--- title: "PayPal vs Square: Which is more popular by branded search?" description: "Which is more popular in search, PayPal or Square? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the Payment gateway platforms set worldwide. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time." canonical: "https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/compare/paypal-vs-square" publisher: "Brandwave" --- # PayPal vs Square: Which is more popular by branded search? Which is more popular in search, PayPal or Square? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the Payment gateway platforms set worldwide. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time. ## Key facts - **Compared**: PayPal and Square - **Competitive set**: Payment gateway platforms - **Market**: Global - **Month measured**: Aug 2026 - **PayPal Share of Search**: 85.5% - **Square Share of Search**: 0.63% ## Which is more popular in search, PayPal or Square? - In August 2026, PayPal had more branded searches than Square among payment gateway platforms worldwide. PayPal was estimated to have 20.6M branded searches compared to Square’s 151K, and held an 85.5% Share of Search versus Square’s 0.63%. - PayPal was ahead of Square in every measured month of the 11 months ending August 2026. - Across the 11 months ending August 2026, PayPal’s estimated Share of Search among payment gateway platforms worldwide moved from 88% to 85.5%, and its estimated monthly branded searches moved from 25.1M to 20.6M. - Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Square’s estimated Share of Search among payment gateway platforms worldwide moved from 0.4% to 0.63%, and its estimated monthly branded searches moved from 114K to 151K. ## How did search popularity change for payment gateway platforms worldwide in August 2026? - In August 2026, Square fell from 3rd to 4th among payment gateway platforms worldwide. - Estimated monthly branded searches for PayPal worldwide fell 18.2% over 11 measured months, from 25.1M to 20.6M in August 2026. ## Month by month | Month | PayPal estimated searches | PayPal Share of Search | PayPal rank | Square estimated searches | Square Share of Search | Square rank | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Oct 2025 | 25.1M | 88% | 1 | 114K | 0.4% | 4 | | Nov 2025 | 25.1M | 88.2% | 1 | 107K | 0.38% | 4 | | Dec 2025 | 25.1M | 89.8% | 1 | 95.9K | 0.34% | 4 | | Jan 2026 | 25.1M | 88% | 1 | 121K | 0.42% | 4 | | Feb 2026 | 20.6M | 85.6% | 1 | 133K | 0.55% | 4 | | Mar 2026 | 20.6M | 83.2% | 1 | 165K | 0.67% | 4 | | Apr 2026 | 20.6M | 85.5% | 1 | 173K | 0.72% | 4 | | May 2026 | 20.6M | 85.4% | 1 | 206K | 0.85% | 3 | | Jun 2026 | 20.6M | 85.1% | 1 | 212K | 0.88% | 3 | | Jul 2026 | 20.6M | 85.6% | 1 | 182K | 0.76% | 3 | | Aug 2026 | 20.6M | 85.5% | 1 | 151K | 0.63% | 4 | | Sep 2026 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ## How each brand is measured Brandwave collects information about searches that people make online using PayPal’s and Square’s names. When viewed over time, estimated search volumes for these branded terms can be used to understand whether interest in the brands is growing, holding steady, or fading. - **PayPal**: Measured on the search terms “paypal”, “paypal business”, “paypal business account”, “paypal business account charges”, “paypal business account cost”, “paypal business account fees”, “paypal business account price”, “paypal business app”, “paypal business charges”, “paypal business cost”, “paypal business fees”, “paypal checkout”, “paypal commercial account”, “paypal company account”, “paypal corporate account”, “paypal express checkout”, “paypal for business”, “paypal for company”, “paypal merchant”, “paypal merchant account”, “paypal merchant services”, “paypal payment processing”, “paypal payments” and “paypal to business account”, summed into one figure. - **Square**: Measured on the search terms “buy square pos”, “cash drawer for square terminal”, “cost of square pos”, “download square pos app”, “free square pos”, “free square pos system”, “handheld square terminal”, “ipad for square pos”, “ipad square pos”, “mobile pos square”, “new square pos”, “pos square”, “pos square app”, “pos square register”, “pos square stand”, “pos square system”, “pos square terminal”, “printer for square pos”, “restaurant square pos”, “retail pos square”, “square app pos”, “square for restaurants pos”, “square for retail plus”, “square