Booksy

Name: Booksy
Brand: Booksy
Price: 29.99 USD

One flat price for the whole business, plus a consumer app barbers actually search by name

Booksy is an appointment booking and business management platform for barbershops, salons, and beauty and wellness providers, sold as a single flat subscription of $29.99 a month plus $20 for each additional staff member with every feature included, and paired with a consumer marketplace app where clients discover and rebook providers; its optional Boost channel charges a one-off 30 percent commission on a new marketplace client's first visit, capped at $100, and payment processing starts at 2.49 percent plus 10 cents.

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Overview

Booksy is the tool that won barbering. The consumer app has genuine brand recognition in that trade, to a degree that its competitors mostly do not: clients search Booksy the way they search Uber, and a barber who leaves it worries about the clients who only know how to find him there. That mindshare, not the software, is what Booksy is really selling.

The pricing is refreshingly blunt in a category full of tiering. There is one plan at $29.99 a month plus tax, covering the whole feature set: unlimited bookings, calendar, client records, reminders, marketing blasts, gift cards, reporting, and payments. Each additional staff member is $20 a month. There are no Plus or Premium tiers withholding the no-show fee behind an upgrade, which is a real advantage over Square Appointments, where cancellation policies cost $49 a month.

The marketplace layer is opt-in and separately priced. Boost is free to switch on and charges a one-time 30 percent commission on the first visit of a brand new client who discovered you through the Booksy marketplace while Boost was active, with a $10 minimum and a $100 cap. Every subsequent booking from that client is free. The cap matters: on a $400 first appointment the effective rate is 25 percent, and on a $600 one it is under 17 percent, which makes Boost noticeably kinder than Fresha's uncapped 20 percent on high-ticket work.

The company is Polish in origin, founded in 2014 by Stefan Batory and Konrad Howard, headquartered in the US, roughly 500 employees, around $269M raised, and it merged with the European salon platform Versum in 2021 alongside a $70M round. It is a substantial business, but the product's centre of gravity remains individual providers and small shops rather than multi-site groups.

Best for

Independent barbers, barbershops, and small beauty and grooming businesses who want every feature on one flat price and want to be discoverable in the app their clients already have installed.

Not the right fit for

Anyone booking meetings, demos, or consultations by link; this is a consumer-facing appointment platform for people who cut hair, not a meeting scheduler, and it has no round-robin or routing at all.
Large multi-staff teams doing the arithmetic, because at $20 per extra head a ten-person salon pays $209.99 a month, well above Fresha at $14.95 per member or Square at a flat $49 per location.
Businesses that sell primarily retail product or run complex inventory, where Fresha and Vagaro have materially deeper stock control.
Fitness studios and class-based businesses needing memberships, class packs, and capacity management as first-class concepts; Vagaro and Fresha are better fits.
Operators who want their own payment processor, since deposits, no-show fees, and payouts assume Booksy's own processing.

How it works

1
You create a Booksy Biz account, list your services with durations and prices, set your hours, and add staff. Each staff member you add costs $20 a month and gets their own bookable calendar, service assignments, and permissions.
2
Your public profile lives both on your own booking link and inside the Booksy consumer marketplace. Clients search the app by business name, by provider name, or by service and location, and book from there. A Google Business Profile, Instagram, and website embed all funnel into the same availability.
3
At booking you can require a card on file, take a prepayment or deposit, and attach a cancellation policy that authorizes a no-show fee. Automated confirmations and reminders go out by text and email, which is included in the base subscription rather than metered separately.
4
In the shop, Booksy Biz handles checkout with tips, retail sales, gift cards, and commission tracking. Payments run through Booksy's own processing at published rates starting around 2.49 percent plus 10 cents on a card reader, with faster payouts available for a 1.5 percent fee and standard next-business-day payouts free.

Feature breakdown

26 features in 5 modules

Calendar and booking

The everyday appointment book, with everything included in the base price.

