GlossGenius vs Vagaro for Nail Salons (2026)

Contents · 9 sections

1. Comparison table
2. What you pay
3. Staff calendars
4. Reminders and Google
5. Deposits and no-shows
6. Card payments
7. The phone
8. Final verdict
9. FAQ

The GlossGenius figures come from glossgenius.com/pricing, read November 9, 2026. The Vagaro figures come from three support articles: Vagaro Plans, Pricing, and Premium Features, updated October 27, 2026; features included in the base subscription, updated November 9, 2026; and Send Notifications and Reminders, updated June 29, 2026. All three Vagaro pages were read November 9, 2026. The Bukkii figures come from bukkii.ai/pricing, read the same day. If you're leaving GlossGenius, see GlossGenius alternative. If you're weighing other books against Vagaro, see Vagaro alternatives and Booksy vs Vagaro. This page is written for a US nail salon.

Comparison table

As of Nov 2026. GlossGenius cells come from glossgenius.com/pricing, read November 9, 2026. Vagaro cells come from support.vagaro.com, read the same day. Bukkii cells come from bukkii.ai/pricing, also read the same day. US prices only. GlossGenius cells cover the beauty plans only; the medspa cards on that page are a different product line.

What you pay

GlossGenius sells its beauty plans at a flat monthly fee, not a fee per bookable chair. On glossgenius.com/pricing, read November 9, 2026, the Standard card shows $28 a month, or $24 a month billed annually, and says you save 14%. Gold shows $56 a month, or $48 a month billed annually, and also says you save 14%. The Gold line says the plan is for businesses up to 9 staff. Platinum shows $168 a month, or $148 a month billed annually, and says you save 12%. That card is for teams of 10 and up. The FAQ on the same page says Standard starts at $24 a month, Gold at $48 a month, and Platinum at $148 a month. Those "starts at" figures are the annual prices on the cards; the monthly figures are the other number printed on each card.

The same GlossGenius FAQ says you can try any plan free for 14 days, with no credit card, and that GlossGenius does not offer a free plan. That 14-day offer belongs to GlossGenius. AIVA has no free trial. The page also lists two add-ons under the plans: Payroll at $40 a month plus $6 a seat, and Reception by GlossGenius at $50 a month. A note under the compare table says each additional location is charged the plan price at a 15% discount. The medspa cards on that page, Practice Essentials and Practice Advanced, are a different product line. A nail salon quote starts from the beauty cards.

Vagaro prices the book by calendar, not as one flat salon plan. The pricing article, updated October 27, 2026 and read November 9, 2026, lists the United States base at $23.99 a month and labels it only for a limited time. One calendar license is included. Each additional employee calendar is $10 a month, up to seven licenses. Once you've paid for seven licenses, you can add new employees at no additional charge. Canada, the UK, and Australia have different base prices on that page; this article uses the US row only. The same article lists Vagaro Payroll at $34 a month plus $5 a month per employee in the United States. bukkii.ai/pricing doesn't list payroll, so this page doesn't make up a Bukkii payroll price.

Bukkii Calendar is a separate product from the phone. Calendar is free for up to 3 staff and includes the booking website. The $20-a-month plan adds unlimited staff and customers, plus Reserve with Google. Email reminders also come with the $20 plan. Neither Reserve with Google nor email reminders are on the free plan. Calendar does not answer the phone. All of that comes from bukkii.ai/pricing, checked November 9, 2026. Get started.

Staff calendars

On a nail floor, the calendar belongs to the tech, not the front door. GlossGenius doesn't print a per-tech license on its beauty cards. The limit is which plan the card is written for. The compare table leaves Staff Management off Standard. On Gold, that row is checked and labeled Teams of fewer than 10. On Platinum, it's checked and labeled Teams of 10 and up. The Gold card itself says "businesses up to 9 staff," and the FAQ says Platinum includes unlimited team members. The Standard card doesn't print a headcount, so this page won't make one up.

Two GlossGenius rows matter once more than one tech works the same visit. Multiple service provider booking isn't on Standard; it's on Gold and Platinum. Gap time and processing time, the wait while gel or color sets, are checked on Standard, Gold, and Platinum. Resource management and the waitlist aren't on Standard; they're on Gold and Platinum. Those marks come from the beauty compare table, read November 9, 2026.

Vagaro's base article, updated November 9, 2026, says you can display up to 25 employees' calendars at once for the current day. That's a screen limit, not a pricing limit. The price is still one included license, then $10 a month for each added employee calendar, up to seven licenses. The same base article also includes a waitlist, gap processing time, personal tasks, and a service menu.

