your Tampa Bay Business

One of the most common questions we get at Suncoast Commerce is simple: Square or SkyTab?

Both are excellent platforms. Both are backed by industry leading companies. And both are available through Suncoast Commerce with free local setup and ongoing support right here in Tampa Bay.

But they are built for different businesses and choosing the right one matters more than most owners realize.

Here is the definitive comparison for Tampa Bay business owners.

What Square Does Best

Square is the most versatile commerce platform available. It is built to serve a wide range of business types — retail, restaurants, medical practices, service businesses, wellness studios, mobile operators, and more. Square's strength is its simplicity, its complete ecosystem, and its transparent pricing. For most small and mid size businesses in St. Pete, Clearwater, and Tampa — Square is the right choice.

What SkyTab Does Best

SkyTab is built exclusively for restaurants and hospitality. Every feature in the platform is designed around how full service restaurants, bars, and hospitality groups operate. Table management, handheld ordering, kitchen display, course management, and hospitality specific reporting are all more advanced in SkyTab than in Square's restaurant offering. For high volume full service operations SkyTab has a meaningful operational advantage.

Choose Square if…

You are a quick service or counter service restaurant, a retail shop or boutique, a medical or wellness practice, a service business or mobile operator, a business that needs invoicing recurring billing or appointments, or any business that values simplicity and a complete all in one ecosystem.

Choose SkyTab if…

You are a full service restaurant with table service, a high volume bar or nightlife venue, a multi location hospitality group, a restaurant currently on Toast or Clover looking for a more cost effective alternative, or an operation that needs advanced table management and handheld ordering.

The honest answer for most Tampa Bay businesses

Square handles 80 percent of what most local businesses need at a lower cost with more flexibility. SkyTab is the right choice for the 20 percent of operations that need advanced hospitality specific functionality.

At Suncoast Commerce we carry both platforms and we will tell you honestly which one fits your business after a free 15 minute conversation. We are not going to push you toward a system that pays us more if it is not the right fit.

If you are a business owner in St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Tampa, Largo, Dunedin, Safety Harbor, or anywhere in the Tampa Bay area — reach out today for a free recommendation.