Unlimited appointments: There is no booking cap or volume meter on the subscription, so a busy chair costs the same as a quiet one.
Per-staff calendars: Each added team member ($20 a month) gets a bookable calendar with their own services, hours, and permissions.
Service menu with durations and processing time: Services carry price, duration, and gap or processing time so multi-stage work such as colour can be scheduled realistically.
Combo and multi-service bookings: Clients can book several services back to back in one appointment, with the calendar computing the combined block.
Waitlist: Clients register for full slots and are notified when a cancellation frees one, which is the main mechanism for recovering lost revenue.
Personal calendar sync: Google and Apple calendar sync so outside commitments block bookable time.

The Booksy marketplace and Boost

The distribution layer, and the only part of Booksy that charges a percentage.

Consumer marketplace listing: Your profile appears in the Booksy app and website, where clients browse by service, location, and provider. Listing itself carries no commission.
Boost: An opt-in visibility programme with no monthly fee. When a brand new client discovers you through the marketplace while Boost is on, Booksy takes a one-time 30 percent of that first visit, with a $10 minimum and a $100 cap. Every later booking from that client is free.
Own booking link and embed: A hosted booking page plus website widgets that never carry a commission, so you can use Booksy purely as software if you want.
Google and social booking: Reserve with Google, Instagram, and Facebook entry points route into the same availability.
Client reviews: Verified post-visit reviews build the marketplace profile, which drives ranking and therefore the volume of new client traffic.

Payments and no-show protection

Where a barbershop actually loses money, and what Booksy does about it.

Card on file and prepayment: Store a card at booking or require full prepayment, both included in the base plan rather than gated behind an upgrade tier.
Cancellation policies and no-show fees: Attach a written policy to a service and charge the stored card automatically when the window is breached. This is included at $29.99, whereas Square puts the equivalent behind a $49 tier.
Published processing rates: Card reader transactions from 2.49 percent plus 10 cents, tap to pay 2.49 percent plus 20 cents, and mobile payments 2.69 percent plus 30 cents, with no monthly payments fee.
Fast payouts: Standard payouts land the next business day at no cost; a 30-minute payout carries a 1.5 percent fee, which is a genuinely useful option for a cash-tight small shop.
Gift cards and prepaid packages: Sell and redeem gift cards and packages from the same client record.
Card reader hardware: BBPOS WisePOS E at around $219.85 and a Stripe Reader M2 at around $53.10, both sold outright plus shipping.

Marketing and retention

Included in the flat fee rather than sold as an upsell.

Message blasts: Email and SMS campaigns to your own client list, included in the core subscription rather than a separately priced marketing product.
Automated marketing: Triggered rebooking prompts, lapsed-client win-backs, and birthday messages driven from the client record.
Promotions and last-minute discounts: Time-limited offers to fill gaps in the diary, surfaced to your own clients and to the marketplace.
Social post creator: Built-in tooling for generating social content from your services and portfolio images.
Client notes and photos: Visit history, formulas, preferences, and before-and-after images attached to the client file, which is the working memory of a busy chair.

Running the business

Reporting, staff, and the mobile-first way barbers actually work.

Reporting: Revenue by service and staff member, retail versus service split, occupancy, and rebooking rates, included in the base plan.
Staff permissions and commissions: Role-based access so an employed barber sees their own book, plus commission tracking for chair-rental and split arrangements.
Booksy Biz mobile app: The primary interface for most users. Booksy is genuinely mobile-first in a way most salon platforms only claim to be, which suits providers who work standing up.
Client self-service: Clients rebook, cancel within policy, and manage their own appointments from the consumer app, which removes a large share of inbound phone calls.

Use cases

4 documented

Independent barber renting a chair

Bookings arrive by Instagram DM and text, no-shows are frequent, and there is no way for a walk-in to find him again later.

$29.99 a month covers the whole book, the consumer app makes him findable by name, deposits stop the no-shows, and Boost brings first-time clients at 30 percent of one visit.

Four-chair barbershop

The owner wants one predictable bill, hates feature gating, and needs each barber to see only their own calendar.

