2022 Vagaro Review: Is It Right for Your Business?
This article is part of a larger series on POS Systems.
Vagaro is a cloud-based point-of-sale (POS) system designed for the beauty, health, and fitness industries. Users get promoted on the Vagaro website and app, where customers can book appointments or shop the user’s online store. In addition, its fully-featured POS system handles scheduling, customer management, payroll data, marketing, and more. Although priced competitively from $25 to $85 per month, its hardware is among the most expensive.
Vagaro
What We Like
- Online directory
- Easy to use and set up
- Robust booking, HR, payroll, and marketing tools
What's Missing
- No free plan
- Expensive hardware
- Intake and other forms cost extra
Deciding Factors
- Software Fees: $25–$85 per month; custom pricing if >10 calendars
- Hardware Fees: $0–$1,256
- Payment Processing Fees: Depends on monthly sales volume
- <$4,000: No monthly fee; 2.75% for in-person
- >$4,000: $10 monthly fee, plus 2.2% + 19 cents for in-person
- Integrations: Gusto, Zoom, Google, QuickBooks, Xero, Facebook, and Instagram
- Standout Features:
- Front-facing and business owner mobile apps
- Online store and website builder
- Memberships and employee rent and fees
- SOAP notes
- Payroll tools
When To Use Vagaro
We have years of experience in the spa industry and have studied dozens of POS systems—and Vagaro is one of the best POS systems for salon and fitness, scoring a 4.63 out of 5 in our evaluation of the best salon POS systems. We praised it not only for its terrific scheduling and customer management tools but also for its payroll and SOAP notes. It is also our favorite appointment platform, earning a 4.71 out of 5 in our evaluation of the top-ranking appointment scheduling apps.
In short, Vagaro is best for:
- Busy salons with multiple employees: It has in-depth tools for calendars, customer management, and employee management (including payroll). Its feature inclusions make it a top choice for services managing a busy staff.
- Spas, fitness centers, and massage therapists working in the medical industry: Vagaro’s SOAP (subjective, objective, assessment, and plan) Notes are not often found in POS or scheduling software. This specific form makes it easy to take notes on a client’s physical assessment and progress.
- Businesses looking for marketing tools: Vagaro offers all its users a place on its website and app where customers can book appointments or shop in your online store. Only Fresha does something similar for salons, and MassageBook for massage therapists. It also has advanced marketing tools, although these may cost extra.
When To Use an Alternative
- Small salons or solopreneurs: Vagaro is more expensive and has more features than a single operator running their calendar and online store needs. We suggest Square or Fresha, which have free plans for a single user. Fresha also has an online directory like Vagaro.
- Retail and restaurant businesses: This software is designed for beauty, fitness, or massage services. Check out our best retail POS and restaurant POS guides if these are your industries.
Vagaro Pricing
Vagaro Hardware
Vagaro offers three POS systems using its dual-screen Pay Desk monitor as the foundation. The system is fully integrated with Vagaro and offers one screen for business and the other for customers, where they can see charges, add a tip, sign, and pay. You can also make home screens with daily deals or images of your work. It supports Wi-Fi, external keyboards, and peripherals. You can also download Google Chrome and Email it to the device.
Vagaro offers three hardware packages.
(Source: Vagaro.com)
There are three packages available:
- Pay Desk Essentials ($749): Pay Desk + handheld scanner
- Pay Desk Plus ($863): Pay Desk + handheld scanner, EMV reader, and dock
- Pay Desk Complete ($1,256): Pay Desk + handheld scanner, EMV reader and dock, USB printer, and cash drawer
Pay Desk Plus and Complete also include a $75 discount if you sign up for a one-year merchant account.
Vagaro Features
Depending on the number of clients, services, inventory, and employees, setup can take as little as 15 minutes. It offers free import of customer contact information and inventory. For $150, it will import everything from appointment notes to employee profiles. It is recommended to have a backup to ensure a loss of information doesn’t happen.
Since our last update:
Since we last wrote this review in July 2021, Vagaro has made many changes. These include the following:
- Available credit card processing in the UK, Canada, and Australia
- Integration with Gusto, its official HR software partner
- In-house deposits
- Automatic cancelation and No Show fees
- Responses to reviews
- Employee rent and fees
Calendar
Vagaro’s calendar is color-coded by status, easy to use, and versatile. You can book people or resources, create recurring appointments to let them fill automatically, and block off personal time so that you don’t schedule an employee on their day off. You can make notes by clicking on an appointment or hovering over it to see existing notes as a popup. These features are typical of most scheduling software.
Vagaro’s calendar lets you see employee schedules individually or as part of the salon’s day.
(Source: Vagaro)
However, some features that stood out were the icons that can indicate at a glance the kind of appointment—such as a camera for a live stream class or consultation—and the ability to double book. This is an excellent tool for salons, where the stylist might squeeze in a haircut while waiting for a perm to set. If you schedule classes, you can set the capacity, and the calendar will track sign-ups and show as full when the limit has been met.
