Tattoo Studio Pro vs. Square Appointments

Square Appointments is general booking software with a free plan. Tattoo Studio Pro is built for tattoo and piercing studios. This page uses Square’s US pricing page as checked on November 8, 2026, and Tattoo Studio Pro’s help for our own product.

A shorter page is the Square Appointments alternative for tattoo shops.

Feature comparison

Feature	Tattoo Studio Pro	Square Appointments (US, Nov 8, 2026)
Software price	$29/month, Solo, 1 team member	Free $0, Plus $49, Premium $149, each per location
Trial	30 days. A payment method is required. You are not charged until it ends.	Plus and Premium: free 30-day trial. Free has no monthly software price.
Forms	Consent forms on every plan	Contracts, templates, and e-signature on every plan, including Free. The pricing page does not describe a tattoo consent form.
Deposits	Online deposits, with a setting for whether a deposit is required before the appointment confirms	Appointment deposits, and prepayments with automatic contracts, on every plan including Free
Reminders	A confirmation text when the appointment is booked, and up to 5 reminder texts	Appointment reminders on every plan. Appointment confirmations are not on Free.
Calendars	Active staff count toward the plan. Managers and health officials do not.	”Unlimited calendars” is on Free. The tooltip says there is no employee limit.
Website	Included with the subscription	Website builder with SEO tools is on Free
Commission	A report of what is owed. It does not pay people.	Tip pooling and commission tracking are not on Free. They are on Plus and Premium.
Card fee, in person	Your Stripe account. Stripe’s pricing page, same day, lists 2.7% + 5¢ for in-person card payments. Tattoo Studio Pro does not add a software percent.	”Tap, dip, or swipe,” card present: 2.6% + 15¢ / 2.5% + 15¢ / 2.4% + 15¢
Card fee, online or invoice	Not a second rate in our help	3.3% + 30¢ / 2.9% + 30¢ / 2.9% + 30¢

The three Square percents are Free, then Plus, then Premium.

What the Square page flags

Prices are per location. If you process over $250,000 a year, the page says to talk to Square about custom pricing. It does not print a Pro price.

On Free, the flags are on for: appointment deposits, prepayments and automatic contracts, contracts with e-signature, appointment reminders (the row covers text and email), an online booking website, a website builder, and unlimited calendars.

On Free, the flags are off for: appointment confirmations, waitlist, tip pooling and commission tracking, custom contract fields, and “require contract signature” before an invoice payment. Text message marketing is off on Free. Plus says “500 messages included, then 3¢ per message.” Premium says “2,500 messages included, then 1.5¢ per message.”

Those off flags are about the Free column. They are not a finding that Square removed the feature.

The page does not list a tattoo portfolio, a health-official login, or a walk-in queue. That is silence on this page. It is not proof those things do not exist somewhere else in Square.

What Tattoo Studio Pro’s help documents

Solo is $29/month or $239/year for 1 team member. Every plan includes every feature. Yearly billing costs less than paying monthly. Other team sizes are on the pricing page. Managers and health officials do not count toward the staff limit.

Consent forms are on every plan. A signed form is stored on the client and in the Forms Archive. Managers and the Health Official role can open the archive. If the client is under 18, parent or guardian fields appear on the in-studio form. The public online check-in link cannot capture parent or guardian consent. A photo of an ID is optional, and only when the ID First workflow is turned on. Extra languages are available when you turn them on in the form editor.

Appointment messages in help are a confirmation text and up to 5 reminder texts. Help does not state a per-text price, and it does not call the texts unlimited.

Commission is a record of what each person is owed. It does not pay them. Help documents one percentage, a cash rate and a card rate, or a sliding scale. The commission article has the permission limits.

Card payments go through the studio’s Stripe account. The subscription does not add a percent on top of Stripe.

FAQ

Does Square include consent forms?

The US pricing page includes contracts, contract templates, and e-signature on every plan, including Free. They are sent when the client books. On that page they are generic contracts. The page does not describe a health questionnaire, a minor workflow, or a health-official archive. Tattoo Studio Pro’s consent forms are on every plan, including Solo at $29/month.

Is the Square website an add-on?

No. “Website builder with SEO tools” is flagged on Free. Tattoo Studio Pro includes the website with the subscription.

What does Square charge to take a card?

In person, card present: 2.6% + 15¢ on Free, 2.5% + 15¢ on Plus, 2.4% + 15¢ on Premium. Online or through an invoice: 3.3% + 30¢ on Free, 2.9% + 30¢ on Plus and Premium. Tattoo Studio Pro does not add a software percent. Stripe’s pricing page, checked the same day, lists 2.7% + 5¢ for in-person card payments.

Are Square confirmations on the free plan?

Appointment reminders are on Free. Appointment confirmations are not. Text message marketing is not on Free.

Can I keep using Square for retail?

This page does not cover Square’s retail register. Tattoo Studio Pro’s help documents card checkout through Stripe. It does not document a connection that rings a Square retail sale and a tattoo appointment in one ticket.

What is the trial?

Square Plus and Square Premium each offer a free 30-day trial. Square Free has no monthly software price. Tattoo Studio Pro’s trial is 30 days, asks for a payment method, and does not charge you until it ends.

Booking workflow is on the tattoo booking software page. Switching steps are on the switch page.