$29.99 plus three staff at $20 each is $89.99 a month with every feature included, staff permissions scoped per barber, and no tier upgrade required to charge no-show fees.

Nail technician building a client base in a new city

No local reputation, an empty diary, and no marketing budget beyond time on Instagram.

Boost puts her in front of marketplace searchers, and the 30 percent first-visit commission (minimum $10, maximum $100) is only paid on clients she would not otherwise have met.

Established salon with a full book

Demand is not the problem; the owner wants reliable reminders, deposits, and reporting without paying for client acquisition.

Boost stays switched off, the marketplace listing is used only for rebooking convenience, and the cost is the flat subscription plus card processing with no commission at all.

Pricing

from $29.99 per month plus tax

Single flat monthly subscription with every feature included, plus a per-staff-member fee, plus published card processing rates. The Boost marketplace channel is opt-in and charged as a one-off commission on new clients only.

Plan	Price	Includes
Booksy Biz	$29.99 per month plus tax, for the first person	Every feature included with no tier gating Unlimited bookings and client records Automated text and email reminders Cancellation policies, deposits, and no-show fees Marketing blasts, gift cards, and reporting The absence of tiers is the point: no-show fees and marketing are not upsells here, unlike Square Appointments.
Additional staff members	$20 per additional staff member per month	A full bookable calendar per person Per-staff service assignment and hours Role-based permissions Per-staff reporting and commission tracking This is the number that decides whether Booksy is cheap or expensive for you. Ten people is $209.99 a month.
Boost (optional marketplace channel)	$0 per month plus 30 percent of a new client's first visit one-off per new marketplace client	No monthly fee to switch on Charged only on brand new clients found through the marketplace $10 minimum commission $100 maximum commission per first visit Every subsequent booking from that client is free The $100 cap makes Boost much cheaper than Fresha's uncapped 20 percent on high-ticket first appointments.

Plan

Price

Includes

Booksy Biz

$29.99

per month plus tax, for the first person

Every feature included with no tier gating
Unlimited bookings and client records
Automated text and email reminders
Cancellation policies, deposits, and no-show fees
Marketing blasts, gift cards, and reporting

The absence of tiers is the point: no-show fees and marketing are not upsells here, unlike Square Appointments.

Additional staff members

$20

per additional staff member per month

A full bookable calendar per person
Per-staff service assignment and hours
Role-based permissions
Per-staff reporting and commission tracking

This is the number that decides whether Booksy is cheap or expensive for you. Ten people is $209.99 a month.

Boost (optional marketplace channel)

$0 per month plus 30 percent of a new client's first visit

one-off per new marketplace client

No monthly fee to switch on
Charged only on brand new clients found through the marketplace
$10 minimum commission
$100 maximum commission per first visit
Every subsequent booking from that client is free

The $100 cap makes Boost much cheaper than Fresha's uncapped 20 percent on high-ticket first appointments.

Add-ons

Card processing (From 2.49 percent plus 10 cents (reader), 2.49 percent plus 20 cents (tap to pay), 2.69 percent plus 30 cents (mobile)): No monthly payments fee.
Fast payouts (1.5 percent): 30-minute payout; standard next-business-day payouts are free.
BBPOS WisePOS E card reader (Around $219.85 plus shipping)
Stripe Reader M2 (Around $53.10 plus shipping)

Billing notes

Month to month with no commitment and no setup fee; cancel at any time.
The per-staff fee is the whole pricing story. At one or two people Booksy is competitive; at eight or more it is one of the more expensive options in the category.
Boost commission is charged once per new client, not per booking, and is capped at $100, which changes the maths dramatically for higher-priced services.
There is a $10 minimum Boost commission, so a cheap or free first service still carries a floor charge.
Card reader hardware is bought outright rather than rented, and the cheaper Stripe M2 covers most single-chair setups.
Reminders, marketing blasts, and reporting are inside the base subscription rather than metered add-ons, which is unusual and worth pricing against Square's separately sold marketing product.

