Product evaluation guide

Considering OpenChair and Square Appointments?

Square Appointments combines appointment scheduling with Square payments, POS, customer, inventory and optional marketing products. This guide puts those published details beside selected OpenChair capabilities and questions to test. Similar category labels do not establish equivalent workflows, availability or cost.

About this guide

OpenChair prepared this page and is a competing software provider. It is not independent advice. OpenChair is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Square Appointments.

Products, prices, taxes, features, eligibility and terms can change and can vary by country, plan and contract. Statements about Square Appointments below are narrow summaries of the linked official provider pages, not independent product testing. Those sources were checked on 19 September 2026 and this page is scheduled for review by 19 October 2026.

The linked page is Square's Australian pricing page. Figures exclude or include GST only as stated by Square and can change; compare eligible seller rates and add-on subscriptions.

Confirm any detail that matters to your decision directly with Square Appointments, and retain the quote, plan table and terms you rely on.

Competitor and product names are used only to identify the provider being considered and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Square Appointments AU pricing Square Online AU plans

Comparison matrix

OpenChair's column is grounded in the shipped capability manifest and public pricing configuration. Every Square Appointments statement links to the official source used for that row. Neither column establishes feature parity.

Evaluation matrix for OpenChair and Square Appointments
What to compare	OpenChair	Square Appointments	Fair-comparison note
Commercial
Published subscription model	OpenChair publishes Pro pricing for Australia, New Zealand and the UK, with a subscription cap per venue and optional annual billing. New customers start with a 14-day Pro trial; processing, payout and paid usage charges are separate.	Square publishes Free at A$0 for one location, Plus at A$40 per month per location and Premium at A$90 per month per location. Source: Square Appointments AU pricing	Compare the same country, tax treatment, venue count, bookable team and billing period.
Booking & scheduling
Direct online booking and branding	No-account-required booking through a venue-branded storefront, embeddable booking surfaces and custom-domain support on Pro.	All plans include a customisable booking website, booking buttons, QR codes and an embeddable widget; advanced Square Online branding and custom domains use separate Online plans. Source: Square Appointments AU pricing Source: Square Online AU plans	Test the live mobile journey, required client account, venue branding, embed options and domain ownership.
Salon scheduling depth	Resources, processing gaps, split-provider booking, booking approval, recurring series and waitlist gap-matching workflows.	Unlimited staff calendars are included across plans; waitlists, processing time, classes, multi-location calendars and Google Calendar sync begin at Plus. Source: Square Appointments AU pricing	Test your actual services, staff rules, rooms, equipment, processing time and cancellation scenarios.
Payments & client protection
Payments, deposits and checkout	Deposits, no-show cards, online wallet payments, Stripe Terminal and Tap to Pay, with published all-in processing rates by plan.	The AU page publishes 1.6% in-person and 2.2% online or manually entered rates for eligible sellers, plus deposits, cards on file, Tap to Pay and Square hardware. Source: Square Appointments AU pricing	Compare domestic, online, keyed, international and hardware rates plus payout timing, disputes and refunds.
Forms, consent and client records	Consultation forms and waivers, review-first AI form drafts, patch tests, consent records, and age or ID workflows where configured.	Automatic contract sends are included, while custom contract fields are listed for Premium. Source: Square Appointments AU pricing	Compare plan gates, signatures, photo storage, service assignment, pre-visit delivery, retention and export controls.
Client growth
Messaging and marketing automation	On Pro, email campaigns and, where supported by country, SMS campaigns are available; New Zealand venues are email-only. Pro also includes client audiences, automation, aftercare and reconnect workflows, with Smart Replies limited to supported channels and regions.	Customer groups and social booking integrations are included; automated campaigns require a separate Square Marketing subscription. Source: Square Appointments AU pricing	Compare included messages, overages, consent controls, two-way messaging, attribution and automation approval rules.
Operations & team
Retail, stock and product usage	Retail and professional-use stock, supplier orders, stocktakes, service-product usage and profitability reporting.	Unlimited items, stock counts, low-stock alerts and sales reports are included across the published Appointments plans. Source: Square Appointments AU pricing	Check product caps, multi-location stock, purchase orders, barcode workflows, professional-use consumption and exports.
Team, permissions and pay inputs	Roles and permissions, rosters, commissions, timeclock, timesheets, staff levels and multi-venue team controls.	Advanced access, time tracking, team scheduling, commissions and labour-versus-sales reporting are listed for Premium. Source: Square Appointments AU pricing	Test role boundaries, payroll hand-off, renter models, commissions, service permissions and cross-location staff.
Platform & intelligence
Reporting and decision support	Business and multi-venue reports, accounting exports, forecasts, retention cohorts and conversational reporting tools.	Sales reports are included; Appointments and team-performance reporting begin at Plus in the official table. Source: Square Appointments AU pricing	Compare included reports, drill-downs, exports, attribution, location roll-ups, definitions and data latency.
Multi-location operations	Multi-venue workspaces, group reporting, central operations controls, shared staff handling and grouped billing views.	Multiple-location appointment management starts at Plus and the subscription is charged per location. Source: Square Appointments AU pricing	Compare cross-location clients, staff, stock, memberships, reporting, permissions, branding and billing ownership.

Commercial

Published subscription model

OpenChair

OpenChair publishes Pro pricing for Australia, New Zealand and the UK, with a subscription cap per venue and optional annual billing. New customers start with a 14-day Pro trial; processing, payout and paid usage charges are separate.

Square Appointments

Square publishes Free at A$0 for one location, Plus at A$40 per month per location and Premium at A$90 per month per location.

Considering OpenChair and Square Appointments?

About this guide

Comparison matrix

Commercial

Published subscription model

Booking & scheduling

Direct online booking and branding

Salon scheduling depth

Payments & client protection

Payments, deposits and checkout

Forms, consent and client records

Client growth

Messaging and marketing automation

Operations & team

Retail, stock and product usage

Team, permissions and pay inputs

Platform & intelligence

Reporting and decision support

Multi-location operations

Review OpenChair against your requirements

Commercial clarity

Your brand and client relationship

Salon-native operations

AI with accountable autonomy

Evaluating a switch from Square Appointments

Confirm the source data

Agree the OpenChair migration scope

Configure and review OpenChair

Use a controlled cut-over

Common questions

See how OpenChair works for your venue type

Evaluate OpenChair for your venue

Considering OpenChair and Square Appointments?

About this guide

Comparison matrix

Commercial

Published subscription model

Booking & scheduling

Direct online booking and branding

Salon scheduling depth

Payments & client protection

Payments, deposits and checkout

Forms, consent and client records

Client growth

Messaging and marketing automation

Operations & team

Retail, stock and product usage

Team, permissions and pay inputs

Platform & intelligence

Reporting and decision support

Multi-location operations

Review OpenChair against your requirements

Commercial clarity

Your brand and client relationship

Salon-native operations

AI with accountable autonomy

Evaluating a switch from Square Appointments

Confirm the source data

Agree the OpenChair migration scope

Configure and review OpenChair

Use a controlled cut-over

Common questions

See how OpenChair works for your venue type

Evaluate OpenChair for your venue