Finally, you can sync your Vagaro calendar to Google, Apple, or Outlook calendars. Many appointment software applications do this, but it’s always a helpful tool for employees.
Memberships
You can set up memberships with autopay functions as well. Sell these anywhere you book appointments, from Facebook to your online store. You can also set introductory rates, first-month-free, reward points, or other perks. You can even allow customers to share their memberships with family and friends—even pets.
With the memberships function, you can create recurring income.
(Source: Vagaro)
Notifications
Vagaro lets you send acknowledgments and reminders via email or text. Clients can opt-in or out of text notifications, including confirmations, reminders, and other messages relating to appointments. Unlike DaySmart Salon, you get unlimited text notifications, although marketing texts are done with an add-on that starts at $20 per month.
You can send confirmation and reminder notifications to customers via email and text.
(Source: Vagaro)
Vagaro offers a mobile app for clients. It lets you send push notifications about anything related to their appointments such as a change in time. Clients can also use the app to add appointments to their phone calendars. Salons can use the Vagaro Pro app to view notifications and contact customers.
Online Store
The online store lets you sell from your Vagaro website, booking page, or Facebook account. Vagaro assists for free by importing the inventory and helping you set up the shop. You need a merchant service account for this feature. You can have customers purchase and book services or purchase to book them later. You can also sell products, packages, gift certificates, or memberships. You can take deposits or payments in full. It also lets you select shipping or pick-up options.
An example of a hairstylist’s website using one of Vagaro’s website templates.
(Source: Vagaro)
Payments
Vagaro offers a variety of ways for you to get paid. In addition to being able to integrate your merchant account, Vagaro has its payment processor, Vagaro Merchant Services. It has a flat rate for businesses that make less than $4,000 a month. It charges a $10 monthly fee but reduces your per-transaction rate if you earn more than that. Most POS services with integrated payment processing do not have a reduced-rate deal like this.
In the News:
Vagaro recently began offering credit card processing services to users based in the UK, Canada, and Australia.
Invoices are a great way to bill clients.
(Source: Vagaro)
In addition, you can send invoices to customers, which can be paid for online, including accepting tips. The invoice feature comes with automatic reminders and tracking through the reports when overdue. They link to customer profiles, so it’s easy to remind a customer about an overdue payment when they come in for their next appointment.
Customer Management
Vagaro lets you track and store customer information, from photos to credit card information to what size blade they prefer for their hair. You can also upload images, videos, PDFs, digital waivers, and more from the calendar screen and link customer files to specific appointments.
Vagaro lets you have a comprehensive database for your customers. You can upload images, videos, PDFs, digital waivers, and more to your customer’s profile.
(Source: Vagaro)
SOAP Notes
Health and fitness services, especially those associated with chiropractic or medical facilities, will appreciate the SOAP notes function. SOAP stands for Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan and is used to capture visit details for each client, retrieve history, and view progress.
SOAP Notes make it easy to track client history for fitness or pain management.
(Source: Vagaro knowledge base)
You can access the SOAP notes from the appointment or the customer profile. There are two types: SOAP Notes and SOAP Notes Advanced. The advanced screen has a human body profile to make identifying pain points easier (this feature is ideal for, and typically used by, massage therapists). They both have a pain scale and SOAP boxes.
You can also attach up to five files in JPG, PNG, or PDF. You’ll be able to see and review previous notes as well.
Payroll
Vagaro has one of the best payroll functions of the salon POS software we reviewed, with hourly rates and a time clock, plus customized commission tiers and the ability to pay by services, classes, and product sales. It lets you run payroll reports and view pay stubs and pay history.
Reports
Vagaro’s dashboard shows appointments, sales, and service providers for a quick look at your business’s current status. For more in-depth analysis, you can integrate data with Xero, QuickBooks, or Excel, or pull reports on the following:
- Employee payroll
- Client retention
- Sales
- Online vs in-house booking
- Inventory: sold, lost, expired, purchased
- Commissions by employee
Vagaro offers reports and analysis for viewing, printing, or export.
(Source: Vagaro.com)
Rents & Fees
This lets business owners schedule and collect recurring payments from booth renters and other store contracts. And for those offering product sales commissions, payments can be automatically deducted from rent fees—removing the need for 1099 forms.
You can request primary and backup payment methods, including ACH bank accounts (for US only) and credit cards.
Add-ons
Vagaro has several features that it charges extra for but, like Square, add significantly to its functionality and are things for which you might have needed a third-party application. With these add-ons, you get the functions and knowledge that they work seamlessly with the Vagaro POS system.