Value assessment: For one to four people, Booksy is well priced and unusually honest: $29.99 to $89.99 a month with nothing held back behind a tier, and the no-show enforcement that Square charges $49 for is included from the first dollar. Above about six staff the per-head fee starts to hurt, and Fresha at $14.95 per bookable member or Square at a flat $49 per location becomes cheaper on pure software. Boost is best understood as a customer acquisition line, not a software cost, and the $100 cap plus one-off structure makes it genuinely competitive against local advertising. The real value, though, is distribution: for a barber, being in the app clients already search is worth more than any feature comparison.

Strengths & limitations

Strengths

One flat price with no feature tiers, so cancellation policies, no-show fees, marketing blasts, gift cards, and reporting are all included from $29.99.
Real consumer mindshare in barbering and grooming, where clients search the Booksy app by name rather than searching the web.
Boost is capped at $100 per new client and charged only once, which is materially cheaper than Fresha's uncapped 20 percent on high-ticket first visits.
Genuinely mobile-first: the Booksy Biz app is a complete interface, not a companion to a desktop dashboard.
Competitive published processing rates from 2.49 percent plus 10 cents with no monthly payments fee, plus free next-business-day payouts.
14-day trial with no credit card required, which is twice the length of Fresha's and enough to actually load a service menu and test it.
Substantial, well funded company: founded 2014, around 500 employees, roughly $269M raised, merged with Versum in 2021.

Limitations

The $20 per additional staff member fee compounds badly. Ten staff is $209.99 a month, which is expensive next to Fresha or Square for the same job.
Boost at 30 percent has the highest headline commission rate of the marketplace players, even though the cap softens it at the top end.
Inventory and retail product management is thinner than Fresha's or Vagaro's, so a business with real stock control needs may outgrow it.
Class-based and membership businesses are poorly served; there is no serious class pack or membership engine of the kind fitness studios need.
Payments are effectively tied to Booksy's own processing, so an existing merchant account cannot be carried across without losing deposits and automated no-show charging.
The marketplace lists competitors alongside you and, as with all such platforms, gradually teaches clients that the app is the brand they book with.
No meeting scheduling capability at all: no round-robin, no collective events, no routing forms, no CRM syncing.

Head-to-head comparisons

5 alternatives

Booksy vs Fresha

from $19.95 per month (Independent, one bookable calendar)

The head-to-head that most salon owners actually run. Booksy is $29.99 plus $20 per extra head with a 30 percent Boost fee capped at $100. Fresha is $14.95 per bookable member with a 20 percent fee, a $6 floor, and no cap. Booksy is cheaper for one or two people and better known in barbering; Fresha is cheaper for larger teams and has a deeper commerce, inventory, and membership layer. On a $500 first visit, Boost costs $100 and Fresha costs $100 as well; on a $1,000 one, Boost still costs $100 and Fresha costs $200.

Full Booksy vs Fresha comparison

Booksy vs Square Appointments

from $0 per month plus 2.6 percent and 15 cents per in-person card transaction

Square gives you unlimited staff calendars for $0 and takes no commission, but charges $49 a month for the cancellation policies and no-show fees Booksy includes at $29.99, and its in-person card rate of 2.6 percent plus 15 cents is above Booksy's 2.49 percent plus 10 cents. Square is the better value for a larger team that generates its own demand and sells retail. Booksy is better for a small grooming business that wants marketplace discovery and everything unlocked.

Full Booksy vs Square Appointments comparison

Booksy vs Vagaro

from About $30 per month for one bookable calendar (promotional pricing around $23.99 frequently advertised)

Vagaro charges roughly $30 for one calendar rising to about $90 at seven or more, but sells depth as paid add-ons: branded app at around $100 a month, forms, website builder, payroll, and strong class and membership management. Booksy bundles fewer capabilities but withholds none of them. Vagaro wins for fitness studios and multi-service spas; Booksy wins for barbers and independent providers who want one number on the invoice.

