Square is a payment processor with Square as the merchant of record. We use Stripe and put your business on the merchant account. The processor matters more than people think.
When you charge a client through Square, Square is the merchant of record. Square holds the funds. Square owns the dispute relationship with the cardholder. Square can hold or freeze your account based on its own internal risk model. You see this whenever a small studio gets flagged for "unusual activity" and finds tens of thousands of dollars locked up for weeks.
With Stripe via My Training Studio, your business is the merchant of record. You own the Stripe dashboard. Your funds, your relationship with cardholders, your data. You can leave us tomorrow and your Stripe account stays with you.
Square is competitive on in-person taps and one-time online charges. Stripe wins on recurring billing, which is most of a personal training business.
| Stripe (via My Training Studio) | Square | |
|---|---|---|
| Processing Rates | ||
| Online / one-time | 2.9% + $0.30 | 2.9% + $0.30 |
| Recurring / subscriptions | 2.9% + $0.30 | 3.5% + $0.15 |
| In-person tap | ~2.7% + $0.05 | 2.6% + $0.10 |
| Invoices | 2.9% + $0.30 | 3.3% + $0.30 |
| Marketplace / new client commission | None | None |
| Ownership and Control | ||
| You own the merchant account | Your Stripe dashboard | Square is the merchant |
| Client payment data portable | Stays in your Stripe | Locked to Square |
| Keep payment history if you leave us | Yes | No |
| Direct deposit to your bank | From your Stripe | From Square |
| Risk of fund holds / account freezes | Rare (you're the merchant) | Common (Square is the merchant) |
| Studio Software Around the Payments | ||
| Session packages and contracts | Built in | No |
| Recurring billing tied to attendance | Yes | No |
| Trainer commission tracking + payouts | Yes | No |
| Failed-billing alerts | Yes | Square only |
Your invoices, your payouts. Stripe-backed, not Square-held.
| Trainer | Sessions | Revenue | Commission |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coach Dan | 42 | $3,150 | $945 |
| Coach Lia | 28 | $2,100 | $630 |
| Coach Marc | 18 | $1,350 | $405 |
| Total commission | $1,980 | ||
When Square is the merchant of record on your transactions, Square holds the funds, owns the dispute relationship with the cardholder, and can freeze or hold your account based on its internal risk model. Studios with high recurring volume occasionally see 60 to 90 day fund holds based on Square's risk-flagging. With Stripe via My Training Studio, your business is the merchant of record. You own the Stripe dashboard, your funds flow directly to your bank, and you control the relationship.
It depends on the channel. For online one-time charges, Stripe and Square are tied at 2.9% plus $0.30. For recurring billing (most of a personal training studio's revenue), Stripe is 2.9% plus $0.30 vs Square's 3.5% plus $0.15. On a $5,000/month recurring book, that is roughly $30/month or $360/year cheaper on Stripe. For in-person taps, Square is slightly cheaper at 2.6% plus $0.10.
Yes. Your Stripe account is yours. We do not own it, we connect to it. If you leave My Training Studio, your Stripe account, payment methods, customer data, and dispute history all stay with you. With Square, the payment relationship is locked to the Square ecosystem and does not transfer.