For one barber working one chair, the cheapest booking software priced in dollars has no monthly fee: Square Appointments' Free plan and Setmore's Free plan. Square Free takes card payments at 2.6% plus 15 cents in person, and Setmore Free covers up to four users with email reminders only. If the shop needs text reminders, Setmore Pro is the cheapest paid option at $5 per user a month billed yearly, or $60 a year, checked on vendor pages in October 2026.
Eight booking apps compared on what one barber in one chair pays a year, with free plans, card fees and add-on costs, checked on vendor pages in October 2026.
This guide ranks eight apps, from Square Appointments and Setmore to Booksy and Acuity Scheduling, by what one barber working one chair pays in a year. It counts the plan limits that push a barber onto a higher tier and the card fees that a subscription page does not show.
Toolradar data: of the 105 tools in our meeting scheduling category, 57% can be opened on a free or freemium plan (14 free and 46 freemium), while 45 are paid only, a 43% share. The free tiers in this list cap the features a barber uses first: Setmore Free sends email reminders only, and Square Free leaves out text marketing.
Methodology: eight booking apps were compared for one barber working one chair, with one location and one online booking page, billed yearly wherever the vendor offers yearly billing. Every price was read on the vendor's own pricing page and checked in October 2026. Apps that publish prices in euros or pounds appear in their own currency and sit outside the dollar ranking, because they are not converted.
Top Picks
Picked by editorial review, informed by G2 and Capterra review volume and rating and by media mentions, the signals behind our category rankings. How we rate
A free booking plan with card processing built in, and the cheapest route for a single barber in the list.
Starting price
Free, then $49 per location
4.5 (262 reviews)
Best for
A solo barber who wants a free booking page and takes most payments by card in person.
Free for up to four users, with a barber shop industry page and a paid Pro plan billed per user.
Starting price
Free, or $5 per user a month
4.6 (1,229 reviews)
Best for
A one-barber shop that wants a free booking page and email reminders, with SMS reminders on Pro.
One flat monthly price with every feature included, a 14-day trial and no commitment.
Starting price
$29.99 a month plus tax
4.7 (257 reviews)
Best for
A barber who wants one flat price and no tiers to compare before adding staff.
| Tool | Starting price | Rating | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Square Appointments | Free, then $49 per location | 4.5 262 reviews | A solo barber who wants a free booking page and takes most payments by card in person. |
| Setmore | Free, or $5 per user a month | 4.6 1,229 reviews | A one-barber shop that wants a free booking page and email reminders, with SMS reminders on Pro. |
| Booksy | $29.99 a month plus tax | 4.7 257 reviews | A barber who wants one flat price and no tiers to compare before adding staff. |
| GlossGenius | $24 a month billed yearly | 4.8 366 reviews | A solo beauty or grooming pro who wants a custom booking site, text marketing and one flat card rate. |
| Acuity Scheduling | $16 a month billed yearly | 4.7 6,173 reviews | A barber who wants a general scheduler with custom client forms and a mobile admin app. |
| SimplyBook.me | Free plan, Basic in euros | 4.5 1,400 reviews | A solo barber with fewer than 50 bookings a month who wants no transaction fees from the software. |
| Fresha | 14.95 euros a month | 4.7 1,450 reviews | A one-person barber who buys in euros and wants per-member billing once staff join. |
| Vagaro | Priced in pounds sterling | 4.6 381 reviews | A shop planning several locations, since Vagaro prices each location and feature on its own. |
Square Appointments
A free booking plan with card processing built in, and the cheapest route for a single barber in the list.
- 4.5 on Capterra (262 reviews)
- Starting price
- Free, then $49 per location
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.5 (262 reviews)
Best for: A solo barber who wants a free booking page and takes most payments by card in person.
