Vagaro vs Fresha
a metered calendar or a marketplace
Vagaro starts at $23.99 a month for one bookable calendar (an introductory rate for six months, then $30) and meters forms, a website and texts on top. Fresha’s Independent plan is $19.95 a month for one bookable team member, includes digital forms, and takes a one-time 20% commission on new marketplace clients. Here is everything each one publishes, side by side.1
Vagaro vs Fresha at a glance
Every figure is quoted from each vendor’s own pricing page, accessed 18 October 2026, and its own help centre for exports, accessed 18 October 2026. Sources at the foot of the page.
| Published | Vagaro | Fresha |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $23.99/mo introductory rate for the first 6 months (then $30/mo), includes 1 bookable calendar | Independent - $19.95/mo, one bookable team member |
| Digital forms | $10/mo add-on | Included; intake, consent and before-and-after photos |
| ePrescribe | ScriptSure: $40/mo per doctor + $5/mo per medical assistant | Not offered |
| Texting | Credit plans from $20/mo for 1,000 credits up to $2,500 for 500,000 | 100 free monthly, then $0.02 per text |
| Card processing | 2.6% + 10c under $4k/mo volume; 2.29% + 19c above, plus a $10/mo merchant fee | 2.29% + 20c in person; 2.79% + 20c online; 3.30% + 20c keyed |
| Contract terms | Month to month, cancel any time | No minimum commitment, cancel any time |
| Exporting your clients | Only the business owner can export the customer list, to PDF or Excel. Reports are exported one at a time. | Clients, appointments and the service menu export to Excel, CSV or PDF; reports go one at a time. |
Choose Vagaro if these describe you
Vagaro is a low-entry, heavily-metered platform priced per calendar.
You need a full clinical CRM in one system
EMR-style charting, SOAP notes, before-and-after comparison, e-forms and true ePrescribe through ScriptSure, all inside the same platform that books the appointment. Among mainstream salon platforms a real prescribing path is rare, and it makes Vagaro a serious option for injectables and weight-loss practices.
You have a large team in one location
Billing stops at seven paid calendars and every staff member after that is free. A 25-provider location pays the same base as a 7-provider one. Very few competitors do this.
You want one vendor for everything
Payroll, website builder, branded app, shopping cart, check-in kiosk, accounting integrations and a consumer marketplace are all first-party.
Choose Fresha if these describe you
Fresha is a marketplace-led platform that charges commission on new clients.
You need new clients more than you need better operations
The marketplace is the real product. Fresha only charges when it delivers a new client: 20% once, minimum $6, then that client is yours free forever. For a new or under-booked location that is a materially different risk profile from paying for ads.
You are a small team and want the lowest predictable software cost
A three-person spa is around $45 a month before processing, with no booking fees, no contract and no setup fee, and the core booking, POS and client records in the base price.
Compliance matters but you are not prescribing
Fresha states HIPAA compliance plus HITRUST CSF certification on its med spa page, which is stronger than most booking-first platforms at this price.
What leaving each one involves
Leaving Vagaro
Only the business owner can export the customer list, to PDF or Excel. Reports are exported one at a time. Notes and form responses come out per customer; no bulk export of photos is described. Vagaro publishes no deletion date for a cancelled account.
Leaving Fresha
Clients, appointments and the service menu export to Excel, CSV or PDF; reports go one at a time. Card details cannot be exported, forms and files come out one at a time, and deleting a workspace is permanent.
Where Workee fits with either one
Workee is not in this table. It puts booking on your own website and passes appointments to the calendar you already run, with Jenny, an AI front desk that confirms each booking, follows up after visits to rebook, recovers abandoned bookings and wins back clients who have gone quiet, by text and email. It runs alongside Vagaro or Fresha, or replaces either.
Workee vs Vagaro
How Workee runs alongside Vagaro.
Workee vs Fresha
How Workee runs alongside Fresha.
Vagaro alternatives
The platforms med spas weigh against Vagaro.
Fresha alternatives
The platforms med spas weigh against Fresha.
Vagaro review
Published pricing, strengths, limits and what leaving Vagaro involves.
Fresha review
Published pricing, strengths, limits and what leaving Fresha involves.
Vagaro vs Fresha: common questions
- Does Fresha charge a commission?
Only on new clients who find you through the Fresha marketplace: a one-time 20%, with a minimum of $6 per client. Returning clients carry no booking fee. Vagaro does not list a marketplace commission on its pricing page. - Which one offers ePrescribe?Vagaro does, through ScriptSure, at $40 a month per doctor plus $5 a month per medical assistant. Fresha does not offer ePrescribe, so a practice that prescribes would need a second system alongside it.
- Are digital forms included?On Fresha, yes: intake, consent and before-and-after photos are included. On Vagaro, digital forms are a $10 a month add-on.
- Can I keep Vagaro or Fresha and add Workee?Yes. Workee takes bookings on your own website and passes them to the calendar you already run, and Jenny follows up with clients by text and email, so Vagaro or Fresha keeps handling the rest. If you later move fully, Workee has its own calendar, payments and client records, and imports your client list from a spreadsheet.
Weighing Vagaro against Fresha?
See what Workee adds to either.
Sources
- Vagaro pricing page. Accessed 18 October 2026.
- Fresha pricing page. Accessed 18 October 2026.
- Vagaro — Cancel or Pause Your Vagaro Subscription. Accessed 18 October 2026.
- Fresha — Export your client list. Accessed 18 October 2026.
