What it actually costs

$2,094 a year

• Team pricing is $14.95 per team member per month — the tiers above are that rate multiplied out; 10+ is modelled at ten members and rises with headcount.
• Clients who find you through the Fresha marketplace carry a one-time 20% commission ($6 minimum) that this calculator does NOT include — it depends on how many new clients arrive that way.
• Manual-entry / card-on-file transactions are 3.30% + $0.20, higher than the online rate used above. Card-present taps add $0.10 per Tap to Pay authorisation.
• Buy Now Pay Later (Klarna) is 5.99% + $0.30 per transaction — not modelled.
• Card terminals: from $139 per device on Independent; free on Team "subject to processing volumes" (pricing page, Sep 5 2026).
• No-show and cancellation fees and upfront payments are listed on both tiers; "Multi merchant" (routing payments directly to independents, i.e. booth renters) is Team-only.
• 100 SMS and 50 marketing emails a month are included; beyond that, $0.02 each.
• Widely described as "free salon software" in third-party roundups — Fresha's own pricing page lists no free plan.

Rates verified Sep 28, 2026 · source · tracker · our review

$2,396 a year · $2,300 if you prepay annually

• Flat 2.6% with no per-transaction fixed fee, and the same rate for card-present and online/keyed volume — GlossGenius publishes no separate keyed or card-on-file rate.
• No per-provider charge: our trial ran five providers plus the owner on one Gold subscription at $56/mo (verified in-app 2026-08-20). The pricing page positions Gold "for businesses up to 9 staff" and Platinum ($168/mo) for "teams 10+" (read 2026-09-28), so the calculator switches to Platinum at ten providers; we have not tested whether ten is enforced.
• Modelled on Gold because the trial offers no tier choice. Standard ($28/mo) exists, but we could not verify its team or feature limits — notably, intake forms are a Gold-and-above feature.
• Deposits, gift cards and no-show fees require completing GlossGenius Payments onboarding (Stripe identity verification); we tested up to that wall and no further.
• Instant payout +1.8%; payroll add-on $40/mo + $6 per seat — neither is included above.

Rates verified Sep 28, 2026 · source · tracker · our review

$2,461 a year

• Subscription modelled at the ongoing price. Every Vagaro plan is $6.01/mo cheaper for the first 6 months (e.g. six calendars $73.99, then $80) — the headline $23.99 is that introductory rate (pricing page, read 2026-09-28).
• Rates above are the Small Merchant tier (<$4,000/mo card volume). Above $4,000/mo: 2.29% + $0.19 card-present, plus a $10/mo merchant subscription and FANF + Mastercard Location fees.
• Calendar counts include every bookable provider — a bookable owner occupies a calendar.
• Credit card required to start the 30-day trial; subscription auto-bills at trial end.

Rates verified Sep 28, 2026 · source · tracker · our review

$2,566 a year

• Modelled on Plus ($49/mo) because it is the cheapest plan that supports a cancellation policy and no-show fees — the enforcement our test salon's policy sheet requires. The Free plan ($0) has neither, and charges more per transaction (2.6% + 15¢ in person, 3.3% + 30¢ online).
• Priced PER LOCATION, not per provider: one subscription covers the whole roster at a single address — the opposite of Vagaro's per-calendar model. The Free plan states "unlimited staff calendars", so a five-provider salon pays $0 for the calendars Vagaro bills at $80/mo ($73.99 for the first six months). Note the tension on Square's own page: Free is pitched "for solo professionals" and "multi-staff appointment booking" is listed as a Plus feature — a staff calendar and a bookable staff member may not be the same thing. Our trial tests which it is.
• Premium ($149/mo) drops the card-present rate to 2.4% + 15¢; it pays for itself only at high card-present volume.
• Manual entry and card-on-file are 3.5% + 15¢ on every plan — notably higher than the online rate used above, and card-on-file is what no-show fees actually charge.

Rates verified Sep 28, 2026 · source · tracker · our review

$2,668 a year · $2,620 if you prepay annually

• Acuity processes no payments itself — it connects to Stripe, Square or PayPal, and its own payment settings recommend Stripe, so Stripe's published US rates are modelled here: 2.9% + 30¢ online, +0.5% for manually entered cards, no monthly fee.
• Acuity has no card reader. A desk taking payment in the salon types the card into Acuity's Stripe form, so that share is modelled at the manual-entry rate (3.4% + 30¢). Our trial never connected a processor, so which Stripe surcharge applies to desk payments is inferred from Stripe's page, not observed.
• Priced per CALENDAR in three steps (1 / 6 / 36): every bookable provider takes one, so five stylists plus a bookable owner is exactly Standard's six.
• Deposits and card-on-file no-show protection are configured per appointment type but need a connected processor to save; no-show fees are charged by hand after the fact.
• Trial: 7 days, no card required. Client emails are NOT sent during the trial — Acuity sends the salon a "preview" of each instead, and says so only inside those previews.

Rates verified Sep 25, 2026 · source · tracker · our review