Bukkii Calendar caps the free plan at 3 staff. The $20 plan removes that cap, along with the cap on customers. It doesn't answer the phone, and it doesn't add a per-tech license on top of the $20. If your shop has one or two techs, Free covers the book and the booking website. Once a fourth tech is on the floor, you need the $20 plan.

Reminders and Google

GlossGenius's compare table checks Appointment reminders and confirmations on Standard, Gold, and Platinum. Rebooking reminders and a customizable notification schedule aren't on Standard; they're on Gold and Platinum. The Standard card lists Unlimited Client Notifications among its key features. Text marketing is checked on Standard, but that cell doesn't print a credit count. Gold's cell says 500 text credits included. Platinum's cell says 2,500 text credits included, which matches the FAQ line that Platinum includes 2,500 marketing texts. Free unlimited emails are checked on all three beauty plans. Those marks were read November 9, 2026.

On the same table, Google Booking isn't on Standard; it's on Gold and Platinum. The Gold card lists Google Booking and Reviews as a key feature. GlossGenius calls that row Google Booking, and this page doesn't rename it Reserve with Google. Reserve with Google is the name on the Bukkii $20 plan.

Vagaro's base-subscription article includes notifications and reminders by text and email. The notifications article, updated June 29, 2026 and read November 9, 2026, says Vagaro can send the appointment message once by email, text, and push, and that resending requires an Email Marketing plan, a Text Marketing plan, or Connect by Vagaro. Text marketing itself is a separate credit plan. The US small plan in the pricing article is 1,000 credits for $20 a month, then $0.030 per extra credit. That's a marketing plan, not the single automatic reminder.

Vagaro's pricing article marks the US marketplace listing as free and says you can list your business on the Vagaro Marketplace, Google.com, Google Maps, and Apple Maps. That's a listing. It isn't the Reserve with Google feature on Bukkii. A custom Vagaro MySite is $20 a month in the United States, on top of the base subscription. The one-time custom website design in that article is $299 in the US, and the monthly MySite price starts once the site is published.

On Bukkii Calendar, email reminders and Reserve with Google both come with the $20 plan. The free plan gives you the booking website and up to 3 staff, but not those two features.

Deposits and no-shows

GlossGenius's beauty compare table checks Built-in deposits, Cancellation and no-show policies, and Card-on-file policies on Standard, Gold, and Platinum. A separate Deposits row under Point of Sale is also checked on all three. Forms and waivers aren't on Standard; they're on Gold and Platinum, which matches the Forms and Waivers line on the Gold card. Those marks were read November 9, 2026.

Vagaro doesn't include online deposits in the $23.99 base. The pricing article says the Online Shopping Cart add-on is where you set up deposits and cancellation fees for online appointments, and where you sell packages, memberships, services, products, classes, and gift cards from your listing page. In the United States, that add-on is $10 a month. Forms are a separate $10 a month in the US, and the check-in app is $10 a month in the US. Those are add-ons, not part of the base subscription.

On bukkii.ai/pricing, checked November 9, 2026, the Calendar $20 card lists email reminders and Reserve with Google. It doesn't list a deposit. The compare table on that page puts Calendar $20 against AI Receptionist, and it marks No-show / AI deposit in the AI Receptionist column, not the Calendar $20 column. The page doesn't print a dollar amount on that row, so this page won't make one up. Email reminders on the $20 plan are the reminder tool the Calendar card names. They aren't a deposit.

Card payments

GlossGenius prints three different card figures on its pricing page, read November 9, 2026. Tap, dip, or swipe is 2.4% + $0.15 on Standard, Gold, and Platinum, and the FAQ states the same 2.4% + $0.15 in-person rate. Card-on-file, online, or key-in is 3.4% + $0.15 on all three beauty plans. Online invoicing is printed as 2.9% + $0.30 on each plan card and in the compare table. Instant payouts carry a flat 1.8% fee, and that row is checked on all three plans. The page also describes free same-business-day payouts Monday through Thursday. This page is quoting those lines, not ranking them against anyone else's rates.

Vagaro's US card rates depend on your monthly processing volume. Small merchants, under $4,000 a month, are listed at 2.6% + $0.10 for swipe, dip, or tap, 3.5% + $0.19 keyed-in, and 2.6% + $0.16 for tap to phone. The article says additional monthly FANF and Mastercard location fees apply, but it doesn't give a dollar amount for FANF, so this page won't guess. Large merchants, over $4,000 a month, are listed at 2.29% + $0.19 for swipe, dip, or tap, 3.5% + $0.19 keyed-in, and 2.29% + $0.25 for tap to phone, plus a $10 monthly subscription. The article says the large-merchant feature is billed in advance: if you turn it off before the billing date, you're still charged for that cycle.

