Same search, two different products
A nail salon types Booksy vs Vagaro when a rep has pitched both and the floor already knows one of them. The useful comparison is the bill and the job, not a feature checklist copied from either homepage. Booksy’s US pricing page sells a subscription plus a marketplace. Vagaro’s pricing page sells a staff slider, bookable calendar licenses, and a wider platform. They are not two prices for the same thing.
This page is only the head-to-head. The longer “what else exists” list is Vagaro alternatives and a Booksy alternative. The invoices, line by line, are Vagaro pricing and Booksy pricing.
What each pricing page showed
Fetched from biz.booksy.com/en-us/pricing on September 22, 2026. The FAQ states Booksy costs $29.99 per month, plus $20 per month for each additional team member, plus tax. The same page says add extra users for $20/month each. Boost, if you turn it on, is free of a monthly fee and then a one-time 30% fee on the total cost of a Boost client’s first visit. A 14-day trial is described there, with no credit card. That trial is Booksy’s.
Fetched from vagaro.com/pro/pricing the same day. Next to “Here’s what you’ll pay,” the page displayed $30.00 and $23.99/mo, with $23.99 labeled an exclusive rate for the first 6 months. The staff slider beside that price runs from 1 Just Me through 7+. A FAQ on staff across locations says each bookable calendar license added to a business location costs $10 (US), up to seven licenses, and further employees are no extra cost after seven. They also say a 30-day trial is available. That trial is Vagaro’s. AIVA has no free trial.
We do not print a Vagaro price for every slider stop. The page did not give that grid as text. We do not multiply $10 by a chair count and call it the invoice.
Side by side, for a nail floor
| Booksy | Vagaro | |
|---|---|---|
| Published subscription | $29.99/mo plus $20/mo per additional team member, plus tax | Slider showed $30.00 and $23.99/mo for the first 6 months, next to Just Me |
| How extra people are billed | Each additional team member is $20/mo | $10 per bookable calendar license, up to seven, then more employees at no extra cost |
| How strangers find the shop | Marketplace listing. Optional Boost at 30% of the first visit | Branded app and “get booked through Google, Apple Maps, Instagram, Alexa, and Facebook.” No Boost-style percent in the text we fetched |
| Trial on their page | 14 days, no credit card | 30 days |
| Multi-location fee | Not stated as a separate fee in the FAQ we fetched | They say there is no added multi-location fee. Each location has its own cost from the features you add |
Stay on Booksy when the marketplace is the point
Booksy lists Reserve with Google among the things they do not charge extra for. That is their phrase on their pricing page. It is not a claim that their onboarding is the same as Bukkii Google Reserve. They also list a free marketplace profile, unlimited bookings, and 2,000 SMS marketing messages a month inside the plan, with appointment texts called out as always free. Processing rates and card-reader hardware are on the pricing page, not in this head-to-head.
If new clients find the chairs inside Booksy, switching to Vagaro does not keep that marketplace. Boost is a distribution product. A nail salon that lives on it should judge Vagaro as a different distribution story, not as a cheaper copy of Boost.
Stay on Vagaro when the platform is the point
Vagaro’s page describes payroll and rent collection, payments, a branded app, webhooks and APIs, and an AI assistant named Vera for marketing, empty slots, descriptions, and client messages. No dollar for Vera was in the text we fetched, so this page does not invent one. Vera is not described there as the person who picks up the shop line during a fill.
If the floor already runs payroll, rent, and a branded app inside Vagaro, Booksy’s $29.99 line is not an answer to that stack. Read the license FAQ before you assume seven techs means seven times $10 on top of a number the slider did not print.
The third path is a flat book, not a winner badge
Bukkii Calendar is the path when the guest already knows the shop and the complaint is the meter: Booksy’s $20 per extra team member, or Vagaro’s license slider. Calendar is $20/month, unlimited staff, unlimited customers, booking website, and Google Reserve. Get Calendar — $20/mo. It does not replace Booksy’s marketplace or Vagaro’s payroll. It does not answer the phone. We do not claim native two-way sync into either system.
You can also keep the book you have and add only the phone. That article is keep Vagaro or Booksy and add an AI receptionist. Adding Calendar as the public book, while checkout stays put, is keep Vagaro or Booksy and add Bukkii Calendar. The seat pattern without either brand in the title is unlimited-staff booking calendar.
Related guides
- Booksy vs Vagaro
- Vagaro pricing
- Booksy pricing
- Vagaro reviews
- Booksy reviews
- One Vagaro alternative — short spoke. The list is Vagaro alternatives.
- Vagaro alternatives
- Booksy alternative
- Fresha alternative
- Mindbody alternative
- Keep Vagaro or Booksy and add Bukkii Calendar
- Keep Vagaro or Booksy and add an AI receptionist
- Unlimited-staff booking calendar
- Nail salon booking software pricing
- Setmore vs Bukkii Calendar
- Mangomint vs Bukkii Calendar
Two offers: AIVA on the phone, Calendar on the book
The calendar and the receptionist solve different leaks. Buy the one you are missing, or buy both. Neither is a footnote. Calendar does not answer the phone.
AIVA — the phone layer — $200 one-time
AIVA is the AI receptionist for inbound calls. She answers the shop number, books the service, and texts the appointment. $200 one-time. No monthly plan fee. No free trial. Get AIVA — $200. Hear her at (215) 791-6766.
Calendar — the booking layer — $20/month
Calendar is the booking website plus Google Reserve — the Book Online button on Google Maps. $20/month. Unlimited staff. Unlimited customers. It does not answer the phone. Choose it when the public book and Google are what you need, and you are keeping the checkout you already have. Get Calendar — $20/mo. Both cards are on pricing.
FAQ
Is Booksy cheaper than Vagaro?
Not as a single number. On September 22, 2026 Booksy’s FAQ said $29.99 per month plus $20 per month for each additional team member, plus tax. Vagaro’s slider displayed $30.00 and $23.99 per month for the first 6 months next to Just Me, and a FAQ said $10 per bookable calendar license up to seven licenses. The products are not the same meter.
Does Booksy or Vagaro include an AI receptionist for the shop line?
Not in the pricing text we fetched. Booksy’s page is a subscription, a marketplace, and Boost. Vagaro describes Vera as an assistant for marketing, empty slots, descriptions, and client messages, with no dollar printed. AIVA, the phone layer, is a separate $200 one-time payment with no free trial.
Which one lists Reserve with Google?
Booksy’s pricing page lists Reserve with Google among features they do not charge extra for. Vagaro’s page says get booked through Google, Apple Maps, Instagram, Alexa, and Facebook. We do not treat either sentence as the same onboarding as Bukkii Google Reserve.
Should a nail salon switch from Booksy to Vagaro, or the other way?
Switch only when you want the other product. Booksy when the marketplace or Boost fills chairs. Vagaro when you want that platform, including the license model and the tools on their pricing page. Calendar at $20 per month is the flat book if you want neither.
Can I keep one of them and still add Bukkii?
Yes. Keep Booksy or Vagaro for the checkout the floor knows. Add Calendar at $20 per month for a booking website and Google Reserve, or add AIVA at $200 one-time for the phone. We do not claim a native webhook into Booksy or Vagaro.