CalybeeThe best Vagaro alternatives for independent stylists and small salons
Vagaro does a lot: booking, a card reader, inventory, payroll, a consumer marketplace. For a busy multi-chair salon that is the point. For an independent stylist, a barber renting a chair or a two-person studio, most of it goes unused while the monthly bill and the add-ons keep growing.
The short answer
- Best for a branded website that books and takes deposits: Calybee, $19 a month, 0% commission.
- Best salon app for a solo stylist: GlossGenius, $24 a month billed yearly.
- Best for new clients from a marketplace: Booksy or Fresha, with fees on the clients they bring.
- Best free option with a card reader: Square Appointments.
- Stay on Vagaro if you run several chairs with retail, inventory and staff commissions.
What Vagaro costs in October 2026
Vagaro's pricing page lists $30 a month for one location and one bookable calendar, with an introductory $23.99 for the first six months. Each extra calendar is $10 a month, up to seven. The website builder, marketing and other features are priced on top depending on what you pick, and card payments run through Vagaro's own merchant services.
Add it up for a stylist with one assistant who wants a website and email marketing, and the bill is well past the headline price.
Vagaro alternatives side by side
| Tool | Price | Extra staff | Fees on new clients | Your own website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calybee | $19/mo, 7 days free | 5 on Teams Bee, then $10 each | None, 0% commission | Included |
| Vagaro | $30/mo | $10 per calendar | Marketplace | Paid add-on |
| GlossGenius | $24/mo yearly ($28 monthly) | Gold plan, $48/mo, up to 9 | None | A booking site |
| Booksy | $29.99/mo | $20 per staff member | Boost: 30% on new clients it brings | A booking profile |
| Fresha | Free core plan in many regions; paid add-ons | Paid add-ons per member | One-time fee on new marketplace clients | A booking profile |
| Square Appointments | Free for one | Paid plans | None; Square card fees | A simple booking site |
Prices from each company's US pricing page in October 2026. Fresha's prices vary by country.
1. Calybee
Best for: stylists, barbers, nail and lash artists who want clients to book on their own brand
We make Calybee. It is built for people whose clients find them through Instagram, word of mouth and Google, and who want those clients to land on a site that looks like them, book and pay a deposit in one go.
- A website built for you. The Bee builds it from a sentence about your work, your old website or your price list, in designs made for salons and barbers.
- Deposits and no-show rules. Take a deposit or the full price at booking, into your own Stripe or PayPal. Refunds follow the cancellation rule you set.
- Add-ons and gift cards. Clients add a treatment to a booking; gift cards are sold on your site and spent on anything you offer.
- Reviews you already have. Import them from Google, Booksy, Fresha, Treatwell, Facebook, Yelp and more, and ask every client for a new one after their visit.
- A WhatsApp button on every page, for the clients who would rather message.
Where it falls short: no card reader, retail inventory or payroll, no consumer marketplace sending you strangers, and reminders by email only for now. If those matter more than your own brand, look at Square or GlossGenius.
2. GlossGenius
Best for: solo beauty pros who want an all-in-one salon app
Beauty-focused booking, payments, deposits and client records with a polished look. Standard is $24 a month billed yearly ($28 monthly); Gold, for teams of up to nine, is $48 ($56 monthly). Online payments are 2.9% plus 30 cents.
3. Booksy
Best for: barbers who want to be found in an app
$29.99 a month plus $20 for each extra staff member. Its marketplace brings new clients, and its optional Boost feature takes 30% of the first booking from each new client it sends you.
4. Fresha
Best for: salons that want marketplace visibility at a low fixed cost
Fresha's core plan is free in many countries, with paid add-ons per team member, payment processing fees, and a one-time fee when a brand-new client finds you through its marketplace. Read the fees for your own country before you switch.
5. Square Appointments
Best for: the lowest fixed cost, with a card reader
Free for one person, with Square processing your payments. Strong at the desk; plainer online.
How to decide
- Most of your clients are regulars and referrals: you do not need a marketplace. Pay for your own brand (Calybee, GlossGenius) and keep the commission.
- You need a steady stream of strangers: Booksy or Fresha, and count their new-client fees as advertising.
- You sell retail and run payroll: stay on Vagaro, or look at Square.
Moving from Vagaro to Calybee: export your client list from Vagaro as a spreadsheet and use Import from another tool in Calybee's Clients screen. Calybee does not email anyone during the import.
Questions people ask
How much does Vagaro cost a month?
Vagaro lists $30 a month for one location with one bookable calendar, with an introductory rate of $23.99 for the first six months. Each extra calendar is $10 a month, up to seven. Features such as the website builder and marketing tools are priced on top, depending on what you choose.
What is the best Vagaro alternative for a solo stylist?
If you want your own branded site with booking, deposits and reviews, Calybee ($19 a month, 0% commission) or GlossGenius ($24 a month billed yearly). If you mainly want new clients from a marketplace, Booksy or Fresha, keeping their new-client fees in mind.
Is there a Vagaro alternative with no commission?
Calybee takes 0% of bookings on every plan; you pay only Stripe's or PayPal's own processing fee. Booksy's Boost charges a commission on new clients it brings you, and Fresha charges a one-time fee for new clients from its marketplace.
Can I take deposits to stop no-shows without Vagaro?
Yes. Calybee, GlossGenius, Booksy, Fresha and Square Appointments all take deposits. With Calybee the deposit goes straight to your own Stripe or PayPal and refunds follow the cancellation rule you choose.
Does Calybee replace Vagaro's card reader and inventory?
No. Calybee has no point-of-sale hardware, inventory or payroll. It is the better fit for stylists who take most payments online at booking; a busy salon that rings up retail at the desk should keep a POS such as Square.
Try Calybee on your own business
Tell the Bee what you sell and it builds your website, booking calendar and payments in a few minutes. Build everything first; your 7 free days start when you go live. From 19 a month, and Calybee takes 0% of your bookings.
Start 7 days free See pricingWe make Calybee, so read this with that in mind. Prices and plans of other products are taken from their own pricing pages on 24 October 2026 and change often; check them before you decide. Product names belong to their owners and are used here only to compare.