- Check-in app ($10 per month): Remove the need to have someone at the front desk with a check-in app that lets customers check themselves in (using the QR code on the Vagaro app, with a key card you provide, or manually) for one or multiple appointments (like a massage and facial) and notifies you. Clients can also cancel appointments or sign up for a new class or appointments—even multiple sessions—and pay on the app.
- Forms ($10 per month): Create custom forms for intake, liability waivers, surveys, and whatever you need to serve your customers best. You can embed them in the website, send them by email, or set them to be filled out when booking an appointment.
- Automated email marketing ($0–$90 per month, depending on # of emails sent): With colorful newsletters and an easy-to-use design interface, you can create campaigns for customers for occasions from birthdays to “not seen you in a while” to promoting the newest product or stylist. Vagaro says users get an average of 4.6 appointments per campaign.
- Automated text marketing ($20–$400 per month, depending on # of texts sent): Text individuals for special occasions or send out blasts to all your customers to share a new discount or service. Vagaro can automate texts, integrate with email campaigns, and track success.
- Website Builder ($10 per month): Select and customize a template, or have Vagaro designers create your website for you ($100 one-time fee). Vagaro hosts the website and integrates the Vagaro calendar so that customers can book appointments.
- Branded application ($200 per month): Get all the tools of Vagaro, from booking to shopping cart, on an application branded specifically for your store. Vagaro designs it for you and puts it on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.
- Get featured on Vagaro’s customer-facing applications ($10 per month): This is a good way to stand out.
Mobile App
Vagaro has two apps: one for customers and another for you and your employees. The customer app is where people can find spas, salons, fitness studios, and more in their area. It lets them book appointments and purchase products from your businesses.
A view of the Vagaro Pro mobile app
(Source: Vagaro)
The Vagaro Pro app enables you to run Vagaro from mobile, with your customer database, appointment history, and more. You can book appointments, manage equipment and rooms, set up your online store, and take payments.
Vagaro Ease of Use
- User-friendly interface
- Vagaro University sessions
- On Point, a weekly podcast, features guest experts who give advice on the latest trends, tips on running a successful business, and more
- Knowledge base with videos
- Automated reminders
- Live chat
- Mobile app
If you’re new to Vagaro, take advantage of its free training sessions offered Mondays to Thursdays. For specific questions on using a feature, you can go to the knowledge base, which has detailed articles, often with video. There’s also a live chat feature.
Users have said that the application is easy to use, but it took them some time to learn because it has so many functions. However, user feedback notes that it was not always easy to get assistance when encountering problems.
How Vagaro Compares to Alternatives
Best for: Salons wanting easy software with lots of features | Best for: Salons wanting POS and appointment software with a free directory | Best for: Busy salons and service businesses; virtual appointments | Best for: Small or independent massage salons or therapists |
Base monthly fee from: $0 | Base monthly fee from: $0 | Base monthly fee from: $29 | Base monthly fee from: $9.99 |
Base transaction fee: 2.55% + 10 cents | Base transaction fee: 2.19% + 20 cents | Base transaction fee: Need third-party payment processor | Base transaction fee: 2.6% + 10 cents via Square or 2.75% via Stripe |
N/A |
If you’re unsure Vagaro is right for you, see how it compares with our top salon and spa POS systems.
What Users Think of Vagaro
Users love or hate this application. Those who like it appreciate its breadth of features, that it costs less than some providers (MindBody was mentioned) while doing a similar job, and that they could add additional features as needed.
Those who dislike it had significant issues when switching to Vagaro from other software or troubles with customer sign-ins, pricing displays, and texting, which led to the loss of clients and revenue. Some users also mentioned that add-on features could get quite pricey.
In the past, there was a divisive trend for its customer service (either it was praised or reviled). However, recent Vagaro reviews (in the past six months) highlight its support team’s efficiency and helpfulness.
Other popular third-party review websites rated Vagaro like so:
- Capterra: 4.7 out of 5 based on more than 2,500 reviews
- G2: 3.7 out of 5 based on around 30 reviews
Vagaro mobile apps are different for front-facing customers and salon businesses.
For front-facing customers (Vagaro):
- Google Play: 4.3 out of 5 based on more than 5,000 reviews
- App Store: 4.7 out of 5 based on over 5,000 reviews
For salon businesses (Vagaro Pro):
- Google Play: 4.2 out of 5 based on close to 8,000 reviews
- App Store: 4.5 out of 5 based on nearly 6,000 reviews
When reading through Vagaro reviews, I noticed these trends:
Users Like | Users Don’t Like |
---|---|
Intuitive interface for customers who are booking | Add-ons are expensive |
Robust features | Booking multiple services is difficult |
Easy to use and set up | Reminders are not customizable |
Bottom Line
If you run a busy salon or fitness center and need POS software that handles your appointments, employees, and customers, Vagaro is a good choice. It not only addresses the most important parts of scheduling and reminding customers of appointments but also processes payments and includes an online store. Users rate it highly. Sign up for its free one-month trial today.