Booksy vs Vagaro, or your own booking website: costs and fees compared

Published November 10, 2026 · Comparisons

Booksy vs Vagaro mostly comes down to team size and add-ons. Booksy is one flat plan, $29.99 a month plus $20 for each extra team member, with text marketing included, while Vagaro starts at $30 for one calendar, adds $10 per calendar up to seven, and charges separately for texting, payroll and a website. Both list you free on a client marketplace, and paid promotion costs extra; if you would rather clients book on a website under your own name, that is the third option, and it's what CloserAccess builds.

CloserAccess wrote this post and is one of the options in it. Every Booksy and Vagaro price below comes from that company's own pricing and help pages, checked November 9, 2026.

What Booksy and Vagaro cost each month

Booksy has one plan: $29.99 a month plus tax with every feature included, plus $20 a month for each additional team member. The trial runs 14 days with no card, and there's no commitment.

Vagaro prices by bookable calendar. Its pricing page lists $30 a month for one calendar, or $23.99 for the first six months. Its subscription help page adds $10 a month per extra calendar for up to seven, after which more staff cost nothing; Vagaro's own Booksy comparison puts that cap at $83.99 at the introductory rate. The trial runs 30 days, and you can cancel anytime with no cancellation fees ("Exclusions apply").

At list prices, before tax, card fees and add-ons:

• Just you: Booksy $29.99, Vagaro $30.
• Three people: Booksy $69.99, Vagaro $50.
• Seven people: Booksy $149.99, Vagaro $90.
• Ten people: Booksy $209.99, Vagaro still $90.

Solo, the base price is about the same. From two chairs up, Vagaro's base plan costs less. What changes the math is what you add on top.

What's included, and what Vagaro charges extra for

Booksy says every feature is in the one subscription, with "no monthly feature add-on fees." That covers email marketing, 2,000 free marketing texts a month (reminders don't count against them), gift cards, memberships, a digital loyalty card, waitlists, forms and waivers, and Reserve with Google. Its feature list adds inventory and per-person staff commissions. We didn't find payroll on it.

Vagaro's base plan covers a lot too: payments, a waitlist, memberships and gift certificates, 1,000 free emails a month, loyalty programs, inventory, invoices, a booking widget, Daily Deals, and booking from Instagram, Facebook and Apple Maps. Three things a salon often wants cost extra:

• Text marketing: from $20 a month for 1,000 credits up to $120 for 10,000.
• A website: MySite is $20 a month once you publish it.
• Payroll: $34 a month plus $5 per employee, US only, paid by direct deposit. Vagaro's barber page says you can pay hourly, by commission or a mix.

So a three-person Vagaro shop with the smallest text plan and a website pays $90 a month at list prices ($50 + $20 + $20), before payroll. On Booksy, the same shop pays $69.99 plus tax with texting included, but no website of its own.

Card fees: at the chair and online

Both apps sell their own card processing, and deposits and no-show fees only work through it: Booksy requires Mobile Payments for no-show protection, and Vagaro takes deposits and fees only through Vagaro Merchant Services.

Booksy lists 2.69% + $0.30 for cards on file, deposits and cancellation fees, 2.49% + $0.10 on its card reader, and 2.49% + $0.20 for tap to pay. Next-business-day payouts are free; a 30-minute payout costs 1.5%. A chargeback costs $20.

Vagaro splits its US rates by volume. Under $4,000 a month in card sales, cards on its reader cost 2.6% + $0.10 and keyed-in cards 3.5% + $0.19. Over $4,000, the reader rate drops to 2.29% + $0.19, keyed in stays the same, and there's a $10 monthly fee. A $1.25 monthly Mastercard fee and a variable network fee apply on top. Vagaro counts saved cards and online payments as keyed in, and it doesn't let you pass fees on to clients.

On a $50 deposit taken online, that is about $1.65 on Booksy and $1.94 on Vagaro. In the chair the rates are close. Booksy's reader rate is lower than Vagaro's small-merchant rate, and past $4,000 a month Vagaro's percentage drops below Booksy's, with a $10 monthly fee added.

