Mindbody vs Vagaro
A data-derived, sourced comparison. Every value below links to where we found it.
Mindbody
Mindbody: flat tiered pricing, no free data migration.
Vagaro
Vagaro: priced per staff member, no mailchimp integration.
Price at three example sizes
| Studio size | Mindbody | Vagaro |
|---|---|---|
| Solo operator | $79/moStarter$79/mo per location × 1 = $79/mo (Starter) | $30/moStandard$30 base + $10/additional employee calendar (capped at 6 extras) = $30/mo |
| Established studio | $79/moStarter$79/mo per location × 1 = $79/mo (Starter) | $70/moStandard$30 base + $10/additional employee calendar (capped at 6 extras) = $70/mo |
| Growing multi-site | $237/moStarter$79/mo per location × 3 = $237/mo (Starter) | — |
| Base plan headline price: Mindbody $79/mo per location, Vagaro 30 USD/month ongoing base+ /extra employee calendar. Excludes payment-processing fees and add-ons — see the full cost calculator. | ||
Where they differ
Scheduling & Booking
| Attendance Tracking | Class Sign In roster, self sign-in (all packages), Check-in app for iPad/Android. Staff-operated Client Check In screen needs Accelerate+.Confirmed | Check in/out class attendees; contactless/QR self check-in and a Check-In App kiosk ($10-15/mo add-on)Confirmed |
| Booking Windows | 'Schedule Windows' per service category — how many days ahead booking opens and how many minutes before start it closes. All packages.Confirmed | Online Appointment Rules, plus Lead Time to limit how close to start time customers may bookConfirmed |
| Brandable Booking Widget | Partial — brand colours, button text and instructor images, but Schedule widget v2 does NOT support custom CSS (v1 did and can no longer be…Confirmed | Limited — widget button colour theme and tab/service selection only; Vagaro states editing the generated code is not recommended; no custom…Confirmed |
| Bulk Class Cancellation | Make Schedule Change cancels across a date range, auto-cancelling client reservations. 'Block Cancel Classes' needs Accelerate+.Confirmed | 'Cancel Series' cancels all upcoming sessions at once; attendees auto-notified by text and email, with optional refundConfirmed |
| Bulk Class Creation | Recurring schedule created in one pass with multiple day/time/instructor instances and a 'Repeats every' cadence.Confirmed | Recurring classes repeating daily, weekly (incl. biweekly/interval), monthly or yearly to an end dateConfirmed |
| Cancellation Windows | Configurable per service category with late-cancel fees and membership-based exemptions. Automated fee management needs Accelerate 2.0+.Confirmed | Cancellation/no-show policy windows with automatic fee chargingConfirmed |
| Capacity Limits | Total capacity plus a separate online capacity, so online bookers waitlist while staff can still add drop-ins.Confirmed | Separate In-House Capacity and Live Stream Capacity per class sessionConfirmed |
| Classes | Core service type with its own Class Sign In screen. All packages.Confirmed | YesConfirmed |
| Courses | Called Courses/enrollments — fixed start/end, enrol once for the series, with payment-plan tracking. Makeups, semesters and levels need Acc…Confirmed | 'Workshops' are a series of class sessions; adding an attendee registers them for all sessions in the seriesConfirmed |
| Duplicate Classes | 'Block Copy Class Schedules' copies a week to a new date range. Requires Accelerate+ (not on Starter). Rooms, payment plans and assistants…Confirmed | Not verifiedEstimated |
| Embeddable Calendar Widget | Branded web tools (formerly HealCode) widgets. WordPress/Squarespace/Wix/GoDaddy supported; Shopify and Jimdo are not. All current packages.Confirmed | Vagaro generates embeddable HTML; unlimited widgets, per-employee and per-location variantsConfirmed |
| No-show Tracking | No-shows tallied on the roster plus a No-Shows report. Automated no-show fees need Accelerate 2.0+.Confirmed | Mark no-show, auto-charge a fee, optionally consume a package/membership visit; Cancellations & No-Shows reportConfirmed |
| Recurring Bookings | Recurring class reservations via 'Adv. Register'. Max one year out; unavailable if roster is full or class is free.Confirmed | Repeating appointments (daily/weekly/monthly/yearly); series can be edited as a whole or unlinked individually. Docs centre on appointment…Confirmed |
| Shareable Booking Links | Links screen generates consumer-mode URLs. Consumer-mode links cannot be filtered and cannot target a specific date.Confirmed | Widget link, Vagaro Listing Page (domain can be forwarded to it), and direct links to individual services/classes/packagesConfirmed |
