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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.
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 — four times 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.
- Solo artist · entry$29/mo$23.99/mo**Vagaro promo rate. Standard rate is around $30/mo.
- Card processing on deposits + tips + balancesStripe standard+ 2.2–2.6%Vagaro 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–$0.19
- Additional calendars / chairs$49/chair+ $10/calendar
- Total at $5,000/mo card volume, 1 calendar~$29/mo~$144/moVagaro: $24 + 2.4% × $5,000 = ~$144. Coil: $29 flat.
- Cut taken on client payments0%2.2–2.6%
What ships on each side.
- ✓ Ships✓ Ships
Public artist site + URL
- ✓ Ships— Doesn't
Tattoo-specific inquiry form
Vagaro's form is salon-generic.
- ✓ Ships— Doesn't
Stripe-Connect deposits direct to your account
- ✓ Ships— Doesn't
Aftercare SMS drip (tattoo-cadenced)
- ✓ Ships◐ Partial
Digital consent + signed waivers
- ✓ Ships— Doesn't
AI healing watch (vision-model photo reads)
- ✓ Ships— Doesn't
AI style-fit + AI pricing coach
- ✓ Ships◐ Partial
Cancellation waitlist auto-fill
Vagaro has a waitlist; coil's auto-blasts and self-claims via Stripe race.
- ✓ 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)
- ✓ Ships— Doesn't
Per-artist Twilio number for client SMS
- — Doesn't✓ Ships
Retail POS for hair/skin product sales
- ✓ Ships✓ Ships
Roster + commission splits
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-native flows (drawing deposit, healing watch, healed-photo bounty, apprentice mode) are coil-only. And the portability moat means your artists' URLs travel with them when they move — Vagaro can't offer that.
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 $29/mo Solo flat or $49/chair Shop flat. At $5,000/mo in card volume, Vagaro costs ~$144/mo for one calendar; coil stays at $29.
- 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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