- Pro: Free plan with no monthly fee per location, and online booking and appointment reminders listed on the plan
- Pro: In-person card rate of 2.6% plus 15 cents on Free, falling to 2.4% plus 15 cents on Premium
- Pro: Premium adds a future bookings report, service cost tracking and resource management
- Con: Free has no text marketing, and its online card rate is 3.3% plus 30 cents
- Con: Plus includes 500 texts a month but is charged per location, so each extra site adds its fee
Square Appointments offers a generous Free tier for single-location businesses, making it highly accessible.
- Starting price
- Free, or $5 per user a month
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.6 (1,229 reviews)
Best for: A one-barber shop that wants a free booking page and email reminders, with SMS reminders on Pro.
- Pro: Free plan covers up to four users, with a branded booking page and payments accepted
- Pro: Pro adds SMS and email reminders, recurring appointments and unlimited users
- Pro: At $60 a year for one barber, Pro is the lowest annual price in this list that names SMS reminders
- Con: Free sends email reminders only, so a no-show gets no text nudge
- Con: Monthly billing is $12 per user, more than twice the yearly rate
Setmore Free is $0 for up to 4 users.
Watch out
Pro is per staff calendar, even if that person has no login (Setmore pricing FAQ: each staff calendar is a user).
- Starting price
- $29.99 a month plus tax
- Free plan
- No
- Rating
- 4.7 (257 reviews)
Best for: A barber who wants one flat price and no tiers to compare before adding staff.
- Pro: One price of $29.99 a month plus tax, with every feature included and no higher tier
- Pro: Extra team members cost $20 a month each, and there is no commitment
- Pro: Appointment confirmations and reminders are free, with 2,000 marketing texts a month included
- Con: Monthly billing only, so the $359.88 yearly figure is twelve monthly payments plus tax
- Con: Boost takes 30% of a new client's first visit, up to $100, if the feature is switched on
GlossGenius
A flat 2.6% card rate on every plan, with a Standard tier at $24 a month billed yearly.
- 4.8 on Capterra (349 reviews)
- 4.6 on G2 (13 reviews)
- 5.0 on Trustpilot (4 reviews)
- Starting price
- $24 a month billed yearly
- Free plan
- No
- Rating
- 4.8 (366 reviews)
Best for: A solo beauty or grooming pro who wants a custom booking site, text marketing and one flat card rate.
- Pro: Standard includes a custom booking website, unlimited client notifications, and email and text marketing
- Pro: One flat 2.6% rate, with no separate Tap to Pay, card-on-file or manual entry fees
- Pro: Packages and memberships are included on Standard, not reserved for a higher tier
- Con: No free plan, only a 14-day trial
- Con: Forms, waivers and an automated waitlist need Gold at $48 a month billed yearly
GlossGenius offers a fair pricing structure, especially with the annual discounts.
Watch out
Payment processing fees not included
Acuity Scheduling
A general appointment tool with a 7-day trial, a Starter plan at $16 a month billed yearly and no free plan.
- Starting price
- $16 a month billed yearly
- Free plan
- No
- Rating
- 4.7 (6,173 reviews)
Best for: A barber who wants a general scheduler with custom client forms and a mobile admin app.
- Pro: Starter includes email reminders, custom client forms and card payments through Stripe, Square, PayPal or Venmo
- Pro: Standard at $27 a month billed yearly adds text reminders, a waitlist, memberships and gift certificates
- Pro: Prices are stated in US dollars, and the 7-day trial needs no credit card
- Con: Starter allows one calendar, so a second barber needs Standard with six calendars
- Con: No free plan, so the trial is the only way to try it without paying
Acuity's pricing is fair, offering a good range of features across its tiers.
SimplyBook.me
A free plan for 50 bookings a month and one provider, with euro prices on every paid tier.
- Starting price
- Free plan, Basic in euros
- Free plan
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.5 (1,400 reviews)
Best for: A solo barber with fewer than 50 bookings a month who wants no transaction fees from the software.
