waivers.tattoo vs Square Appointments: what your tattoo shop pays to book and take deposits

Square Appointments books a tattoo client for $0 a month on its free plan and charges $49 or $149 a month per location for the plans above it. Ours, waivers.tattoo, is $50 a year for the whole shop, the booking page and the waiver form together. I make it, so read the pages rather than me. Every claim below about Square links to Square's own page as it read on 2026-10-29.

What does Square Appointments do well?

A lot, on the free plan. Square's pricing page puts an online booking site, appointment deposits and text and email reminders on Square Free, and it says you can "Add a Book Now button to your Instagram account, your Facebook page, or your Google Business Profile." If your shop takes cards on Square, the booking, the payment and the client's history sit in one place.

The paid plans add what a busy shop asks for next. A cancellation policy with no-show fees, a waitlist and Google Calendar sync start on Square Plus.

What does a tattoo shop pay on Square, and what does it pay here?

Square Free is $0 a month, and Square takes its card rate on every deposit: 3.3% + 30¢ online on Free, 2.9% + 30¢ on Plus and Premium. Plus is $49 a month and Premium $149, and the same page says "With Square Plus and Square Premium, the monthly fee applies to each location you run." Plus for one shop is $588 a year.

Here, your booking page comes with your waivers.tattoo account, which is $50 a year for the whole shop or $5 a month. That covers unlimited waivers and unlimited artists, your link page at yourshop.L.tattoo and 1,000 emails a month to your clients, and your first 10 waivers are free. Google Calendar comes with every shop, both ways: busy times on an artist's Google Calendar block their times on your booking page, and every booking lands on a calendar of its own in their Google account.

How does the deposit hold the booking?

On Square, a client books online and "They must pay the required deposit to complete their booking," its deposits article says, and the money goes to your Square balance.

Here, a session on your booking page can carry a deposit. Your client picks the artist, the session, a day and a time, and the time is held while they pay on your shop's deposit page, yourshop.deposits.tattoo. The money lands in your shop's own Stripe balance the moment they pay, and it waits there until you add your bank, then Stripe sends it every week. In some states Stripe asks for your bank first, and your dashboard tells you if yours is one. Your client ticks your deposit policy before they pay, and if a no-show disputes a deposit we collected for you, we answer the dispute with that record.

The money, plainly. On Square your client pays the deposit and your shop pays the card rate. Here, by default, your client pays our $3.99 fee on top, and your share carries Stripe's 2.9% + 30¢ and 50¢ toward payouts: on a $100 deposit your client pays $103.99 and $96.18 is yours. You can pay the $3.99 yourself instead, and then your client pays exactly the deposit.

Who keeps the client?

You do, through your waiver form. Every tattoo and piercing client who signs it is on your client list with their visit history. Each one gets your thank-you with your aftercare sheet, and the ones who tick the box to hear from your shop get the review ask and the emails you write. The list exports as a spreadsheet any day.

Square sends a contract you set up: its pricing page says it will "Send contracts to clients automatically when they book." Our waiver form asks your state's questions for you. We read the tattoo and piercing rules of all 50 states and DC and wrote what each one asks into the form, so it asks for the ID, the health questions and a parent or guardian where your state and you allow minors. Each state has its own page with the rule's words beside it. This is a plain-language summary, not legal advice. Your local health department has the final word. Ask them, and bring your records.

What do you keep, and what do you give up?

You keep Square as your POS if you like it there, for the cards you take after the session. You keep every client on your list, and your booking page, your deposit page and your waiver form sit under one shop name. For the bookings that start in a DM or a phone call, your deposit page sends a deposit link with the amount already on it.

You give up 4 things of Square's. Its text reminders before the appointment, and the replies a client can send to them. The deposit showing on the Square ticket when the client pays the balance, so your artist takes it off by hand. Percentage deposits: ours is a fixed amount per session. And rescheduling on their own, which Square allows "prior to your cut-off time"; here a client cancels and books again.

How do you switch your booking link in one sitting?

1. Start your shop, or sign in if you have one.
2. In your dashboard, open "Links", then "Bookings", and turn your booking page on: "Ask first" sends each request to you, and "Book straight in" lets the client take the time.
3. Set your hours and your sessions. A new shop starts with 2 hours, 4 hours and a full day, and each session has its own "Deposit" switch and amount.
4. Under "Deposits", press "Start taking deposits", give your legal name and tick the terms.
5. Press "Link your Google Calendar", and ask each artist to link theirs from their own sign-in.
6. Put yourshop.bookings.tattoo in your bio, or your L.tattoo page, whose "Book now" opens it.

Leave your Square calendar running for the appointments already on it, and the new bookings land on yours. The booking page shows what your clients will see.

Square books a client for free and charges per location for more. Here your booking page and your waiver form come with one account at $50 a year, and a deposit costs your client $3.99.