Booksy alternatives that keep pricing simple in 2026

Booksy has earned its place on the home screens of a lot of barbers, and the reason is honest: the marketplace brings real new clients through the door, the mobile app is genuinely good, and the no-show protection works. If discovery is your bottleneck, Booksy solves a problem most booking apps do not even try to touch.

The math is what sends people looking elsewhere. The base plan is $29.99 a month plus tax, and every additional team member adds $20 a month - a three-person shop pays about $70 before processing fees. Boost, the marketplace demand engine, takes a one-time 30% of a new client's first visit, which stings when that "new" client already followed you on Instagram. And your marketplace profile sits right next to the shop down the street. None of this is a scandal - it is how a marketplace pays for itself - but it is fair to ask what you are getting for the money.

Here are five alternatives worth a look, with prices as of July 2026 and each tool's honest trade-offs - ours included.

What to look for in an alternative

Before comparing logos, get clear on three questions. First, do you actually need discovery? If your chair fills from Instagram, walk-ins, and word of mouth, a marketplace commission buys you little. Second, how does the price scale - a flat fee, a fee per staff member, or a base plan plus add-ons? Third, what happens at the card reader? Processing rates quietly shape your real monthly cost more than the subscription does.

• Flat pricing beats per-staff pricing the moment you hire your first team member.
• A marketplace is only worth its fees if it brings clients you could not reach yourself.
• Processing rates and payout fees are part of the real price - read them together with the subscription.
• The booking experience your clients see matters as much as the calendar you see.

hey.booked - flat price, no marketplace, no per-staff fees

hey.booked is our tool, so read this with that in mind - but the pricing is easy to check. The free plan covers one staff member, three services, and 30 confirmed bookings a month, with email confirmations and reminders, your own booking page at heybooked.com/b/your-name, your branding, post-visit reviews, and an embeddable widget. No card required. Pro is $15 a month, or $150 a year with two months free, and lifts everything: unlimited staff, services, and bookings, up to 10 businesses, 100 SMS texts a month, two-way Google Calendar sync, and your own SEO metadata.

There is no marketplace, no commission, and no per-staff fee - a five-person team pays the same $15 as a solo. Clients book from a link with no account and no app, and manage their booking through a magic link in the email.

The honest caveat: hey.booked does not process client payments. That means no processing fees ever, but also no deposits, no card-on-file, and no no-show charging. If collecting money through the booking flow is non-negotiable for you, look at Square Appointments or GlossGenius below.

Square Appointments - free for solos, payments built in

Square Appointments has the most useful free plan in the category: a solo pro at a single location pays $0 a month and only the processing fees of 2.6% plus $0.15 in person. Payments, hardware, and the wider Square ecosystem - invoices, payroll, marketing - are first class, and reliability is a given.

The jumps are the thing to watch. Cancellation and no-show fees need the Plus plan at $49 a month per location, and resource scheduling needs Premium at $149. Booking is a side of Square's payments business, so beauty-specific touches are thinner than in tools built for salons. Best for solos who want payments and booking from one company and do not need marketplace discovery.

GlossGenius - the polished all-in-one for beauty pros

GlossGenius is built for US beauty professionals and it shows: beautiful booking sites, a flat 2.6% processing rate on every card type, and payments, marketing, and forms in one app. Standard is $28 a month ($24 billed annually), Gold is $56, and Platinum is $168.

The catch for the price-conscious: Standard lacks forms, waivers, and booking through Google - those start at Gold - and team features push you into the higher tiers. Solo stylists get the most from it; growing teams should price Gold and Platinum honestly before committing.

Vagaro - deep features, add-ons that add up

Vagaro is the feature heavyweight: POS, memberships, packages, marketing, payroll, and a consumer marketplace, with mature multi-staff tools. Pricing starts at $30 a month for one bookable calendar, plus $10 for each additional calendar up to seven - capping at $90, with calendars beyond that free.

The base price is only the start of the story. Text marketing from $20 a month, forms $10, the website builder $20, the branded app $100 - the add-ons are optional, but the bill can drift well past the sticker price. Like Booksy, Vagaro runs a marketplace where your listing appears beside competitors. Best for established multi-staff shops that will genuinely use the depth.

Fresha - subscription pricing now, not free

Fresha built its name on "free forever", and that is the first thing to unlearn: since the move to subscriptions, Independent is $19.95 a month for one bookable team member and Team is $14.95 a month per bookable member. The product is polished, the marketplace is one of the biggest in the world, and inventory and POS are strong.

Two numbers to weigh: new clients who find you through the marketplace cost a one-time 20% of their first visit (minimum $6), and per-member pricing means a five-person team pays about $75 a month before add-ons like Client Loyalty at $59.95 per location. If marketplace reach matters more to you than a flat bill, Fresha is a serious option.

Side by side

Prices are the standard US rates as of July 2026, rounded where plans vary.

How much does Booksy cost per month?

As of July 2026, Booksy is $29.99 a month plus tax, and each additional team member adds $20 a month. A three-person shop pays about $70 a month before card processing fees.

What is the Booksy Boost fee?

Boost is Booksy's marketplace demand engine. When a new client finds you through Boost, Booksy takes a one-time 30% of that client's first visit. Later visits from the same client are not charged.

Is there a free alternative to Booksy?

Two real ones. Square Appointments is free for a solo pro at a single location, with payments built in. hey.booked has a free plan with one staff member, three services, and 30 confirmed bookings a month - no card required, no time limit.

What is the cheapest Booksy alternative for a team?

For teams, flat pricing wins. hey.booked Pro is $15 a month with unlimited staff, so the price does not move as you hire. Per-member tools like Fresha ($14.95 per bookable member) or Booksy itself ($20 per extra member) grow with every hire.

Do Booksy alternatives charge marketplace commissions?

Fresha charges a one-time 20% of a new marketplace client's first visit, minimum $6. Vagaro runs a marketplace as well. Square Appointments, GlossGenius, and hey.booked have no marketplace, so there is no commission - you bring your own clients.