- Pro: Free plan at 0 euros with up to 50 bookings a month, one provider and basic email reminders
- Pro: No additional transaction fees on bookings or customer payments, according to its pricing FAQ
- Pro: Billing yearly lowers the Basic price compared with monthly billing
- Con: Prices are in euros, so this list cannot set them against dollar plans
- Con: The 50-booking limit is monthly, so a barber with a fuller calendar needs Basic
SimplyBook.me publishes a 2026 grid (updated May 2026).
Watch out
HIPAA, SSO, and white-label are not on Free/Basic. SMS and custom domain are never inside the subscription (official footnote).
- Starting price
- 14.95 euros a month
- Free plan
- No
- Rating
- 4.7 (1,450 reviews)
Best for: A one-person barber who buys in euros and wants per-member billing once staff join.
- Pro: Independent plan at 14.95 euros a month, with a 7-day trial
- Pro: Team plan bills 9.95 euros per team member a month, so each new barber adds a set cost
- Pro: Independent includes free messages and free marketing emails each month
- Con: Prices are in euros, so this list does not put them in the dollar ranking
- Con: Independent has one calendar column, so a second chair needs the Team plan
This pricing structure is best for small to medium-sized beauty and wellness businesses looking for scalable solutions.
Watch out
Overage fees for messages/emails
- Starting price
- Priced in pounds sterling
- Free plan
- No
- Rating
- 4.6 (381 reviews)
Best for: A shop planning several locations, since Vagaro prices each location and feature on its own.
- Pro: Pricing is à la carte, so each location is priced by the features it uses
- Pro: A 30-day free trial, and the pricing page says cancellation carries no fee
- Pro: Schedulicity is now Vagaro, so Schedulicity's booking app is run from the same platform
- Con: Plan prices are shown in pounds sterling, so no dollar price is ranked here
- Con: Prices set per location and per feature make one barber's annual cost harder to pin down than a flat fee
The cost scales directly with the number of calendars needed, which is a transparent approach.
Watch out
Add-on features like website builder cost extra
What barbershop booking software does for a one-chair shop
Barbershop booking software is an online calendar that clients use to pick a time, pay by card and receive a reminder, while the barber's own schedule stays in step. Most products on this list give a shop a booking page, a payment step and reminders. The differences sit in the plan: how many users it covers, whether text reminders are included, whether the price is charged per location, and what the card reader costs.
For a single barber, those four details decide the bill.
Why the first paid plan is the number that matters
A one-barber shop pays for its booking app twelve months a year, so a small monthly gap becomes a real annual bill. The free plans are real, but each one leaves out something a barber uses every week. Setmore Free sends email reminders only, so a client who forgets a cut gets no text nudge. Square Free has no text marketing.
Card fees matter as much as the subscription. On a $40 cut paid by card in person, Square Free's 2.6% plus 15 cents comes to $1.19, while Booksy's own card reader at 2.49% plus 10 cents comes to $1.10. That nine-cent gap looks small, but it repeats on every cut in a busy week.
Key Features to Look For
Free plan limits (Essential)
Square Appointments lists a Free plan at no monthly fee per location, and Setmore Free covers up to four users. SimplyBook.me's free plan caps a barber at 50 bookings a month. Acuity Scheduling and GlossGenius have trials but no free plan.
Text reminders (Essential)
Setmore reserves SMS reminders for Pro, which is billed per user. Acuity adds text reminders from its Standard plan at $27 a month billed yearly. Booksy says appointment confirmations and reminders are free, and its plans include 2,000 marketing texts a month.
Card processing rates (Essential)
Square charges 2.6% plus 15 cents for a card tapped in person on Free, and 3.3% plus 30 cents for an online card payment. GlossGenius takes a flat 2.6% on every plan. Booksy's card reader takes 2.49% plus 10 cents per transaction.
Price per location or per user (Important)
Square prices per location, so a second location adds $49 a month on Plus. Booksy adds $20 a month for each extra team member. Setmore Pro charges per user, and Fresha charges per bookable team member in euros.
