October 20, 2026,

Vagaro Daily Deals and Vera Fill My Books: The New Booking Fee Explained for Businesses

Vagaro has changed how Daily Deals and Get Featured work. Get Featured is now Vera Fill My Books, and Daily Deals carry a fee on every booking they bring in. If your med spa runs deals on Vagaro, this changes what a discounted appointment really earns you. Below is what Vagaro's own help center says, how the fee is calculated, and what to check before you opt in.

Every fact about the fee in this post comes from Vagaro's support article Changes to Get Featured and Daily Deals, read on 20 October 2026. Vagaro can change these terms, so confirm them in your own account before you decide.

What changed

Get Featured became Vera Fill My Books. Vera, Vagaro's built-in AI assistant, creates deals using the maximum discount you set and promotes them on the Vagaro Marketplace, by email to Vagaro users within 25 miles who have not visited you, and by push notification to existing customers.
Daily Deals now have a per-booking fee. Vagaro says this applies to every business that uses Daily Deals, even if you never turn on Fill My Books.
It is opt-in. Existing users see a pop-up asking them to opt in. If you opt out, your Daily Deals and Get Featured are switched off.

How the fee works

20% when a new customer books through a deal, 5% when an existing customer does.
There is no monthly fee, and no fee if a deal brings no booking.
Vagaro collects the fee as a deposit when the client books online. It is calculated on the cart total after discounts, without tax or tips.
Once a deal is used, the fee is calculated on everything in the cart, including services the deal did not cover. Only gift cards and retail products are left out.
If you already take a deposit higher than the fee, Vagaro takes its fee from your deposit rather than adding a second one.

Who counts as a new customer

This decides whether you pay 5% or 20%, so it matters more than it looks. According to Vagaro:

Anyone whose account is not in your customer list counts as new.
A regular who books with a different email can be treated as new. Vagaro asks the client whether they have visited before, and the 20% is dropped if they say yes.
Someone who filled out one of your forms or messaged you on Connect, but has not visited yet, is still new, and the 20% applies.

In the comments under that article, a Vagaro support rep explains that if you apply a deal to all services, every new-customer booking is subject to the 20% fee, no matter where the client came from. That includes clients who found you through your own website, Instagram or a referral. If you want the fee to apply only to clients the deal actually brings in, limit the deal to specific services.

What it costs on a med spa ticket

Med spa tickets are high, so a percentage fee adds up fast. Two illustrative examples, using made-up prices:

A new client books a $600 filler appointment through a 15% deal. The cart is $510, and the 20% fee is $102. You give up $90 in discount and $102 in fee on one booking.
A regular books a $200 facial through a 10% last-minute deal and adds a $150 peel. The cart is $330, and the 5% fee is $16.50, charged on the peel too.

Run the same sum with your own prices and discount before you opt in.

Cancellations, refunds and no-shows

Vagaro refunds the fee to the client only when the appointment is canceled at least 24 hours ahead, or earlier if your cancellation policy is longer. If you refund a client after checkout, refunding the 20% or 5% deposit is your responsibility. Business owners in the article's comments also ask what happens to the fee when a new client does not show up, which is worth checking in your own account.

What owners are saying

Public reviews of the change on Trustpilot and the BBB keep coming back to three points: being charged the new-client fee on clients they brought in themselves, losing visibility on the marketplace after opting out, and how the change was rolled out. Vagaro's replies say it announced the change with an in-app pop-up and an email.

Should you opt in?

It can make sense when:

you have empty last-minute slots that would otherwise earn nothing
you are new to an area and need first visits more than margin
the deal covers a low-ticket entry service that leads to treatment plans

When it may not pay off:

most of your new clients already come from your website, Google, Instagram or referrals
your bookings are high-ticket injectables, lasers or packages, where 20% of the cart is a large amount
your regulars would book anyway and now book through a deal

If you do opt in, limit deals to specific services, check the Vera source in your reports each month, and consider requiring a deposit from new clients only, which Vagaro support says the online cart allows.

Keeping bookings direct

A deal on someone else's marketplace is one way to fill the calendar. The other is making it easy for clients to book with you directly and bringing them back yourself. Workee puts booking on your own website with no client account to create, and Workee Pro and Business charge no Workee transaction fee; Stripe and PayPal charge their usual processing fees. Jenny, Workee's AI front desk, confirms each booking, follows up after visits to rebook, and wins back clients who have gone quiet, by text and email. Holiday offers go out to your own client list.

Workee can run alongside Vagaro, so you don't have to switch to try it. See Workee vs Vagaro, the Vagaro alternatives for med spas, or the guide to exporting your data from Vagaro.

Common questions

Does Vagaro charge a fee on Daily Deals?

Yes. Vagaro's help center says Daily Deals and Vera Fill My Books charge 20% of the cart when a new customer books and 5% when an existing customer does, collected as a deposit at online booking.

Can I keep Daily Deals without the fee?

According to Vagaro, no. If you opt out of the new pricing, your Daily Deals and Get Featured are switched off.

Is the fee charged on my website bookings?

It can be. A Vagaro support rep says that when a deal applies to all services, every new-customer booking is charged the 20% fee wherever the client came from. Limit deals to specific services if you want your own channels left out.