From Vagaro to goldenhour.

Why artists make the switch

What you'll get here.

• Subscription drops to $19.99 (founding) or $39.99 (standard)

  Vagaro's tiers run $30–85/mo depending on add-ons. We're one tier, everything included: no Pro plan to upgrade into, no per-feature charges.

• Custom domain (book.yourbrand.com) at no extra cost

  Vagaro requires the Marketplace+ add-on for a custom domain. We include CNAME-based custom domains with auto-provisioned TLS in the base subscription.

• Mobile-first surface

  Travel zones with per-zone fees, GPS check-in for insurance docs, in-home setup checklist gating mobile bookings, masked-number SMS chat. None of these ship in Vagaro: they were built for a desk-bound salon model.

• AI features included

  Growth analyst Q&A, intake-form TL;DR, voice-note transcription, tag suggestions. Each is opt-in but available out of the box. No add-on charge.

Where they win today

What you'd give up.

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

• Retail / product sales module

  Vagaro has a robust retail-product module with barcode scanning + supplier orders. We track consumables you USE per session, not products you SELL. If retail is a meaningful revenue stream for you, Vagaro is deeper.

• Team scheduling with 5+ staff

  Vagaro handles multi-staff calendars natively. We're built for solo + 2–3-person shared-calendar studios today. Multi-staff with separate availabilities is on the roadmap but not shipped.

How to export from Vagaro

Pull your data out.

1. Sign into Vagaro's web dashboard (vagaro.com → business login). The mobile app doesn't have the export surface.
2. Top-right gear icon → Settings → Reports → Customer List. Click Export to CSV. You'll get an email when it's ready (usually under a minute).
3. Same Settings → Reports area: export Appointments (last 12 months is enough for most use cases: the full history is rarely useful). Export to CSV.
4. Settings → Services. There's no built-in CSV export here, but a screenshot of the table works. Or we can re-create your services from your booking page since they're publicly listed.
5. Settings → Forms → Intake Forms. Vagaro lets you export your intake template as PDF. Send us the PDF and we'll recreate the question set.
6. Email all the files to support@goldenhourhq.com with the subject "Vagaro migration": we'll import within 24h.

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

What we import

Clean ingest.

The importer reads Vagaro's export directly. Upload it in Settings, and re-upload whenever you like: rows are matched on the id Vagaro 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, no-shows
• Service catalog (recreated from your booking page or screenshot)
• Intake form questions (recreated from the PDF)
• Booking notes + parking instructions
• Cancellation history (powers the no-show-risk classifier)

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: Vagaro uses their own payment processor; we don't import payment-method tokens. Customers re-enter their card on their first booking.
• Booking-page slug: claim a new handle (e.g. yourbrand.goldenhourhq.com) or point your existing custom domain CNAME at us.
• Custom domain certificate: if you had a custom domain on Vagaro, the cert is theirs. We provision a fresh one via Cloudflare SaaS once you update the CNAME.
• Recurring appointments: Vagaro's recurrence config doesn't export. We re-create the rules on the first manual save of each recurring client.

The money side

What you'll save.

• Subscription: Vagaro's $30–85/mo → goldenhour $19.99/mo (founding cohort) or $39.99/mo (standard). Net savings: $10–$65/mo, plus you keep the founding rate for as long as you stay subscribed.
• No platform commission either way (both Vagaro and goldenhour charge a flat subscription, not a per-booking fee).
• Stripe processing rates are identical at 2.9% + 30¢ online: both pass them through directly.
• Add-on packs you can drop: SMS marketing ($20+/mo), retail module ($10/mo), drift fee, payment-processing surcharge. None of these are extras on goldenhour.

See full pricing detail at /pricing.