BOOKSY ALTERNATIVES · 2026

Booksy alternatives,
compared honestly.

Barbers usually look for a Booksy alternative for one of three reasons: the monthly cost against a quiet calendar, being one listing among many, or wanting the client list to be plainly theirs. Here are the six alternatives worth knowing, what each one is best for, and what you give up with each, MyBarb included.

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The alternatives

Six Booksy alternatives, one line each

No prices for the other apps on this page, on purpose: they change, and a stale number would mislead you. Check each pricing page for your country and your number of chairs.

MyBarb

Best for: solo barbers and small shops whose clients come from Instagram, WhatsApp and word of mouth: your own booking page, WhatsApp confirmations in the client's language, 16 languages, and free forever while you work alone.

The catch: no marketplace, so it will not put your chair in front of strangers, and no built-in card payments yet. Paid plans start at €9.90 a month once you add staff.

Squire

Best for: established and multi-location barbershops that want point of sale, card payments, staff payouts and a branded app in one system.

The catch: built and priced for bigger shops. A solo barber pays for a lot of machinery they will not use.

theCut

Best for: barbers in the United States. It has a large American barber community, a client app where people find barbers, and card payments.

The catch: its strength is the US market. Outside it, fewer of your clients will already have the app.

Fresha

Best for: salons and spas that offer many beauty services under one roof and want a broad platform with a marketplace.

The catch: fees on card payments and on new clients who come through its marketplace. It is built for the whole beauty industry, not around a barber's chair.

Setmore

Best for: simple appointment scheduling across any kind of service business, with a free plan to start.

The catch: it is a general scheduling tool, not built for barbershops, so nothing in it thinks in cuts, chairs or walk-ins.

Square Appointments

Best for: shops that already take card payments with Square and want bookings in the same place, with a free plan for individuals.

The catch: it only works in the countries Square serves, and card payments carry processing fees.

The three differences

MyBarb against Booksy: what actually changes

Price. Booksy charges the business a monthly subscription that grows with the number of staff. MyBarb is free forever for a solo barber, and paid only when you add staff, from €9.90 a month for the whole shop. Commission is 0% on every MyBarb plan.

Your page instead of a listing. On a marketplace your shop sits in a list next to competitors, sorted by an algorithm. On MyBarb you get mybarb.com/your-name: your own page, your services, your prices, no competitor one thumb-scroll away.

Your clients. Every client who books through your MyBarb page lands in your own list, visible with full name and number, exportable any day. Clients belong to the shop that cut their hair.

What Booksy does better

The honest column

Booksy has a consumer marketplace where people browse for a barber, and that reach is real, especially in big cities where clients already use the app. If a meaningful share of your new clients find you inside Booksy search, that is worth paying for and you should stay.

If instead your bookings come from Instagram, WhatsApp, walk-ins and referrals, you are paying a marketplace fee for a marketplace you do not use. That is the barber MyBarb is built for.

Switching

One afternoon, not a project

1. Open your shop on MyBarb, free, no card. Your services and hours are set up in a few minutes.

2. Put your new link in your Instagram bio and WhatsApp status, the two places your clients already look. From the next client message onward, send the link instead of typing times back and forth.

3. Keep Booksy running until the calendar has visibly moved. Nothing forces a hard cut-over: the shops that switch most smoothly run both for two or three weeks and then stop paying for the one they no longer need.

Questions

Asked before switching.

For clients, yes: booking through Booksy costs them nothing. For barbers and shops, no: after the free trial Booksy charges the business a monthly subscription, and its optional promotion feature charges for each new client it brings. Prices depend on your country and team size, so check Booksy's own pricing page.
Yes, once the trial ends. The subscription is what gives you the calendar and your place in the Booksy marketplace. If you want a free option for a one-chair shop, MyBarb is free forever for solo barbers, with 0% commission.
It is worth it when the Booksy marketplace keeps sending you new clients you would not get otherwise, which happens most in big cities where clients already use the app. It is hard to justify when your bookings come from Instagram, WhatsApp, walk-ins and referrals, because then you pay for reach you are not using. Count where your last twenty new clients came from, and the answer is usually obvious.
Stronger depends on what you need. For a multi-location shop that wants point of sale and staff payouts, Squire. For US barbers who want a barber-focused client app, theCut. For a small shop that lives on WhatsApp and Instagram and wants its own booking page at no cost while solo, MyBarb.
For a solo barber, yes: free forever, 0% commission, no card to sign up. For shops with staff, MyBarb has paid plans from €9.90 a month for the whole shop. Check both pricing pages and do the arithmetic for your own chair count.
Booksy provides your client data through its business tools and support. Export it before you cancel, then keep it wherever you like. On MyBarb your list is always visible in the app and stays yours.
No, because nothing requires you to switch off Booksy on day one. Open MyBarb alongside it, move your link in bio and status, and let the calendar tell you when the old subscription has become unnecessary.
No, and that is the honest trade-off. MyBarb gives you your own page instead of a listing in a crowd. If marketplace discovery is your main client source, Booksy earns its fee. If your clients come through Instagram and WhatsApp, you do not need one.

30 seconds.
Nothing more.

Open your shop, add a service, share your link. Clients book themselves from there.

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