Is Bookka cheaper than Square Appointments?

It depends on how much of Square’s add-on stack you use, and on how much you take online. Appointments Plus on its own at A$40 for one location with unlimited staff is cheaper than Bookka. Add Square Loyalty at A$49 and Square Marketing at A$20 and you are at A$109 a month against Bookka’s A$39, before those two start climbing with visits and contacts. Square’s card rates are genuinely better than ours though — 2.2% online against about 3% — so a business taking a lot of money through the booking page can end up ahead on Square. We would rather say that than hide it.

What does Square do better than Bookka?

Card rates and hardware. 1.6% in person and 2.2% online are both good, Square has no staff limit on any plan, and the terminal range and retail depth are more mature than ours. If you already run your whole business on Square hardware, moving the booking layer alone may not be worth it.

Does Bookka charge commission on new clients?

No. The marketplace listing is part of the subscription, and Square has no marketplace to compare it with.

Can I keep taking payments the way I do now?

Bookka uses Stripe rather than Square, so in-person payments move to a Stripe terminal or the QR and cash flow in the Bookka point of sale. Bookka charges no platform fee on in-person payments at all — only Stripe’s terminal rate — but Square’s 1.6% is still the lower in-person rate of the two.

Can I move my clients and services across from Square?

Yes. Export your customer directory and service list from Square, send them over, and we will set up services, prices, hours and team before you go live.

Compare booking platforms / Square Appointments

A Square Appointments alternative for Australian salons

Square Appointments is A$40 or A$90 per location, then Square Loyalty from A$49 and Square Marketing from A$20 on top. Bookka includes both — see what your salon would pay on each.

Start freeSee the comparison

Switch if

You are stacking Square Loyalty and Square Marketing on top of Appointments Plus, and paying again for every location.

Stay on Square Appointments if

You run a big single-site team on Square Free or Plus and already live in Square’s hardware and payments. Unlimited staff for A$40 a location is hard to beat on price alone, and 1.6% in person is a genuinely good card rate.

How the two price lists differ

Square Appointments is the hardest of these to beat on headline price, and it is worth saying that plainly. Free covers a single location, Plus is A$40 a month per location and Premium A$90, and every plan has unlimited calendars and no staff limit. For one big salon, that is genuinely good value, and 1.6% in person is a better card rate than Bookka can offer.

The cost shows up in two places. Every location is its own subscription, so three sites on Plus is A$120 a month before anything else. And the things a salon markets itself with are separate Square products that climb with usage: Square Loyalty is A$49 a month per location at up to 500 loyalty visits, then A$99, then A$149. Square Marketing is A$20 a month at up to 500 contacts, A$35 to a thousand, A$50 to two thousand, then quoted. Both of those grow precisely as your business does.

Bookka is A$39 a month for up to five people or A$69 for up to twenty, with loyalty, gift cards, an online shop, the social scheduler and marketing email and SMS in the plan. There is also a marketplace listing, which Square does not have at all, and no commission on it.

Why salons leave Square Appointments

The reasons people actually give, in the order they tend to give them.

Loyalty and marketing are priced by how well they work: Square Loyalty starts at A$49 a location and moves to A$99 above 500 loyalty visits a month and A$149 above 1,500. Square Marketing starts at A$20 and climbs with your contact list. Both are included on Bookka at a price that does not move.
Every location pays again: Plus is A$40 per location and Premium A$90, and the Loyalty add-on is per location too. A three-site salon on Plus with Loyalty is A$267 a month. Bookka’s Executive plan includes two locations and adds further ones at A$19.95.
No marketplace, so no new clients from the platform: Square has no consumer marketplace. That means no new-client commission, which is a point in its favour over Fresha and Booksy — but also nobody discovering you through it. Bookka includes a marketplace listing and charges no commission on it either.
The online shop is a different product: Square Online is its own Square product rather than part of Appointments, and Xero runs through third-party apps rather than natively. Bookka puts the shop on your booking page and syncs Xero natively on Executive.
Online card rate: Square is 2.2% online with no fixed fee. Bookka is Stripe’s 1.7% + A$0.30 plus a 1.3% platform fee. On a small ticket Square is often cheaper online; in person Square’s 1.6% beats us too. This is the one platform here where the card rates are not our argument.

Bookka and Square Appointments, line by line

Every figure below comes from the pricing Square Appointments publishes itself, read on 2026-10-01. Where they publish nothing, this says so rather than guessing.

