Vagaro alternative for walk-in shops
Looking for a Vagaro alternative for a walk-in shop? Here's how NextUp Walk-in compares on price, texts and what's included, and when Vagaro might suit you better.
| Feature | NextUp Walk-in | Vagaro |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | $30/month for one location ($23.99 shown as an exclusive rate for the first 6 months), plus $10/month for each bookable calendar you add, up to seven |
| Free plan or trial | No free plan: a 14-day free trial with every Pro feature | No: a 30-day free trial |
| Texts | We pay for your first 500 a month, plus 250 for each extra location; then $0.03 each (texting switches on soon) | Unlimited notifications and appointment reminders, and 1,000 emails a month, included |
| 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 rates not listed on its pricing page (checked October 2026) |
| Built for | Shops that take walk-ins and bookings: barbershops, salons, tattoo, auto service, repair, grooming | Salons, spas and other appointment-based service businesses |
Vagaro figures are from Vagaro's pricing page, checked October 2026. Prices change, so check theirs for today's. Vagaro 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
Moving from Vagaro
Online booking, a team calendar, email reminders (texts coming soon), deposits (coming soon, Early Access) and a client list are in NextUp Walk-in’s Pro plan, with three team members included per location. Walk-ins get a real line beside the book: a QR code at the door, a live wait on their phone and a TV that shows who is up next. Your first month is free on monthly billing with the code SWITCH, and we’ll help you import your clients.
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): Vagaro’s pricing page lists no card rates, so we can’t compare them; NextUp Walk-in’s are Stripe’s published rate plus its 0.5% card fee (at most $1 a payment, never on tips), the same for every business. On the subscription, a four-person shop pays about $60 a month on Vagaro ($30 plus three added calendars at $10), against $69 on NextUp Walk-in’s Pro plan.
- 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%
Questions about Vagaro
How does Vagaro pricing compare to NextUp Walk-in?
Vagaro is $30 a month for one location (its page also shows $23.99 as an exclusive rate for the first 6 months), plus $10 a month for each bookable calendar you add, so a four-person shop pays about $60. NextUp Walk-in’s Pro plan, which has online booking, is $59 with 3 team members included and $10 for each one after: $69 for four. Vagaro’s pricing page lists no card rates, so we can’t compare payments.
Does Vagaro run a walk-in line?
Vagaro is built around booked appointments. NextUp Walk-in is built around the walk-in line: customers join from their phone or a door tablet with no app or account, see a live wait, and a TV shows who is up next. On the Pro plan, appointments sit beside the line.
Can I bring my Vagaro clients with me?
Yes. Export your Customer List from Vagaro as the business owner, then import the file into NextUp Walk-in: it matches the columns and checks every row before anything is saved. The switch guide on this site has the steps. Your first month is free on monthly billing with the code SWITCH.
Try it on a Saturday
14 days free, with every Pro feature. Set up a location in about two minutes.