Full Booksy vs Vagaro comparison

Booksy vs Setmore

from $0 (Free), then $5 per user per month billed annually ($12 month to month)

Setmore is a cheap, general-purpose booking tool with a free tier and low-cost paid plans, usable across many industries. It has no consumer marketplace, no marketing engine, and a lighter payments story. Setmore suits a small service team that just needs a calendar and a booking page. Booksy suits a business that wants the marketplace and the retention tooling and will pay per head for it.

Full Booksy vs Setmore comparison

Booksy vs SimplyBook.me

from €0 (Free), then €11.90 per month billed annually (Basic)

SimplyBook.me is priced on booking volume with a modular catalogue of features and serves an unusually wide range of industries, including ones Booksy has never targeted. It is more configurable and far less opinionated, but it has no consumer app driving new clients and a thinner point of sale. Choose SimplyBook.me for an unusual booking workflow; choose Booksy if you cut hair.

Full Booksy vs SimplyBook.me comparison

Implementation & onboarding

Setup time: A few hours to a day for a single provider. Service menu, hours, staff, and a marketplace profile with decent photos are the work. Payments onboarding adds identity and bank verification.
Learning curve: Low. The mobile app is the primary interface and is designed for people who are on their feet with a client in the chair. Owners need an hour on cancellation policy configuration and reporting.
Onboarding: Fully self-serve with a 14-day trial and no credit card required. Booksy runs migration support to bring client lists across, because it wins most customers from competitors.
Migration notes: Client lists import readily, and Booksy actively assists with switches from competing platforms. Future appointments are the harder part and are typically rebuilt rather than imported. Because payments are tied to Booksy's own processing, moving in or out means re-collecting stored cards for clients on deposits or packages, which should be planned rather than discovered.

Platform, API & security

Platforms: Booksy Biz iOS and Android appWeb dashboardConsumer Booksy iOS and Android appHosted booking page and website widgetsCard reader hardware
API: Booksy provides integrations and partner connections rather than a broadly published public developer API; extension is generally through built-in integrations and Google or social booking entry points rather than custom code.
Compliance: PCI DSS for paymentsGDPRCCPA
Data residency: US-headquartered with substantial European engineering presence following the Versum merger; regional availability varies by market.
SSO: Role-based staff accounts rather than enterprise SSO.
Security notes: Card data is handled within Booksy's payments environment and the underlying processing infrastructure rather than by the merchant. Staff permissions restrict access to financial reporting and full client records, which matters in high-turnover chair-rental setups.

Support & resources

Channels: In-app supportEmail supportPhone supportMigration assistance for switchers
Documentation: Booksy Biz Help Center with regional variants covering setup, Boost pricing, payments, payouts, and marketing.
Community: Large provider community in barbering and beauty, plus an active business blog and social presence aimed at independent providers.

Company

Founded: 2014
Headquarters: United States, with major operations in Poland
Ownership: Venture-backed
Founders: Stefan Batory, Konrad Howard
Employees: Approximately 500
Funding: Approximately $269M raised across multiple rounds, including a $70M round in January 2021 announced alongside a merger with the European salon software platform Versum.

Funding history

Round	Amount	Year	Notes
Series C	$70M	2021	Announced together with a merger with Versum, funding international expansion and acquisitions of regional booking apps.

Timeline

2014Founded by Stefan Batory and Konrad Howard in Poland to take the friction out of booking beauty and grooming appointments.
2018Expands aggressively into the United States, where the barbering trade becomes its strongest market.
2021Raises $70M and merges with Versum, consolidating European salon software and funding acquisitions of regional booking apps.
2023Boost matures into the primary marketplace acquisition channel, priced as a one-off 30 percent of a new client's first visit with a $100 cap.
2026Pricing stands at a single flat plan of $29.99 a month plus $20 per additional staff member with all features included, processing from 2.49 percent plus 10 cents.

Integrations

Booksy consumer marketplace app
Reserve with Google
Instagram and Facebook booking
Website booking widgets
Google and Apple calendar sync
Booksy payments and card readers (BBPOS WisePOS E, Stripe Reader M2)
Gift card and package sales
Email and SMS marketing blasts

Frequently asked questions

10 questions

What is Booksy?

