If you're looking this up, you've probably already made the decision. You know Mindbody wasn't built for how a salon actually runs: the color appointments, the processing blocks, the price you only learn from a sales call. This is a roundup of what else is out there, graded against the things that matter. For the fuller picture of who Grove works with, start here.
For established salons with 3+ providers, Boulevard is the strongest alternative: native color appointment management, multi-service booking, and branded booking, at $224–390/month per location at 4 to 6 chairs, including the $65 forms add-on. For solo stylists, GlossGenius starts at $28/month, and Gold covers up to 9 staff at $56. Vagaro is the reasonable mid-range option if escaping Mindbody's price is the main driver. The full grading below breaks down all five.
At 4 to 6 chairs, Boulevard costs $224 to $390/month per location with forms, with native per-stylist color management, multi-service stacking, and booking on your own site. Vagaro's subscription is $60 to $80/month before add-ons, with manual color setup. GlossGenius Gold is $56/month for up to 9 staff. Square Appointments is free or $49/month (Plus) with no color management. Booksy costs $89.99 to $129.99/month plus an opt-in Boost fee.
| Criterion | Boulevard | Vagaro | GlossGenius | Square Appts | Booksy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Color appointment management | ✓ Native per-stylist | ~ Manual setup | ✗ Basic only | ✗ None | ✗ None |
| Multi-service booking | ✓ Native stacking | ~ Workable | ✗ Limited | ✗ None | ~ Basic |
| Branded booking | ✓ Your site | ~ Vagaro app | ✓ Custom page | ~ Basic widget | ✗ Booksy app |
| Support included | ✓ All plans | ~ Ticket/chat | ✓ Responsive | ✓ Chat and email; phone weekdays (24/7 on Premium) | ~ Confirm with Booksy |
| Published price at 4–6 chairs (before processing) | $224–390/mo (Essentials or Premier + $65 forms) | $60–80/mo subscription, before add-ons | $56/mo (Gold, up to 9 staff) | $0 (Free) or $49/mo (Plus) per location | $89.99–129.99/mo + 30% on first visits via Boost (opt-in, capped at $100) |
| Marketplace commission | $0: no marketplace | Free listing; opt-in promotions 20% new / 5% returning | None | Not confirmed; ask Square | 30% on new clients' first visit only (opt-in) |
Boulevard is recommended for established salons with 3+ providers, with native color processing blocks and support on every plan. Vagaro fits salons escaping Mindbody's price that can live with manual color setup. GlossGenius fits, in our view, independent stylists and small salons. Square Appointments fits a new salon that needs bookings next week. Booksy fits a salon still building its book.
Boulevard handles color appointment management the way salons actually work. Processing blocks per stylist, configurable per service type. The 45-minute processing block between the color application and the rinse is a real time slot in the schedule, not something your front desk manages manually in a second calendar. Multi-service stacking is native. A cut-and-color with a 30-minute dry time is built the same way the appointment actually runs.
Support is included without a separate tier. When a booking breaks on a Saturday morning, you're not waiting 90 minutes on an AI chat tree. Operators who switched from Mindbody consistently name this as the thing they didn't expect to notice as much as they do.
The tradeoffs: the consumer-facing mobile app is smaller than Mindbody's. If the Mindbody marketplace is still actively building your book, you'll feel its absence. Onboarding quality varies by account team; ask specifically about your onboarding lead before you commit. And if you run group classes alongside appointments, Boulevard wasn't built for that. See the full Mindbody vs Boulevard breakdown for the complete cost and feature comparison.
Vagaro is where a lot of Mindbody exits land, and it's not a bad choice. Broad feature set, reasonable pricing, solid scheduling infrastructure. The platform has been around long enough that most salon software workflows are covered: gift cards, memberships, online booking, marketing tools.
The limitations are real but not dramatic. Color appointment management still requires manual setup. You'll have workarounds, fewer than on Mindbody. Booking routes through Vagaro's consumer app rather than your own site, which means your clients are one search away from the salon next door. Support comes via ticket and chat, not a dedicated account team.
Vagaro's published subscription for 4 to 6 calendars is $60 to $80 a month ($30 plus $10 per added calendar), before add-ons such as text marketing (from $20) and forms ($10). Mindbody publishes only a $79 starting price and quotes the rest, so get both numbers in writing. For owners whose primary motivation is escaping Mindbody's pricing rather than gaining salon-specific scheduling features, Vagaro is a reasonable landing spot.
GlossGenius is beautifully designed and right for independent stylists. The interface is clean, the booking page is branded, and the price starts at $28/month, or $56 on Gold for up to 9 staff. For a solo operator running a full book, there's a lot to like.
The plan limits are generous; the depth is where a team feels it. In our view GlossGenius's scheduling logic, reporting, and service configuration center on the individual stylist, and a multi-chair salon notices. Per-stylist color timing isn't configurable. Multi-service stacking isn't native. Provider-level reporting is minimal.
A 4-chair salon that switches to GlossGenius because it's simple will spend the next year workarounding limitations that didn't exist on Mindbody either. It's the right answer if you're one stylist with a full book and you want something that just works. It's not the right answer if you're running a team.
