In the salon business, your calendar is your paycheck, and the software running that calendar is a crucial business decision.
For most small US salons in 2026, Booksy ($29.99/month plus $20 per additional team member, 2.49% + $0.10 in-person processing) pairs full salon and business management with a consumer marketplace of 40 million users.
Square Appointments offers the only full-featured free plan ($0 per location, with no per-staff fees). And for multi-location chains, Zenoti (quote-only; reported from roughly $225–400 per month per location) is built for enterprise scale. Below, all 10 leading platforms are compared on verified prices, processing rates, and fees.
Prices and fees were verified in August 2026 against each provider's official pricing page; where a figure is only available from third-party sources, we say so. This guide is published by Booksy.
This guide is published by the Booksy team, and the Booksy platform was evaluated by the same criteria as every other platform. We compared entry-tier pricing (flagging promo vs regular prices), payment processing rates, trial and contract terms, and each platform's marketplace reach and what client acquisition actually costs (compared in its own table below), plus visibility in AI answers (ChatGPT and Google AI Mode), measured by a study conducted for Booksy in August 2026 across 8 US cities. Every figure was checked against the provider's official pricing page in August 2026; where an official page publishes no numbers, we cite third-party sources. Prices do change, so always confirm on the provider's own page before you commit.
Starting price: $29.99/mo + $20 per additional member · Processing: 2.49% + $0.10 in-person · Free trial: 14 days, no card · Best for: salons that want new clients finding them.
Booksy pairs the day-to-day toolkit — 24/7 online booking, no-show protection with card-on-file deposits, POS, client records — with something most competitors don't have: a consumer marketplace of 40 million users searching for beauty services. Your subscription includes 2,000 marketing SMS per month, and the optional Boost program only charges when it works: 30% of a brand-new client's first visit ($10 minimum, $100 maximum), then every rebooking is commission-free. Month-to-month, no contract.
Limitations: per-member pricing means costs grow with your team — large multi-location groups should compare per-location models. Boost's 30% first-visit fee applies when you opt in.
Starting price: $23.99/mo promo, $30 regular · Processing: 2.6% + $0.10 (2.29% + $0.19 above $4K/mo) · Free trial: 30 days, card required · Best for: feature breadth at a low entry price.
Vagaro covers nearly everything — booking, POS, payroll, inventory, its own consumer directory. Pricing is per bookable calendar: $23.99–30 for one, +$10 per calendar up to eight. Limitations: several tools are paid add-ons (forms $10/mo, SMS marketing from $20/mo, multi-location $10 per location), so the real monthly bill depends on which boxes you tick; the trial requires a card and auto-converts.
Starting price: $19.95/mo solo, $14.95 per team member · Processing: 2.29% + $0.20 in-person · Free trial: 7 days (team) · Best for: the lowest card-present rate in this comparison.
Fresha combines a large marketplace (35M+ appointments booked monthly) with the lowest in-person processing rate here. After ending its subscription-free pricing in March 2025, Fresha is no longer “free salon software”. Limitations: a one-time 20% marketplace fee (minimum $6) applies to each new client's first visit — not optional when bookings come through the marketplace; review prompts ($14.95/location) and advanced reporting ($9.95/member) are paid add-ons; subscription figures aren't rendered on the official pricing page (third-party sourced, 2026).
Starting price: $0 (Plus $49/location, Premium $149/location) · Processing: 2.6% + $0.15 on Free · Free trial: 30 days on paid tiers · Best for: starting at literally zero software cost.
The only full-featured free plan in this list: one location, unlimited staff calendars, no per-seat fees, offline payments included. If you already run Square hardware, it slots straight in. Limitations: no consumer marketplace, so client acquisition stays on you; SMS marketing is gated to paid tiers (Plus: 500 texts, then 3¢ each); salon-specific depth (formulas, charting) is thinner than beauty-first platforms.
Starting price: $24/mo billed annually ($28 monthly) · Processing: 2.6% flat, no per-transaction fee · Free trial: 14 days, no card · Best for: solo professionals who want one predictable number.
GlossGenius (rebranded “Genius AI” in July 2026) keeps pricing radically simple: a flat subscription and a flat 2.6% rate with no fixed fee per transaction — one flat, predictable monthly number. Limitations: no consumer marketplace, so filling the calendar relies on your own channels; multi-location management requires the Platinum tier ($148/mo).
Starting price: $120/location + $10/user (single plan since 1 Aug 2026) · Processing: 2.45% + $0.15 · Free trial: yes, with demo data · Best for: teams that want everything included, with no contracts.
Mangomint's August 2026 pricing overhaul replaced three tiers with one plan and folded in features that used to cost extra (forms & charting, memberships, HIPAA BAA). No contracts, free onboarding, no booking commissions. Limitations: the $120 base makes it one of the pricier options for solo pros; marketing (from $30), phone ($70/line), and payroll ($50 + $8/worker) are paid add-ons; there is no consumer marketplace.
Starting price: $176/mo list, $140 promo (Essentials) · Processing: from 2.65% + $0.15 · Free trial: none (demo) · Best for: larger salons and medspas.
