Square Appointments vs Vagaro (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 24, 2026, we pick Square Appointments: it is first in our ranking of salon, spa and studio booking apps (Vagaro is third), and it grades higher too, 3.2 against 2.6.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Oct 24, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Oct 24, 2026 by ToolGPA
Square Appointments grades higher on the free plan and ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Square Appointments
Booking, point of sale and payments for appointment businesses
Vagaro
Booking, payments and marketing for salons, spas and studios
Which one is for you
Pick Square Appointments if
- Fits if you work by appointment and want booking and checkout in one app
- Works for shops that already take cards with a Square reader
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you're solo and just want Google Calendar sync or no-show fees, at $49 a location a month
- Watch out: card fees apply on every plan, 2.6% + 15¢ in person and 3.3% + 30¢ online on Free
- Tight if you stay on Free: no waitlist, classes, packages, multi-staff booking or Bookings API
- Not for you if you want a Mac or Windows app, or 24/7 phone support without paying $149 a month
- Skip it if you'd rather Square didn't hold your money: one reviewer's account was frozen for over ten days
Pick Vagaro if
- Fits if you run a salon, spa or barbershop on one to seven bookable calendars
- Works for studios that run classes alongside appointments in one calendar
Look elsewhere if
- Watch out: $23.99 a month lasts 6 months, then one calendar is $30 and each added calendar $10, up to seven
- Pricey if you want text marketing, a branded app or a MySite website, as the page sells them à la carte with no price
- Watch out: the free card reader needs Vagaro Merchant Services, whose rates are advertised from 2.2%
- Skip it if you have several locations and want a price up front, as multi-location plans are quoted by sales
How we grade them
| 3.2GPASquare AppointmentsVery good | 2.6GPAVagaroGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BFree has no monthly fee, inside this category's cheaper quarter ($29.99 or less), and Plus is $49 a location a month with unlimited staff, level with the $49.90 middle. Premium is $149, in the dearest tenth, and card fees of 2.6% + 15¢ in person come on top of every plan. | BOne calendar is $30 a month after an introductory $23.99 for 6 months, level with this category's cheaper quarter ($29.99). Each added calendar is $10 up to seven, so five people pay $70, but extras like text marketing have no published price. |
| Free plan and trial | BNo monthly fee, with a booking site, unlimited staff calendars, text reminders and deposits. But you pay 2.6% + 15¢ in person and 3.3% + 30¢ online, and Google Calendar sync, no-show fees, classes and the waitlist all need Plus. | CNo free plan, but a 30-day free trial. The listing doesn't say whether it needs a card. |
| Features | BA booking site, reminders clients can reply to, deposits, a waitlist, classes, packages, and rooms and chairs on Premium, with Square's point of sale for services and products. That's the whole booking job, but Fresha, Vagaro, Mangomint and Booksy also take payment at the desk, so the till doesn't set it apart. | BBooking from its marketplace, Google, Apple Maps and Instagram, classes and resources, checkout with Affirm, memberships, forms and SOAP notes, payroll and multi-location tools. That's the whole booking job, for salons and studios alike. |
| Ease of use | A4.88 from about 195,000 App Store ratings, the highest score in this category. Some reviewers got a bot when they wanted a person, and 24/7 phone support is Premium only. | CNo rating for the business app is on record, since the App Store listing found is the client-facing app. You set up services, staff and payments before taking bookings. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with no Mac or Windows app. It hooks into Instagram, Facebook, Google, Wix, QuickBooks and JotForm, but Google Calendar sync and the Bookings API are held back for Plus. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with QuickBooks, Xero, Affirm, Google, Apple Maps, Instagram, Facebook and Salesforce, and APIs and webhooks for multi-location accounts. No desktop app. |
| Best for | salons and solo pros who work by appointment | booking for salons, spas and fitness studios |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Square Appointments and Vagaro. How we grade
Price against what you get
Square Appointments starts at $49 a month and scores 3.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Vagaro starts at $23.99 a month and scores 2.7.
Square Appointments scores higher, and starts $25.01 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other salon, spa and studio booking apps on the chart, none scores higher than Square Appointments for less, and 1 scores higher than Vagaro for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Square Appointments also covers booking links, invoicing and reports.
- Vagaro also covers forms, email campaigns, payroll, inventory, appointment booking and class booking.
At a glance
| Square Appointments | Vagaro | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $49 per location / month (Square Plus) | $30 per month for 1 calendar, after $23.99 a month for the first 6 months |
| Free plan | Square Free: no monthly fee, with a booking website, unlimited staff calendars, text and email reminders, deposits, prepayments and invoices. Processing fees apply to each payment. | None |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial of Square Plus or Square Premium | 30-day free trial |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Block, Inc. | Vagaro, Inc. |
| Price read from | squareup.com | vagaro.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 24, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Square Appointments
- Square Free leaves out Google Calendar sync, no-show fees, multi-staff booking, classes and packages, the waitlist and the Bookings API.
