Consult
30 min
card hold on first visit
Booked in the consult room, so it never takes an artist station.
Tattoo booking software and tattoo booking app for studios that take deposits
Reserving is tattoo booking software for shops with several artists. Clients book a consult, a flash piece or a four hour session from your Instagram bio, Google or your site; the deposit is paid before the slot is confirmed, and reminders go out by text 48 and 24 hours ahead. The session blocks the artist and the station for its real length plus cleanup. It costs 49 USD a month per studio, or 149 USD (74 USD billed yearly) for up to 10 artists with deposits and SMS, and we take no cut of your deposits.
Ash Street Tattoo
Open 11 am to 9 pm
Session, minutes
Channel
Guest
Manual hold
Off
Station board
Booked
Yours
Buffer
Station fitted
Deposit rule
No-show risk
Reminders
01
Stop chasing tattoo deposits in your DMs
Most shops still book the same way: a client messages on Instagram, the artist replies with dates, sends a payment link, waits, follows up, and pencils the session in a paper book or a shared calendar. Half the slots that get "held" never get paid for, and a 300 USD afternoon sits open because nobody noticed until the morning.
Booking software fixes the order of things. The client picks the artist, the session type and a free time, pays the deposit on the same screen, and only then does the slot appear on the board as booked. No deposit, no booking. The artist sees a confirmed session with the client's phone, email and notes, and never has to send a reminder by hand.
Try it in the board above. Set a 240 minute session and the confirmation asks for a 150 USD deposit; drop to 120 minutes and it asks for 75 USD. Those are rules you set per session length, not a single flat fee for every booking.
Ash Street Tattoo
Deposit paid
Half day session with Mara
Saturday, 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm, Station 2
Session240 min plus 20 min setup
Deposit150 USD, off the final price
Reminderstext at 48 h and 24 h
Cancelby reply to the text
ConfirmCancel
02
How much should a tattoo deposit be?
Most US shops ask 50 to 200 USD, or roughly 20% to 30% of the quoted price, and take it off the final bill. Small flash pieces sit at the low end, full day sessions at the high end. Consults and touch-ups are often free to book but held with a card. Here is a setup a four artist shop can copy.
Flash piece
60 to 90 min
50 USD deposit
Fixed designs and walk-in days with a set price.
Half day
3 to 4 hours
75 to 150 USD deposit
Custom work booked with a named artist.
Full day
5 to 6 hours
150 to 200 USD deposit
Back pieces and sleeves split over sittings.
Touch-up
30 min
no deposit
Returning clients within your touch-up window.
Deposit amounts are typical US ranges reported by studios and booking platforms, not a legal standard. Write your own policy, put it on the booking page and the confirmation, and keep it the same for every client. Our no-show fee policy guide has wording clients accept.
03
What a tattoo shop runs on Reserving
One board for every artist and station, with the booking page on your own domain and the client list owned by your shop, not a marketplace.
- Clients pick a named artist or the first one free, at the real length of the session
- Each session blocks the artist and the station, plus the minutes to clean and set up
- Deposit and card-hold rules by session length, weekday and first visit, paid before the slot is confirmed
- A consult room booked separately, so consults never eat into tattoo time
- Two-way SMS reminders where the client confirms or cancels by reply, and the slot goes back on sale
- A waiting queue that offers a cancelled Saturday to the next client in line
04
How much does tattoo booking software cost?
Tattoo booking software costs about 25 to 255 USD a month for one shop in the US, and some tools add a percentage of every deposit on top. The bill depends on how many artists you have and whether the vendor charges per artist, per shop, or takes a cut of payments.
Here is the list price for a shop with eight artists, resident and guest. Several tools cost less than our monthly Growth plan, and we show that. Watch the percentage on the top bar: on a busy shop it is the bigger number.
Venue Studio Pro, 8 artists
255 USD + 5% of card payments
Booksy, 8 staff
169.99 USD
InkDesk Studio, 8 artists
133 USD
Fresha Team, 8 members
119.60 USD
Vagaro, 8 calendars
90 USD
GlossGenius Gold
56 USD
Square Appointments Plus
49 USD
Reserving Growth, monthly
149 USD, no cut of deposits
Reserving Growth, billed yearly
74 USD, no cut of deposits
What 5% means in dollars: a shop that takes 40 deposits of 100 USD a month pays 200 USD on deposits alone, before the rest of the price is collected. Full breakdowns of the salon tools are in our Booksy pricing, Vagaro pricing and Square Appointments pricing guides.
05
What is the best booking app for tattoo artists?
For a solo artist, the best booking app is a cheap per-artist tool with deposits, such as InkDesk at 25 to 35 USD or Bookedin. For a shop with six or more artists, pick software that takes deposits at booking, blocks the station for long sessions, charges one price per shop and takes no percentage of your deposits.