for retail plus pricing”, “square for retail pos”, “square kds app”, “square kds pricing”, “square point of sale”, “square point of sale app”, “square point of sale app download”, “square point of sale app for android”, “square point of sale card reader”, “square point of sale cost”, “square point of sale device”, “square point of sale equipment”, “square point of sale for android”, “square point of sale for restaurants”, “square point of sale ipad”, “square point of sale machine”, “square point of sale payment”, “square point of sale pos”, “square point of sale pricing”, “square point of sale printer”, “square point of sale reader”, “square point of sale register”, “square point of sale stand”, “square point of sale system”, “square point of sale terminal”, “square point of sales app”, “square pos”, “square pos account”, “square pos app”, “square pos app android”, “square pos app download”, “square pos app for android”, “square pos app for iphone”, “square pos app for windows”, “square pos apps”, “square pos card reader”, “square pos cash drawer”, “square pos cash register”, “square pos charges”, “square pos company”, “square pos cost”, “square pos device”, “square pos devices”, “square pos download”, “square pos equipment”, “square pos fees”, “square pos for android”, “square pos for bars”, “square pos for food trucks”, “square pos for ipad”, “square pos for iphone”, “square pos for mac”, “square pos for nonprofits”, “square pos for restaurant”, “square pos for restaurants”, “square pos for retail”, “square pos for small business”, “square pos for windows”, “square pos free”, “square pos handheld”, “square pos hardware”, “square pos inventory”, “square pos ipad”, “square pos ipad stand”, “square pos iphone”, “square pos kds”, “square pos kit”, “square pos machine”, “square pos mobile”, “square pos online”, “square pos pc”, “square pos plans”, “square pos price”, “square pos pricing”, “square pos printer”, “square pos products”, “square pos purchase”, “square pos reader”, “square pos receipt”, “square pos receipt printer”, “square pos restaurant”, “square pos retail”, “square pos scanner”, “square pos screen”, “square pos software”, “square pos solutions”, “square pos stand”, “square pos system”, “square pos system cost”, “square pos system for food truck”, “square pos system for restaurant”, “square pos system for restaurants”, “square pos system for retail”, “square pos system for small business”, “square pos system ipad”, “square pos system price”, “square pos system restaurant”, “square pos systems”, “square pos systems for restaurants”, “square pos systems for retail”, “square pos tablet”, “square pos terminal”, “square pos terminals”, “square pos website”, “square pos with cash drawer”, “square reader for ipad”, “square reader point of sale”, “square reader pos”, “square reader pos system”, “square register cash drawer”, “square register ipad”, “square register point of sale system”, “square register pos system”, “square register receipt printer”, “square register system”, “square terminal cash drawer”, “square terminal ipad”, “square terminal pos”, “square terminal pos system”, “square terminal receipt printer”, “square up pos”, “square up pos for restaurants”, “square up pos system”, “the square pos” and “the square pos system”, summed into one figure. - [PayPal profile](/demand/global-en/brands/paypal) - [Square profile](/demand/global-en/brands/square) - [All payment gateway platforms worldwide](/demand/global-en/categories/payment-gateway-platforms): The set both shares are measured inside, 6 brands. ## Methodology - [How is branded search demand measured?](/demand/methodology): Where the figures come from, what they compare, and how they may be reused. ## Frequently asked questions ### Which is more popular in search, PayPal or Square? In August 2026, PayPal had more branded searches than Square among payment gateway platforms worldwide. PayPal was estimated to have 20.6M branded searches compared to Square’s 151K, and held an 85.5% Share of Search versus Square’s 0.63%. ## Cite this page Brandwave. "PayPal vs Square: Which is more popular by branded search?". https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/compare/paypal-vs-square This page is also available as HTML at https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/compare/paypal-vs-square. Brandwave publishes an index of its Markdown pages at https://gobrandwave.com/llms.txt.