The Ultimate Vagaro Review 2024

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How Users Rate and Review Vagaro

Vagaro has great user ratings on the app stores and on the major online review sites.

4.7

4.4

4.7

4.4

It’s incredible how much they’ve packed into this software while keeping it affordable.

Dedicated hardware, integrated payments, full payroll support, native booking & online store integration with your website, a client marketplace, and marketing support.

Supported Features

Here’s an overview of commonly available salon software features where you can see if it’s supported in Vagagor or not. As you woudl expect, a lot of green ticks here.

	Vagaro
Online Booking	Vagaro
Website booking widget Note Can you integrate the entire online booking experience directly into your website?
Branding control Note Can you customize the look and feel of the booking experience to fit your brand?	Note Very limited: Change accent color but all else is Vagaro standard.
No-show protection Note Can you store credit card details and charge deposits to reinforce your cancellation policy?
Service customization Note Can clients adapt their service when they book, and can this change the price and duration of the booked appointment?
Free from account creation Note Can clients book without having first to create an account with the software?
Integrated gift cards Note Can you sell digital gift cards as part of the booking process?
Calendar and Appointment Management
Customize notification messages Note Can you change the text sent to your clients as part of appointment reminders and other messages?
Customize notification timings Note Can you change when reminders and other messages go out to your clients?
Client waitlist management
Rooms and resource scheduling Note Can you manage equipment, rooms, and other resources required to complete a service?
Repeat appointments Note Can you schedule clients for recurring appointments?
Time block Note Can you block out time on your calendar?
Processing time Note Can you allow for double booking of service providers by accepting appointments during service processing time?
Duration and price by staff Note Can you adapt the price and time needed for a service based on who is performing the service?
Automated check-in Note Can clients check in to their appointments themselves?
Point of Sale/ Check out
Tablet compatible Note Can you run the POS on any tablet or do you need special hardware?
Dedicated POS hardware Note Does the system provider offer hardware to improve the check out expereince?
Self check out Note Can clients check out from their appointment themselves?
Route payments to renters Note If you have booth renters in your business, can you route payments directly to them?
Cards on file Note Can you store credit card details and charge the customer later?
Integrated payments Note Does the software offer a first-party payment processing solution?
Client Data & Communication
SMS Notification
Email Notificition
Dedicated business SMS number Note Do you get a business phone number that your messages and notifications are send from?
Two way SMS communication
Forms Note Can you create intake forms, store SOAP notes, and have clients sign your forms?
Client notes Note Can you store notes about clients on their profile?
Client files and images Note Can you store files and image on in the client’s profile?
Inventory and Product Types
Inventory tracking Note Will the system keep track of stock levels, notify you when it’s time to re-order?
Purchase orders Note Can the system create automatic purchase orders for you?
Retail
Memberships
Packages
Gift cards
Team Support & Payroll
Fully integrated payroll Note Can you run payroll and cut paychecks directly through the software?
3rd party payroll integration Note Does the software allow you integrate and share data with a 3rd party payroll solution (e.g. Gusto, ADP, Paychex, etc)?
Payroll reports
Commission support Note Can you track and report on commission for service, retail, and other product types?
Multi-location support Note Does the system have specific support for businesses with multiple locations
Booth renter support Note Can the system help with rent collection, payments, and other booth renter management tasks.
Marketing Support
Email marketing
SMS marketing
Website builder
Client marketplace Note Does it offer a platform where potential clients can browse businesses using the software?
Add-on offers Note Can you promote service add-ons/upsells as part of the online booking flow?
Cloud & Mobile App Access
Full-featured mobile app Note Can you access all software features in the mobile app?
Web browser
iPad
iPhone
Android

Can you Integrate Vagaro with Other Platforms?

To a large extent yest. Vagaro offer integration support with several popular systems. You cannot integrate with whetever you want, but they do better here than many of its rivals.

	Vagaro
Custom integrations Note Does the platform allow you to create new integrations to support your business-specific needs?
Native integrations Note Built-in integrations that you can activate as needed	Gusto Quickbooks Zoom Xero

Vagaro Alternatives

Here are my recommended alternatives to Vagaro. Mangomint if you run a business with a team and want more. GlossGenius if you are a solopreneur or have a small team.
Browse all Vagaro Alternatives.

#1

Mangomint

Read my detailed Vagaro vs. Mangomint comparison

Who is it for

The highest-rated software for salons & spas. Designed for businesses with a team who want the best design experience, smart automations, and the flexibility to integrate with other systems.

Average price

Note

Assumes you run a business with a mid-size team and have activated the more common add-ons. What you will pay will be lower or higher than this. See the separate section about pricing for full details.

$245 per month

Supported countries

U.S. and Canada

Overall score

Note

The overall score considers ease of use, customer service, features, user ratings, and cost. Scores are determined solely by our editorial team.

4.9

4.1

Ease of use

5.0

3.0

Customer service

5.0

3.0

Capterra user score

5.0

4.7

G2 user score

4.8

4.4

Learn more

#2

GlossGenius

Read my detailed GlossGenius vs. Vagaro comparison

Who is it for

For independent professionals who want to start accepting payments and get appointment scheduling, a website and marketing up fast without compromising on the experience of their brand

Average price

Note

Assumes you run a business with a mid-size team and have activated the more common add-ons. What you will pay will be lower or higher than this. See the separate section about pricing for full details.

$48 per month

Supported countries

U.S.

Overall score

Note

The overall score considers ease of use, customer service, features, user ratings, and cost. Scores are determined solely by our editorial team.