Shops with 4 to 10 artists
Growth at 149 USD, or 74 USD billed yearly: 10 logins for residents, guests and the front desk, unlimited bookings, deposits by session length and two-way SMS. No sales call and no contract.
Tattoo and piercing studios
Short piercing appointments and long tattoo sessions on one board, each with its own length, setup time and deposit rule. Clinics with treatment rooms will find more on appointment scheduling software.
Owners with 2 to 5 shops
Multi-Venue at 499 USD a month, or 249 USD billed yearly, for up to five shops with unlimited artists, one client list and group reporting. Details on multi-venue booking.
Where another tool is the better buy
- You tattoo alone: InkDesk, Bookedin or GlossGenius Standard cost less than any of our plans with deposits
- You want consent forms, ID capture and an inbox for Instagram DMs inside the booking tool: tattoo-only apps such as Porter or InkDesk are built around that
- You already run your shop on Square POS and only need deposits: Square Appointments Plus at 49 USD is hard to beat
- Your artists book themselves and settle with the shop separately: a per-artist app each may suit you better than one shop board
06
Tattoo booking apps compared
These are the tools US shops most often name. They charge in very different ways, so compare what your shop would pay with all its artists and a normal month of deposits.
| Tool | How it charges | Cut of deposits | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | free plans, Solo Pro 50 USD, Studio Pro 150 USD for 5 artists plus 35 USD per extra | 10% on free plans, 5% on Pro, minimum 2.50 USD | artists who want to start at no monthly cost |
| InkDesk | Solo 35 USD (25 yearly), Studio 55 USD for 2 artists plus 13 USD per extra | none, card processor fee only | tattoo-only workflow with waivers and messaging |
| Bookedin | free up to 20 bookings, then about 24 or 39 USD (reported) | processor fee | small studios that want simple booking |
| Vagaro | 30 USD plus 10 USD per calendar up to 90 USD, add-ons extra | processing only | shops that also want POS and inventory |
| Square Appointments | free tier, Plus 49 USD, Premium 149 USD per location | processing only; no-show fees on Plus | shops already on Square |
| Booksy | 29.99 USD plus 20 USD per extra staff | processing, plus Boost on marketplace clients | artists who want marketplace clients |
| Reserving | 49 or 149 USD per shop, 499 USD for 5, half that yearly | none, your processor's normal rate | multi-artist shops that want deposits and one flat price |
07
How do tattoo artists book appointments online?
They share one booking link in the Instagram bio, the Google Business Profile and the shop site, and the client books and pays the deposit there instead of in the DMs. Most shops take their first online booking the same day they set up.
-
01
Add your stations and consult room
Each station and the consult room is its own column on the board, with the minutes it takes to clean and set up after a session.
-
02
Add your artists
One login each for residents, guest artists and the front desk, with working days, hours and the session types they take.
-
03
List sessions at their real length
Consult, flash, half day, full day and touch-up, each with its minutes and its deposit or card-hold rule.
-
04
Share the link
Put the booking link in your Instagram bio, on your Google Business Profile and on your site. Import existing clients from a CSV so returning clients are recognized.
Are tattoo deposits refundable?
Usually not. Most US shops treat the deposit as non-refundable but transferable: it moves to a new date if the client reschedules inside your notice window, and it is kept if they no-show or cancel late. Whatever you choose, show the policy on the booking page and the confirmation so the client agrees to it before paying.
Can clients pay a tattoo deposit online when they book?
Yes. On Growth the deposit is paid on the booking page, and the session is only confirmed once it is paid. The deposit comes off the final price. We take no percentage of deposits or fees; your payment provider charges its normal card rate.
Can clients book a specific tattoo artist?
Yes. Clients choose a named artist or the first artist free, and only see the times that artist works and has room for the full session length. Guest artists get their own login for the days they are in the shop.
Do tattoo artists use Square for booking?
Many do, mostly shops that already take payments on Square. Square Appointments Plus at 49 USD per location adds deposits and no-show fees. Shops move off it when they want deposit rules by session length or one board for several shops; see the comparison above.
What is the best appointment scheduling software for tattoo shops?
The best appointment scheduling software for a tattoo shop takes the deposit at booking, lets clients choose a named artist, books long sessions and short consults on the same calendar and charges no percentage of the deposit. Reserving Growth does that for 149 USD a month per shop (74 USD billed yearly). If you want artist portfolio galleries inside the booking tool, look at a tattoo-specific app such as Venue; most shops keep portfolios on Instagram and link each artist's booking page from the bio.
How many artists can I add?
Core includes 3 logins and 300 bookings a month. Growth includes 10 logins and unlimited bookings. Multi-Venue covers up to five shops with no limit on artists.
Is there a contract?
No. Plans are monthly or yearly and you buy them online without a sales call. Yearly billing is half the monthly price: Growth is 74 USD a month billed yearly instead of 149 USD.
Take the deposit when the client books
Create your account, add your artists, stations and session types, and take paid bookings from Instagram, Google and your site.