Zenoti vs Vagaro
Verified pricing and capability, read from each vendor's own published material on July 30, 2026. We do not score these out of ten — the right answer depends on whether you chart treatments and how your team is shaped.
These are not the same kind of product. Zenoti is a unverified; Vagaro is a booking / pos. Before comparing price, work out which category your practice needs — we sorted all 24 platforms on that axis. Choosing on price across this line is how practices end up paying for two systems.
| Zenoti | Vagaro | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Unverified | Booking / POS |
| Publishes pricing | No — quote only | Yes |
| Starting price | Not published | $23.99/mo |
| Entry tier | — | Vagaro subscription (single plan, scales by calendar count) |
| Billing basis | — | US base rate, described as a "limited time offer" |
| One-time setup fee | None published | None published |
| Free trial | demo-only — "Book a personalized demo" is the sole CTA; no trial offered | yes — "30 days, during which you have access to all Vagaro features except email marketing, text marketing & branded app" |
| Named tiers | Zenoti OS, AI Plus package | Vagaro subscription (single plan, scales by calendar count) |
| Target segment | multi-location and enterprise salon-spa and med spa chains; footprint-based pricing signals an enterprise-first motion | solo to multi-location salon-spa booking; very low entry price, weakest clinical depth of the med-spa-adjacent options |
| Payment processing | Not published | Tiered by merchant size: Small merchants 2.6%-3.5%, Large merchants 2.29%-3.5%, plus per-transaction fees of $0.10-$0.25; Large Merchant tier adds a $10/month subscription |
One of these publishes pricing and the other does not, which makes a direct cost comparison impossible without a sales call. That asymmetry is worth weighing on its own: a vendor that publishes rates is one you can budget against before committing your time to a demo cycle.
Clinical capability, side by side
Zenoti
Not verifiable from the pricing page. Medical service types (injectables, skin treatments, medical weight loss) are listed as supported categories, but no charting, SOAP notes, e-prescribing, before/after photo, or consent form functionality is described and no regulatory compliance detail is given.
Vagaro
Booking/POS only. Forms are a $10/month add-on. No medical charting, no SOAP notes, no e-prescribing, and no before/after photo module published on vendor pricing pages. Not an EMR.
Costs outside the headline price
Zenoti
Zero pricing is published. Two structural cost risks are disclosed in the vendor's own language: (1) AI features are paywalled into a higher package — "You must be on our AI Plus package to leverage our AI Agents," so AI capabilities shown in a demo may require a tier upgrade; (2) communications are metered — "Usage is billed based on consumption with optional base packs," meaning SMS/email costs are variable and uncapped unless you buy packs. Pricing is explicitly footprint-based: "Multi-location pricing is customized based on your footprint and needs," so quotes will differ materially between buyers of similar size. Onboarding is stated as included: "structured onboarding, staff training, and business setup guidance." Setup fees, contract length, and payment processing rates are all undisclosed.
Vagaro
The $23.99 headline covers ONE bookable calendar; each additional employee calendar is $10-$15/month up to 7 licenses. The add-on catalog is where the real bill forms: MySite website $20/month (US); Custom Website Design $299 one-time (US); Brand Package $500 one-time (US); Branded App $100/month (US) PLUS a one-time development fee; Forms $10/month; Check-In App $10/month; Connect AI $10/month; Vagaro Drive storage "Starting at $10/month"; Vagaro Payroll "$34/month plus $5/month per employee" (US only); Data Lake $40/month; APIs/Webhooks "Starting at $10". Text messaging runs on a tiered credit system from 1,000 credits/$20/month (US Small) up to 500,000 credits/$2,500/month (US Ultra). Email marketing is free only on the Small plan (1,000 credits); paid tiers run $10-$90/month. Large-merchant payment processing carries an additional $10/month subscription. Cancellation is genuinely free: "You can cancel your subscription at any time, for any reason—no questions asked, and no fee."
How to decide
- Settle the category question first. If you document procedures, a booking-only platform is not a candidate at any price.
- Convert both to your shape — locations and providers — rather than comparing sticker prices. Per-location and per-user models diverge sharply once you are past a solo practice. The calculator does this.
- Add the modules you will actually turn on. In this category, forms, e-prescribing, marketing and text messaging are frequently separate line items.
- Ask each vendor to demonstrate charting with your own treatment types, and get the BAA in writing before migrating patient data.
Verified July 30, 2026. We earn affiliate commission from some vendors and not others; that has no bearing on the ordering or content of this page. See exactly who pays us.