| Staff Substitution | Quick Substitution, Make Schedule Change, and automated SMS-based Substitution Management (Ultimate 2.0+, limited countries).Confirmed | YesConfirmed |
| Waiting Lists | Per-class waitlist capacity, auto-add on opening, optional 'First to Claim' SMS, lock window. Classes, appointments and courses, all packag…Confirmed | Three modes: 'You Pick' (manual), 'Money Maker' (auto-award to highest-value booking), 'First in Line' (auto-notify first in queue)Confirmed |
Memberships & Packages
| Automatic Renewals | Contracts auto-renew at a chosen interval or month-to-month. All packages.Confirmed | Auto-renew on memberships (time-based) and packages (time-based or by completed visits), with renewal limits and pauseConfirmed |
| Class Packs | Pricing options support single, multiple (e.g. 10-class pass) or unlimited sessions per service type.Confirmed | Packages sell a set number of future visits for services and classesConfirmed |
| Custom Package Rules | Configurable expiry, activation on sale or first visit, service-category restrictions. Selling bundled 'Packages' needs Accelerate+ and isn…Confirmed | Configure included services/classes, visit counts, sales tax, auto-renew limits, rollover of unused visits, and pausingConfirmed |
| Drop-in Pricing | YesConfirmed | Classes can be sold and paid for individually online via the Online Shopping Cart ($10-15/mo add-on; free in the UK)Confirmed |
| Failed Payment Handling | Declined autopays surface via report, dashboard alert and client alert; configurable auto-retry days. Failed ACH converts to a negative acc…Confirmed | Dedicated Failed Payments report to review and re-run declined chargesConfirmed |
| Hold Multiple Memberships / Packs at Once | Pricing option priority (Low/Medium/High) picks which entitlement pays, ties broken by purchase date. Cannot arbitrate between two membersh…Confirmed | A customer can hold both memberships and packages; visits are redeemed against the booking at checkout/from the calendar, and can be auto-a…Confirmed |
| Memberships | Memberships attached to a pricing option; recurring billing via Autopays and Contracts. All packages.Confirmed | YesConfirmed |
Clients
| Booking History | Client Visits screen with date/time/location/teacher/status, filterable, XLS download. History window configurable up to 60 months.Confirmed | YesConfirmed |
| Client Export | Indirect — no export button on the Client Directory; docs say copy the table into Excel (capped at 1,000 clients per search). A full Subscr…Confirmed | YesConfirmed |
| Client Import | No self-serve import — Mindbody's docs say profiles 'need to be created manually, one by one'; mass import only via the Mindbody-run Client…Confirmed | Self-serve CSV/Excel customer import; Vagaro also imports customers from another software free of chargeConfirmed |
| Client Notes | ~21 client alert types plus a staff-only 'Medic alert' field. SOAP/progress notes need Accelerate+. Client alerts don't work in the Mindbod…Confirmed | YesConfirmed |
| Client Profiles | Full profiles across Client Info, Schedule, Visits, Purchases and Account Details. Custom client fields need Accelerate+.Confirmed | YesConfirmed |
| Customer Search | Quick-search bar plus Client Directory with filters and tagging. Results capped at 1,000 per search; relationship search needs Accelerate+.Confirmed | Customer List report with filtering, plus customer search across the appConfirmed |
Payments
| Automatic Billing | Recurring payments for memberships/contracts with a built-in Card Updater. Direct Debit (ACH, Bacs) where integrated processing exists.Confirmed | YesConfirmed |
| Discount / Promo Codes | Tier-gated — promo codes require Accelerate+ and are NOT available on Starter. Not supported in the Mindbody consumer app.Confirmed | Promotion codes and discounts; promo codes can also be embedded in email notificationsConfirmed |
| Gift Cards | Prepaid gift cards on all packages (integrated processing required); assignable gift cards need Accelerate+.Confirmed | Sell/redeem digital gift cards, upload your own designs, import gift cards from other softwareConfirmed |
| In-Person Payments | Full retail POS with card readers, terminals, tap-to-pay, barcode scanners and cash registers. Apple Pay and Google Pay supported; hardware…Confirmed | Vagaro Pay Desk POS, card readers, and Tap to PhoneConfirmed |
| Multi-Currency Support | Multi-country but one currency per account. Integrated payments in US, UK, AU, CA, NZ, HK, MY, MX, SG, UAE.Estimated | Operates in USD, CAD, GBP and AUD, but each business account is tied to one country/currencyConfirmed |