4.4

4.1

Ease of use

5.0

3.0

Customer service

3.0

3.0

Capterra user score

4.6

4.7

G2 user score

5.0

4.4

Learn more

Vagaro Features

Vagaro truly shines with its richness of features. The remainder of this review will walk you through more details of how things work inside Vagaro.

• Point of Sale System
• Appointment Management
• Online Booking
• Client Data Management
• Inventory Management
• Staff & Payroll Management
• Email & SMS Marketing
• MySite Website Builder
• Social Media & Reputation Management
• Appointment Apps

You can access the POS using the Vagaro hardware, web browser, Android, or iOS app.

Their “Pay Desk” is beautifully designed and comes with dual screens – one for the client and one for you. This is something you need to purchase separately from your Vagaro plan.

However, you get the card reader (which you see next to the screen below) for free when you sign up for their merchant service.

Vagaro is also one of the options on my list of the best POS systems for salons and spas.

You can check out the customer directly from the calendar or by going to check out in the top navigation.

The Vagaro calendar is intuitive and easy to navigate. You can drag and drop appointments to change the time.

Hover an appointment with the mouse for more details. Color code the appointments for an easy overview. Switch between team view, day view, week view, or month view.

Vagaro offers multiple ways for clients to book you. You can create a full website using the Vagaro website builder, embed a booking widget on your existing website, integrate appointment scheduling with Facebook, and allow clients to find and book you on the Vagaro marketplace.

You’ll find rich website embedding options. You can choose if you want it on your website, in a separate pop-up, or if you want the booking to open in a new browser tab.

Vagaro is in fact also listed on my list of the best appointment-scheduling software.

You can also customize multiple widgets that you can embed on different pages. For example, you can have your services bookable on your service page, show products on your product page, and show reviews on your home page.

This gives you more options than most other online appointment scheduling apps. However, design customization is currently limited to color changes.

Below is an example of what the preview of a booking experience would look like.

Notifications & Alerts

Vagaro can notify clients about new appointments, remind them about upcoming bookings, and send appointment confirmation requests. Notifications are sent as SMS, e-mail, and an app notification (in case the user has the Vagaro app installed).

Note that SMS notifications will be an add-on to the standard plan.

You can also choose to notify the staff member and business owner.

The information included in the notification is set by Vagaro but you can add additional information to appointment notifications.

The Vagaro client directory really sets Vagaro apart from most other platforms out there. The amount of information you can store and track on your client is incredibly extensive.

You can store multiple notes on each client and upload PDF files and images to the client profile. Just be aware that you have to purchase additional cloud storage space for images and documents.

Vagaro supports advanced SOAP forms which make the tool very powerful for chiropractors and other similar practices.

Vagaro allows you to manage vendors, brands, and products. You can set up inventory tracking and notifications so that you’re in control of any stock levels. Really, you’ll find all the support you need to effectively manage your product inventory.

Vagaro is a tool I recommend to salon businesses with a team as it comes with great support in this area.

The Vagaro payroll software comes with complete support to simplify all aspects of paying your staff. For more advanced payroll services, it also integrates with QuickBooks, Xero, and Gusto.

The payroll report allows you to configure commission rates down to service and product level. It supports both flat-rate commission and percentage.

You can also customize detailed user access levels for all the groups shown below.

Charge Rent and Fees to Booth Renters

Another unique feature that Vagaro offers is the ability to charge rent and fees to booth renters.

I haven’t seen any other software offering this which makes it super easy and allows for the renter to automate payments from their bank account or credit card.

You can also set up a commission for product sales to be automatically deducted from the rent.

This means you don’t need to manage it the old-school way using cash, checks, or Venmo which can be a nightmare to keep track of.

Vagaro offers advanced support for email and SMS marketing.

You can design rich HTML emails using the drag-and-drop email builder and you can target your campaigns to very specific segments of your clients. For example, you can send an email specifically to clients who haven’t visited you for a certain time.

You can also leverage automated communication so that SMS/email is sent out on your client’s birthday or a certain number of weeks after their appointment.

Cost for Vagaro SMS & Email Marketing

Vagaro Text Marketing costs $20/mo for 500 SMS and they offer plans up to $400/mo for 20,000 SMS.

You’ll get 1000 emails/mo included in your plan and pay $10/mo for 5,000 emails up to $30/mo for 12,000 emails.

Vagaro’s updated website builder, MySite, helps salons create a strong online presence with its comprehensive features.

Select a template or style that suits your brand, and then customize it with drag-and-drop modules. Add text, images, videos, and more to reflect your personality and services.

Vagaro takes care of the technical details, syncing your website with your Vagaro account to keep everything up-to-date.

This includes online booking, availability, services, and more. You can sell products directly from your website, with the inventory synchronized from your Vagaro account.

Vagaro integrates with Facebook, Instagram, Yelp, and Google. These are the platforms all salon businesses should have some level of presence on.

This means people can book you directly from these platforms and that you can feature your gift cards for sale directly on your Google My Business profile.

You can also have your users leave a review of their visit on your Vagaro marketplace profile. The website widget also allows you to show these reviews on your website to strengthen the credibility of your business.

Of course, if you prefer to have reviews collected on your Google Business Profile, you can also change links in your emails, etc. to go to your Google profile instead of Vagaro.

Vagaro offers two apps – one for professionals and one for clients. They are available for both iOS and Android devices. Unless you purchase the hardware from Vagaro, you’ll likely be using the professional app a lot 🙂

The Vagaro Professional app holds a 4.7 (5.0) user rating on the Apple App Store with over 7000 reviews (as of writing this). It has a 4.3 (5.0) user score on Android with close to 7000 reviews.