Vagaro vs. Booksy: Which One Works Harder for Your Business?

Choosing the right booking software for your business can feel a bit like dating—every platform promises to be “the one,” but how do you know which one is worth your time (and money?)

Booksy claims to empower beauty and wellness professionals. But when you take a closer look, some crucial features seem to have…missed the appointment. So, let’s talk about what really matters for your business and where Vagaro steps in to handle what Booksy leaves out.

Who is Vagaro Best For?

Vagaro was designed specifically for professionals in the beauty, wellness, and fitness industries, and it shows. Since its launch in 2009, Vagaro has grown into a robust platform that includes booking, payments, marketing, payroll, memberships, retail tools, and even financing, all in one place.

Vagaro is a favorite among salons, spas, fitness studios, massage therapists, estheticians, and tattoo artists, thanks to its customization options and scalable pricing.

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Who is Booksy Best For?

Booksy is a mobile-first scheduling platform that also focuses on the beauty and wellness professionals. It’s most popular with barbers and independent beauty pros.

While Booksy offers core features in the base price but has some limitations as to how granular reports and marketing features can go.

Booking & Scheduling

Vagaro includes a robust set of booking features: calendar syncing, automated reminders, waitlists, multi-service appointments, and recurring bookings. Choose from four waitlist options from a manual selection, prioritizing highest value appointments, next in line, or notifying all on the waitlist.

Booksy also offers mobile booking capabilities in a client-facing experience. Some features like booking through Instagram and Google or managing recurring appointments may require additional steps. When there is a cancellation, the entire waitlist will be contacted to inform them of an opening. This is the only option for addressing the waitlist.

Team & Business Management

Vagaro allows you to add as many admin-only users needed for free. You only pay $10/month per calendar (i.e. service provider), and the price caps at seven calendars even if you have more employees. Features like payroll, permissions control, and employee login access are included in the base plan.

Booksy charges $20/per additional user. There is no cap on the number of service providers mentioned, and whether you have 2 service providers or 42, you will always be charged $20/additional calendar on top of the base subscription price.

Pricing & Value

Vagaro’s pricing begins at $23.99 per month for a single user and increases by $10 for each additional calendar, which caps out at seven and any calendar added after is free. This pricing structure is meant to accommodate businesses of varying sizes.

Beyond what’s included in the base plan, Vagaro’s approach is to give businesses the option to choose features that are most useful and important to them by providing an a la carte feature structure. This way, you only pay for what you need & use with Vagaro.

Booksy is available for $29.99 a month and has an additional $20/month fee for each service provider. Some premium features like point of sale (POS), advanced marketing tools, or additional customization will come at an additional cost.

Marketing Tools

From email and text campaigns to automated promotions and featured placements in the Vagaro Marketplace (with 24M+ users), Vagaro offers a powerful suite of marketing tools. You get 1,000 free marketing emails per month, and the drag and drop builder makes designing email campaigns easy, even if you’re not a graphic designer!

Booksy includes basic marketing tools, including message blasts and limited automation. While they offer a consumer-facing marketplace and a “Boost” visibility feature, they do charge 30% of the service for every new customer they bring through the program.

Payment Processing

With Vagaro Merchant Services, the in-house payment processing options are customized based on the size of monthly transactions.

A small merchant is considered a business who processes less than $4,000/month:

• 2.6% + $0.10 per dip & tap transactions
• 3.5% + $0.15 per keyed in transaction

A large merchant charges more than $4,000/month and has a lower processing fee:

• 2.2% + $0.19 per dip & tap transactions
• 3.5% + $0.15 per keyed in transaction

Tap to Pay is available for an additional $0.06 per transaction, regardless of merchant size. A large merchant has an added monthly fee of $10/month, with lower processing fees.

Booksy processes payments through a third-party provider and charges a different processing fee per transaction type, regardless of the business size:

• 2.69% + $0.30 per mobile payments + keyed in entry transactions
• 2.49% + $0.10 per transaction using the Booksy Card Reader
• 2.49% + $0.20 per transaction through Tap to Pay

Fees can vary, and third-party systems may delay payout timelines or limit support.

Customer Support

Vagaro has live, 24/7 support via phone, email, and chat. There’s also a dedicated merchant services support team to help. Whether it's 2PM or 2AM, help is always available.

Booksy only offers support through email and in-app messaging, available 24/7.

Long Term Growth

With advanced tools like multi-location management, enterprise concierge services, and Vagaro capital for business loans, Vagaro helps you grow smart and fast. Its scalable design means you won’t outgrow the platform.

Booksy can be a fit for individual pros or small teams, but some users find it less accommodating as their business grows or requires advanced reporting and integrations.

Which Software Wins?

While both platforms bring useful features to the table, Vagaro stands out as the clear winner when you compare scalability, pricing, and overall functionality. From solo entrepreneurs to multi-location businesses, Vagaro offers unmatched flexibility, powerful built-in tools, and support that grows with you.