Tattoo and piercing booking software for Canadian studios
A sleeve is a quote, a deposit, five sittings and a check-up; a piercing is often a walk-in on a Saturday. Slotora handles both from one studio account, records which ink lot went into which client, and charges no commission on the deposit. 14 days to try it.
Try Slotora for 14 daysAround the studio
A diary per artist
Each artist keeps their own hours, services and prices, and a staff login sees only its own column unless you widen it.
A walk-in queue for piercing
Switch on the queue page and walk-ins add themselves from their phone instead of crowding the counter; the desk calls the next one in when a piercer is free.
Deposits you keep
Deposits, no-show and late-cancellation fees are taken in Canadian dollars through your own Stripe account. Slotora takes none of it.
Your flash and healed work
A portfolio gallery sits on your booking page, so the person choosing a time can see the style they are booking.
A custom piece, from idea to healed
Built for the way custom work is actually sold: a conversation first, then a price, then the chair.
Request
The client asks, you decide
Put online bookings on request and a consultation is only a request until you answer it. The client describes the idea, the placement and the size in your own questions, so you know what you are quoting.
Quote
A price, a deposit and the number of sittings
Answer the request with a fixed price or a range, how many sittings you expect, and the deposit. The client gets an email to accept, and has 24 hours to do it before the time is released.
Sittings
Each session tied to the project
Every sitting is booked under the same project, so you see at a glance that this is session three of five and what was done in the first two.
Log
Inks, lots and needles, every time
The sitting sheet takes up to twelve inks by brand, colour and lot number, the needles you used, how long it took, and a photo of the finished work.
Heal
Aftercare and a check-up
Your own aftercare instructions sit on the client's page once the last sitting is done, and Slotora suggests the check-up visit so touch-ups are booked rather than forgotten.
Ontario's record rules, and why the ink log matters
Tattooing and piercing are personal services that break the skin, and in Ontario the personal service settings regulation makes the studio document every one. The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, which inspects studios in its region, lists what each record must hold: the date and time, the type of procedure, the body site, the provider's name and contact, the client's name and contact, and the lot number and expiry date of the sterile needles or other sterile items. It says the records stay on site for at least a year and in a secure place for two years after that.
Most of that is already in a Slotora booking — who, when, what, and the client's contact. The sitting sheet adds the lot numbers. Other provinces and many cities run their own inspection regimes for body art, so treat Ontario as an example and ask your local public health office what it wants to see.
Age is the other question inspectors ask. You can mark a tattoo or piercing service as 18 and over, and a client must tick that they are before booking it online. That tick is a self-declaration with a time on it — it is not an ID check, and minors' consent rules are yours to apply at the counter.
What card payments cost, honestly
Stripe's standard Canadian pricing is 2.9% plus 30 cents for an online card payment, 2.7% plus 5 cents for most cards in person, and 15 cents for an in-person Interac debit. Those are the fees on deposits and payments taken through Slotora, paid to Stripe, not to us.
Square Appointments lists a free plan for a single location and charges 2.8% plus 30 cents on online payments and 2.5% on in-person credit cards — a little less than Stripe's standard rates. If card fees are the deciding line for you, that is worth knowing. Vagaro's site also lists tattoo and piercing among the businesses it serves.
The limits, before you move your books
- No reference uploads in the booking form
- Clients can describe their idea in as much text as they like, but they cannot attach images when they book. References still arrive by email or direct message.
- No text messages in Canada
- Quotes, confirmations and reminders all travel by email, as Slotora sends no texts in Canada at present.
- Records live in London
- Client records and sitting sheets are stored in a London, England database. Download them at any time if your inspector wants a copy on site.
- Québec studios
- Not yet — the French version for Québec comes first.
Studio owners ask
Can I take a deposit only on custom work and not on piercings?
Yes. Deposits are set per service, as a fixed amount or a percentage, so a lobe piercing can have none and a full-day session a large one.
What if the client never accepts my quote?
The quote lapses after 24 hours and the time goes back into your diary.
Can I find every client who had a recalled ink lot?
If you log lots on the sitting sheet, yes: each sitting records the brand, colour and lot of every ink used.
Does Slotora check that a client is 18?
It asks them to confirm it and stores the time they did. It cannot look at ID, so that stays at the counter.
Is there a fee per booking?
No. There is a monthly subscription and no commission on any booking, deposit or gift card.
Sources
Public health guidance and company pages, read on the date shown.
- Windsor-Essex County Health Unit — personal service settings invasive procedure records — https://www.wechu.org/personal-service-settings-invasive-procedure-records · read
- Stripe — pricing (Canada) — https://stripe.com/en-ca/pricing · read
- Square — Appointments pricing (Canada) — https://squareup.com/ca/en/appointments/pricing · read
- Vagaro — pricing — https://www.vagaro.com/pro/pricing · read
Run one project through it
Take your next custom enquiry through Slotora from request to quote to first sitting during the 14-day trial, and decide on that.