Is SageBizet a free alternative to Vagaro?

SageBizet is free during early access, with appointment booking, POS, inventory, cash drawer, expenses, customer tabs and staff roles included and no per-calendar fee. Vagaro charges a monthly subscription per location, plus $10 a month for each additional bookable calendar in the US, and sells extras such as forms, text marketing and payroll as add-ons.

How much does Vagaro cost?

As of October 2026, Vagaro’s US subscription is $23.99 a month for the first six months, shown against $30, with one bookable calendar. Each additional calendar is $10 a month up to seven paid licenses, after which more staff cost nothing extra. Card processing and add-ons such as Forms, the Online Shopping Cart and text messaging plans are charged on top.

Does SageBizet send appointment reminders like Vagaro?

No. SageBizet does not send SMS or email reminders automatically. Salons, barbershops and gyms get daily call lists with the message already written, sent from the desk’s phone by WhatsApp or SMS and ticked off or logged. Vagaro includes automated reminders by email or text in its plans.

Can SageBizet take booking deposits or no-show fees?

Not online: SageBizet does not process payments, so it cannot take a deposit when a client books online or charge a card. A salon can record a deposit taken at the desk in cash, on its own card terminal or by mobile money; it is held as the client’s credit, used at checkout, refunded, or kept as a no-show or late-cancellation fee.

Does SageBizet work for gyms and fitness studios?

Yes. Gym is a business type in SageBizet with membership plans, visit packs, personal training, a class timetable with a waitlist, and front-desk check-in by member card or a QR pass. Memberships are invoiced and paid at the desk; no card is charged automatically, and a gym runs on one location for now.

Is Vagaro available outside the United States?

Vagaro serves businesses in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia, with prices set for each country. SageBizet works in any country, currency and timezone, because it records payments instead of processing them.

SageBizet vs Vagaro

Vagaro is booking, payments and marketing software for beauty, wellness and fitness, priced per bookable calendar with paid add-ons. SageBizet is a general business system whose booking sits next to the till, stock and cash.

Vagaro is the better choice for a beauty, wellness or fitness business in the US, Canada, the UK or Australia that wants automatic reminders, online deposits, integrated payments and a client marketplace; SageBizet is the better choice for a salon, barbershop or gym that wants booking, a walk-in queue, POS, stock, cash drawer and expenses free during early access, in any country.

Updated October 17, 2026 · competitor details checked October 17, 2026

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The short answer

Choose Vagaro if you run a salon, spa, barbershop or fitness studio in the US, Canada, the UK or Australia and want automatic text and email reminders, deposits and cancellation fees taken online, memberships billed to a card on file, a marketplace listing and apps for you and your clients, and you are happy to pay a monthly subscription per calendar plus add-ons. Choose SageBizet if you want booking, a walk-in queue, POS, stock, the cash drawer, expenses and customer credit tabs in one system with no subscription or per-calendar fee during early access, you take payment on your own card terminal, in cash or by mobile money, or your business is outside the four countries Vagaro serves.

