What does barbershop software really cost for a four-barber shop?

A software price that works for a solo barber can look very different once four people are taking bookings.

To compare barbershop software properly, use the shop you actually run.

For this example, assume:

• one Australian barbershop;
• four bookable barbers;
• one receptionist who does not take appointments;
• online bookings and walk-ins;
• card payments;
• appointment reminders and client messaging.

Then separate the subscription from everything else that can appear on the bill.

That gives you a more useful comparison than lining up the cheapest advertised plan from each provider.

Start with how the subscription is calculated#

Software companies can charge by:

• venue;
• bookable staff member;
• user login;
• calendar;
• plan;
• location;
• or a combination of those.

Those models behave differently as the team grows.

If a platform charges per calendar, four barbers may mean four paid calendars.

If it charges per bookable person, reception or management access may be treated differently from staff who take appointments.

If it charges a fixed amount per location, adding another barber may not affect the subscription at all.

Before comparing prices, write down the same team for every provider.

For this article, that is four bookable barbers and one non-bookable receptionist.

Count bookable people separately from access-only staff#

A five-person shop does not necessarily have five people taking appointments.

You might have:

• four barbers with their own availability;
• one receptionist handling walk-ins, messages and checkout;
• an owner or manager who needs access but does not appear in online booking.

Ask each provider which of those people affects the subscription.

OpenChair's Pro subscription is based on bookable team members at the venue.

Non-bookable owners, managers, reception and administrative users do not add another bookable-member subscription charge.

Physical barber chairs do not determine the OpenChair subscription either. The relevant count is the bookable team.

The current OpenChair price for four bookable barbers#

For OpenChair Pro in Australia, the current monthly subscription is:

• A$34.95 inc GST for the active venue, including the first bookable team member;
• A$20 inc GST for each additional bookable team member;
• capped at A$199 inc GST per venue per month for the Pro subscription.

For four bookable barbers:

A non-bookable receptionist does not add another bookable-member subscription charge.

That A$94.95 is the software subscription example. It is not the shop's complete operating cost.

The venue cap is not a cap on the whole bill#

OpenChair's Australian Pro subscription is capped at A$199 inc GST per active venue each month.

That cap applies to the Pro subscription.

It does not cap:

• card-processing fees;
• applicable payout charges;
• messaging overage;
• eligible paid AI usage;
• optional payment hardware;
• or other costs that sit outside the subscription.

That distinction matters when comparing a capped subscription with another platform's pricing.

A cap can make the subscription easier to model as a team grows. It does not mean every charge connected with the software stops at A$199.

Card processing can cost more than the software#

For a busy four-barber shop, payment processing may be materially larger than the monthly software subscription.

OpenChair's current Australian Pro card-processing rate is:

1.8% + A$0.30 per transaction.

That sits outside the A$94.95 subscription example.

If a shop processes A$30,000 of card payments in a month, you cannot calculate the processing cost from the percentage alone because the A$0.30 fixed component depends on the number of transactions.

That is why a useful comparison needs both:

• total card value;
• number of card transactions.

When comparing platforms, check the exact transaction types covered by the advertised rate.

Ask separately about:

• in-person card payments;
• online deposits;
• card-on-file charges;
• payment links;
• refunds;
• payout charges;
• hardware.

Do not compare one provider's in-person rate with another provider's online rate and treat them as equivalent.

Deposits still have payment-processing costs#

A deposit can help protect committed appointment time, but accepting the payment still involves payment processing.

Keep those two charges separate.

A booking commission is a software or marketplace charge associated with the source or creation of the booking.

A card-processing fee is the payment-processing cost when money moves by card.

OpenChair's Booking Protection supports deposits and no-show card rules.

When an eligible payment is processed through OpenChair, the applicable card-processing terms still apply.

That means “zero booking commission” does not mean “zero payment fees”.

Direct bookings and booking commission#

If your shop already attracts clients through Google, Instagram, referrals or its own website, look closely at what the software charges when those clients book directly.

OpenChair charges zero booking commission on bookings made through an OpenChair storefront.

Card-processing fees still apply.

Keep that wording intact when comparing costs.

It does not mean OpenChair never charges anything around a booking. It means there is no OpenChair booking commission attached to a qualified booking made through the OpenChair storefront.

If another provider has a marketplace or discovery product, assess that separately.

A marketplace fee may be reasonable if the platform is creating demand the shop would not otherwise have received. The useful question is what the fee applies to and where the client came from.

Messaging has its own allowance#

A four-barber shop can generate a lot of messages.

