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Updated · 2026

coil vs Vagaro. Flat monthly vs a percentage take.

Vagaro is horizontal salon-and-spa software, same playbook as Booksy. Their model is a promo-priced monthly ($23.99 introductory, regularly $30) plus 2.2–2.6% on every transaction plus $0.10–$0.19 per-transaction fees plus $10/mo for each additional calendar. coil is flat-monthly with zero cut on the money flowing between your clients and your bank account. For a working tattooer at modest card volume, Vagaro costs more than coil and gives you a salon-spa product instead of a tattoo product.

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The honest read

  • coil is flat. Vagaro is monthly plus a cut.

    Vagaro keeps 2.2–2.6% of every deposit, tip, and balance. coil keeps zero. At $5,000/mo in volume, that's about $120/mo on top of subscription. That's about twice coil's whole bill.

  • coil is for tattooers. Vagaro is for salons.

    Vagaro's inquiry, intake, and aftercare flows were built for hair and aesthetics. Tattoo deposit logic, consent forms, body-location intake, and ink-specific aftercare cadence are coil-only.

  • Vagaro's POS hardware suite is broader.

    If you also sell retail product (hair products, skincare, etc.), Vagaro has more integrated POS hardware. Tattoo shops with a meaningful merch component might value that.

The price difference.

 CoilVagaro

  • Solo artist · entry

    *Vagaro promo rate. Standard rate is around $30/mo.

    $59/mo$23.99/mo*

  • Card processing on deposits + tips + balances

    Vagaro takes a cut of every charge in addition to subscription. coil routes through Stripe Connect direct to the artist.

    Stripe standard+ 2.2–2.6%

  • Per-transaction fee

    Stripe standard+ $0.10–$0.19

  • Additional calendars / chairs

    A shop pays coil $392 a month at most.

    $49/chair, free from chair 9+ $10/calendar

  • Total at $5,000/mo card volume, 1 calendar

    Vagaro: $24 + 2.4% × $5,000 = ~$144. coil: $59 flat.

    $59/mo~$144/mo

  • Cut taken on client payments

    0%2.2–2.6%

Feature by feature.

 CoilVagaro

  • Public artist site + URL

    YesYes

  • Tattoo-specific inquiry form

    Vagaro's form is salon-generic.

    YesNo

  • Stripe-Connect deposits direct to your account

    YesNo

  • Aftercare SMS drip (tattoo-cadenced)

    YesNo

  • Digital consent + signed waivers

    YesPartly

  • Healing photos checked for you

    YesNo

  • Style-fit read and a quote suggestion from your past jobs

    YesNo

  • Cancellation waitlist: texts your top five, first deposit wins

    Vagaro has a waitlist; coil texts your top five when you offer a canceled time, and the first to pay the deposit gets it.

    YesPartly

  • Healed-photo reward and touch-up credits

    YesNo

  • Two-stage drawing deposit

    YesNo

  • Apprentice bookings wait for your approval

    YesNo

  • Your page and clients go with you if you change shops

    YesNo

  • Site built from your photos or Instagram

    YesNo

  • A business phone number for every artist

    YesNo

  • Retail POS for hair/skin product sales

    NoYes

  • Roster + commission splits

    YesYes

When Vagaro fits you better

If your shop has a meaningful retail-product side (selling lotions, jewelry, merch through the same POS), Vagaro's hardware + inventory + retail-product integration was built for it and coil's wasn't. Same goes for combined operations: if you run a salon + tattoo combo and want one tool for everything, Vagaro is the cross-discipline play.

When coil is the right call

If you're a tattoo-first shop where most revenue is sessions + deposits + tips, coil's flat-monthly + no-cut math saves four-figures a year vs Vagaro's percentage take. The tattoo-specific parts (drawing deposit, healing photo checks, healed-photo reward, apprentice approvals) are coil-only. And your artists' pages and clients go with them when they move. Vagaro can't offer that.

Questions

What people ask.

How much does Vagaro actually cost vs coil?
Vagaro's promo rate is $23.99/mo (standard ~$30) + 2.2–2.6% on every transaction + $0.10–$0.19/txn + $10/mo per additional calendar. coil charges $59 solo or $49 a chair in a shop, flat, and chair 9 and up are free. At $5,000/mo in card volume, Vagaro costs ~$144/mo for one calendar; coil stays at $59.
Does Vagaro have tattoo-specific consent forms?
Vagaro has digital intake / waiver forms but they're generic salon-spa templates. coil ships tattoo-specific consent (DOB, medical flags, design approval, IP address + user-agent capture) plus a piercer variant for shop tier.
What about Vagaro's marketing tools?
Vagaro ships SMS / email marketing with quotas. coil ships marketing SMS that respects TCPA opt-out and the FCC's April 2025 rules; we shipped PEWC consent capture at inquiry-form submission so flash drops, guest-spot blasts, and next-piece nudges are legally clean. Vagaro's marketing scale is bigger; coil's is more compliance-current.
Does coil have a retail POS for selling product?
Not yet. coil's Wares storefront handles online merch sales (prints, pins, shirts) via Stripe Connect, but there's no in-person retail POS terminal. If you do meaningful retail volume at the counter, Vagaro fits that better today.
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