| Online Payments at Booking | Payment required to book by default; optional unpaid online signups, or store a card without charging it.Estimated | Full prepayment or deposits at online booking; requires the Online Shopping Cart add-on ($10-15/mo; free in the UK). Live-streamed classes…Confirmed |
| Payment History | Client Purchases screen with full history, refund status, printable history and Autopay History.Confirmed | YesConfirmed |
| Payment Reporting | Sales, Transactions and Payouts reports covering funding, fees and refunds, with per-location visibility.Confirmed | Transaction List, Sales Summary, Credit Card Deposits and Failed Payments reportsConfirmed |
| Refunds | Returns, voids and refunds to card/ACH/credit/cash. Limits: cannot refund more than the original, only one refund per purchase, no bulk ref…Confirmed | Full/partial refunds incl. dedicated flows for memberships, packages (even partially redeemed), products, and auto-refund of prepaid bookin…Confirmed |
| Saved Payment Cards | YesConfirmed | Card on file, and you can require one to book onlineConfirmed |
| Secure Card Payments | Mindbody Payments — integrated, PCI compliant, tokenised. Limited to US, Canada, UK, Australia and Europe.Confirmed | Vagaro's own merchant services (US 2.29-2.6% + fee; UK 1.15% + £0.20 dip/tap). Third-party processors are not supported for in-app paymentsConfirmed |
Communication
| Booking Confirmations | Reservation and appointment confirmation auto-notifications. All packages including Starter.Confirmed | YesConfirmed |
| Booking Reminders | Reservation and appointment reminders with optional .ics attachments. All packages including Starter.Confirmed | YesConfirmed |
| Broadcast Emails | Marketing Suite Campaigns — one-time marketing emails to a chosen audience. Requires Accelerate 2.0+; not on Starter.Confirmed | One-time email blast with audience filteringConfirmed |
| Cancellation Emails | Early/late cancellation notifications for classes and appointments. All packages. Substitute instructors do not receive cancellation emails.Confirmed | Cancelling a class auto-sends attendees a text and email with an optional custom messageConfirmed |
| Custom Email Templates | Editable default text with replace-phrases and optional HTML. Custom send-from address via SMTP needs Accelerate+.Confirmed | Before-visit and after-visit notification/reminder templates are editable, with merge fields and promo codesConfirmed |
| Email Marketing | Marketing Suite — Campaigns and Smart Lists need Accelerate 2.0+; Automations (drip series) are Ultimate 2.0+ only. Not on Starter.Confirmed | Built-in Email Marketing with campaign types, audience filtering, automated birthday/win-back campaigns. Free up to 1,000 credits/mo, then…Confirmed |
| Mailchimp Integration | Not directly — Mindbody's own FAQ says so. Only branded-web-tools widgets push name/email to one predetermined list; profiles created in th…Confirmed | |
| SMS Broadcasts | Partial — Campaigns are email-only, so promotional SMS goes via Automations (Ultimate 2.0+). Mindbody states Marketing Suite texting 'is no…Confirmed | One-time text blasts and text campaigns; requires a paid Text Messaging credit planConfirmed |
| SMS Notifications | Tier-gated — unavailable at Starter/Essential/Pro. From Accelerate 2.0+ a local number enables 1-way and 2-way texts. Country-limited; adde…Confirmed | Transactional text reminders/notifications, but requires a paid Text Messaging credit plan (from $20/mo US, £15/mo UK)Confirmed |
Forms & Compliance
| Custom Intake Forms | Client Forms builder with custom questions, required toggle, service scoping and profile field mapping. HIPAA compliant. All packages. Subm…Confirmed | Form builder for intake/consent/health forms plus SOAP notes; requires the Forms add-on ($10-15/mo)Confirmed |
| Digital Waivers | Dedicated Liability Waiver with 'require acknowledgement'. Signature capture via Business app and branded app. All packages including Start…Confirmed | Liability waivers with electronic customer and employee signatures; requires the Forms add-on ($10-15/mo)Confirmed |
| Downloadable Form Responses | Per-client only — stored on the Documents screen, printable or print-to-PDF, gated by a staff permission. No bulk export documented; client…Confirmed | Download/print individual responses, plus a summary view and a table view of all form & SOAP responsesConfirmed |
| Required Forms Before Booking | Partial — the liability waiver CAN gate booking, but custom client forms do NOT: Mindbody states 'Clients are not required to complete clie…Confirmed | Forms can be made mandatory for customers; forms can also be given expiration dates to force re-signingConfirmed |