Side by side

SageBizet vs Vagaro: feature comparison
	SageBizet	Vagaro
Price model	Free during early access: every feature, no per-terminal or per-user fees	Monthly subscription per location: $23.99 a month for the first six months, shown against $30, with one bookable calendar (US, as of October 2026); 30-day free trial; paid add-ons
Cost per team member	None: invite as many staff as you need, with Owner, Manager, Staff, Accountant, salon or barbershop roles and custom roles	$10 a month for each additional bookable calendar, up to seven paid licenses; staff after that at no extra cost (US, as of October 2026). Base price is $35 in Canada, £20 in the UK and $45 in Australia
Payment processing	None. Records how each sale was paid: cash, card, mobile money, other or a customer tab; salons and barbershops also take gift cards and the client’s credit	Built in with Vagaro Merchant Services. US rate under $4,000 a month in card sales: 2.6% + 10¢ in person, 3.5% + 19¢ keyed in (as of October 2026), plus monthly card-network fees
Hardware	None sold or required; works with a normal receipt printer and any keyboard-style barcode scanner	Sells PayPro card terminals, card readers, a swivel stand, QR scanner, receipt printer and cash drawer; a free card reader when you sign up for its payments
Booking	Public booking page; for salons and barbershops, a column per stylist or barber, several services in one visit, processing time that can be booked, stations, repeating visits and a waitlist. No calendar sync	Calendar and resource management, a customer waitlist, and online booking on Vagaro, Instagram, Facebook and Apple Maps
Reminders and messages	No automatic SMS or email reminders. Confirmations, reminders and follow-ups are written in the business’s own words and sent from the desk’s phone by WhatsApp or SMS	Free automated appointment reminders by email or text, and push notifications in the Vagaro app; text marketing and two-way texts use a Text Messaging plan, from $20 a month for 1,000 credits (US, as of October 2026)
New clients	Public business page in the SageBizet directory with online booking	Free listing on the Vagaro Marketplace in the US, Canada and Australia, also bookable from Google and Apple Maps; booking fees apply in the UK
Deposits and no-shows	No-show grace period and a cancellation policy on the booking page. A salon records deposits taken at the desk and can keep one as a no-show or late-cancellation fee; nothing is charged online, since SageBizet does not process payments	Deposits and cancellation fees on online appointments with the Online Shopping Cart add-on, $10 a month in the US (as of October 2026)
Memberships, packages and gift cards	Salons and barbershops: packages, memberships, service vouchers, gift cards and loyalty, sold and renewed at the desk; no card is charged automatically	Memberships, packages, gift certificates and loyalty programmes in every plan; memberships can be paid by autopay with a card on file
Gyms and classes	Membership plans, visit packs and personal training; a class timetable with capacity and a waitlist that moves up; check-in by member card or a QR pass, and a kiosk mode; invoices, but no autopay; one location	Classes booked online, a Check-In App ($10 a month) and live-streamed classes and appointments ($10 a month per license) (US, as of October 2026)
POS and inventory	Full POS with barcode scanning; salons and barbershops get retail products with sizes and barcodes, suppliers, purchasing and stock counts, plus backbar products used by each service, at cost	POS with integrated payments; inventory with barcode scanning, purchase orders and restock alerts, in every plan
Staff pay	Salons and barbershops: commission rules, tips per stylist, a rota, clocking in, statements and payouts. No payroll and no chair rental	Vagaro Payroll, which works with Gusto, at $34 a month plus $5 per employee (US, as of October 2026); rent collection for booth renters
Platforms	Any modern browser on a computer, tablet or phone; installable as a web app	iOS and Android apps for businesses and for their customers; a branded customer app at $100 a month plus a $100 development fee (US, limited-time price, as of October 2026)
Where it works	Any country, any currency and timezone	The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia, with prices set for each country

Where each one is stronger

If the other product fits your business better, it should win — this is where.

Vagaro is the better choice when you need

Automated appointment reminders by text and email are included in every plan, with push notifications through the Vagaro customer app; SageBizet sends nothing automatically.
Integrated card payments make online deposits, cancellation fees and membership autopay possible, with Vagaro’s own card terminals.
A free listing on the Vagaro Marketplace in the US, plus online booking from Instagram, Facebook, Google and Apple Maps.
Native iOS and Android apps for the business and its customers, and a branded app of your own as an add-on.
Add-ons SageBizet does not have: digital intake and consent forms with signatures, a website builder, live-streamed classes, payroll, QuickBooks and Xero sync, and APIs and webhooks.
Built for beauty, wellness and fitness, including spas, med spas and booth renters.