Bukkii Calendar is the book. The pricing page doesn't publish card-processing rates for Calendar, so this page doesn't compare a Bukkii swipe rate with GlossGenius or Vagaro. If your shop already runs cards through one of them, that rate lives on that vendor's page.

The phone

The book and the phone are two different jobs. A tech with wet gel on the brush can't pick up. GlossGenius lists Reception by GlossGenius at $50 a month, separate from the beauty plan. The card says it answers every call and replies to every text, 24/7, and books appointments directly into your calendar. The pricing page doesn't say which languages that receptionist speaks, so this page won't guess. The calendar it books into is the GlossGenius calendar.

Vagaro's pricing article lists Vera Receptionist at $10 in the United States. The description says Vera handles customer messages and common questions through Connect by Vagaro, around the clock, and hands off to a person when needed. The article describes messages. It doesn't say Vera answers phone calls. Connect by Vagaro itself is marked free to start, with a text plan recommended.

AIVA answers callers in English only. AIVA does not answer callers in Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, or Korean. You can read this page in Spanish or Vietnamese, but the phone voice stays in English. If a caller needs to talk in another language, AIVA isn't the right tool for that call.

AIVA is $200 one-time. No free trial, no monthly fee, no contract. That one payment covers a dedicated number, training on your menu and policies, calendar setup, and call forwarding, plus 100 voice minutes and 1,500 SMS. After that, voice is $0.35 a minute and SMS is $0.035. The add-on section on bukkii.ai/pricing, checked November 9, 2026, labels those packs as never expiring. She texts the appointment once it's booked. She doesn't auto-text someone who already hung up. Setup runs through call forwarding, and this page doesn't describe number porting. The number on your door stays with your carrier. Hear the English voice at (215) 791-6766. Get started.

AIVA books on Bukkii Calendar. This page doesn't claim that AIVA or Bukkii Calendar writes appointments into GlossGenius or Vagaro. If your book has to stay in one of those, keep it there. Calendar does not answer the phone.

Final verdict

GlossGenius fits a US nail salon that wants the whole beauty platform on one monthly plan: the booking site, card payments, and the staff tier the card is written for. Standard is the starting plan, at $28 a month or $24 a month billed annually. Reminders and deposits are checked on it; Google Booking and Staff Management aren't. Gold, at $56 a month or $48 a month billed annually, is the card for businesses up to 9 staff, and it lists Google Booking and Reviews, forms, an automated waitlist, and room and resource management. Platinum, at $168 a month or $148 a month billed annually, is the card for teams of 10 and up, and the FAQ says it includes unlimited team members. The 14-day offer, with no credit card, is GlossGenius's. GlossGenius's own FAQ says it does not offer a free plan. If you want the phone covered, the add-on is Reception by GlossGenius at $50 a month, booking into the GlossGenius calendar.

Vagaro fits a shop that wants a salon calendar priced per bookable employee, a listing page the US pricing article marks free, and a menu of add-ons. The base is $23.99 a month for a limited time, with one calendar. A fourth bookable tech means three extra calendars at $10 each on top of the base, until you've paid for seven licenses. Deposits on online appointments come with the $10-a-month Online Shopping Cart, not the base price. Text campaigns need a text-credit plan. The base book already includes the calendar, the service menu, reminders, a waitlist, and client tags. Vera, at $10 in the US, is described as handling messages through Connect by Vagaro, not answering the phone.

Bukkii Calendar fits a shop that plans to keep its book on Bukkii. Free covers up to 3 staff and the booking website. $20 a month covers unlimited staff and customers, email reminders, and Reserve with Google. It doesn't answer the phone. The Calendar $20 card doesn't list a deposit. The pricing table marks No-show / AI deposit on AI Receptionist, not on Calendar $20, and doesn't print a dollar amount for that row. If you want the phone covered, that's AIVA at $200 one-time, in English only. Get started. Both are on the pricing page.

If GlossGenius is the platform you're thinking of leaving, the narrower page is GlossGenius alternative. If you're choosing between Booksy and Vagaro, that head-to-head is Booksy vs Vagaro. If Vagaro is the book you're thinking of leaving, the wider list is Vagaro alternatives.

FAQ