Getting found: the two marketplaces and what promotion costs

Booksy's marketplace is where clients search for something like "barber near me" on booksy.com or the Booksy for Customers app and book directly. The listing comes with your subscription. Booksy says new clients can come from it but aren't guaranteed, and you can switch your visibility off and keep using Booksy for booking.

Boost is Booksy's paid layer: free to turn on, with better placement in search, recommended galleries and a "Booksy Recommended" badge. When a client books you for the first time while Boost is on, Booksy charges 30% of that first visit, with a $10 minimum and a $100 maximum. The tip stays yours, and later visits cost nothing. To keep regulars from counting as Boost clients, Booksy tells you to share your own profile link and add walk-ins to your client list.

Vagaro's marketplace is free, with "no fees", and that page says you're added once your profile is complete; Vagaro's setup guide has you switch on "List Business on Vagaro.com" in your Business Profile. Search runs on the titles of your services, not their descriptions, so "Knotless Braids, Medium" does more work than "Braids."

Vera Fill My Books is Vagaro's paid layer. It replaced Get Featured and works through discounts you set: Vagaro's AI assistant builds deals, puts you in a "Sponsored" section and higher in search, and emails Vagaro users within 25 miles who haven't visited you. There's no monthly charge. When a client books with one of those deals, Vagaro takes 20% if they're new to you, or 5% if they're a returning client on a last-minute deal. The fee is figured on the discounted price, covers the whole cart except products and gift cards, and is collected as a deposit. Daily Deals now carry the same fees; opting out switches your Daily Deals off.

On a $100 first visit, Boost costs $30. On Vagaro, a 10% deal brings the price to $90 and the fee to $18, which is Vagaro's own example, and you've also given up $10 in discount. Above about $333 for a first visit, Booksy's $100 cap starts to matter.

Deposits, cancellation fees and no-shows

The two are close here.

• Booksy: charge a deposit at booking, applied to the bill at checkout, or keep a card on file for a late-cancel or no-show fee. You set the services, the percentage, the notice window and whether the fee is charged automatically. Trusted clients can skip both, and the minimum deposit is $5.
• Vagaro: require a deposit or capture a card, with the fee as a percentage or flat amount and a cutoff in hours. You choose who must give a card: new clients, existing clients, mobile appointments, or clients with a past no-show or cancellation. Vagaro notes deposits are less likely to be disputed than fees charged later.

Booth renters and shared shops

If you rent a chair, the app your shop uses often decides this for you.

Booksy has a Shared Location setup: each renter keeps a separate account with their own clients, calendar, profile link, Boost and payouts to their own bank. In a regular multi-staff account, one bank account gets paid and the owner pays staff outside the app.

On Vagaro, the owner can collect rent in the app: Rent Collection charges renters on a schedule, can deduct commissions from rent, and can require a signed rental contract. The owner pays the keyed-in 3.5% + $0.19 on rent paid by card, or 1% on a US bank transfer. Vagaro's booth renter page says renters get paid into their own account and keep a private client list.

A booking page, or a website with your own domain

Booksy's public page is the Booksy Profile, pitched as "No website necessary." It shows your services, prices, availability, reviews and a booking button, and clients verify their contact details to book. For a website you already run, Booksy offers a booking widget and leaves installing it to your site's administrator. We found no custom-domain option on Booksy's pages.

Vagaro's Listing Page, per its MySite FAQ, uses Vagaro's branding and "can't be customized." For a site of your own, MySite is the $20-a-month add-on: free to build until you publish, at mysite.vagaro.com/yourbusinessname unless you buy or connect a domain, with no contract. Vagaro's design team can build it for an extra fee. One catch: clients who reach you through the Vagaro marketplace or customer app land on your Listing Page and aren't sent on to your MySite.

The third option: your own booking website

Both apps are booking software first, with a public page on the side. A CloserAccess site works the other way around: the website is the product, with booking built in.

Each service gets its own page with a Book Now button, and books by time slot, by request with a quote to follow, or with a deposit at booking. Payments run through your own Square account at Square's own rate; the money settles to you, CloserAccess doesn't mark processing up, and its platform fee shows as its own line on each transaction. Reminder emails go out on their own, a review request can follow each visit, and the same site carries rewards, tips, a gallery, a store and email campaigns.