These can include:

• booking confirmations;
• reminders;
• rescheduling information;
• queue callbacks;
• replies to client questions;
• reconnect communication.

Do not assume the software subscription means unlimited SMS.

For an Australian OpenChair Pro venue with four bookable team members, the current included allowances per billing period are:

These are separate allowances.

Sparks are used for eligible billable AI work. They do not pay for SMS delivery.

Included allowances reset with the billing period. Eligible usage beyond the included allowance is handled separately.

For Australian Pro venues, the current SMS overage rate is A$0.10 per segment and email overage is A$0.002 per email.

Before comparing providers, look at your actual messaging volume.

A plan that says “SMS included” may include 50 messages, 500 messages or something completely different. Another provider may sell message packs or meter every message separately.

The allowance only becomes meaningful when you compare it with what the shop sends.

AI usage should have its own row#

Do the same with AI features.

Ask:

• Which AI tools are included with the subscription?
• Is usage metered?
• What happens after the included amount is used?
• Does AI usage also trigger another channel charge, such as SMS?
• Is automatic top-up optional or mandatory?

On OpenChair Pro, a four-bookable-member venue currently receives 2,000 Sparks per billing period.

Eligible billable AI work uses Sparks. Usage beyond the included amount can use the prepaid Wallet.

Automatic Wallet top-up only occurs if the owner enables it.

Keep the AI cost separate from messaging. An AI-generated SMS can involve AI usage and SMS delivery as two different things.

Check whether hardware is required#

Software prices often exclude the devices used to run the business.

For a barbershop, that could include:

• a reception computer;
• a shared tablet;
• card-payment hardware;
• receipt equipment;
• a kiosk device.

Ask which hardware is genuinely required.

OpenChair supports several payment routes, including Stripe Terminal hardware and Tap to Pay on compatible iPhone and Android devices.

That does not mean every shop needs to buy a terminal.

Model the hardware for the payment setup you intend to use rather than automatically adding every available device to the comparison.

If a competing product requires a particular terminal, tablet or POS bundle for the workflow you want, include that cost on its own line.

Monthly and annual prices need the same basis#

A discounted annual price can look cheaper than another provider's monthly price because the commitment is different.

OpenChair annual billing is currently pay for 10 months and receive 12, approximately a 17% saving.

At the current four-barber Australian subscription of A$94.95 per month, ten months of subscription charges would be:

A$949.50 inc GST for 12 months of the Pro subscription, assuming the same four-bookable-member configuration throughout that period.

Do not compare that annual figure with another provider's month-to-month price without noting the different billing commitment.

Also check what happens when the team changes during the billing period.

Use one comparison table for every provider#

A useful comparison can be built with the same rows for each system.

Do not force those rows into one monthly total unless you have enough information to support the assumptions.

The subscription can be known exactly while payment processing, messaging or AI usage depends on what the shop actually does.

Showing those as separate costs is more accurate than inventing an “average monthly bill”.

A worked four-barber OpenChair example#

For one Australian venue with:

• four bookable barbers;
• one non-bookable receptionist;

the current OpenChair Pro subscription is:

A$94.95 inc GST per month.

The subscription calculation is:

A$34.95 + A$20 + A$20 + A$20.

The receptionist adds no bookable-member subscription charge.

The venue currently receives:

• 200 SMS segments;
• 4,000 emails;
• 2,000 Sparks;

per billing period under the standard four-bookable-member Pro allowance.

The current Australian Pro card-processing rate is 1.8% + A$0.30 per transaction.

OpenChair charges zero booking commission on bookings made through an OpenChair storefront. Card-processing fees still apply.

Separate costs may include:

• payment processing;
• applicable payout charges;
• SMS or email overage;
• eligible AI usage after included Sparks;
• optional hardware.

The Pro subscription remains subject to the A$199 inc GST monthly venue cap, but that cap applies to the subscription rather than the complete bill.

Check current OpenChair pricing before making a purchasing decision, because pricing, allowances and payment terms can change.

Compare the shop you actually run#

For a four-barber shop, the most useful number is not the cheapest plan displayed on a pricing page.

It is the cost structure for:

• four people taking bookings;
• the non-bookable people who still need access;
• the payments you expect to process;
• the messages you expect to send;
• the booking channels you use;
• the hardware the shop actually needs.

Keep those costs separate until you have enough information to combine them.

That makes it easier to see where the money goes, and much harder for a cheap solo price or an incomplete “all-in” figure to distort the comparison.

For the broader operational side of growing the team, see From one chair to five: what your barber software needs as the team grows.

You can also review the current OpenChair barbershop software page for walk-ins, appointments, regular-client booking, checkout and team workflows.