Fresha, Vagaro and Booksy are the three names that come up most when an esthetician, a hairstylist or a massage therapist looks for booking software. They are good products, used by thousands of salons. But they are built for a global market, and a Canadian salon often ends up paying for things it doesn't need, or working around what's missing.
Here is an honest comparison: what they do better than we do, what we do that they don't, and the numbers as they publish them.
Prices, as published
Swipe the table left to see all four →
| Clairgest | Fresha | Booksy | Vagaro | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent professional | $19 (Simple) or $39 (Solo, with SMS and online booking) | CA$29.95 | $29.99 | from CA$35 |
| Team | $79 for up to 3 people, $149 unlimited | CA$19.95 per team member | + $20 per member | + fee per calendar |
| Commission on a new client | None | 20% of the first visit (CA$6 minimum), if she comes from the marketplace | — | — |
| SMS reminders | Included (up to 300 a month on Solo) | 100 free a month, then CA$0.03 each | — | — |
| Free trial | 14 days, no card | 7 days | — | — |
Monthly prices before tax, taken from the official pricing pages on October 1, 2026 (Fresha, Booksy, Vagaro). A dash means the page doesn't say. Competitors' prices can change: check with them before deciding.
To be clear: for a three-person salon, Clairgest is not the cheapest on the subscription alone. Where the bill changes is in what gets added on top: commissions, per-message SMS, and mandatory payment processing.
What Clairgest does that the others don't
Canadian taxes, calculated for your province
GST and QST in Quebec, HST in Ontario and the Atlantic provinces, GST and PST in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, GST alone in Alberta and the territories: the register applies the right tax for the salon's province, and the reports break it down for your accountant. If you are under the small-supplier threshold, one switch turns taxes off. Cash is rounded to the nearest 5 cents, as it should be since the penny was retired.
Insurance receipts, ready for the insurer
For massage therapists and other reimbursable treatments, the receipt shows the name of the practitioner who gave the treatment (not whoever rang it up), her association, her member number and the length of the treatment. What an insurer needs on a receipt.
Health questionnaire and contraindications
The client file includes a full health questionnaire and the Fitzpatrick skin type, and the software flags contraindications drawn from the client's answers. Consent forms are signed on screen, on a tablet at the salon.
Quebec's Law 25, as concrete tools
Signed consents, export and deletion of a client's data on request, data hosted in Canada (OVH, Beauharnois). A few subprocessors (payments, email, SMS) process some data outside Canada: they are named in our privacy policy. What Law 25 asks of a salon.
Your terminal, no commission
Clairgest does not process your card payments: you keep your current terminal and your negotiated rate. The register records the payment method, balances the drawer and produces the reports. We take no percentage of your sales.
Made in Quebec, truly bilingual
The software was born in a real esthetics salon in Quebec. The interface, receipts and support are in English and French, with a real person on the other end.
What the others do better
- A marketplace. Fresha and Booksy have a consumer app where clients look for a salon near them. Clairgest doesn't: your booking page is yours, but you bring your own clients to it.
- Built-in payments. If you want the software itself to take cards, collect online deposits or offer buy now, pay later, they do. Clairgest doesn't.
- Size. They are large companies, with apps in the app stores. Clairgest runs in the browser, on computer, tablet and phone.
So, which one?
If your priority is being found by new clients on a consumer app, Fresha or Booksy have an argument we don't.
If you already have your clientele and want a tool that knows your taxes, insurance receipts, Law 25 and French, with no commission on your sales, Clairgest was built for exactly that. The easiest way to know is to try it with your real appointments for 14 days.
The Clairgest team