- Pain Point: Booksy Has Poor Customer Service
- Pain Point: Booksy Has Payment and Refund Issues
- Pain Point: Booksy Has Unexpected Fees
- Pain Point: Booksy Has Account Management and Security Problems
- Pain Point: Booksy Has Problems with Its App
- Pain Point: Booksy Hurts Your Business Reputation
- Pain Point: Booksy Has Inflexible Features
- Pain Point: Booksy Has Problems with Customer Reviews
- Summing Up
Last Updated on March 19, 2026 by Ewen Finser
Booksy is an easy-to-use platform for anyone who wants inexpensive booking reminders, quick text options with clients, and a profile on a third-party marketplace.
But if you’ve ever used Booksy, you’ve probably run into issues like bad customer service, inflexible features, and problems with the app in general.
In this article, I’m looking at the top Booksy Alternatives for each of these issues and more.
Pain Point: Booksy Has Poor Customer Service
I’m sure I’m not the only one who discovered the hard way that Booksy‘s custmer service can be frustrating.
There isn’t a phone number you can just contact when things go wrong. This can be a huge inconvenience (not to mention, embarrassing) when you are having trouble with a payment or a technical glitch right in the middle of trying to check a customer out after an appointment.
Top Booksy Alternative: Boulevard
So, if this is your biggest pain point, go with Boulevard.
Boulevard has real people you can easily call if you need help. More importantly, Boulevard has dedicated staff members to help you with your onboarding process so you are much less likely to run into issues in the first place because you have a much thorough understanding of how the platform works.
MangoMint is another good alternative if you are looking specifically for comprehensive customer service. This platform continually receives positive reviews for how quickly customer service representatives respond and how thorough and knowledgeable they are.
Also read: Boulevard Software Review
Pain Point: Booksy Has Payment and Refund Issues
One of the major issues reported with Booksy relates to payments.
Businesses report a lot of problems with payment processing, especially problems with client refunds or unauthorized charges.
This can be not only an inconvenience but lead to a lot of mistrust among your potential clientele and lost revenue.
Top Booksy Alternative: Vagaro
If this is your main pain point and you have struggled with issues using the payment system, consider switching to Vagaro.
Vagaro has a very easy payment system with a good layout, and customers don’t have the same issues when it comes to giving a client a refund or applying things like gift cards and discount codes.
If you want another option, GlossGenius is quite good when it comes to secure payment processing and refunds.
Pain Point: Booksy Has Unexpected Fees
One of the things that sets Booksy apart from other platforms is its marketplace. Not a lot of companies offer something like this, and it’s a good way to create a profile and have that profile marketed to people searching for services in your area.
The downside is once someone books and completes an appointment, Booksy takes a 30% commission.
Unfortunately, that’s not the only place where you might find hidden fees.
The company also charges payment processing fees for every payment you try (successfully or otherwise) to process, as well as Booksy Boost fees. This can really eat into your income, especially if you chose the platform because of its low monthly fee.
Top Booksy Alternative: Square
If you want an alternative that doesn’t have unexpected fees, go with Square.
Square is especially good for beginners, particularly the independent stylists and professionals who might be drawn to the simplicity and low upfront cost of Booksy.
Now, that said, Boulevard is another strong alternative that won’t charge you hidden fees or take small commissions here and there unexpectedly.
I would recommend Square for single employees, but Boulevard for larger, scaling businesses that have multiple employees, simply because of the cost; once you have a growing business with Square or multiple locations, you’ll start spending just as much as Boulevard per month, but you won’t get nearly as many features.
I’ll also note that companies looking for that same type of marketplace feature without the 30% commission should consider Vagaro, as it has a very stable front-facing platform as well, but they don’t have the same fee structure.
Pain Point: Booksy Has Account Management and Security Problems
A lot of clients using Booksy report issues with account management.
In particular, there are concerns around deleting personal or financial information from accounts. This can make it difficult to manage employees, remove employees, or otherwise secure your internal systems.
Top Booksy Alternative: Boulevard
If this is your main pain point, Boulevard makes it simple to navigate down to staff and security features within the platform. From there, you can easily, with a literal press of a button, suspend an account temporarily or inactivate/delete an account.