Square Appointments works if you need something operational by next week. The setup is fast, the price is low, and if you're a new salon taking your first bookings, nothing in this list gets you going faster.
It doesn't work for an established salon. There is no color appointment management: processing time is a manual block, not a configurable service attribute. Multi-service appointments don't stack. Provider-level reporting is minimal. Phone support runs weekdays only unless you pay for Premium; chat and email are on every plan.
Square is a starting point, not a destination. If you've been on Mindbody for five years and you're looking for something better, Square will feel like a step backward in every direction except price.
Booksy is a discovery engine. The marketplace brings new clients, which matters when you're building your book. For a stylist who's new to a market and needs exposure, that has real value.
The commission works like Mindbody's, and it's worth being precise about that: Booksy's 30% (capped at $100) applies only to a new client's first visit, through an opt-in feature called Boost. Mindbody charges 20% of a new app client's first purchase, capped at $30. Rebookings are commission-free on both. Booksy's fee can run higher per new client; the difference is that you can turn Boost off.
If you're leaving Mindbody specifically because it charges you on clients you already own, Booksy doesn't replicate that problem. If you're in early acquisition and want the marketplace exposure, Booksy is worth evaluating on its own terms. Most established salons looking for a Mindbody alternative are past the stage where the marketplace itself is the draw.
Stay on Mindbody if its marketplace still drives new clients, group classes are load-bearing, or the salon is under two years old and still building its book. Switch to Boulevard if 3+ providers have a loyal book and no longer need Mindbody's app, color scheduling is a daily workaround, or your Mindbody quote tops a published Boulevard plan. Vagaro fits a tighter budget; GlossGenius fits solo stylists and small teams.
Salon owners worry about three things when leaving Mindbody. Client records, appointment history, gift card balances, and packages transfer, though Mindbody charges extra for its data export service (it doesn't publish the price; owners and migration vendors report about $499). The Mindbody booking link goes dark on go-live day, which a week of email, text, and Instagram bio updates covers. Boulevard is month-to-month with no exit fee. The salon owner FAQ goes deeper.
Your client records, appointment history, gift card balances, and active packages transfer. Free self-serve CSV exports of clients, purchases, memberships, and visits are available before you cancel. Mindbody charges extra for its data export service (it doesn't publish the price; owners and migration vendors report about $499). It's a one-time cost.
The data transfers. The disruption is in the booking link: your Mindbody link goes dark on go-live day. A week of advance communication through email, text, and your Instagram bio handles the vast majority of it. The clients who don't get notified are the ones who call confused the first week. That's not data loss. It's a communication gap, and an avoidable one.
Boulevard is available month-to-month. No published data export fee. Your client data is yours: exportable, no holdback. The fear of getting into the same situation with a different platform is real, and the answer is to check the contract terms before you sign. Boulevard's are notably different from Mindbody's.
Salon owners ask which Mindbody alternative is best, whether GlossGenius works for a 4-chair salon, how Booksy compares to Mindbody, and what color appointment management means. Boulevard fits established salons with 3+ providers. GlossGenius fits solo stylists from $28/month. Booksy charges 30%, capped at $100, only on a new client's first visit through Boost. Color management means processing time built into the booking.
For established salons with 3+ providers, Boulevard is the strongest alternative: it handles color appointment management, multi-service booking, and branded booking natively. For smaller salons or solo stylists, GlossGenius, from $28/month (Gold is $56 for up to 9 staff), is built around independent operators. Vagaro is a reasonable mid-range option with a broad feature set. Boulevard's published price at 4 to 6 chairs is $224 to $390/month per location at regular prices, including the $65 forms add-on, before processing.
GlossGenius was designed for independent stylists and small teams, and its published Gold plan supports up to 9 users. The gap is depth: per-stylist color timing, provider-level reporting, and multi-service coordination aren't built for team environments the way they are on team-first platforms. A growing 4-chair salon can technically fit within the user cap and still outgrow what the software does for a team.
Booksy is a discovery-first marketplace, similar to Mindbody in structure, and its commission works the same way. Booksy charges 30% (capped at $100) only on a new client's first visit, through an opt-in feature called Boost. Mindbody charges 20% of a new client's first purchase, capped at $30, when its app delivers that client. Both leave rebookings commission-free; Booksy can cost more per new client, but you can switch Boost off.
Color appointment management refers to the ability to schedule multi-service visits with processing time built in: a color service, a processing block where the client sits, then a cut and style. It also includes per-stylist timing (a double-process color takes 90 minutes with one stylist and 120 with another). On Mindbody, this is a manual workaround. On Boulevard, it's native and configurable per provider.
The right platform depends on how your salon actually runs: how many providers, how your book is built, what's been frustrating you, what you can't afford to disrupt. Answer 8 questions and the assessment gives you a recommendation on the spot. Sometimes it's Boulevard. Sometimes it's something else. Sometimes it's stay and negotiate.
Grove only gets paid when a business switches through us, which is exactly why we'll tell you if the timing isn't right, or if a different platform is the better fit for your setup.
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