If you're looking this up, you've probably already made the decision. A price you only get from a sales call, a fee on every new client Mindbody's app sends you, a paid export service waiting for you the day you try to leave. Mindbody's own reputation is doing a lot of the persuading here. This is a roundup of what else is out there, graded on the things that matter across pricing and commission structure. If you run a salon, medspa, or wellness studio, the vertical-specific breakdown below goes deeper on what fits your setup.
Boulevard is the best Mindbody alternative for most established salons, medspas, and wellness studios: it charges no marketplace commission and includes support on every plan, with published plans from $159 a month per location (salons) or $199 (medspas) at regular prices. The five worth considering:
None of the five lists a paid data export fee in its published terms. Mindbody charges one (it doesn't publish the price; owners and migration vendors report about $499). Grove is a Boulevard referral partner (how that works); the grading below uses the same criteria for every platform. Find your business type below for the specific breakdown.
The best Mindbody alternative changes by business type, so Grove grades the same five platforms (Boulevard, Vagaro, GlossGenius, Square Appointments, Booksy) separately for each. The salon breakdown covers color appointment management and multi-service booking for a 4 to 6 chair operation. The medspa breakdown covers HIPAA charting, consent forms, and MD sign-off. The wellness breakdown covers appointment-based practices such as massage, acupuncture, float, and IV.
Color appointment management, multi-service booking, and branded booking, graded for a 4–6 chair operation.
HIPAA-compliant charting, consent forms, and MD sign-off workflows, where the platform gap actually shows up.
Appointment-based practices (massage, acupuncture, float, IV, and similar) graded on booking and commission fit.
Boulevard starts at $159/month per location for salons and $199 for medspas, with no marketplace commission and support on every plan. Vagaro costs $30/month plus $10 per added calendar, with opt-in promotion fees. GlossGenius starts at $28/month; Gold is $56 for up to 9 staff. Square Appointments is free, with Plus at $49 and Premium at $149 per location. Booksy costs $29.99/month plus $20 per added user, plus an opt-in Boost fee.
| Criterion | Boulevard | Vagaro | GlossGenius | Square Appts | Booksy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Published starting price | $159/mo (Essentials, up to 5 providers); medspa $199/mo | $30/mo per location incl. one calendar; +$10 per added calendar ($23.99 intro for 6 months) | $28/mo (Standard); Gold $56/mo, up to 9 staff | Free; Plus $49, Premium $149 per location | $29.99/mo + $20 per added user |
| Marketplace commission | ✓ $0 (no marketplace) | ~ Opt-in only, 20%/5% on promoted bookings | ✓ $0 (direct booking only) | ~ Not confirmed; ask Square | ~ 30% of a new client's first visit, capped at $100, opt-in (Boost) |
| Data export fee at cancellation | None found in published terms | None found (manual self-export required) | None found in published terms | None found in published terms | None found in published terms |
| Support | ✓ Included, all plans | ~ Ticket and chat | ✓ Responsive, well-reviewed | ✓ Chat and email; phone weekdays (24/7 on Premium) | ~ Confirm with Booksy |
| Published price, 5 providers, one location (before processing and add-ons) | $159/mo salon; $455/mo medspa (Aesthetics Premier, regular) | $70/mo ($30 + 4 calendars at $10) | $56/mo (Gold, up to 9 staff) | $0 (Free) or $49 (Plus); no staff limit | $109.99/mo + Boost fees if opted in |
None of these five lists a paid export service like Mindbody's (Mindbody doesn't publish the price; owners and migration vendors report about $499), but "none found in published terms" isn't the same guarantee as a vendor stating in writing that no fee applies. Confirm directly before you sign if that matters to your decision.
Boulevard suits established businesses with a loyal book but has no class scheduling and a smaller consumer app than Mindbody. Vagaro suits owners escaping Mindbody's pricing, with booking routed through Vagaro's app. GlossGenius suits solo operators and small teams, in our view. Square Appointments suits a business that needs to launch next week. Booksy suits owners still acquiring clients. Business-type breakdowns cover vertical-specific features.
No marketplace commission on any tier, support included without a separate paid tier, and clients book directly on your own site rather than a discovery app. Operators who switched from Mindbody consistently name the included support 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, so if the Mindbody marketplace is still actively building your book, you'll feel its absence. Onboarding quality varies by account team. And Boulevard has zero class-scheduling capability, so it's not built for a class-heavy fitness studio. Find your business type below for the full cost and feature breakdown.
Vagaro is where a lot of Mindbody exits land, and it's not a bad choice. Broad feature set, reasonable pricing, solid scheduling infrastructure that's been around long enough to cover most standard workflows. Booking routes through Vagaro's consumer app rather than your own site, and support comes via ticket and chat rather than a dedicated account team. For owners whose primary motivation is escaping Mindbody's pricing, Vagaro is a reasonable landing spot.
Beautifully designed and right for a solo operator running a full book. Gold covers up to 9 staff and Platinum is unlimited, so the limit isn't a published cap. In our view it fits solo operators and small teams best; if you run a larger team, test its scheduling logic and reporting against your busiest week before you commit.
Works if you need something operational by next week: fast setup, low price. It doesn't hold up for an established business: provider-level reporting is minimal, and phone support runs weekdays only unless you pay for Premium, so a Saturday problem means chat. A starting point, not a destination.
A discovery engine, similar in structure to Mindbody: Booksy's 30% commission (capped at $100) applies only to a new client's first visit through the opt-in Boost feature. Mindbody's app fee works the same way at 20% capped at $30, so Boost can cost more per new client, though you can switch it off. If you're past the acquisition stage, the marketplace itself isn't much of a draw.
Stay on Mindbody if its marketplace still drives new clients, group classes are load-bearing, or you are under two years in and still building a book. Switch to Boulevard if you no longer need Mindbody's app to find clients, run daily workarounds for booking rules or memberships, get a renewal quote above a published Boulevard plan, or have lost bookings to support failures. Vagaro fits a tighter budget; GlossGenius fits one provider.
Owners leaving Mindbody worry about three things. 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 old 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, which limits the risk of a new lock-in. Business-type breakdowns go 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's paid data export service for larger volumes costs extra (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.
The right platform depends on how your business actually runs: what type of business, 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.
No email required. Results appear on the page in about 30 seconds.
Want to talk it through instead? Start with the assessment and you'll see the option to book a 20-min call after.