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Coil vs Booksy.
Flat monthly vs a percentage take.
Booksy is horizontal salon-booking software — barbers, hair, lash, brow, nails, and tattoo studios all rent the same tool. Their pricing model is the give-away: $29.99/mo for the base + 2.49–2.69% on every transaction + $0.10–$0.30 per-transaction fee + $20/mo for each additional seat. Coil's pricing is flat: $29/mo Solo, $49/chair Shop, with zero cut on deposits, tips, or balances. At any realistic processing volume, a tattooer pays more on Booksy than on coil — and the savings widen as the shop grows. The bigger difference, though, is that coil is tattoo-specific. Booksy treats you like a hair salon.
The honest read
Coil is flat. Booksy is monthly plus a cut.
Booksy keeps 2.49–2.69% of every deposit, tip, and balance you take through the platform. Coil keeps zero. On $5,000/mo in card volume, that's roughly $135/mo Booksy collects on top of subscription — three times coil's whole bill.
Coil is built for tattooers. Booksy is built for everyone.
Booksy's inquiry form is a salon-booking form. Coil's asks about body location, references, size, color preference, budget — and routes by discipline (tattoo vs piercing). Aftercare, consent, deposit math, and review flow are all built for ink.
Booksy has a bigger consumer marketplace.
Booksy invests heavily in its consumer-side discovery app. Coil's /discover is much smaller. If marketplace traffic is a primary acquisition channel for you, Booksy still has the scale.
The price difference.
- Solo artist · entry$29/mo$29.99/mo
- Card processing on deposits + tips + balancesStripe standard+ 2.49–2.69%Booksy takes a cut of every charge in addition to subscription. Coil routes through Stripe Connect direct to the artist.
- Per-transaction feeStripe standard+ $0.10–$0.30
- Additional seats / chairs$49/chair+ $20/seatCoil's shop tier is per-chair flat. Booksy bills additional seats on top of the base subscription.
- Total at $5,000/mo card volume, 1 seat~$29/mo~$165/moBooksy: $29.99 + 2.6% × $5,000 = ~$160 + per-txn. Coil: $29 flat.
- Cut taken on client payments0%2.49–2.69%
What ships on each side.
- ✓ Ships✓ Ships
Public artist site + URL
- ◐ Partial— Doesn't
Custom domain
Coil ships custom domains on Pro tier.
- ◐ Partial✓ Ships
Consumer marketplace / discovery
Booksy's marketplace is large. Coil's /discover is small.
- ✓ Ships— Doesn't
Tattoo-specific inquiry form
Coil asks body location, refs, size, budget. Booksy's form is salon-generic.
- ✓ Ships— Doesn't
Stripe-Connect deposits direct to your account
Booksy's payment processing routes through Booksy; the cut is built into the flow.
- ✓ Ships— Doesn't
Aftercare SMS drip
- ✓ Ships— Doesn't
Digital consent + signed waivers
- ✓ Ships— Doesn't
AI healing watch (vision-model photo reads)
- ✓ Ships— Doesn't
AI style-fit + AI pricing coach
- ✓ Ships— Doesn't
Cancellation waitlist — auto-fills the slot
- ✓ Ships— Doesn't
Healed-photo bounty + touch-up credit ledger
- ✓ Ships— Doesn't
Two-stage drawing deposit
- ✓ Ships— Doesn't
Apprentice mode (mentor approval queue)
- ✓ Ships— Doesn't
Portability moat — URL follows the artist
- ✓ Ships— Doesn't
60-second IG sync (OAuth → site auto-generated)
- ✓ Ships— Doesn't
Per-artist Twilio number for client SMS
- — Doesn't✓ Ships
Consumer-side mobile app
- ✓ Ships◐ Partial
Roster + commission splits
If your primary acquisition channel is Booksy's consumer marketplace — meaning a meaningful share of your bookings come from clients who found you by browsing the Booksy app — that traffic is a real moat their pricing buys you. Some neighborhood barbershops and salon-adjacent tattoo studios in larger cities do well on it. If you've never gotten a single client from the Booksy marketplace, you're paying a 2.5%+ cut for a feature you don't use.
When coil is the right call
If your clients find you through Instagram, word of mouth, or your existing site, coil is the cheaper and tattoo-specific tool. The flat-monthly math saves $100+/mo immediately at modest card volume, and the AI healing watch, cancellation waitlist, healed-photo bounty, two-stage drawing deposit, and apprentice mode are all built for tattooers — none of which Booksy offers. The portability moat means if you move shops, your URL and clients travel with you.
What people ask.
- How much does Booksy actually cost vs coil?
- Booksy charges $29.99/mo + 2.49–2.69% + $0.10–$0.30/txn + $20/mo per additional user. Coil charges $29/mo Solo or $49/chair Shop, flat, with zero cut on payments. At $5,000/mo in card volume, Booksy ends up at ~$165/mo for a single user; coil stays at $29/mo. The gap widens with volume and seats.
- Is Booksy's marketplace worth the cut?
- Depends on whether you've ever booked a client off it. If you have, the 2.5%+ is buying real lead-flow. If your bookings all come from IG and word-of-mouth, you're paying for a feature you don't use.
- Does Booksy have an aftercare SMS engine?
- No. Booksy ships appointment reminders. Coil ships a discipline-aware aftercare drip (day-of, day-3, day-14, six-week for tattoos; longer cadence for piercings), plus the tip nudge, touch-up reminder, healed-photo bounty, and the week-12 next-piece sequence.
- What does coil's AI healing watch do that Booksy can't?
- A client texts your coil number a photo of their healing tattoo at 11pm. Coil reads the photo. Healthy and watch verdicts get a calm reply automatically. Concern or urgent verdicts get escalated to you with the photo attached. Booksy has no equivalent.
- Can I migrate from Booksy to coil?
- Yes. Sign in with Instagram and coil auto-generates your site in 60 seconds. Client lists can be imported via CSV. The fastest path is running both side-by-side for a month and seeing which one is doing more work for you.
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