Calendars for each chair (Important)
Acuity Starter allows one calendar and Standard allows six, and Acuity asks shops to use separate calendars per employee or location. Setmore's free tier covers up to four users, which suits a small shop with a few barbers.
What to weigh before choosing a barbershop booking app
-
Start with the reminder rule. Setmore Free sends email reminders only, so a barber who wants texts needs Setmore Pro, the paid plan with SMS reminders.
-
Annualise every price before comparing. Acuity Starter is $16 a month billed yearly and $20 billed monthly, and GlossGenius Standard is $24 against $28, so the billing term can move a plan past a rival.
-
Count the card fee on a real ticket. On a $40 cut paid in person, Square Free costs $1.19 and GlossGenius's flat 2.6% costs $1.04, so a free subscription can still cost more per cut than a flat-rate plan.
-
Check the location count. Square charges per location, so a barber who opens a second site pays the Plus fee for it.
-
Choose the currency you pay in. Fresha and SimplyBook.me list euros and Vagaro lists pounds, so their prices need a separate check before they can be set against dollar plans.
Evaluation Checklist
Book a test appointment on your own booking page and confirm that the reminder arrives by the channel the plan promises.
Check the plan's user or calendar limit against the number of barbers and chairs you expect to run over the next year.
Run a card through the reader at your usual cut price and note the fee in dollars before you choose a plan.
Compare the annual price with the monthly price and calculate the twelve-month total, including tax.
Pricing Overview
Free plans
Square Free and Setmore Free, for a barber who can manage with email reminders and is comfortable with Square's card rates.
$0
Entry paid plans
Setmore Pro, Acuity Starter, GlossGenius Standard and Booksy, for one barber who wants a paid calendar and a fuller feature set than the free tiers give.
$5 to $30 a month
Growing shop plans
Acuity Standard, which adds text reminders and a waitlist, and Square Plus, which includes 500 texts a month, for a shop that is adding features or a second site.
$27 to $49 a month
Euro and pound plans
Fresha, SimplyBook.me and Vagaro, for buyers who pay in euros or pounds and want their software priced in the currency of their bank account.
Euro and pound prices
Pricing Comparison
| Tool | Plan for one barber | Cost per year | Free plan | Billing and add-on costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Free, one location | $0 plus card fees | Yes | In person 2.6% plus 15 cents, online 3.3% plus 30 cents. No text marketing on Free. | |
Setmore | Free, up to 4 users | $0 | Yes | Email reminders only. SMS reminders need Pro. |
Setmore Pro | 1 user, billed yearly | $60 | No | $12 per user a month if billed monthly. SMS and email reminders are included. |
Starter, billed yearly | $192 | No, 7-day trial | $20 a month billed monthly, or $240 a year. No text reminders on Starter. | |
Standard, billed yearly | $288 | No, 14-day trial | $28 a month billed monthly, or $336 a year. Flat 2.6% card rate on every plan. | |
Acuity Standard | Adds text reminders and a waitlist | $324 | No | $34 a month billed monthly, or $408 a year. |
Booksy | One user, monthly billing | $359.88 | No, 14-day trial | Flat monthly price plus tax. Boost takes 30% of a new client's first visit, up to $100, if turned on. |
Square Plus | One location, 500 texts a month | $588 | No | $49 per location a month. In-person card rate 2.5% plus 15 cents. |
Free, up to 50 bookings a month | Not in dollars | Yes | Euro prices only. Basic is 11.90 euros a month billed yearly. No transaction fees from SimplyBook.me. | |
Fresha | Independent, one team member | Not in dollars | No | 14.95 euros a month, or 9.95 euros per team member a month on Team. |
Vagaro | One location plan | Not in dollars | No, 30-day trial | Plan prices shown in pounds sterling. Schedulicity is now part of Vagaro. |
Read in October 2026 on vendor pages: Square Appointments pricing, Setmore pricing, Acuity Scheduling pricing, GlossGenius pricing, Booksy Biz pricing, SimplyBook.me pricing, Fresha pricing and Vagaro pricing. Yearly costs are the monthly price times 12 at the billing term shown.
