Square Free is $0. An alternative still has a job.
A Square Appointments alternative for a nail salon is not a claim that Square’s free plan is fake. We opened squareup.com/us/en/appointments/pricing on September 25, 2026. The page is titled Appointments Pricing & Plans. The location row shows $0/month per location, $49/month per location, and $149/month per location across Square Free, Square Plus, and Square Premium. Free is a real published price.
Bukkii is the alternative when you want a booking website and Google Reserve at $20/month without making Square the operating system, or when the hole is the phone. AIVA is $200 one-time. Calendar does not answer the phone. If Square already holds the deposit and the ticket, keep that workflow. The deposit article is Square Appointments deposit. This page does not re-walk that decision, and it does not claim a sync.
What the appointments pricing page shows
| Plan | Location fee, as of September 25, 2026 | How the page describes it |
|---|---|---|
| Square Free | $0/mo per location | Card text: for solo professionals taking payments and managing schedules. You pay processing fees when you take a payment. |
| Square Plus | $49/mo per location | Card text: for growing teams. The FAQ says Plus and Premium each offer a 30-day trial and that you can cancel or switch anytime. AIVA has no free trial. |
| Square Premium | $149/mo per location | Card text: for large salons with complex staff management and booking needs. The page says Premium has the lowest processing fees of the three. |
Source: squareup.com/us/en/appointments/pricing, as of September 25, 2026. The locations tooltip says the Plus and Premium monthly fee applies to each location you run. In-person tap, dip, or swipe rates in the three columns are 2.6% + 15¢, 2.5% + 15¢, and 2.4% + 15¢. Online card rates are 3.3% + 30¢, then 2.9% + 30¢, then 2.9% + 30¢. The 30-day trial is Square’s. AIVA has no free trial.
Staff calendars are not the meter
The bookings comparison marks Unlimited calendars included on Free, Plus, and Premium. The tooltip says you can add and view as many staff calendars as the business needs, and that there is no employee limit. The Free card still says “solo professionals.” Both sentences are on the page. We do not resolve them by inventing a hidden staff cap.
That is different from Acuity, which prices 1, 6, or 36 calendars. If the search was the calendar cap, read Acuity Scheduling alternative. Square’s paid jump is the location plan and the features behind it, plus card rates, not a per-tech seat on the row we fetched.
Features the comparison actually splits
Included on Free, on their bookings table: a booking website, appointment deposits, prepayments, appointment reminders, and Instagram, Facebook, and Google integrations. The Google tooltip says you can add a Book Now button to your Google Business Profile. We will not pretend that button is missing.
Marked off on Free and on from Plus: processing time, multi-staff appointment booking, cancellation policy and no-show fees, daily booking limit, class booking and packages, multi-location management, waitlist, and appointment confirmations. Resource management (rooms, chairs, stations) is marked on Premium only. Text message marketing is “not available in Square Free”; Plus includes 500 texts then 3¢ per text, and Premium includes 2,500 then 1.5¢, per the tooltip.
Bukkii Calendar does not claim those Plus and Premium operations. It claims a booking website, unlimited staff, unlimited customers, and Google Reserve at $20/month. Get Calendar — $20/mo.
Side by side
| Job | Square Appointments | Bukkii |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | $0, $49, or $149 per month per location | Calendar $20/month. AIVA $200 one-time. |
| Staff calendars | Unlimited on Free, Plus, and Premium, on the bookings table | Unlimited staff and unlimited customers on Calendar |
| Google booking | Book Now on the Google Business Profile, included on Free per their tooltip | Google Reserve included on Calendar |
| Checkout and deposits | Keep them if they already live in Square | Not a POS replacement. No sync claim. See the deposit article. |
| Shop phone | Not a receptionist plan on this pricing page | AIVA, $200 one-time. Calendar does not answer the phone. |
A solo nail tech who is happy on Square Free, including their Google button and their card rate, does not need this page to talk them out of $0. The reader who still wants a separate public book, or a phone that picks up during a fill, is the one Calendar and AIVA are for. Checkout can stay. Keep your nail salon POS.
Related guides
- Square Appointments deposit
- Acuity Scheduling alternative
- Keep your nail salon POS
- Google Reserve for nail salons
- Reserve with Google
- Nail salon online booking calendar
- Appointment deposit policy
- Pricing
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. 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. Included on that payment: a dedicated number, training, calendar setup, forwarding, 100 voice minutes, and 1,500 SMS. After that, usage is $0.35/min voice and $0.035 per SMS. 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. Get Calendar — $20/mo. Both cards are on pricing.
FAQ
What is a Square Appointments alternative for a nail salon?
If Square already takes the payment, keep it. Bukkii Calendar is $20/month for a booking website, unlimited staff, unlimited customers, and Google Reserve, and it does not answer the phone. AIVA is $200 one-time for the shop line. We do not claim a sync into Square. Square Free, on their appointments pricing page as of September 25, 2026, is $0/month per location.
What does Square Appointments cost as of September 25, 2026?
On squareup.com/us/en/appointments/pricing, the location fee row shows Square Free at $0/month per location, Square Plus at $49/month per location, and Square Premium at $149/month per location. The tooltip says the monthly fee for Plus and Premium applies to each location. In-person card rates on that page are 2.6% + 15¢, 2.5% + 15¢, and 2.4% + 15¢ across the three columns. Plus and Premium include a 30-day trial in the FAQ. That trial is Square’s. AIVA has no free trial.
Does Square Free limit staff calendars?
The bookings comparison on that page marks Unlimited calendars as included on Free, Plus, and Premium, and the tooltip says there is no employee limit. The Free card is also described as for solo professionals. We quote both lines and do not invent a staff cap the page did not print.
Does Square include booking from Google?
Yes, on their words. The bookings table says Instagram, Facebook, and Google integrations are included on Free, Plus, and Premium, and the tooltip says you can add a Book Now button to Instagram, Facebook, or your Google Business Profile. Bukkii Calendar includes Google Reserve at $20/month. These are two published booking paths. We do not claim they are the same onboarding.
Will AIVA write the appointment into Square?
No. We do not claim a native webhook or two-way sync with Square. AIVA books on the Bukkii calendar and sends the text. The Square deposit article is the page for keeping Square checkout. This page does not repeat that setup.