Staff Management
| Custom Staff Permissions | Tier-gated — customisable permissions and permission groups need Accelerate+; Starter gets only pre-set manager/staff permissions.Confirmed | Customisable Access Levels and per-feature employee permissions, incl. restricting price/discount changes and waitlist useConfirmed |
| Instructor Revenue Reports | 'Sales by rep' requires Accelerate+ and is NOT on Starter — on Starter staff cannot be assigned as sales reps at all.Confirmed | Payroll/commission reporting by employee; sales attributed to a 'Sold By' employee (reassignable after checkout)Confirmed |
| Payroll Summaries | Pay rates, commissions and tips on every package, with Payroll and Pay Rates reports. Not a payroll processor; ADP/Paychex integrations nee…Confirmed | Payroll report with hourly rates and commissions per service, class and product; full Vagaro Payroll/Gusto processing is a separate add-on…Confirmed |
| Staff Accounts | Unlimited staff logins included on every package including Starter — 'you aren't charged per user'.Confirmed | Each employee gets a profile and login; each bookable calendar beyond the first costs $10-15/mo for up to seven licences, after which extra…Confirmed |
| Staff Attendance | Built-in hourly Time Clock on every package including Starter, with a Time Clock report.Confirmed | Time cards with clock in/out, plus a Time Card reportConfirmed |
| Staff Scheduling | Per-staff availability, instructor assignment, teacher changes. Resource scheduling (rooms/equipment) needs Accelerate+.Confirmed | Employee working hours, custom service hours, personal tasks/closures, time-off policies and balancesConfirmed |
Reporting
| Activity Log | Partial — the Staff Activity report is 'an activity log for three reports' only, recording who accessed them and from which IP. No general…Confirmed | Partial — per-appointment Timeline/History records who booked/modified it, what changed, and notifications sent; no system-wide audit log o…Confirmed |
| Attendance Reports | Attendance Analysis, Attendance with/without Revenue, Client Visits and a dedicated No-Shows report.Confirmed | Service/Class Sales Summary reports number of classes and attendees; per-customer class attendance history also availableConfirmed |
| CSV Export | Reports export to Excel/CSV/PDF. Requires the 'Export report information' permission.Confirmed | YesConfirmed |
| Full Audit History | No system-wide audit log exists, so no audit retention window is published. One limit on the analytics layer: Analytics 2.0 only shows data…Estimated | Not verifiedEstimated |
| Membership Reports | Retention, Retention Management, Autopay Detail and Autopay Expirations reports.Confirmed | YesConfirmed |
| Occupancy Reports | Class fill rate and appointment occupancy, bookings vs attendance, peak vs off-peak. Ultimate adds 'Fill Slow Days' automations built on th…Confirmed | No dedicated fill-rate/utilisation report found. Attendee counts per class via the Service/Class Sales Summary report; custom utilisation r…Estimated |
| Package Reports | Visits Remaining report plus an Expired Series section in Earned Revenue.Estimated | YesConfirmed |
| Revenue by Class | Sales by Service, Sales by Category and Sales by Product reports.Confirmed | Service/Class Sales Summary gives class sale totals, add-on sales, cost to business and average sale per class; Sales By Category also avai…Confirmed |
| Revenue by Instructor | Sales by Rep report and sales-rep filter both require Accelerate+ (not on Starter). Payroll report attributes class/appointment earnings on…Confirmed | Via payroll/commission reporting and 'Sold By' employee attribution on salesConfirmed |
| Revenue Reports | Sales, Earned Revenue, Sales Forecast and Sales by Product/Service/Category. 'Save This Report' isn't on Starter.Confirmed | YesConfirmed |
| Visual Dashboards | Analytics 2.0 on all 2.0 tiers. The separate 'Insights' add-on is NOT on Starter and is paid on Accelerate/Ultimate; included with Ultimate…Confirmed | Sales Trends and other trend reports render charts; deeper BI (50+ pre-built Power BI reports, Tableau) requires the Data Lake add-on at $4…Confirmed |
Integrations
| Apple Calendar | No native integration — .ics attachments on notifications let clients import into Apple Calendar, and staff can subscribe to the iCal feed…Confirmed | |
| Google Calendar | Native, included on every package — but one-way (Mindbody to Google), availability doesn't show, and anything booked via the Business app,…Confirmed | Real-time two-way sync, included for all businessesConfirmed |