Pricing and features: Square Appointments compared with Bookka
Square Appointments	Bookka
What it costs
Base subscription
A$40.00/moPlus · per location, staff included	A$39.00/moBusiness — flat, whatever the team size
Each extra staff member
Includedunlimited staff per location	Includedup to 5 on Business, then A$14.95/mo
Each extra location
+A$40.00/moevery location is its own subscription	Included1 on Business, then A$19.95/mo
New-client marketplace fee
Not offeredSquare has no consumer marketplace, so no new-client commission either	Includedno commission, ever — the marketplace is included
Card processing (online)
2.2%also the manually-entered rate	1.7% + A$0.30 + 1.3%Stripe plus the Bookka fee — about 3% all in, paid into your own Stripe account
Card processing (in person)
1.6%	0% Bookka feeonly Stripe's terminal rate, 1.7% + A$0.10
What is an extra
Your own booking website
IncludedSquare Online has a free tier, so a basic site costs nothing	IncludedBooking page and marketplace profile included — not a custom-domain website
Email and SMS marketing
A$20.00/moSquare Marketing · Priced by contact count, from A$20 to A$50 a month and then quoted · Email marketing; the Marketing page publishes no SMS pricing	IncludedQuota included, then $10 per 100 texts
Social media scheduling
Not offeredNo social post scheduler in Appointments	IncludedIncluded, with AI-written content
Loyalty program
A$49.00/moSquare Loyalty · per location · Climbs to A$99 and then A$149 a month as loyalty visits grow	IncludedBookka Rewards, included
Gift cards
IncludedDigital gift cards; physical cards from A$1.30 each	IncludedIncluded on every plan
Online shop with shipping
Square Online is a separate product: free tier, then A$36 or A$99 a month	IncludedIncluded, on your booking page
Xero accounting sync
Through third-party apps rather than natively	On ExecutiveNative, included on Executive
Business analytics and reports
IncludedReporting included; the deeper reports sit on Plus and Premium	IncludedIncluded
Google and Meta ads manager
Not offered	On ExecutiveIncluded on Executive
AI booking assistant
Not offered	On ExecutiveIncluded on Executive, with $10 a month of credit
Monthly software costWhat each provider bills for a five-person business across two locations, running marketing, loyalty, gift cards and an online shop, on Bookka Business: subscription, add-ons and any message top-ups. Card processing and commission are counted separately, because they scale with takings rather than with the software.
A$198.00/moSquare Appointments Plus with the add-ons needed to match · card processing 2.2%	A$88.95/moBookka Business A$39.00 + 1 extra location A$19.95 + text top-ups A$30.00 · no commission, ever · card processing 1.7% + A$0.30 + 1.3%

Comparison reviewed October 2026 from publicly available information; features and pricing may change. Figures are as published by each provider, excluding taxes and card processing unless noted. Square and Square Appointments are trademarks of Block, Inc. Square’s Australian services are provided by Square AU Pty Ltd. Bookka is not affiliated with Block, Inc.

Where these figures came from (4 sources)

squareup.com — read 2026-10-01
squareup.com — read 2026-10-01
squareup.com — read 2026-10-01
squareup.com — read 2026-10-01

The part a price list cannot show you

The table can only compare what you can buy on both sides. These come with Bookka Business and Square Appointments does not offer them at all, so they never appear as a line — and they are the ones that decide whether a client books again.

Bringing new people in

Being found, being chosen, and being talked about — without paying a commission on the people it works on.

New clients from the marketplace: No commission, ever
Social media scheduling: Included, with AI-written content

Start free

On Bookka Business, $39 a month. See both plans.

Moving across from Square Appointments

You do not have to pick a day and jump. The overlap is the point.

1
Export what you have
Pull your client list out of Square Appointments and send us your service menu — a screenshot of the price list is enough. You do not need to tidy it first.
2
We set it up for you
Services, prices, durations, opening hours and your team, entered and checked before you go live. You look at it and tell us what is wrong.
3
Run both, then switch the link
Keep Square Appointments going while appointments already in it play out. When you are happy, point your booking link, Instagram and Google profile at Bookka. Nothing gets cancelled and rebooked.

Square Appointments and Bookka, answered

Still curious? Get in touch — we reply fast.

Free for a single location, Plus at A$40 a month per location and Premium at A$90 a month per location, all with unlimited calendars and no employee limit. Card processing is 1.6% in person and 2.2% online or manually entered, with no fixed fee per transaction. Square Loyalty and Square Marketing are separate subscriptions on top.

Comparing a few at once?

Most people shortlisting booking software are weighing two or three. See all of them side by side.

A Square Appointments alternative for Australian salons

How the two price lists differ

Why salons leave Square Appointments

Bookka and Square Appointments, line by line

The part a price list cannot show you

Bringing new people in

Moving across from Square Appointments

Export what you have

We set it up for you

Run both, then switch the link

Square Appointments and Bookka, answered

Comparing a few at once?

While you are deciding