Vagaro starts at 30 USD a month for one calendar, then adds 10 USD per calendar and separate fees for text marketing, forms and a website. Reserving is a Vagaro alternative for salons and spas that want deposits by service, two-way SMS reminders and a booking page on their own domain in one flat price per location: 49 or 149 USD a month, with no percentage on bookings.
North Street Salon
Open 09:00 to 19:00
Chair board
Chair fitted
Deposit rule
No-show risk
Reminders
01
Vagaro costs 30 USD a month for the first bookable calendar and 10 USD for each extra calendar, up to seven. From the eighth employee on, Vagaro adds calendars at no charge, so the base subscription tops out at 90 USD a month per location. Text marketing, forms, the MySite website and a branded app are paid add-ons on top.
For a solo stylist or a three-chair shop that only needs a calendar and a marketplace listing, that is a low price and we would not tell you to leave. The bill changes when a salon switches on the extras it actually runs on: marketing texts, intake forms, a website, accounting sync. Each one is a separate monthly line.
The table puts Vagaro's published calendar pricing and its common add-ons next to our plans. Both columns are list prices per location, before tax and card processing.
| What you are comparing | Vagaro | Reserving |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price per location | 30 USD a month for 1 calendar | 49 USD a month, Core, 3 staff logins |
| How the price grows | plus 10 USD per calendar, up to 90 USD at 7 calendars | flat per location, 149 USD on Growth with 10 staff logins |
| Marketing and reminder texts | text marketing add-on, 20 USD a month | two-way SMS reminders included on Growth |
| Intake forms | forms add-on, 10 USD a month | client notes and history on every booking, all plans |
| Booking website | MySite add-on, 20 USD a month | booking page on your own domain and a widget for your site, all plans |
| Deposits for long services | available, through Vagaro payments | rules by service, day part and client, on Growth |
| Card processing | 2.2% card present, 3.5% + 0.30 USD keyed or online | your payment provider's normal rate, no cut from us |
| Several locations | quoted by sales | 499 USD a month for up to 5 locations, Multi-Venue |
| Consumer marketplace | yes, the Vagaro app and site | none, clients book on your site, Google and Instagram |
| Retail POS, payroll, memberships | yes, some as paid add-ons | not included, bookings and deposits only |
Vagaro figures are its published US calendar pricing and the add-on prices reported across its help center and third-party pricing reviews. Vagaro runs promotions below the 30 USD list price, so check your own quote. Reserving prices are monthly list prices; yearly billing takes Core to 39 USD and Growth to 119 USD a month.
02
Take three salons that each send marketing texts, use intake forms and want a booking website. A two-chair studio on Vagaro pays 40 USD for calendars plus 50 USD for those three add-ons, 90 USD a month. It fits Reserving Core at 49 USD, but Core has no SMS, so if texting clients matters it needs Growth at 149 USD. Vagaro is cheaper here, plainly.
A seven-stylist salon pays Vagaro 90 USD in calendars plus the same 50 USD of add-ons, 140 USD a month, against 149 USD on Growth. That is close to even, and the choice comes down to features rather than price. A group with four locations of seven stylists each pays Vagaro about 560 USD a month at list, before any multi-location quote, against 499 USD on Multi-Venue with group reporting and one client record across all four.
03
A booking engine that knows a service is a person, a chair or room and a real length of time, with the booking page on your own domain and the client list in your hands.
04
For a small salon that wants an all-in-one shop system with retail, payroll and a marketplace, very little at the price: that is Vagaro's strength. For a salon, spa or clinic whose clients come from its own site, Google and Instagram, and who mainly needs deposits, reminders and a clean booking page, a flat per-location booking system removes the add-on stack and the marketplace it does not use.
Then you are buying a whole shop system, and 30 to 90 USD a month is good value for it.
Here you pay for the booking engine and nothing you switched off.
05
Vagaro's main competitors for US salons are Booksy, GlossGenius, Fresha, Square Appointments, Mangomint and Boulevard. They split into cheap all-in-ones for solo artists and premium systems for busy salons. Here is how each one charges.
| System | How it charges | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Booksy | 29.99 USD a month plus 20 USD per extra staff member, 30% of a first visit booked through Boost | barbers and solo artists who want marketplace clients |
| GlossGenius | 24, 48 or 148 USD a month billed yearly, 2.6% flat processing | solo stylists and small teams |
| Fresha | 19.95 USD a month solo or 14.95 USD per team member, 20% on new marketplace clients | salons that want marketplace demand |
| Square Appointments | a free tier, then Plus at 49 and Premium at 149 USD per location, Square processing | shops already on Square POS |
| Mangomint and Boulevard | premium monthly plans, higher than Vagaro | high-volume salons and med spas |
| Reserving | 49 or 149 USD per location, 499 USD for 5 locations | salons, spas and clinics that want deposits and reminders on their own site |
06
Export clients and future appointments, set up staff, chairs and services, import, then move every booking link before you stop taking bookings on Vagaro. Keep both open for a week so no client who booked there is lost.
Download your client list and future appointments from Vagaro, with notes, formulas and contact details. Keep the file; it is your client list.
Enter stylists, chairs or rooms, each service with its real length and processing time, and the deposit rule for long services.
Import clients and appointments by CSV, paste the booking widget on your site and point your Google profile and Instagram at your booking page.
Stop new online bookings on Vagaro, serve the appointments already booked there, and cancel the add-ons before your next billing date.
For a small salon that uses its marketplace, POS and retail tools, yes: 30 to 90 USD a month is cheap for an all-in-one system. It gets less attractive once text marketing, forms and a website are added as separate monthly fees, or once you run several locations and need a sales quote.
Yes, up to a point. Vagaro charges 30 USD for the first bookable calendar and 10 USD for each additional one, up to seven calendars per location. Employees beyond seven are added at no extra cost. Reserving is priced per location instead, with 3 staff logins on Core and 10 on Growth.
Beyond the subscription, Vagaro charges card processing of about 2.2% for card-present payments and 3.5% plus 30 cents for keyed or online payments for smaller merchants, and separate monthly fees for add-ons such as text marketing, forms and the MySite website.
Only for a solo artist. Booksy charges 29.99 USD a month plus 20 USD per extra staff member, so a three-person shop pays 69.99 USD against 50 USD on Vagaro. Booksy includes text marketing in the price. Our Booksy pricing breakdown works out the cost at five team sizes.
Yes. On Reserving Growth, at 149 USD per location a month, you set deposit and card-hold rules per service, so a four-hour balayage can require a deposit while a trim does not. We take no percentage of the deposit; your payment provider charges its normal processing fee.
The same day. Create an account, pay by card, add your staff, chairs and services with their real lengths, and paste the booking widget on your site. There is no demo call, and the live demo at the top of this page runs the same engine on a sample salon.
Create your account, add your stylists, chairs and services, and take bookings on your own site for a flat fee per location.
Enter the email address that runs your venue and we take it from there. One field, no card, no sales call.
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