Patron
$23.99 solo, $43.99 + $12/active artist for shops. 0% of your deposits. No marketplace.
The real cost of your books
Your books shouldn't cost you 10–30% of every client
Percentage-of-deposit and marketplace-commission tools get more expensive the busier you get. A flat subscription doesn't. Drag the sliders to see what each platform would quietly take from a month of your work.
The calculator
What the platform quietly takes.
Who pays the card-processing fee?
Venue Ink's 10%/5% card fee is charged to your clients by default, so it's $0 to you, but adds to every client's bill. Flip this to see the cost if you absorb or split it. (Every tool's standard ~2.9% processing is excluded either way.)
For a solo artist at this volume, Patron costs $23.99/mo, saving $2,952/yr versus Booksy (+ Boost) at $269.99/mo.
- Venue Ink (Free)clients +$300$0
- Patron$23.99
- InkDesk$35
- Venue Ink (Pro)clients +$150$50
- Fresha$179.95
- Booksy (+ Boost)$269.99
Shows the booking platform's own take (subscription + per-seat fees + its cut of client money). The first artist is included for every tool; each additional artist adds that tool's own verified per-seat fee (Patron +$12, InkDesk +$15, Booksy +$20/staff, Fresha +$14.95/member). Marketplace commissions (Booksy, Fresha) scale with your new-client value and are always yours to pay. Booksy's Boost is capped at $100 per new client, so its real take can be lower on high-value first visits. Venue Ink's card fee follows the toggle above (client-paid by default). Past 10 artists Patron is custom-quoted. Excludes the ~2.9% card-processing fee every tool pays to Stripe/Square alike. Pricing verified July 2026; see the competitive analysis.
How each tool charges
The models, side by side.
InkDesk
$35 solo, $50 + $15/artist studio, 0% cut. The closest direct competitor.
Venue Ink (Free)
Free for solo or studio, but a 10% card fee on every deposit & payment (client-paid by default).
Venue Ink (Pro)
Solo Pro $50/mo, Studio Pro $150 + $35/artist, with a 5% deposit cut on both.
Booksy (+ Boost)
$29.99/mo + $20/staff + Boost takes a one-time 30% of each new client's first visit (capped at $100).
Fresha
Independent $19.95/mo (solo); Team $14.95/member; 20% one-time on marketplace-sourced new clients (min $6).
Head-to-head
Patron versus the field.
The promise
Flat, honest, yours.
- $23.99/month for a solo artist, or $43.99 + $12 per active artist for shops. The price you see is the price you pay.
- 0% of your deposits. They land in your own Stripe, not ours.
- No marketplace. Your clients are yours; we never resell them.
- No new-client fees, no per-booking fees, no add-on nickel-and-diming.
- We email you before any price change. No quiet hikes.
Figures isolate the booking platform's own take (subscription + its cut of client money) and exclude the ~2.9% card-processing fee every tool pays to Stripe/Square alike. Competitor pricing verified July 2026; see the competitive analysis for full sources.