Boulevard alternative for walk-in shops
Looking for a Boulevard alternative for a walk-in shop? Here's how NextUp Walk-in compares on price, texts and what's included, and when Boulevard might suit you better.
| Feature | NextUp Walk-in | Boulevard |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Walk-in: $29/month for your first location, $19 for each additional one. Pro, with appointments: $59 and $39. 3 team members included per location, then $10/month each | $159/month for one location (Salon & Spa Essentials, up to 5 providers); Premier $260/month and Prestige $364/month per location |
| Free plan or trial | No free plan: a 14-day free trial with every Pro feature | No free plan on its pricing page; sales start with a demo |
| Texts | We pay for your first 500 a month, plus 250 for each extra location; then $0.03 each (texting switches on soon) | Appointment texts: 250 texts a month included on Essentials and Premier (2,500 on Prestige), with text reminders and two-way texting |
| Online payments | Card payments are coming soon (Early Access). Stripe's 2.9% + 30¢ online, plus NextUp Walk-in's 0.5% card fee (at most $1 a payment, never on tips). Your clients pay no booking fee | Card processing starting at 2.65% through Boulevard’s own payments, with checkout on its Duo iPad reader ($149) |
| Built for | Shops that take walk-ins and bookings: barbershops, salons, tattoo, auto service, repair, grooming | Salons, spas, medspas and barbershops that run on booked appointments |
Boulevard figures are from Boulevard's pricing page, checked October 2026. Prices change, so check theirs for today's. Boulevard is a trademark of its owner; NextUp Walk-in isn't affiliated with it.
What you get with NextUp Walk-in
- Customers join from a QR code or your link on their phone: no app, no account
- Their place and wait, live on their phone (opt-in text alerts coming soon)
- A now-serving TV display for your waiting area
- A door tablet for walk-ins without a phone
- A staff screen to call, start and finish visits
- A best time to come today, each person’s own wait, and family tickets for a parent and kids
- Customer screens in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean, Portuguese, Haitian Creole and Chinese
- On Pro: online booking and a team calendar, with email reminders and deposits (deposits coming soon)
- Checkout in cash (pay links, saved cards and Stripe card readers coming soon)
- Your services and prices, and who each customer asks for
- Your trade's own words, your logo and colors
- Insights: busiest days and hours, waits, top services
- Coming soon (Early Access). Online tips straight to each person's bank, and on Pro, booth rent and suite rental collected for you
- A read-only link so ChatGPT, Claude and other AI assistants can look up your live wait and hours
- Passkey sign-in: Face ID, fingerprint or device PIN
- Runs in any browser on a phone, tablet, computer or streaming stick, or in the NextUp Walk-in app for Apple TV, Roku and Fire TV
When Boulevard might fit better
Honestly: Boulevard may suit you better if you run a premium salon, spa or medspa on booked appointments and want charting, memberships and marketing in one appointment system. NextUp Walk-in is built the other way round: the walk-in line comes first, and Pro adds online booking beside it, with deposits coming soon — not the other way round.
NextUp Walk-in’s Pro plan runs the walk-in line and the appointment book together, with checkout, your client list and email campaigns, priced per location.
Compare other waitlist appsWhat taking payments really costs
The card rate is one line of the bill. The rest is the subscription, fees for each person on your team, and anything added on top of each payment. NextUp Walk-in is priced per location with 3 team members included at each, then $10 a month for each one after. Card payments are coming soon (Early Access); once they’re live, it takes tips, bills, deposits, no-show fees, packages and memberships through Stripe, with Stripe's own fee and NextUp Walk-in's capped 0.5% card fee on top, never on tips.
Once NextUp Walk-in’s card payments switch on (coming soon, Early Access): Boulevard’s card rate starts at 2.65%; NextUp Walk-in passes through Stripe’s published rate and adds its 0.5% card fee (at most $1 a payment, never on tips). On subscriptions there is no contest for a walk-in line: Boulevard starts at $159 a month for one location, against $29 for a first location on NextUp Walk-in, with 3 team members included.
- Stripe's 2.9% + 30¢ for a card payment online or 2.7% + 5¢ on a card reader, 0.8% by bank (at most $5)
- NextUp Walk-in's card fee: 0.5% of a card payment, at most $1, and never on tips or rent
- No booking or convenience fee for your clients: they pay the price on your menu
- Pay your team through NextUp Walk-in for Stripe's own payout fees: $2 a month per person paid, plus 0.25% + 25¢ per deposit, and you choose who pays them
- Instant payouts to a debit card for Stripe's 1%
What shop owners and clients complain about
Of 42 recent 1–3 star reviews, the most common themes were confusing screens or updates (17), bugs and outages (11), support (8) and pricing and fees (7).
Customers join NextUp Walk-in from a QR code or a link and follow their live place in line on their own phone, with no app to download and no account to make. No card is needed to hold a place in a NextUp Walk-in line.
Source: recent 1–3 star reviews on the US App Store, read October 16, 2026. Themes were counted by keyword, so one review can count in several, and reviewers include both businesses and their clients.
Questions about Boulevard
How much does Boulevard cost?
On its pricing page (checked October 2026), Salon & Spa Essentials is $159 a month for one location, Premier is $260 a month per location and Prestige is $364 a month per location. NextUp Walk-in is $29 a month for your first location, built for the walk-in line.
Can a walk-in join Boulevard’s line from their phone?
On the Boulevard pages we checked, walk-ins are handled at the front desk, and its waitlist is for appointment times that are not available — joining it online takes a credit card to hold the spot. NextUp Walk-in starts with the line itself: a customer scans a QR code, joins from their phone with no app and no card, and follows their live spot in line.
Which fits a walk-in-heavy barbershop or salon?
Boulevard is an appointment platform for salons, spas and medspas, priced like one. NextUp Walk-in runs the walk-in line first — QR check-in, a live wait, a TV board and a staff screen — and Pro adds online booking beside the line, with deposits coming soon. If most of your chairs fill from the door, that is the cheaper, calmer fit.
Try it on a Saturday
14 days free, with every Pro feature. Set up a location in about two minutes.