A Square Appointments alternative for Canada: priced by location, or by person
Square charges for the appointment book by location and gives you as many calendars as you like. The tools for running a team, though, sit on its top plan. Slotora charges by the bookable person, stops rising at a ceiling, and includes rotas, roles and commissions from the first hire. Here is the whole picture from Square's own Canadian pages.
Start your 14-day trialWhere the two prices come from
Square Appointments is part of a payments company. The booking book is cheap or even free at the bottom, and Square earns on the cards your clients tap. Its three plans are counted per location, so a salon with four chairs and a salon with fourteen pay the same subscription under one roof.
Slotora is a subscription with nothing taken from the money that moves. Cards go through your own Stripe account at Stripe's published rates. The subscription follows the number of people a client can book, up to a ceiling, and from there more staff cost nothing.
Neither model is better for everyone. Which one costs less depends on two numbers you already know: how many people take bookings, and which of Square's plans you would really need.
When Square Appointments is the better choice
In Square's favour, from its own pages:
- You need nothing but a book
- One location, no staff to schedule, no cancellation fee to collect: the free plan costs nothing, and Slotora does charge after its trial.
- Your whole till is already Square
- If your retail, your card reader and your accountant's reports all live in Square, one company for everything is a real convenience.
- You want text reminders, which we do not send yet
- Square includes texts on every plan. Slotora's reminders to Canadian clients go by email until texting to Canadian numbers is switched on.
- You are in Québec
- Square has French Canadian pages. Slotora cannot take a Québec business yet.
Square Appointments and Slotora, row by row
Each Square cell is a summary of Square's own page; the small number opens the source.
| What you compare | Square Appointments | Slotora |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price in Canada | Free for a single location; Plus $35 and Premium $85 a month per location, with no employee limit. The page shows a dollar sign and no currency code.1 | C$19 a month for one bookable person, C$10 for each additional one, never more than C$69 a month; C$190 a year for one person. Prices in Canadian dollars. No GST/HST is added at present. |
| What the subscription counts | Locations. Every plan has unlimited calendars and no employee limit.1 | Bookable people — a column in the diary that a client can book. A front-desk login with no column is not counted, and the price stops at a ceiling. |
| Staff scheduling, permissions, commissions | Staff scheduling, Advanced Access and commissions are listed on Premium only.1 | Rotas, logins with roles and month-end commission statements are in the salon account whatever the team size. |
| No-show and late-cancellation fees | On Plus and Premium. The free plan has none.1 | Deposits and a card kept on file for your cancellation rule, paid into your own Stripe account. |
| Appointment reminders | Text and email reminders on every plan; text and email confirmations from Plus up.1 | Email confirmations and reminders. No texts to Canadian numbers for now. |
| A card tapped at the desk | 2.5% for a credit card; a debit card by chip and PIN or tap is 0.75% + 7¢. The page does not name Interac.14 | Stripe's rate on your own account: 2.7% + C$0.05 for most cards, C$0.15 for an Interac debit. Slotora adds nothing. |
| Paid online or keyed in | 2.8% + 30¢ online (prepayments, no-show fees); 3.3% + 15¢ keyed in, on file or by link.14 | 2.9% + C$0.30 for a Canadian card online, Stripe's standard rate. |
| Cancelling | Cancel a subscription from the account settings at any time; it runs to the end of the billing period and fees already paid are not refunded.2 | Cancel at any time; the plan runs to the end of the period you paid for and does not renew. |
| Law and disputes | Ontario and Canadian federal law, with binding individual arbitration, generally held in Toronto.2 | The law of England and Wales; there is no arbitration clause. |
| The company you contract with | Square Canada, Inc. in Toronto for payments; Square Technologies, Inc. for the subscription.2 | Belavin Limited, a company registered in England and Wales. |
| French, for Québec | Square publishes the appointments price page in French for Canada.3 | Not yet. Slotora is not open to businesses in Québec. |
What a per-location price means at your size
Square's free plan really is free, and it has unlimited calendars, online booking and reminders. What it leaves out is the part a salon with staff notices first: no cancellation fee, no staff scheduling, no commissions. Plus adds the fees and the waitlist; the staff tools are on Premium.
So the fair comparison for a salon with employees is usually Premium, not the free plan. Count your bookable people, read our row at the top of the table for that number, and set it beside the Premium line. A one-chair studio and a ten-chair salon will land on opposite sides.
Then look at the cards. Square's in-person credit rate is lower than Stripe's standard Canadian rate, and its debit rate is a percentage rather than Stripe's flat Interac fee. On a busy colour bar the processing bill can matter more than either subscription, so work it out on your own month.
Leaving Square Appointments for Slotora
Keep Square running until the last appointment booked in it has passed; there is no need for a gap.
01
Export your customers
Download the customer list from Square as a spreadsheet. Slotora's client import reads names, email, phone, notes and tags from a CSV or Excel file.
02
Set up services, team and hours
Each person gets her own column and hours. Tick your province's statutory holidays when Slotora offers them.
03
Bring the booked diary across, if you can export it
If you can get your upcoming appointments out as a spreadsheet, the diary import places each one in the right column without sending your clients anything.
04
Connect Stripe and change your link
Link your own Stripe account for deposits and card payments, then put the new booking link on Instagram, Google and your website.
Square Appointments and Slotora: questions
Is Square Appointments free in Canada?
Square's own Canadian page lists a free plan for a single location. It has no cancellation fees and no staff scheduling; those come with Plus and Premium, which are charged per location each month.
Does Square charge per staff member?
No. Its Canadian page says there is no employee limit and every plan has unlimited calendars. The subscription is counted per location.
Does Slotora charge per staff member?
Per bookable person, up to a monthly ceiling. Above it, adding people costs nothing more. A receptionist's login without a diary column is not counted.
Which one has cheaper card fees?
On Square's and Stripe's own Canadian pages, Square's in-person credit rate is lower. Interac depends on your ticket size: Square charges a percentage plus 7¢ on debit, Stripe a flat C$0.15. Work it out on a normal month of your own takings.
Can Slotora send text reminders in Canada?
Not yet. Confirmations and reminders to Canadian clients go by email. Square includes text reminders on every plan.
Which law covers each contract?
Square's Canadian terms use Ontario and federal law with individual arbitration. Slotora's terms are under the law of England and Wales, without arbitration.
Sources
Each Square fact comes from one of these pages, read on the day shown. Slotora's card fees are Stripe's own Canadian page.
- Square Appointments — Pricing & Plans (Canada, English) — https://squareup.com/ca/en/appointments/pricing · Read on Plans, what each includes, and Canadian card rates. Prices are printed with a dollar sign and no currency code.
- Square — General Terms of Service (Canada), last updated 1 November 2023 — https://squareup.com/ca/en/legal/general/ua · Read on Contracting companies, governing law, arbitration and cancelling a subscription.
- Square Appointments — Pricing (Canada, French) — https://squareup.com/ca/fr/appointments/pricing · Read on
- Stripe — Pricing for Canada (Slotora's card fees) — https://stripe.com/en-ca/pricing · Read on
Count your chairs, then decide
Add your services and your team, and the price for your team size is on the plan page before you pay anything. 14 days to try it, no card to start, and 0% commission on every booking.