If an employee has left your company, good security means deleting and inactivating their account immediately. With one click, you know that this process has been completed.
Another alternative to Booksy is MangoMint, which also makes it very easy to manage your accounts and add or delete information for both employees and customers.
Boulevard was built for real stylists, salon, and spa owners. It handles booking, checkout, and smart scheduling the way busy salons actually work. It even handles marketing, from rebooking reminders to targeted emails and texts, plus it fills open spots with waitlist requests, without the scrambling.
Pain Point: Booksy Has Problems with Its App
Another issue that customers have run into is the classic one: technical glitches.
Booksy has a lot of tech problems relating to things like user settings. The app often does not remember your settings, so you end up having to enter your details over and over again.
That can be frustrating if the app logs you out in the middle of the workday and you have to log back in every time you want to process a payment or update your calendar.
There are also a lot of complaints with the calendar integration as well, so don’t be surprised if there are glitches or crashes while you are trying to use it.
Top Booksy Alternative: Mangomint
If this is your biggest issue, consider MangoMint.
MangoMint has very high security and a good IT backbone to their system. App-related problems are not among any of the user complaints.
Similarly, Boulevard has a more reliable platform infrastructure, so you can rest assured that you won’t have issues logging in and out or trying to update your calendar.
Pain Point: Booksy Hurts Your Business Reputation
Some customers have reported losing clients because of Booksy, and of course, that should be the other way around.
Your platform should help you gain clients. Unfortunately, Booksy doesn’t always seem to act quickly when it comes to accounts quickly or scam-related issues.
Top Booksy Alternative: Fresha
If you are worried about your business reputation and tryinf to manahe issues like fake clients or lost bookings, consider switching to Fresha.
Fresha is a stronger alternative when it comes to safety and security, without any reports of losing clients or damage to your reputation because of false accounts and scams.
Vagaro is another contender, offering the same type of review system with the ability to manage those reviews and remove them where necessary.
Pain Point: Booksy Has Inflexible Features
Not everyone needs a lot of customization when it comes to certain parts of their business, like forms and waivers.
But if you run a medspa or a salon and you want more customization with things like your brand name, different styles for your questionnaires, and HIPAA-compliance, you won’t find that with Booksy.
Top Booksy Alternative: Vagaro
If limits on customization are your biggest pain point, consider Vagaro.
Vagaro makes it very easy to manage forms and waivers for all of your customers with half a dozen different types, like questionnaires, toggles, or multiple choice answers. You can very easily drag and drop within the platform to create forms that really work for your company.
Boulevard it’s a good runner-up here, with a lot of flexibility. That is especially true for things like changing the order of your services in terms of which things have to go first.
This feature automatically arranges appointments in the proper order, which can be especially useful for a medspa. You can also update customized forms and have them added to your client profiles as you go.
Pain Point: Booksy Has Problems with Customer Reviews
Finally, another pain point many businesses struggle with when using Booksy is the review section.
Reviews are, of course, invaluable to a business, but it’s really difficult to manage or even remove negative reviews, especially when they relate to circumstances outside of your control.
Top Booksy Alternative: GlossGenius
If this is your big issue, consider GlossGenius.
GlossGenius gives you more ways to follow up with customers after an appointment and ask for a review or a rating. You can also manage all of your ratings in one place and very easily respond to customer remarks or delete those that might relate to things outside of your control, and don’t give a proper reflection of your business.
Vagaro is another alternative here.
It offers a similar customer review system as part of its marketplace platform, but it also gives you more control over your reviews and when you send requests asking customers to leave one.
Summing Up
The best Booksy alternative really depends on the biggest problems or pain points you have with the platform.
- If your main issue is poor customer service, then consider Boulevard
- If your main issue is payment and refund issues, then consider Vagaro
- If your main issue is unexpected fees, then consider Square
- If your main issue is account management and security, then consider Boulevard
- If your main issue is app problems, then consider MangoMint
- If your main issue is damage to your business reputation, then consider Fresha
- If your main issue is inflexible features, then consider Vagaro
- If your main issue is customer review managemnet, then consider GlossGenius
There are many reasons why you might be looking for a new platform, so always consider what it is your business is struggling with and which alternative presents the best solution.
Further read