A side-by-side comparison of seven major spa, salon, and clinic booking platforms — Mindbody, Vagaro, Fresha, Square Appointments, Boulevard, Booker, and Kuee — with public pricing, hidden cost breakdowns, AI receptionist add-ons, and per-location math for chains. Updated September 2026.
Published May 8, 20267 min read
Software pricing for spa, salon, and clinic operators is opaque on purpose. Most vendors require a sales call before quoting anything beyond their starter tier, and the starter tier rarely covers what an actual studio needs to run.
This index pulls together public pricing from seven major platforms — checked against vendor websites and third-party breakdowns — so you can do apples-to-apples math on what your software stack will actually cost in 2026.
Headline numbers — single location, monthly billing
Headline price is rarely what you actually pay. Here's where each platform stacks fees — including the AI phone receptionists that several vendors now sell as add-ons.
Vagaro — the add-on stack
Vagaro's $30/mo base (or $23.99 for the first six months) covers one calendar. Most studios add:
Each extra calendar: +$10/mo
Text marketing: +$20/mo
Branded app: +$100/mo
Forms and other modules: separate add-ons
A 3-staff studio that wants text marketing comes to about $70/mo ($30 + 2 × $10 + $20) before a branded app. Vagaro does not include a built-in AI phone receptionist.
Fresha — subscription plus marketplace fee
Fresha no longer has a free plan. On top of the subscription:
Subscription: $19.95/mo for a one-person business, or $14.95/mo per team member — a 5-staff studio is $74.75/mo
Marketplace new-client fee: 20% one-time (minimum $6) for each new client who finds you through Fresha
Plus ($49/mo per location): 2.5% + $0.15 in person, 2.9% + $0.30 online
Premium ($149/mo per location): 2.4% + $0.15 in person, 2.9% + $0.30 online
You cannot use a different processor while staying on Square Appointments. At $50,000/mo processed on the Free plan, that's about $1,300/mo in processing before per-transaction fees. Square Appointments has no built-in AI phone receptionist; third-party apps in the Square App Marketplace fill that gap.
Mindbody / Booker — per-location pricing and sales quotes
Mindbody's US pricing changed on July 16, 2026:
Starter: $79/mo per location
Accelerate and Ultimate: quoted by sales, not published
AI Concierge (24/7 AI front desk): not on Starter; an add-on on Accelerate; included on Ultimate
Contract terms vary by plan and billing terms; the US pricing page does not publish a fixed term
Booker, owned by Mindbody since 2018, is reported at $139–599/mo across four tiers and uses Mindbody Payments. User reports place real-world Booker cost around $350/mo all-in.
Boulevard — premium pricing on every location
Boulevard prices every location separately:
1 location, Essentials: $143/mo
5 locations, Essentials: $715/mo
5 locations, Premier: $1,465/mo at the regular $293 price (a limited-time $234 offer applies to new customers)
5 locations, Prestige: $2,050/mo at the regular $410 price
Beau (AI receptionist): $125/mo per location for 200 minutes, then $0.60 a minute
Hardware (Boulevard's own card readers) is additional.
Kuee — seat tiers, no add-on stack
Kuee's pricing is seat-based (therapist count) with the same full feature set on every plan:
Starter (1–2 therapists): $39/mo or $390/yr — every feature included
Team (3–5 therapists): $69/mo or $690/yr — multi-location ready
Growth (6–9 therapists): $99/mo or $990/yr
Business (10–20 therapists): $129/mo or $1,290/yr
Extra location: priced by that store's seat tier (+$29 / +$49 / +$79 / +$99)
AI receptionist: on every plan; $10 per number per month plus $0.20 a minute of calls
SMS: pay-as-you-go at $0.025/msg (no free allowance)
Card payments: standard Stripe processing (~2.7% in person, 2.9% online), with more payment providers being integrated. Kuee will match or beat the processing rate you pay today
No per-user fees beyond the seat tier. No booking commission. No long-term contract.
