Switching
From Vagaro to goldenhour.
Vagaro is a full-service salon PMS with retail and team scheduling, but at $30–85/mo plus per-package add-ons. If you're a solo or 2–3-person mobile shop, you're paying for capabilities you don't use. This guide walks you through pulling your data + landing on goldenhour, in one sitting.
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.
- Sign into Vagaro's web dashboard (vagaro.com → business login). The mobile app doesn't have the export surface.
- 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).
- Same Settings → Reports area: export Appointments (last 12 months is enough for most use cases: the full history is rarely useful). Export to CSV.
- 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.
- Settings → Forms → Intake Forms. Vagaro lets you export your intake template as PDF. Send us the PDF and we'll recreate the question set.
- 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 Vagaroexports before: happy to screen-share through the part that's blocking you.
What we import
Clean ingest.
- 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 forever.
- 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.
Ready to start?
Sign up takes a minute. Send the export and we'll handle the import within a business day. Most artists are running their first live booking on goldenhour within 1–2 days.