Vagaro review (2026): is it worth $30 a month?
Booking, payments and marketing for salons, spas and studios
Our verdict
Third of our top three salon, spa and studio booking apps
For: Studios and salons that mix classes with appointments
Vagaro books appointments and classes, takes payments on its own readers, sells memberships and packages, keeps forms and SOAP notes, runs payroll and lists you on its consumer marketplace. One calendar is $30 a month after $23.99 for the first 6 months, and each added calendar is $10 up to seven, after a 30-day trial. It is third because no rating for its business app is on record, the pricing page gives no prices for extras such as text marketing, a branded app or a website, the free card reader needs Vagaro's own processing, and more than one location is quoted by sales.
See all three and how we rankVagaro report card
Good · out of 4.0 · graded Oct 24, 2026
Best for booking for salons, spas and fitness studios
Vagaro covers booking, checkout, memberships, forms and SOAP notes, payroll and email marketing for salons, spas and studios, and lists you on its consumer marketplace. The entry price doesn't stay put, though: $23.99 a month lasts 6 months before it's $30, each added calendar is $10, and extras like text marketing and a branded app have no price on the page.
Who Vagaro is for
- 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
Who Vagaro is not for
- 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
Why Vagaro gets a 2.6
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- BValue for moneyOne 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.
- CFree plan and trialNo free plan, but a 30-day free trial. The listing doesn't say whether it needs a card.
- BFeaturesBooking 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.
- CEase of useNo 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.
- BPlatforms and integrationsWeb, 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.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Vagaro's own pages on 24 October 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/vagaro#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/vagaro.svg" alt="Vagaro: 2.6 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Vagaro stands among salon, spa and studio booking apps
Vagaro's GPA of 2.6 is higher than 12 of the 15 other salon, spa and studio booking apps we grade, and level with 1.
It stands best on value for money (B, above 12 of 15) and worst on ease of use (C, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $23.99 a month, against a middle price of $49.45 for the category: 2 of the 13 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. 1 tool scores higher and costs less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 16 salon, spa and studio booking apps we grade, cut by the letter each got. Vagaro’s own letter is outlined.
- BValue for moneyAbove 12 of 15, level with 3
- CFree plan and trialAbove 4 of 15, level with 9
- BFeaturesAbove 3 of 15, level with 12
- CEase of useAbove 0 of 15, level with 11
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 0 of 15, level with 15
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 14 salon, spa and studio booking apps. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
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
Keep Vagaro, or make your own?
Keep it
To replace Vagaro you would be making newsletters sent to thousands of people that still reach the inbox. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 2.6 is higher than 12 of the 15 other salon, spa and studio booking apps we grade. It costs $287.88 a year.
What you could make
- Appointment booking, class booking, forms and inventory: an app builder makes these well.
What you could not
- Newsletters sent to thousands of people that still reach the inbox.
- Payroll taxes worked out and filed with the government for you.
- A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page.
- It plugs into other products, QuickBooks, Xero and Affirm among them.
- AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
- Hooks into the device itself: widgets.
- What a company asks for before it lets staff use something: single sign-on and SCIM.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. Vagaro’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Vagaro?
Vagaro is booking and business software for salons, spas, medspas, barbers, fitness studios and wellness practices. It covers the calendar and online booking, checkout with its own card readers, memberships and packages, forms and SOAP notes, inventory, payroll and email marketing, and lists each business on the Vagaro consumer marketplace. The price starts with one bookable calendar and rises with each calendar added.
Worth knowing
- 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
- 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.
Vagaro pricing
As of Oct 24, 2026, Vagaro is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $30 per month for 1 calendar, after $23.99 a month for the first 6 months.
- Starts at
- $30 per month for 1 calendar, after $23.99 a month for the first 6 months
- Free plan
- None
- Free trial
- 30-day free trial
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| One location | $30per 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 locations | Custom | Features chosen per location, with SSO, data lake exports, a dedicated success manager and data migration, through sales. |
Read from vagaro.com on Oct 24, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Vagaro before you buy.
Ways to pay less
- 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.
Stated on vagaro.com
Works with
Vagaro alternatives
- Vagaro vs GlossGenius
Free trial · from $24/mo
- Vagaro vs Fresha
Free trial · from $19.95/mo
- Vagaro vs Booksy
Free trial · from $29.99/mo
- Vagaro vs Mindbody
From $79/mo
- Vagaro vs Boulevard
From $143/mo
Common questions
Does Vagaro have a Windows app?
No Windows app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 24, 2026. Vagaro is listed for Web, iOS and Android.
Does Vagaro have a macOS app?
No macOS app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 24, 2026. Vagaro is listed for Web, iOS and Android.
Is Vagaro open source?
Vagaro is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 24, 2026.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 24, 2026.