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Discover all the tools you need to grow your business like a pro — scheduling, reminders, payments, and more.
Discover all the tools you need to grow your business like a pro — scheduling, reminders, payments, and more.
Are you spending more time managing your salon than actually focusing on your work? You’re not alone, and the tool you choose could make or break your client experience.
Efficiency and client experience are everything. A study in the Journal of Business Economics found that clients are more likely to book appointments when they see the available time slots. This means having an easy-to-use online booking system can really help attract more bookings.
Vagaro is one of the most recognized platforms in the industry, known for its broad feature set catering to large businesses. But in recent years, many solo professionals and small teams have started looking for alternatives that offer the same key benefits without being too complex. That’s where Goldie comes in.
Try Goldie for free for 14 days!
Designed for independent beauty professionals, Goldie has quickly gained popularity thanks to its intuitive mobile design, ease of use, customizable online booking website, and many beauty niche-specific options. In 2025, it's one of the most searched alternatives to Vagaro among solo stylists, barbers, nail techs, and wellness practitioners.
This post compares Goldie and Vagaro feature by feature, so you can decide which tool better fits your workflow, budget, and growth plans in 2025.
Vagaro is a salon and wellness software solution designed for small to medium businesses. It offers a powerful suite of tools, including online scheduling, POS, staff payroll, subscription billing, and customer memberships.
Pros:
Cons:
Goldie is an easy to use, user-friendly salon management app tailored to the needs of solo professionals and small teams. Unlike bulkier platforms, Goldie focuses on giving you the tools you actually use daily to run and grow your business.
Pros:
Cons:
When comparing Goldie and Vagaro, the most significant differences emerge in how their features function and their level of customization for the beauty industry. While both support salon scheduling, online booking, client management, and payments, their usability is quite different.
Goldie offers a friendly, mobile-first scheduling experience that’s ideal for solo professionals or small teams. The booking settings are highly customizable: you can mark certain services as unbookable online, assign default services for new clients, and even set processing or clean-up time between appointments. Also, the color-coded services make it easier to see at a glance how your schedule looks like for the day. Clients don’t need to create an account to book with you (even though they can, if they wish), making the experience frictionless. Goldie also supports recurring appointments, which is a must-have for clients who book regular visits.
Vagaro includes powerful scheduling tools and is designed to support both small and larger teams. However, it requires clients to register before booking, which adds extra steps to the process. Notably, Vagaro does not support recurring appointments, which can be a dealbreaker for professionals who rely on consistent, repeat business.
Goldie keeps things simple for clients. They book via a personalized link and manage their appointments without needing an app. In contrast, Vagaro routes clients through its marketplace or a branded app (for additional £50/mo).
Goldie includes automatic SMS and WhatsApp reminders in its plans, a feature that helps reduce no-shows significantly with zero effort. Also, with Goldie, you can send instant confirmations, follow-ups, rebooking reminders, and marketing messages. You can choose whether to send them manually and maintain full control, or send them automatically with worry-free convenience.
Vagaro includes SMS and email reminders, but WhatsApp isn’t supported, and their text marketing tools come at an additional fee (+15£/mo).
Both Goldie and Vagaro allow you to take deposits and collect full payments online, including tap-to-pay options. I’ll show you below what are the payment processing fees for each app.
Goldie offers visual, straightforward reports ideal for small business owners who want to track their performance without feeling overwhelmed. You can easily monitor earnings, appointment history, top clients, and more—all in a clean, mobile-friendly format. A standout feature is Goldie’s income forecast, which estimates your future revenue based on existing bookings, giving you a clearer picture of what’s ahead.
Vagaro provides more advanced reporting capabilities, including payroll. However, it requires paid add-ons or higher-tier subscriptions. While it may suit larger businesses with more complex needs, it can feel costly for solo professionals. Unlike Goldie, Vagaro does not include income forecasts, which means you won’t get a real-time projection of your upcoming revenue.
Both Goldie and Vagaro offer inventory tracking and product sale management. While Goldie is better suited for lightweight use, Vagaro offers a more complex solution geared toward salons with full retail operations.
Goldie gives users access to detailed client reports, notes, and custom forms. Staff access levels are available with the Pro Plus plan ($39.99), and it includes unlimited staff members.
Vagaro includes payroll and commission tiers for staff members, which is great for larger businesses, but it also requires more setup and management. Additionally, Vagaro requires a 10£ fee per staff member.
Goldie includes essential extra features for beauty pros like waitlists, gift cards, discounts, and even Siri Shortcuts for hands-free appointment control.
Vagaro, on the other hand, offers a marketplace, HIPAA compliance, branded apps, live-streamed classes, and financing through Vagaro Capital. These features are impressive, but they’re designed for larger teams or busiensses with more complex needs.
In summary, Goldie provides all the essential tools that solo pros and small teams use daily, with better usability and value. Vagaro is feature-rich and powerful, but its complexity and cost can be too much for smaller setups.
Goldie offers a generous free plan that includes all the essential tools you need to run your business as a beginner professional. Goldie’s free plan doesn’t require adding a credit card to your account. Also, it offers a 14-day free trial to Goldie’s paid subscriptions, so that you can get an idea if it really fits your needs.
Its paid plans are very competitive: the Pro plan is $19.99/month, and Pro Plus is $39.99/month, offering additional premium features that allow you to grow your business hassle-free, with no additional fees. Here’s what each subscription includes:
Goldie Payment Fees (via Stripe):
Vagaro doesn’t offer a free plan, but they offer a 30 days free trial. Their base subscription starts at $30/month, but you’ll quickly see that most essential features come with add-ons between £10 and £50 . For example:
If you’re using just three common features, like forms, text marketing, and reporting, your monthly bill could reach $65 or more. For a solo business, this cost can feel excessive, especially when compared to Goldie’s all-inclusive pricing.
Vagaro Payment Fees:
When comparing total costs, Goldie gives you more of what matters without extra charges, making it the clear winner for beauty pros who want to grow without stretching their budget.
Read more Goldie customer feedback here.
If you’re still on the fence, here’s a quick guide:
Choose Vagaro if:
Choose Goldie if:
For many independent professionals and small businesses, Goldie offers the perfect mix of simplicity, smart features, and modern design.
Remember: you don’t need a bulky platform that does everything; you need one that does the job for you. And that’s why Goldie is the top Vagaro alternative in 2025.
Try Goldie for free today and see how effortless business management can really be.
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