Vagaro Review for 2023: Best POS for Appointment Scheduling

Software fees are fairly competitive, starting at $25 for one calendar user and increasing by $10 per additional bookable calendar. The pricing is similar to Square, though Vagaro has no free plan available. If you need a free plan that handles multiple employees, look at Fresha.

Note that while the base software contains many features, such as email marketing, automated notifications, and access to the Vagaro Marketplace, you’ll need to pay additional monthly fees for extra features. For example, automated text marketing campaigns will cost you an additional $20+ per month, a custom website builder/booking page and self-check-in app will each cost $10, and a branded custom app for your business will set you back $200 per month.

Vagaro uses two payment processing plans; your monthly sales volume determines which plan will apply to you. In general, if you total less than $4,000 monthly, you’ll pay a higher percentage but avoid fixed costs, and vice versa if you total more than $4,000 monthly.

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 businesses 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.

There are three packages available:

Pay Desk Essentials	Pay Desk Plus	Pay Desk Complete
$749	$863	$1,256
Pay Desk + handheld scanner	Pay Desk + handheld scanner, EMV reader, and dock	Pay Desk + handheld scanner, EMV reader and dock, USB printer, and cash drawer

Pay Desk Plus and Complete also include a $100 discount if you sign up for a new one-year merchant account.

Vagaro’s versatile and intuitive bookable calendars are among its most outstanding features. You can book people or resources, create recurring appointments to let them fill automatically, and block off personal time, so you don’t schedule an employee on their day off. Additionally, 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.

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)

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, and even your last-minute promotions. 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.

A view of the Vagaro Pro mobile app (Source: Vagaro)

Clients can book appointments in various ways, such as by visiting the website, using the Vagaro app, or booking on Facebook, Instagram, and even custom websites.

You’ll be able to regulate whether a client can cancel or reschedule online and enter a cancellation policy to protect yourself from last-minute changes on the client side. Additionally, you can require clients to pay deposits, or provide their credit card information for all appointments or just specific appointments.

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)

You can set up memberships with autopay functions as well. This allows you to generate recurring income, with your choice of weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly billing. 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)

Vagaro lets you set up custom commission tiers to ensure that payroll is directly tied to the money your employees bring in. You can create unlimited custom tiers and set specific commission rates. It also allows you to choose either a flat rate or a percentage when paying your employees commission for sales of products and services.

Vagaro has one of the best payroll functions of the salon POS software we reviewed and is partnered with Gusto. You can set as many payroll runs as you want with adjustable frequency—weekly, every other week, monthly, or twice per month, with an option for hourly rates. Moreover, you get an employee time clock, plus customized commission tiers and the ability to pay by services, classes, and product sales. Vagaro lets you run payroll reports and view pay stubs and pay history.

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)

This lets business owners schedule and collect recurring payments from booth renters and other store contracts. You can set up these payment collections to be automatic—set an amount and schedule a charge frequency—and sit back to watch rent and fees flow into your business’ bank account. 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.

Health and fitness services, especially those associated with chiropractic or medical facilities, will appreciate the SOAP (Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan) notes function. These are 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 three types: SOAP Notes, SOAP Notes Face, and SOAP Notes Advanced. SOAP Notes Face has a facial anatomy chart, and SOAP Notes Advanced adds 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 open-text boxes.

It also lets you attach up to five files in JPG, PNG, or PDF. You’ll be able to review and update previous notes as well.

Yes. Software fees range from $25 to $85 per month.

Note that the hardware is relatively expensive compared to other POS systems. Vagaro has three levels of hardware: Pay Desk Essentials, Pay Desk Plus, and Pay Desk Complete. Each contains a progressively more complete set of tools that help you process payments—handheld scanners, contactless card readers, cash drawers, and more. Depending on which hardware set you choose, you’ll pay anywhere from less than $800 to more than $1,200. Pay Desk Plus and Complete also include a $100 discount if you sign up for a new one-year merchant account.

Though Vagaro is competitively priced at $25 per month for one bookable calendar, Square is ultimately cheaper because it includes free plans. Square also sells cheaper hardware, sometimes hundreds of dollars less than Vagaro’s offerings. Take note that with Square, you can buy single pieces of hardware, such as registers and terminals, whereas with Vagaro you will be buying sets that contain several tools. Learn more about Square in our Square POS review.