Real Cost Over 12 Months, Ranked
Breakdown Per Tool
Plan price for your team size (base price plus each extra staff member and location), plus card fee % and fixed fee per payment, plus marketplace commission on new clients, plus SMS and AI add-ons. One-time setup fees are added to the 12-month total.
Public pricing pages and fee schedules, re-checked regularly. Each tool shows its own last-checked date and source. Sponsored tools are labeled and ranked by cost like every other tool.
Tell us and we will re-check it.
Report Wrong DataHow to Use the Calculator
Fill in the details that describe your business. You can leave a field at zero if it doesn’t apply to you. The form starts with the defaults shown below.
Inputs:
- Staff Who Take Bookings (people, default 3): the team members who take bookings. Many tools charge for each one beyond the number included in the plan.
- Locations (sites, default 1)
- Monthly Card Revenue (USD, default 8000)
- Average Card Payment (per booking, default 60): what a customer typically pays in one card payment.
- New Customers From Marketplace / Month (customers, default 10): customers who find and book you through a vendor’s marketplace or app.
- Average New-Customer Spend (USD, default 70): what a new customer typically spends. For example, a salon might enter the price of a typical first appointment.
- SMS Reminders Sent / Month (messages, default 300)
- Contract: Any (default) or Monthly Only. Monthly Only hides tools that require an annual or custom contract, with the reason “needs a contract”.
- Billing: Pay Monthly (default) or Pay Yearly. Pay Yearly applies each tool’s annual discount to the subscription part of the price, where the tool has one, and never hides a tool.
Features (tick the ones you need): SMS Reminders (on by default), AI Receptionist, Memberships & Packages, Walk-In Queue and POS & Payments. Tools without a feature you tick are hidden from the results. POS & Payments is a filter only: it hides tools that don’t have POS and adds no cost.
Business: the menu starts on Any Business, which applies no filter. You can instead pick a specific business, grouped by industry. The calculator then keeps only tools listed for that exact business. A tool listed only for a whole industry doesn’t match a specific business.
Which Tools Are Included
This calculator compares tools listed under Booking & Scheduling, many of which also include POS and card payments. Other software types have their own versions of the calculator: POS & Payments, CRM & Marketing, Payroll & HR, AI Tools and Website Builder.
How Results Are Ordered
Results are sorted by estimated total 12-month cost, lowest first, and nothing is boosted. Sponsored and Featured listings are labelled and never ranked higher.
How Filters Work
Tools that don’t match your choices are hidden from the results. A note under the results names each hidden tool and why, in this form: “N tool hidden: Name (reason, reason); Name (reason).” The word is “tools” when more than one is hidden. Reasons are lowercase, and the common ones come first:
- “custom quote only”: the vendor publishes no price, only custom quotes.
- “not listed for this business”: you picked a specific business and the tool isn’t listed for that exact business.
- “needs a contract”: you chose Monthly Only and the tool requires an annual or custom contract.
- “no memberships”, “no walk-in queue”, “no POS” and “no AI receptionist”: you ticked the feature and the tool doesn’t have it.
- “no SMS reminders”: you ticked SMS Reminders and the tool has no SMS reminders feature, no SMS add-on price and no included SMS allowance.
Pay Yearly never hides a tool. A tool that requires an annual contract shows the tag “12-Month Contract”, even when Contract is set to Any.
If tools exist and none is hidden, the note instead reads: “Sponsored tools are labeled and ranked by cost like every other tool.” This shows whether or not any tool is sponsored.
If tools exist but all of them are hidden, the results say: “No tool matches all your filters. Try removing a required feature.” If you picked a specific business, it ends “Try removing a required feature or choosing Any Business.” The note still lists every tool.
If no tools of this type have pricing data yet, the form and the Business menu still show, and the results area says: “No tools with pricing data yet. Results will appear here as soon as tools are verified.”
Some features, such as memberships or a walk-in queue, matter to some types of business more than others. Only tick the ones you really need.
Software Without Public Pricing
If a vendor only offers custom quotes and publishes no starting or base price, we can’t calculate its cost, so it won’t get a total. It is still named in the note under the results, with the reason “custom quote only”, so you know it exists.
How the Calculation Works
For each tool, the calculator uses your inputs and the vendor’s published rates. The formula is:
12-month total = (monthly total × 12) + one-time and yearly extras
In this version the only extra is the one-time setup fee. The monthly figure shown is the average per month.
The monthly total is the sum of:
- Plan price for your team size – the plan’s base price, plus the published charge for each staff member beyond the number included and for each location after the first.
- Card fees – your Monthly Card Revenue times the vendor’s published percentage, plus its fixed fee for every card payment.
- Marketplace commission – the commission the vendor charges on each new customer who books through its marketplace, multiplied by your New Customers From Marketplace / Month. It is worked out for one new customer, so it is not a cap on the monthly total. It depends on the vendor’s fee type:
- Flat: a fixed amount per new customer.