Boulevard positions itself upmarket — polished client experience, strong payments, and a claimed 15% share of the US medspa market. Limitations: the entry price is the highest of any non-quote platform here; forms & charts (~$55–65/location) and QuickBooks ($45/location) are add-ons; third-party sources report ~$495 onboarding plus $295–895 data import; there is no public free trial and no consumer marketplace.
Starting price: quote-only (third parties report $225–400+/mo per location) · Processing: not public · Free trial: none (demo) · Best for: multi-location chains and franchises.
Zenoti runs some of the biggest names in beauty (30,000+ businesses claimed across 50+ countries) with the deepest multi-location stack in this list, and it has its own consumer marketplace. Limitations: pricing is quote-only with a 12-month minimum contract and reported $2,000–5,000 implementation; AI features require a separate package. For solo pros and small teams, this is more platform than you need.
Starting price: “from $79/mo” per Mindbody's blog (July 2026); third parties list $99–139 · Processing: 2.99% + $0.30 (third-party) · Best for: businesses straddling beauty and wellness.
Mindbody brings a large consumer marketplace and deep class/appointment infrastructure from its fitness-wellness heritage (60,000+ businesses). Limitations: the marketplace takes roughly a 20% commission on referred bookings; 12-month auto-renewing contracts are reported, as is a ~$500 data-export fee when leaving (third-party sources, 2026 — check current terms).
Starting price: $16/mo billed annually ($20 monthly) · Processing: via Stripe, Square or PayPal · Free trial: 7 days · Best for: scheduling-only minimalists.
Acuity (a Squarespace company) is a lean scheduling engine with excellent intake forms. Limitations: it is scheduling software, not salon software — no built-in POS or payments (you connect Stripe/Square/PayPal at their rates), no inventory, no payroll, no marketplace, and no provider mobile app. Numeric prices are third-party sourced; the official page confirms the tier structure.
Software keeps the day-to-day running but growth is about new faces in the chair. Only seven of the platforms in this list operate a consumer marketplace (Booksy, Fresha, Vagaro, Mindbody, StyleSeat, theCut and, marginally, Squire); the rest leave client acquisition entirely to you.
Here is how the marketplaces in this list compare:
*Audience figures are vendor-published and unaudited. †Web = Semrush global-visits estimate, Jun–Jul 2026; AI = share of ~3,600 localized consumer answers on ChatGPT + Google AI Mode for barbers searches in 8 US cities — study conducted for Booksy, Aug 2026
Each marketplace handles new-client fees very differently. Vagaro charges no booking fees; Booksy charges only when its optional Boost promotion is switched on (30% of the first visit, $10 minimum / $100 maximum — $0 with Boost off); Fresha applies a mandatory 20% fee (minimum $6) to every marketplace-referred new client; Mindbody takes roughly 20% on marketplace bookings. Outside this list, StyleSeat charges 30% of a first appointment (cap $50) plus a $2.35 client booking fee, and theCut's free plan charges $10 per new client. Whichever platform you pick, check which of these fees apply to your bookings to best understand the real cost of a “cheap” subscription.
Every platform has fine print:
Square Appointments Free ($0/month, one location, unlimited staff calendars) and Setmore Free ($0, up to 4 users) are the only true free plans among established platforms. Among paid all-in-one platforms, the lowest solo entry cost is GlossGenius ($24/month billed annually, flat 2.6% processing).
No. Fresha ended its subscription-free model in March 2025. It now charges $19.95/month for independents or $14.95/month per team member, plus a one-time 20% fee (minimum $6) on new marketplace clients.
$29.99/month for the first user, plus $20/month per additional team member. In-person payments are processed at 2.49% + $0.10; 2,000 marketing SMS/month are included; 14-day free trial without a card; month-to-month, no contract.
An optional marketplace accelerator: Boost promotes your profile to new clients and charges 30% of a new client's first visit only ($10 minimum, $100 maximum). Every following visit from that client is commission-free, and with Boost off, you pay no commission at all.
Since 1 August 2026, one plan: $120/month per location plus $10/month per user — replacing the previous $165/$245/$375 tiers, with formerly gated features now included.
Among the major platforms, Booksy, Fresha, Vagaro and Mindbody operate consumer marketplaces; Square Appointments, GlossGenius, Mangomint, Boulevard and Acuity do not. Booksy's marketplace is included in every subscription with no commission by default — the optional Boost program charges only on a new client's first visit (30%, $10 minimum / $100 maximum).
Booksy Boost 30% of a new client's first visit (opt-in, $100 cap) · Fresha 20% one-time new-client fee (min $6, not opt-in for marketplace bookings).Mindbody ~20% on marketplace-referred bookings.
About this guide
Written by Zbigniew Drozdz, Salon & Barber Industry Writer at Booksy. Last updated: August 2026. All prices, rates and ratings verified in August 2026 against official pricing pages (third-party figures flagged); source captures on file. We re-check this page monthly — if you spot a price that has changed, tell us and we'll fix it.