- Plus and Premium are charged per location: $49 or $149 a month for each location you run.
- Processing fees apply on every plan, from 2.4% + 15¢ in person on Premium to 3.3% + 30¢ for online payments on Free.
- Resource management and the future bookings, service cost and team performance reports are Premium-only.
Vagaro
- The $23.99 price lasts 6 months; after that one calendar costs $30 a month and each added calendar $10, up to seven.
- The pricing page calls its model à la carte but gives no prices for extras such as text marketing, a branded app or a MySite website.
- The free card reader requires signing up for Vagaro Merchant Services, which advertises processing rates from 2.2%.
- Multi-location pricing is quoted by sales, with each location priced by the features chosen for it.
Key features
Square Appointments
- Online booking site
- A customizable booking website on every plan, plus Book Now buttons for Instagram, Facebook and a Google Business Profile, a widget for an existing site and a QR code.
- Payments and point of sale
- Take cards in person, online or with Tap to Pay on a phone, keep cards on file, and ring up services and products together. Afterpay and Cash App Pay are supported.
- No-show protection
- Deposits and prepayments are on every plan. A cancellation policy that charges the card on file for late cancellations and no-shows needs Square Plus.
- Reminders and Square Assistant
- Automatic text and email reminders go out on every plan, and Square Assistant lets clients reply to an SMS reminder to confirm, cancel or change a booking.
- Staff, locations and resources
- Staff calendars are unlimited on every plan. Multi-staff bookings and multi-location management start on Plus; assigning rooms, chairs or stations is Premium-only.
- Classes, packages and waitlist
- From Square Plus, schedule one-time or recurring group classes, sell prepaid packages of services, and let clients join a waitlist from the booking site.
Vagaro
- Online booking and calendar
- Clients book through Vagaro's marketplace, a website widget, Google, Apple Maps, Instagram, Facebook or Alexa, with waitlists, classes and resource scheduling.
- Checkout and card readers
- Take Apple Pay, Google Pay and cards on Vagaro's own readers and terminals, offer Affirm pay-later plans, and sell memberships, packages and gift certificates.
- Forms and SOAP notes
- Intake forms and SOAP notes sit on each client profile, which also tracks history, retention and loyalty points.
- Vera AI assistant
- Vera helps write marketing and service descriptions, answers client messages, and its Fill My Books feature promotes open slots to Vagaro's customer network.
- Payroll and team access
- Vagaro Payroll pays staff and booth renters, tracks hours and time off, and access levels set what each employee can see at each location.
- Multi-location tools
- Sync services, clients, classes, products and pricing across locations, with SSO and SCIM, APIs and webhooks, and exports to Power BI, Salesforce and other tools.
Plans
Square Appointments
Square Free$0
Booking website, unlimited staff calendars, reminders, deposits and invoices. Processing is 2.6% + 15¢ in person and 3.3% + 30¢ online.
Square Plus$49
per location / month
Adds no-show fees, multi-staff booking, waitlist, classes and packages, Google Calendar sync and the Bookings API. In-person processing is 2.5% + 15¢.
Square Premium$149
per location / month
Adds resource management, future bookings and team performance reports, service cost tracking, 24/7 phone support and 2.4% + 15¢ in-person processing.
Square ProCustom
Custom pricing and processing fees for businesses that process over $250,000 per year, arranged through Square's sales team.
Vagaro
One location$30
per month for 1 calendar, plus $10 per added calendar
Advertised at $23.99 a month for the first 6 months. Calendars beyond seven cost nothing extra; 1,000 emails a month and a marketplace listing are included.
Multiple locationsCustom
Features chosen per location, with SSO, data lake exports, a dedicated success manager and data migration, through sales.
Ways to pay less
Square Appointments
No public discounts listed.
Vagaro
- Other savings
$23.99 a month for the first 6 months
Vagaro's pricing page shows a one-calendar account at $23.99 a month for the first 6 months, against the regular $30.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Square Appointments or Vagaro?
As of Oct 24, 2026, Vagaro is cheaper to start with: $23.99 a month, against $49 a month for Square Appointments. Square Appointments starts at $49 per location / month (Square Plus), and Vagaro starts at $30 per month for 1 calendar, after $23.99 a month for the first 6 months.
Which has a free plan, Square Appointments or Vagaro?
As of Oct 24, 2026, only Square Appointments has a free plan. Vagaro does not, though it has a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.