SageBizet is the better choice when you need

No subscription and no per-calendar fee: every feature is free during early access.
A barbershop walk-in queue with waits shown as ranges from each barber’s own cut times, a TV screen, door check-in and a style card for every cut, which keeps working when the internet drops.
Commission rules, tips, a rota, clocking in, backbar product use and service margin are part of the salon and barbershop modules, with no add-ons.
One system for appointments and the rest of the business: cash drawer counts with over/short, expenses with net profit, and customer credit tabs.
Works in any country, currency and timezone, with whatever card terminal or mobile-money service you already use.

Booking platform with payments, or business system

Vagaro is booking, payments and marketing software for salons, spas, barbershops and fitness studios. Its subscription is priced per location and per bookable calendar, and much of what it does best — automatic reminders, online deposits, membership autopay, a marketplace listing — is built around its own card payments and apps, with forms, a website, text marketing and payroll as paid add-ons. SageBizet is free during early access and puts appointment booking next to a full POS, inventory, the cash drawer and customer tabs, but it does not take payments or send messages by itself.

Who should choose Vagaro

No-shows cost you money and you want reminders sent automatically, deposits taken when clients book online and cancellation fees charged.
Your gym or studio runs on memberships that should renew on a card without anyone at the desk.
You want new clients from a marketplace and your own app on clients’ phones.
You need intake and consent forms, live-streamed classes, payroll or an accounting integration, and your business is in the US, Canada, the UK or Australia.

Who should choose SageBizet

You are growing a team and do not want the monthly bill to rise with every chair or calendar you add.
Your barbershop lives on walk-ins and needs a fair queue, wait times and a TV screen as much as a calendar.
Your salon wants commission, tips, backbar product costs and retail stock worked out in the same place as the bookings.
You take cash or mobile money, or work outside the four countries Vagaro serves, and want the drawer counted against expected cash at close.

Switching from Vagaro

There is no import tool built for Vagaro. Salons and barbershops can import clients from a CSV file and gyms can import members the same way; services, stylists or barbers and chairs are set up in a few skippable steps. Share your public booking page where clients find you. Bookings, packages and memberships already sold in Vagaro are best honoured there until they are used.

Common questions

Is SageBizet a free alternative to Vagaro?: SageBizet is free during early access, with appointment booking, POS, inventory, cash drawer, expenses, customer tabs and staff roles included and no per-calendar fee. Vagaro charges a monthly subscription per location, plus $10 a month for each additional bookable calendar in the US, and sells extras such as forms, text marketing and payroll as add-ons.
How much does Vagaro cost?: As of October 2026, Vagaro’s US subscription is $23.99 a month for the first six months, shown against $30, with one bookable calendar. Each additional calendar is $10 a month up to seven paid licenses, after which more staff cost nothing extra. Card processing and add-ons such as Forms, the Online Shopping Cart and text messaging plans are charged on top.
Does SageBizet send appointment reminders like Vagaro?: No. SageBizet does not send SMS or email reminders automatically. Salons, barbershops and gyms get daily call lists with the message already written, sent from the desk’s phone by WhatsApp or SMS and ticked off or logged. Vagaro includes automated reminders by email or text in its plans.
Can SageBizet take booking deposits or no-show fees?: Not online: SageBizet does not process payments, so it cannot take a deposit when a client books online or charge a card. A salon can record a deposit taken at the desk in cash, on its own card terminal or by mobile money; it is held as the client’s credit, used at checkout, refunded, or kept as a no-show or late-cancellation fee.
Does SageBizet work for gyms and fitness studios?: Yes. Gym is a business type in SageBizet with membership plans, visit packs, personal training, a class timetable with a waitlist, and front-desk check-in by member card or a QR pass. Memberships are invoiced and paid at the desk; no card is charged automatically, and a gym runs on one location for now.
Is Vagaro available outside the United States?: Vagaro serves businesses in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia, with prices set for each country. SageBizet works in any country, currency and timezone, because it records payments instead of processing them.

Sources

Details about Vagaro come from its own public pages, checked on October 17, 2026. Products and prices change — check the source before deciding.

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