Mistakes to Avoid
- ×
Choosing the free plan without checking whether it sends text reminders. Setmore Free sends email reminders only, and SMS starts on Pro.
- ×
Comparing monthly prices with yearly prices. GlossGenius Standard is $24 a month billed yearly and $28 billed monthly, so the billing term changes the bill.
- ×
Forgetting the card rate. Square's in-person Free rate is 2.6% plus 15 cents per card, so a free plan is only part of the bill.
- ×
Counting euro or pound prices as dollars. Fresha, SimplyBook.me and Vagaro publish in their own currency, and an exchange rate changes the answer.
Expert Tips
- →
Compare the year, not the month. Booksy bills monthly only, so its $359.88 a year before tax is the figure to set against a barber's budget.
- →
Price the card reader at your average cut. At $40 a cut, Booksy's card reader costs $1.10 and Square Free in person costs $1.19.
- →
Test the booking page before paying. Acuity has a 7-day trial and GlossGenius a 14-day trial, both without a free plan, and Booksy's 14-day trial needs no credit card.
- →
Switch off Boost unless you want marketplace clients. It takes 30% of a first visit, up to $100, on top of the Booksy subscription.
Red Flags to Watch For
-
A plan billed per location, as with Square Plus, whose fee repeats each time the shop opens a site.
-
A reminder feature sold only on a higher tier, such as Acuity's text reminders, which start on Standard at $27 a month billed yearly.
The Bottom Line
For one barber in one chair, the cheapest barbershop booking software is Square Appointments on its Free plan, or Setmore on its Free plan, with no monthly fee. Setmore Pro is the cheapest paid route to text reminders. Booksy at $29.99 a month plus tax suits a barber who wants one flat price. Check the card fee on a real cut before choosing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cheapest barbershop booking software in 2026?
For one barber in one chair, Square Appointments on its Free plan and Setmore on its Free plan both carry no monthly fee. For text reminders, Setmore Pro is the cheapest paid option at $5 per user a month billed yearly, or $60 a year, as shown on the pricing page in October 2026.
How much does barbershop booking software cost for one barber?
On the dollar plans checked in October 2026, a single barber's yearly subscription runs from nothing on the free tiers up to $588 a year on Square Plus. GlossGenius Standard is $288 a year billed yearly, Acuity Starter is $192 a year, and Booksy is $359.88 a year on monthly billing plus tax.
Is there a free barbershop booking app?
Yes. Square Appointments' Free plan and Setmore's Free plan both carry no monthly fee, and Setmore Free covers up to four users. SimplyBook.me also has a free plan at 0 euros for up to 50 bookings a month. Acuity Scheduling and GlossGenius offer trials but no free plan.
Is Booksy cheaper than Square for one barber?
On the subscription, Square Free is cheaper, with no monthly fee against Booksy's $29.99 a month plus tax. Square Plus is priced per location, so one site already costs more than Booksy. On a $40 cut paid in person, Square Free's card rate comes to $1.19 while Booksy's card reader comes to $1.10, so the card rate can change the order.
Does Schedulicity still exist?
Schedulicity's website now says it is Vagaro, so Schedulicity is not ranked as a separate app in this guide. Vagaro publishes its plan prices in pounds sterling, so they sit outside the dollar ranking.
Do I need text reminders for a barbershop?
Acuity's own page says its text reminders are meant to reduce no-shows. Among the plans in this guide, Setmore Pro is the lowest annual price that names SMS reminders.
Cite this page: Toolradar, "Cheapest Barbershop Booking Software in 2026", updated October 2026, https://toolradar.com/guides/cheapest-barbershop-booking-software
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