Booksy is an appointment booking and business management platform for barbershops, salons, and beauty and wellness providers. It combines staff calendars, online booking, client records, reminders, marketing, gift cards, reporting, and payments, and pairs that with a consumer marketplace app where clients discover and rebook providers.

How much does Booksy cost?

$29.99 a month plus tax for the first person, with every feature included and no tiers, plus $20 a month for each additional staff member. A four-chair shop is $89.99 a month. Card processing starts at 2.49 percent plus 10 cents with no monthly payments fee, and there is a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.

What is Booksy Boost and how much does it charge?

Boost is an opt-in marketplace visibility programme with no monthly fee. When a brand new client discovers your business through the Booksy marketplace while Boost is switched on, Booksy takes a one-time 30 percent of that first visit, with a $10 minimum and a $100 maximum. Every later booking from that client is commission free, and clients who come through your own link or Google profile are never charged.

Can I use Booksy without paying commission?

Yes. Leave Boost switched off and use your own booking link, website widget, and Google profile. In that configuration Booksy is pure software at $29.99 plus $20 per extra staff member, plus card processing, with no percentage taken from any client.

Does Booksy handle no-shows and deposits?

Yes, and unusually they are included in the base subscription rather than an upgrade. You can store a card at booking, require a deposit or prepayment, and attach a written cancellation policy that charges the stored card automatically when the window is breached. Square charges $49 a month for the equivalent.

Is Booksy good value for a larger team?

Less so. The $20 per additional staff member fee compounds, so ten people costs $209.99 a month. At that size Fresha at $14.95 per bookable member or Square Appointments at a flat $49 per location is cheaper for the same job. Booksy's sweet spot is one to about five people.

How does Booksy compare to Fresha on commission?

Booksy takes 30 percent of a new marketplace client's first visit with a $10 floor and a $100 cap. Fresha takes 20 percent with a $6 floor and no cap. On a $200 first visit Booksy costs $60 and Fresha $40. On a $1,000 first visit Booksy costs $100 and Fresha costs $200. The higher your ticket, the better Booksy's cap looks.

Can Booksy book meetings or sales calls?

No. There is no round-robin distribution, no collective scheduling, no routing forms, and no CRM lead handling. Booksy books appointments performed by named providers in a place of business. For inbound demo booking, Calendly, OnceHub, or Cal.com are the correct category.

Do I have to use Booksy's payment processing?

In practice yes, if you want deposits, prepayment, and automatic no-show charging, since those depend on Booksy holding the card. Published rates are 2.49 percent plus 10 cents on the reader, 2.49 percent plus 20 cents for tap to pay, and 2.69 percent plus 30 cents for mobile payments, with free next-business-day payouts and a 1.5 percent fee for 30-minute payouts.

Who owns Booksy and how stable is it?

Booksy was founded in 2014 by Stefan Batory and Konrad Howard, is headquartered in the United States with major operations in Poland, employs around 500 people, and has raised roughly $269M. It raised $70M in 2021 alongside a merger with the European salon platform Versum. It is a well established venture-backed business rather than a startup.

Editorial verdict

Booksy is the most honestly priced product among the salon marketplace platforms and the one with the strongest consumer pull in barbering. One flat $29.99, everything unlocked, no-show fees and marketing included, and a Boost commission that is capped at $100 per new client rather than running uncapped. For an independent barber or a shop with two to four chairs, it is close to the right answer, and the app distribution is a genuine competitive asset you cannot buy elsewhere. The case weakens as you grow: $20 per extra head means a ten-person salon pays over $200 a month for software that is thinner on inventory, memberships, and classes than Fresha or Vagaro, both of which will cost less. Judge it on headcount and on trade. Under five people cutting hair, buy it. Over eight people running a multi-service spa, look at Fresha, Vagaro, or a free Square calendar instead.

Written by the SaaSTracker editorial team. Awards, when shown, are judged against the published criteria in our methodology.