Next vs Vagaro

Next is a free booking app for salon professionals working in salon suites. Professionals can set booking rules, choose request-based or direct booking, customize service durations and stack appointments. Marketing tools support email, in-app and SMS campaigns, including prepared or custom campaigns. Its point-of-sale system supports deposits, cards on file, coupons, discounts, touch and touchless payments, and merged or split payments. The payment page lists a flat 2.52% processing rate on chipped card transactions, including AMEX and Discover, with no per-transaction fees. Next can connect with participating salon suite locations for rent management, website booking, cross-marketing and maintenance requests. The maker identifies hairstylists, barbers, nail artists, makeup artists, lash technicians, estheticians, massage therapists and other personal-care professionals as its audience. The app is available on Android, iOS and the web. Booking features are free; unlimited SMS texts are an optional $5 a month plan. Connection to a salon suite website and check-in system is marked as coming soon.

Vagaro is business management and scheduling software for beauty, wellness, and fitness businesses. It combines booking pages and payments with calendar and resource management, reporting, inventory, invoices, memberships, packages, gift certificates, and customer tracking. Businesses can offer group bookings, automated reminders, and two-way calendar sync. Vagaro says it serves independent providers through businesses with multiple locations, and listings on the Vagaro Marketplace come at no additional cost. The web-based service is available through vagaro.com, with Vagaro Pro apps for Apple and Android devices. QuickBooks and Xero integrations can import sales transactions, taxes, tips, and refunds; when synchronization starts, QuickBooks initially imports only the previous two months of Vagaro data. APIs and webhooks can connect accounts to external systems and send real-time business-event notifications. The One Location plan costs $30 a month, billed monthly, for one location. A United States base subscription is listed at $23.99 a month for the first six months, with one bookable calendar included. Vagaro offers a 30-day trial, which excludes email marketing, text marketing, and the branded app.