Vagaro is a business management platform for salons, spas and fitness businesses, with add-ons for payments, forms and texts. Calenix is a booking and professional presence workspace. Here is how to work out which fits.
Quick answer
Choose Vagaro if you run a salon, spa or fitness business and want one system for bookings, a marketplace listing, forms, texts and add-ons such as an online shopping cart. Choose Calenix if you need appointment scheduling for professional services and want it combined with landing pages, digital business cards, LinkDock and email signatures, without paying for business-management tools you will not use.
Start with the question: what do you need to manage?
The word "booking" covers very different jobs. Before comparing features, write down what your software has to manage day to day.
- People and premises: staff calendars, rooms, a front desk and products on shelves.
- Client admin: intake forms, deposits, cancellation fees and text reminders.
- Discovery: whether you want a marketplace to send you new customers.
- Presence: how people find you, remember you and get in touch after meeting you.
Vagaro is built around the first three. Calenix is built around scheduling and the fourth. Our guide on how to choose scheduling software for a small business has a fuller checklist.
What each tool is built for
Vagaro is business management software for beauty, wellness and fitness businesses. A base subscription covers the booking calendar, and optional add-ons extend it with features such as an online shopping cart for deposits and cancellation fees, forms, text message credits and, in the US, payroll. It also runs a consumer marketplace.
Calenix is a scheduling and professional presence platform. Event types, booking pages, date polls, reminders and workflows, paid bookings through Stripe, and team routing sit alongside service and landing pages, digital business cards, LinkDock, email signatures and business-card scanning. It does not list POS, inventory, payroll, SMS or a marketplace.
Feature comparison
From official vendor pages at the time of writing (October 2026):
| Feature | Calenix | Vagaro |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes, 1 user | No; 30-day free trial (US) |
| Pricing model | Plan tiers with features included | Base subscription plus paid add-ons |
| Deposits and cancellation fees | Paid bookings and deposits from Individual | Via Online Shopping Cart add-on |
| Forms | Custom booking questions from Individual | Forms add-on |
| Text messages | Not listed (email reminders) | Text credits purchased separately |
| Calendar sync | Google, Outlook, Apple iCloud | Google Calendar only |
| Consumer marketplace | Not listed | Yes |
| Digital cards, link-in-bio, email signatures | Included | Not listed |
How the add-on model affects your real cost
Vagaro keeps its base price low and lets you add what you need. Its support article lists, for example, an Online Shopping Cart add-on for deposits and cancellation fees, a Forms add-on and text credit packs, each priced per country. That flexibility is useful, but it means the price on the pricing page is rarely the full monthly cost for a business that wants deposits, forms and texts.
Calenix bundles more into each tier. The Individual plan includes paid bookings and deposits, custom questions, buffers, advanced reminders and workflows, and branding removal. It does not include SMS, so if text reminders are essential, Vagaro's text credits are a genuine advantage.
The fair way to compare is to list the features you need, price them on each platform for your country and compare the totals.
Marketplace fees and calendar sync
Vagaro says its marketplace is free to businesses in the US and Australia, although optional promotion tools such as Daily Deals and Fill My Books carry per-booking fees if you opt in. In the UK, Vagaro states that from 14 July 2026 a one-time 20% fee applies when a brand-new customer books through the Vagaro Marketplace and Partner Network, collected as a deposit, and you can opt out by delisting.
On calendars, Vagaro's support documentation says it currently supports syncing only with Google Calendar. Calenix connects Google, Outlook and Apple iCloud calendars. If your team uses Microsoft 365 or Apple calendars, that difference is worth testing. Our guide on scheduling meetings across time zones also explains why accurate calendar data matters when clients book from elsewhere.
A hypothetical example
Say a Manchester Pilates instructor teaches small classes in a studio and runs private sessions. They want class bookings, text reminders, forms for new clients and a listing that helps local people find them. Vagaro's calendar, forms add-on, text credits and marketplace line up with that, although the UK marketplace fee applies to brand-new customers who book through it.
Now picture a Canberra business consultant who runs discovery calls, half-day workshops and monthly retainer check-ins. Their calendar lives in Outlook, they meet most prospects at industry events and they want every email to carry a booking link. Calenix handles the meeting types, Outlook sync, date polls for workshop dates, a digital card for events and a branded email signature, all in one workspace.
Neither business is wrong. They simply need different kinds of software.
Pricing compared
Vagaro's prices below come from its official support article on pricing by country, checked in October 2026. Calenix prices are from calenix.global/pricing. Always confirm current pricing before you subscribe.
Vagaro base subscription
- Australia: $45 per month (AUD).
- United Kingdom: £20 per month.
- United States: $23.99 per month for the first six months, shown against a regular $30 on Vagaro's pricing page.
- Extra calendars: $15 (AU), £10 (UK) or $10 (US) per month each, up to seven; further staff are free.
Selected Vagaro add-ons
- Online Shopping Cart (deposits and cancellation fees): $15 per month (AU), free (UK), $10 per month (US).
- Forms: $15 AU, £10 UK, $10 US per month.
- Text credits: from 150 credits for $15 (AU), 250 for £15 (UK) and 1,000 for $20 (US).
Calenix (AUD)
- Free: A$0, 1 user, unlimited 1-to-1 bookings.
- Individual: A$12/month billed annually, or A$15 month to month.
- Professionals: from A$29/month billed annually, with unlimited users and team scheduling.
- Enterprise: custom quote.
Where Vagaro is the stronger choice
Vagaro is stronger for salons, spas and fitness studios that need business management, not just booking. Its marketplace, forms, text credits, online shopping cart and staff calendars are designed for that world, and US businesses can add payroll. If you need a single platform to run a physical venue with several staff, Vagaro belongs on your shortlist.
Where Calenix is the stronger choice
Calenix is stronger for professional services: consultants, accountants, coaches, tutors, recruiters and practitioners who meet clients online or in an office. It offers a free plan, calendar sync beyond Google, date polls, paid bookings included in the Individual plan, and round robin and collective meetings for teams on Professionals.
It also covers the presence side that business-management platforms usually leave out: service and landing pages, a digital business card, LinkDock and branded email signatures. Calenix is a newer platform and does not list SMS, POS, inventory or payroll, so it is not a replacement for a salon management system.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Vagaro cost in Australia?
Vagaro's support article lists a base price of $45 per month in Australia, with extra calendars and add-ons such as forms, the online shopping cart and text credits charged separately.
Does Vagaro sync with Outlook?
Vagaro's support documentation says it currently supports calendar syncing only with Google Calendar. Calenix connects Google, Outlook and Apple iCloud calendars.
Does Vagaro charge marketplace fees?
Vagaro says its marketplace is free in the US and Australia. In the UK, from 14 July 2026, it charges a one-time 20% fee when a brand-new customer books through its marketplace and partner network.
Try Calenix
If you want scheduling and a professional presence without a full business-management suite, start free with Calenix. See what each plan includes on the pricing page.