| Mailchimp | No native integration — Mindbody's FAQ states 'Does Mailchimp integrate with Mindbody? Not directly.' Not listed in their Email Marketing p…Confirmed | |
| Outlook Calendar | No direct integration — Mindbody states it 'can integrate with Outlook Calendar only after integrating with Google Calendar'. One-way, upda…Confirmed | |
| QuickBooks | No native integration — Mindbody states plainly: 'Mindbody does not integrate directly with QuickBooks'. Documented workaround is exporting…Confirmed | Native QuickBooks Online integration; paid add-on ($10 US / $40 CA / £25 UK / $40 AU per month)Confirmed |
| Xero | No native integration — Mindbody states it 'does not integrate directly with QuickBooks and other accounting programs'. Xero only via paid…Confirmed | Native Xero integration syncing sales, taxes and refunds; paid add-on ($10 US / $40 CA / $40 AU per month, free in the UK)Confirmed |
Multi-Location
| Additional Locations | Each location charged separately — pricing is per location (Starter from £89/$99 per month per location). Additional locations are 'datasha…Confirmed | Each location requires its own separate business account, monthly subscription and feature subscriptions; the Multi-Location screen then li…Confirmed |
| Calendars / Seats Included | Not metered by calendar — priced per location, not per seat. Unlimited staff on every package including Starter (from £89/$99 per month per…Confirmed | 1 bookable calendar licence in the base subscription ($23.99/mo US, £20/mo UK). Each additional employee calendar $10/mo (£10 UK) for up to…Confirmed |
| Centralised Multi-Location Management | 'Datashare' sites share client records with cross-location reporting. Cross-regional pricing-option use needs Accelerate+. Setup via Mindbo…Confirmed | A 'flagship' location syncs settings, pricing and customer information across a location group, with cross-location reporting and location…Confirmed |
| Separate Booking Embeds Per Location | Schedule widget v2 can be scoped to specific locations with client-side location filters. Consumer-mode share links cannot be filtered.Confirmed | A booking widget can be created for 'This Location' or a specific multi-location; each location has its own Vagaro Listing PageConfirmed |
Branded Apps
| Branded Android App | Same white-label app on Google Play. NOT on Starter; paid add-on on Accelerate/Ultimate; included in Ultimate Plus.Confirmed | True white-label app on Google Play under your own business name (your own Google Developer account required). Same pricing as iOS; one fee…Confirmed |
| Branded iOS App | True white-label App Store listing under the business's own name. NOT on Starter; paid add-on on Accelerate/Ultimate; included in Ultimate…Confirmed | True white-label app published to the App Store under your own business name (your own Apple Developer account required). $100 one-time dev…Confirmed |
| Custom Branding | Branded web tools on all current packages (brand colours, button text, instructor images). Full branding via the Branded Mobile App add-on.…Confirmed | Branded App icon, splash screen and button colours; booking widget colour theme; MySite website global stylingsConfirmed |
| Push Notifications | Requires the Branded Mobile App add-on — so unavailable on Starter, paid on Accelerate/Ultimate, included with Ultimate Plus.Estimated | Push notifications to customers via the Vagaro app / your Branded App; Fill My Books also sends automated pushesConfirmed |
Support
| 24/7 Email Support | Not 24/7 for human support — the '24/7' claim refers to the self-serve Support Center and AI Assistant. Human routes (case/email, live chat…Confirmed | Not stated as 24/7 — support via email and regional phone lines (US, CA, UK, AU). The 'Vera' AI assistant is always available and can escal…Confirmed |
| Free Data Migration | Partially free — the first 'Premium Import' (full business data, done by a Vagaro Specialist, typically 3-5 business days) is free; subsequ…Confirmed | |
| Knowledge Base | Large public Support Center with searchable articles in multiple languages, plus an in-product AI Assistant.Confirmed | Extensive public Zendesk help centre, plus free video tutorials and Vagaro UniversityConfirmed |
| Live Video Support | No standing Zoom desk. Closest: Glance co-browse screen sharing, live chat in certain situations, and Call Me callbacks via the AI Assistan…Confirmed | No Zoom/video support tier. Closest equivalents: free regional phone support and free live workshops; paid 1:1 training at Vagaro Universit…Confirmed |
Everything both Mindbody and Vagaro do (2 features)
Scheduling & Booking
- ✓ 1:1 Appointments
Support
- ✓ Email Support