There are two ways in. Build it yourself for free: no monthly fee, no setup cost, no card to start, and a platform fee only when a customer pays you, at a rate CloserAccess doesn't publish (ask before you start). That site lives at yourname.closeraccess.com. Or have the CloserAccess team build a Starter Website, Premium Website or Digital Master for a fixed price quoted before work starts, with the fee rate set in your quote. Team builds include your own domain and free promotion on CloserAccess's discovery pages, under Beauty & Grooming. The pricing page is plain about ownership: "Your domain stays yours. Your content stays yours."

What it lacks next to Booksy and Vagaro:

• No client marketplace beyond that discovery listing, and no consumer app.
• No card reader or point-of-sale hardware, and no payroll.
• No drag-and-drop editor. You edit pages through form fields with a live preview; bigger design changes go to the team.
• Square only, US dollars only.

Weighing more than two apps? Booksy alternatives for barbers adds Square Appointments and Acuity, and Calendly alternatives with payments covers paid consultations.

Shops that take bookings on their own sites

The Game Changer's barbershop site on Lark Street in Albany has six services, from fades to kids' cuts, each on its own page with a Book Now button that opens a booking calendar. Read The Game Changer's story.

Wumi Hair Braiding on Central Ave, also in Albany, lists ten services, from knotless braids to loc retwists, each with its own page and a Book now button, and still welcomes walk-ins. Wumi's story walks through the menu.

Inkas Tattoo Shop in Elizabeth, NJ books a one-hour consultation with a deposit and charges nothing more until the client has a real quote. See our booking website for tattoo artists guide and the Inkas story.

When Booksy is the better choice

• You work alone or with one other person and want one price that already includes texting, gift cards, loyalty cards and no-show protection.
• Your first visits are long and expensive, like braid installs, and you want promotion with a cap: Boost never takes more than $100 for a new client.
• You rent a chair in a Booksy Shared Location, with your own clients, calendar and payouts.
• You want a trusted-client exemption so regulars skip deposits and cancellation fees.

When Vagaro is the better choice

• Two or more people book through you. Seven calendars cost $90 a month at list price, and staff past seven are free.
• You run the shop and want payroll or rent collection in the system you book in.
• You want a website on your own domain from the same company, through the $20 MySite add-on.
• You'd rather pay for promotion only when a deal books, at a discount you choose.
• You take over $4,000 a month in card sales, where Vagaro's card-reader rate drops to 2.29% + $0.19.

When your own booking website is the better choice

Your own site makes sense when new clients already find you through Google, Instagram and word of mouth, and you want them booking on a page with your shop's name on it. It also fits services that need a quote or a consultation before a price. You can start a free site the same day, or ask for a quote on a team build.

Frequently asked questions

Is Booksy or Vagaro cheaper?

Solo, about the same: $29.99 plus tax on Booksy, $30 on Vagaro ($23.99 for the first six months). From two people up, Vagaro's base plan costs less, but texting, a website and payroll cost extra on Vagaro, and texting is included on Booksy.

Which one charges for new clients?

Neither charges for the listing. Booksy charges a one-time 30% of a new client's first visit, $10 to $100, only while Boost is on. Vagaro charges 20% of a new client's discounted booking, or 5% for a returning client, only through Fill My Books or Daily Deals you opted into.

Is Vagaro free?

No. After a 30-day free trial, Vagaro is $30 a month for one calendar, or $23.99 for the first six months. The marketplace listing is free; fees apply only to Fill My Books and Daily Deals bookings you opt into.

Can I use my own domain with Booksy or Vagaro?

On Vagaro, yes, with the $20-a-month MySite add-on. We found no custom-domain option on Booksy's pages, only a hosted profile and a widget for a site you already run. A team-built CloserAccess site comes with your own domain.

Which is better for booth renters?

Booksy's Shared Location keeps each renter's clients, calendar and payouts in their own account. Vagaro gives the owner rent collection, and renters their own payouts and a private client list.

Does CloserAccess have a marketplace like Booksy or Vagaro?

No. CloserAccess lists the businesses it builds for on its discovery pages, but there's no consumer booking app, so your site, socials and reviews do most of the work of bringing in new clients.

Prices checked November 9, 2026, on each company's own pages. Plans and fees change, so check the linked pages before you decide.

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