Multi-location math — 5 locations, mid-tier plan
This is where the differences compound. Comparing each platform's mid-range plan across 5 locations (for Mindbody, whose mid tier is quoted, we use Starter):
Vagaro (1 calendar per store)
$150+/mo
Square Plus
$245/mo
Kuee Team + 4 extra stores
$265/mo
Fresha Team (5 members each)
$373.75/mo + fees
Mindbody Starter
$395/mo
Booker Accelerate
$1,445/mo
Boulevard Premier
$1,465/mo
Platform
Per-location
× 5 locations
Annual
Kuee Team + 4 extras
$69 + 4×$49
$265/mo
$3,180/yr
Square Plus
$49
$245/mo
$2,940/yr
Vagaro (1 calendar per store)
$30 + add-ons
$150+/mo
$1,800+/yr
Fresha Team (5 members each)
$14.95 × 25
$373.75/mo + fees
$4,485 + fees
Mindbody Starter
$79
$395/mo
$4,740/yr
Booker Accelerate
$289
$1,445/mo
$17,340/yr
Boulevard Premier
$293
$1,465/mo
$17,580/yr
Square and Vagaro come out cheaper on the multi-location math, but they are general schedulers, and neither has a built-in AI phone receptionist.
Against Booker Accelerate or Boulevard Premier, a 5-location operator on Kuee spends about $14,000 less per year. Against Mindbody Starter the gap is about $1,500 a year — but Mindbody's AI front desk is not on Starter, while Kuee's AI receptionist is on every plan.
Feature inclusions — what the entry tier includes
Feature
Kuee Starter
Square Free
Vagaro
Fresha Independent
Mindbody Starter
Booker Starter
Boulevard Essentials
Online booking
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
In-person POS
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
AI phone receptionist
✅ (usage billed)
❌
❌
$99.95/mo add-on
❌ (not on Starter)
Not listed
$125/mo add-on
Multi-location pricing
Per store, by team size
Per location
Per calendar
Per team member
Per location
Per location
Per location
Payment processing — effective rate comparison
Platform
In-person
Online
Manual entry
Kuee (standard Stripe)
2.7% + $0.05
2.9% + $0.30
3.4% + $0.30
Square Free
2.6% + $0.15
2.9% + $0.30
3.5% + $0.15
Square Plus
2.5% + $0.15
2.9% + $0.30
3.5% + $0.15
Square Premium
2.4% + $0.15
2.9% + $0.30
3.5% + $0.15
Vagaro Pay
2.2%+
2.75%
—
Fresha
2.29% + $0.20
2.79% + $0.20
—
Mindbody Payments
Quoted
Quoted
Quoted
Kuee's row is standard Stripe processing. Kuee is also integrating more payment providers, and will match or beat the rate you pay today, so the number to compare against is your own current rate.
Decision framework
Pick by primary constraint:
Lowest possible monthly fee, OK with Square ecosystem lock-in: Square Appointments Free
Headline-cheapest with marketplace exposure: Fresha Independent ($19.95) if the marketplace brings you new clients, or Vagaro ($30) if you avoid add-ons
Multi-location chain (3–20 stores) with sub-linear pricing: Kuee Team + per-tier extra stores
Multi-location chain that depends on the Mindbody marketplace or runs classes: Mindbody Starter+
Premium med-spa or salon with $300+ average ticket: Boulevard Essentials+
Generic appointments (barber, tutor, dog grooming, etc.): Square Appointments
What this index does not cover
Healthcare-specific compliance (HIPAA BAA, ePHI handling). For insurance billing and clinical EMR needs, none of these platforms are full EMRs — pair with a clearinghouse or specialty EMR.
Add-on pricing for marketing add-ons, payroll modules, gift card platforms — these vary widely per platform and are best quoted directly.
Hardware costs — Stripe Reader (Kuee, Square), Vagaro card readers, Boulevard hardware all have one-time costs of $59–500 depending on form factor.
Migration / onboarding fees — most platforms include onboarding free; some charge for white-glove migration.
Updates to this index
This index is reviewed regularly. Vendors change pricing without notice; treat the numbers above as an entry point for vendor conversations, not as a final quote.
If you spot a number that has changed since 2026-09-14, contact us and we'll verify and update.
