Running a spa isn’t like running a hair salon. You’re managing treatment rooms instead of just chairs, longer service blocks, packages and memberships that need tracking, and clients who expect a calm, polished booking experience from the first tap. Plenty of scheduling apps handle the basics, but not all of them are built around the way spas actually operate.
We compared five of the most established spa appointment scheduling software platforms — GlossGenius, Booksy, Vagaro, Square Appointments, and Mangomint — on official pricing, spa-specific features (packages, memberships, treatment-room management, HIPAA for med spas), and who each one actually fits. All pricing below reflects each provider’s official US pricing page as of July 2026. Where a platform doesn’t publish a figure, we say so rather than estimating.
Mangomint, for HIPAA-conscious spas. It’s the only platform here with confirmed HIPAA support and official treatment-room scheduling, not a bolted-on add-on.
Quick comparison: pricing at a glance
| Software | Starting Price | Processing Fee (in person) | Free Trial | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GlossGenius | $24/mo (annual) | 2.6% flat | 14 days, no card | Solo estheticians & small spas |
| Booksy | $29.99/mo | 2.49%–2.69% | 14 days, no card | Spas wanting built-in client acquisition |
| Vagaro | $23.99–30/mo | Not published officially | 30 days | Multi-room spas on a budget |
| Square Appointments | Free (Plus from $49/mo) | 2.5–2.6% + 15¢ | 30 days (Plus) | Spas already on Square for retail/POS |
| Mangomint | $165/mo (changing Aug 1, 2026) | 2.45% + 15¢ | Available (length not published) | Established med spas & multi-room spas |
GlossGenius: best for solo estheticians and small spas
GlossGenius keeps pricing simple. The Standard plan is $24/month billed annually (or $28/month monthly) for up to two users, with a flat 2.6% processing rate on every card transaction — no separate in-person vs. online rate to track. Higher tiers add team and multi-location tools: Gold at $48/$56 and Platinum at $148/$168. The 14-day free trial doesn’t require a card, and data migration is free.
Spa-relevant features: packages, a polished client-facing booking website, deposits, forms and waivers, resource management, and a free HIPAA-compliance add-on aimed at med spas. One honest caveat worth knowing before you commit: GlossGenius currently lists memberships as “coming soon” on its own site rather than as a live feature, so if recurring membership billing is central to your spa’s revenue model, confirm its status directly before signing up.
Who it’s for: solo estheticians and small, one-to-three-room spas that want an attractive booking experience and simple flat-rate pricing. It’s less suited to larger multi-practitioner spas that need mature membership management today.
Booksy: strong client acquisition through its marketplace
Booksy runs a single plan at $29.99/month for the first user, plus $20/month per additional team member. Processing runs from 2.49%+$0.10 to 2.69%+$0.30 depending on transaction type, and the 14-day trial doesn’t require a card. Its differentiator is the Booksy marketplace: an optional “Boost” feature charges a 30% commission on a new client’s first visit in exchange for featured placement in the consumer app — a real client-acquisition channel for a spa building its base. Boost is opt-in, and Booksy states it doesn’t charge new-client commissions on bookings you generate yourself or made while Boost is off.
Spa-relevant features: memberships and packages, gift cards, waitlists, integrated payments with tap-to-pay, and email/SMS marketing. Note that some users report membership billing requires manual handling rather than fully automated recurring charges, and Booksy is not positioned as a HIPAA-compliant platform — a limitation for med spas offering clinical treatments.
From our own testing
Booksy is the one platform in this comparison we tested hands-on. We set up a Booksy Biz trial account to see how it handles multi-service bookings — a common spa need for treatment combos like a facial plus a massage. Configuring bundled services inside Business Settings was straightforward, and the client-side mobile booking flow, tested the way a real customer would use it, made adding a package and choosing a preferred provider easy in a single flow. This reflects hands-on setup on a trial account plus mobile booking as a client would experience it — not a full audit of every spa-specific feature.
Who it’s for: spas that want the marketplace as a discovery channel and value marketing tools built into the platform. Less ideal for med spas needing clinical compliance.
Vagaro: broad feature set at a low per-calendar cost
Vagaro prices per calendar — roughly one per practitioner or treatment room. The first calendar runs $23.99–30/month, each additional calendar is +$10/month up to seven, and the eighth onward is free. There’s no commission on online bookings, and the trial runs 30 days. Vagaro publishes a general processing range of roughly 2.2–3.5% but doesn’t confirm exact rates on its official pricing page, so we’re not stating a specific figure — check current rates directly with Vagaro before committing.
Spa-relevant features: memberships, packages, marketing, and inventory are all included rather than gated behind higher tiers — one of the more complete feature sets here for the price. For a multi-room spa with several practitioners, per-calendar pricing can work out cheaper than flat per-location plans, though it’s worth mapping your actual calendar count first rather than assuming.
Who it’s for: budget-conscious multi-room spas that want a broad, all-included toolkit and don’t mind a busier interface in exchange for value.