- Percent: a percentage of your Average New-Customer Spend, with a minimum per new customer where the vendor publishes one.
- Percent with a cap: the same percentage and minimum, with the amount per new customer limited to the vendor’s cap.
A vendor with no published marketplace fee counts as zero. 4. SMS add-ons – the vendor’s SMS add-on price, plus the cost of messages beyond any allowance included in the plan. Counted only if you tick SMS Reminders. 5. AI add-ons – only if you tick AI Receptionist. The vendor’s published price for that add-on is then included. It is unticked by default, so AI costs are left out unless you choose them. 6. Other monthly fees – any other recurring monthly fees the vendor publishes.
To work out card fees, we estimate your number of card payments as Monthly Card Revenue ÷ Average Card Payment.
Any one-time setup fee the vendor publishes, such as onboarding or data migration, is added once to the 12-month total.
Monthly or Yearly Billing
If you choose Pay Yearly, the calculator applies the vendor’s official annual discount, as published on its pricing page, to the subscription part of the price only. This is a standard, ongoing price for paying yearly. It is not the same as a promotional discount.
What’s Not Included
Only the costs listed above are counted. Taxes, hardware and promotional discounts, such as limited-time offers or first-months-free deals, are not modelled. These vary too much by location and offer to estimate fairly.
The result is shown as one 12-month figure, with a breakdown for each cost line. Each result row shows the plan, then “checked <date>” or “not yet checked”.
The calculator is an estimate, not a quote. Always confirm final pricing with the vendor before you sign up.
What Counts as a Hidden Fee
We call a fee “hidden” when it isn’t part of the headline price but can still change what you pay. The calculator includes:
Per-Staff and Per-Location Fees
Many tools charge for each extra team member, calendar or location. A plan that looks cheap for one person can cost much more once your whole team, or a second location, is added.
Card Processing
Many tools that take payments charge a percentage plus a fixed fee on every card payment. Small differences in the rate add up over a year of transactions.
If a vendor doesn’t publish its card processing rate, we use a fallback of 2.9% + 30¢ per payment. The figure is marked (est.), and the tool shows the note “card rate not published – estimated at 2.9% + 30¢ (your own processor)”, so you can see it’s an estimate, not the vendor’s actual rate.
Marketplace New-Customer Fees
Some platforms have a marketplace or app where new customers can find and book a business, and charge a commission when that happens. Where a vendor publishes this commission, we calculate it from your Average New-Customer Spend, because a first booking can cost a different amount than a regular one. If many of your new customers come this way, this can be one of your biggest costs. If you don’t use a vendor’s marketplace, set New Customers From Marketplace / Month to zero.
SMS Add-Ons
Appointment reminders and marketing texts are often limited or charged separately. We count the cost of messages beyond the included allowance. A tool counts as offering SMS if it has the SMS reminders feature, an SMS add-on price or an included SMS allowance.
AI Add-Ons
AI features such as an AI receptionist are often sold as paid extras on top of the plan. Tick AI Receptionist in the calculator to include the vendor’s published price for it.
Other Monthly Fees
Some vendors charge other recurring fees on top of the plan. Where these are published, we include them in the monthly total.
Setup Fees
Some vendors charge a one-time fee for onboarding, setup or data migration. We add it once to the 12-month total, so tools with a low monthly price and a high setup fee are compared fairly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Calculator Free to Use?
Yes. The calculator is completely free, and you don’t need to log in or create an account.
What Does the 12-Month Total Include?
It includes the plan price for your team size and locations, card fees, marketplace commissions on new customers, SMS add-ons, other published monthly fees and any one-time setup fee. AI add-ons are included only if you tick AI Receptionist. If you choose Pay Yearly, the vendor’s official annual discount is applied to the subscription. Taxes, hardware and promotional discounts are not included.
Does Ticking POS & Payments Add a Cost?
No. In this calculator POS & Payments is a filter only. It hides tools that don’t have POS. Card fees are counted either way, from your Monthly Card Revenue and Average Card Payment.
Why Isn’t Every Software Tool Calculated?
This version covers tools listed under Booking & Scheduling. Other software types have their own versions, linked above. We only calculate tools that publish their prices, so every figure can be traced to a source. Tools that only offer custom quotes are still named in the note under the results, with the reason “custom quote only”.
Do Sponsored Listings Rank Higher in the Results?
No. Results are ordered by estimated total 12-month cost, lowest first, and nothing is boosted. Sponsored and Featured listings are labelled and never ranked higher.
What Does “(est.)” Mean Next to a Figure?
It means the figure uses our fallback card rate of 2.9% + 30¢ per payment because the vendor doesn’t publish its own card processing rate. The vendor’s actual rate may be higher or lower.
Learn More
- Read our methodology to see how we collect and check prices.
- Spotted a wrong price or fee? Report wrong data.