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goldenhour
Switching guides

Switching

From GlossGenius to goldenhour.

GlossGenius is well-designed and indie-artist-focused at $24–$48/mo depending on tier. Most of the artists who switch over say the same thing: "I loved the brand but didn't need the price." If you're a solo or small studio doing house calls, the founding rate undercuts both GG tiers and you get mobile-first wedges GG hasn't shipped.

Typical timeline: 1–2 days

Why artists make the switch

What you'll get here.

  • Founding price beats both GG tiers

    GlossGenius runs $24/mo (Standard) or $48/mo (Gold). Founding cohort at goldenhour is $19.99/mo, held for as long as you stay subscribed, cheaper than either GG tier; our standard $39.99/mo still undercuts Gold. Same flat-fee model.

  • Mobile-first wedges GlossGenius lacks

    Travel zones with per-zone fees, GPS check-in for insurance docs, masked-number SMS chat (your real phone stays private), in-home setup checklist gating mobile bookings on outlet + ventilation. GG is studio-first.

  • Inventory tracking for consumables

    Track spray-tan solution, color tubes, mitts, sticks: anything you run out of. GlossGenius doesn't ship consumables inventory today.

  • AI features included (opt-in)

    Growth analyst ("who lapsed this quarter?"), intake-form TL;DR, voice-note transcription, tag suggestions. None of these are GG features today.

Where they win today

What you'd give up.

Honest list. If any of these are deal-breakers, stay on GlossGenius: we'd rather you be on the right tool for you than churn from us in 30 days.

  • Brand polish + design templates

    GlossGenius's templated booking pages are gorgeous out of the box. We have visual templates too (Settings → Booking page → Template) but their catalog is bigger today. If polish-at-zero-config is your top priority, GG is still ahead.

How to export from GlossGenius

Pull your data out.

  1. Sign into GlossGenius's web dashboard (dashboard.glossgenius.com).
  2. Top-right gear → Settings → Account → "Request data export." GG emails you a ZIP within ~24h containing clients.csv, appointments.csv, and services.json.
  3. While you wait, screenshot your intake form (Settings → Booking → Forms): GG's export doesn't include intake template schema cleanly. We'll recreate the questions.
  4. If you use the GG loyalty card, screenshot your rule config too. Same recreate-on-import pattern.
  5. Forward the ZIP + screenshots to support@goldenhourhq.com with subject "GlossGenius migration."
  6. Upload the CSVs under Settings → Import, then book the setup call to check the result, connect Stripe and claim your handle.

Stuck on any step? Email support@goldenhourhq.com. We've done GlossGenius exports before: happy to screen-share through the part that's blocking you.

What we import

Clean ingest.

The importer reads GlossGenius's export directly. Upload it in Settings, and re-upload whenever you like: rows are matched on the id GlossGenius gave them, so the same export twice does not create anything twice. The one exception anywhere is a client with no email address on an export that carries no client id of its own, which has nothing stable to match on and comes in again; the import check flags those before you commit to it.

  • Client list: name, phone, email, birthday, notes, VIP flag
  • Appointment history: date, service, status, price
  • Service catalog: name, duration, price, deposit %
  • Booking notes + parking instructions
  • Cancellation + no-show history (powers no-show-risk classifier)
  • Intake questions (recreated from screenshot)

What needs reconfiguring

Five-minute jobs.

Stuff that can't come over via CSV: usually because each platform structures it differently. We walk through each on the setup call (or via email).

  • Stripe Connect: GG uses their own integrated processor. Re-oauth Stripe on goldenhour and customers re-enter cards on first booking.
  • Booking page slug: claim a handle on goldenhourhq.com or point your existing custom domain CNAME at us. Both URLs can run in parallel for 30 days.
  • Custom domain certificate: GG provisions theirs; ours is fresh via Cloudflare. CNAME update + a few minutes for cert issuance.
  • Loyalty rules: GG's rule config doesn't export. We recreate equivalent rules in our loyalty engine post-import.
  • Booking-page brand assets (logo, colors): re-upload + reselect in Settings → Branding. 2 minutes.

The money side

What you'll save.

  • Subscription: GlossGenius $24/mo (Standard) or $48/mo (Gold) → goldenhour $19.99/mo (founding) or $39.99/mo (standard). Founding saves $4–$28/mo depending on the GG tier you leave.
  • No platform commission on either side: both are flat-fee models.
  • Stripe processing: GlossGenius charges 2.6% + 10¢ on their integrated processor; ours is 2.9% + 30¢ (Stripe's standard). Slightly higher per-charge but you keep the rate stability of Stripe's published pricing instead of GG's internal rates.
  • Founding-cohort math: vs GG Gold ($48), founding $19.99 saves ~$336/yr; vs GG Standard ($24), ~$48/yr. The founding rate holds for as long as you stay subscribed either way.

See full pricing detail at /pricing.

Ready to start?

Sign up takes a minute, and the import runs from Settings as soon as you have the export. Want company for it? The setup call is free and we do the whole thing together. Most artists are running their first live booking on goldenhour within 1–2 days.

Start freeBook the setup call