Square Appointments: the low-cost option if you already use Square
Square Appointments starts with a genuinely free plan: $0/month per location, including online booking, with in-person processing at 2.6%+15¢ (3.3%+30¢ online). Plus, at $49/month per location, adds staff management, loyalty, and marketing tools plus slightly lower processing (2.5%+15¢ in person) and a 30-day trial. Premium is $149/month per location with 24/7 support, and Pro is custom-priced for businesses over $250K/year in volume. Note pricing is per location, not per user.
Spa-relevant features: Square’s strength is its native, deeply integrated point of sale and retail — if you already run product sales through Square, appointments slot in seamlessly. It’s less of a purpose-built spa platform: multi-practitioner staff management sits behind the Plus tier, and its depth on spa-specific extras like memberships and treatment-room management is thinner than the dedicated platforms here. Confirm any specific feature with Square before assuming it’s included in your tier.
Who it’s for: spas that already use Square for retail or POS and want to consolidate, or very cost-sensitive operations that can live within the free plan’s limits.
Mangomint: full-featured, built for established and medical spas
As of July 2026, Mangomint uses a three-tier structure: Essentials at $165/month (2–10 service providers), Standard at $245/month (up to 20), and Unlimited at $375/month, with in-person processing at 2.45%+15¢. Every tier includes the full core feature set — the difference between plans is staff count and access to advanced features like Express Booking and the Virtual Waiting Room, which unlock at Standard and up.
Pricing is changing on August 1, 2026. Mangomint has officially announced a move to a single simplified plan: $120/month per location plus $10/month per staff member, with all core features included for everyone regardless of former tier. A solo provider would pay $130/month under the new structure. According to Mangomint’s own FAQ, existing customers whose costs would rise are being grandfathered at their current price. If you’re evaluating Mangomint on or after that date, check the live pricing page, since this comparison reflects the pre-August structure.
Spa-relevant features: memberships, packages, treatment-room and resource management, detailed staff permissions, strong reporting, and HIPAA compliance via a signed Business Associate Agreement (BAA) — the clearest fit here for med spas and multi-room spas. It’s the most expensive option even under the new pricing, but also the platform most clearly engineered around spa and med-spa operations rather than general appointment booking.
Who it’s for: established spas and med spas that want depth and compliance and can justify the higher monthly cost against the operational features they’ll actually use.
Spa feature comparison
Feature availability by platform, based on each provider’s official documentation as of July 2026. Because tiers and features change, confirm any specific feature directly with the provider before purchasing.
| Feature | GlossGenius | Booksy | Vagaro | Square | Mangomint |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memberships | Coming soon | Yes (manual billing) | Yes | Check provider | Yes |
| Packages | Yes | Yes | Yes | Check provider | Yes |
| HIPAA compliance | Free add-on | No | Check provider | No | Yes (BAA) |
| Built-in POS | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (native) | Yes |
| Resource / room management | Yes | Limited | Yes | Limited | Yes |
How to choose spa scheduling software
A few questions worth answering before you commit:
- How many treatment rooms or practitioners do you schedule? Per-calendar pricing (Vagaro) and per-provider tiers (Mangomint, GlossGenius) scale very differently — run the numbers for your actual headcount before assuming which is cheapest.
- Do memberships drive your revenue? If recurring membership billing is central, note that GlossGenius lists memberships as coming soon and Booksy’s are more manual. Vagaro and Mangomint have the most built-out membership tools among these options.
- Do you need HIPAA compliance? Relevant mainly for med spas offering clinical treatments. Mangomint offers it via a signed BAA and GlossGenius via a free add-on; confirm compliance requirements directly with any provider before assuming coverage.
- Are you already using a POS system? If you’re on Square for retail, Square Appointments is the simplest consolidation. Otherwise, the dedicated spa platforms generally offer deeper booking features.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the cheapest spa scheduling software?
Square Appointments’ Free plan costs $0/month per location, making it the lowest-cost entry point of the platforms compared here — though it lacks some spa-specific depth until you move up to a paid tier.
Do spa scheduling platforms charge commission on bookings?
None of the five charge commission on standard online bookings. Booksy’s optional Boost feature is the exception: it charges a 30% commission specifically on a new client’s first visit through the marketplace, and it’s opt-in.
Is Mangomint’s pricing changing?
Yes. On August 1, 2026, Mangomint moves from three tiers to a single plan: $120/month per location plus $10/month per staff member, with all core features included. A solo provider would pay $130/month.
Which spa software supports HIPAA compliance?
Mangomint offers HIPAA compliance through a signed Business Associate Agreement, and GlossGenius offers a free HIPAA add-on aimed at med spas. Confirm current compliance status directly with any provider before signing up.
Can I switch spa software without losing client data?
Most of these platforms, including Mangomint and GlossGenius, offer free data migration during onboarding. Confirm which data types — client history, packages, memberships — actually transfer before switching.
For a broader look at how these platforms compare across salons as well as spas, see our guide to the best salon and spa software. If you’re running a smaller operation, our reservation system guide for small businesses covers budget-friendly options in more depth.