Is Vagaro profitable in 2026?

Vagaro is privately held and discloses no audited financials, so profitability cannot be confirmed. Third-party estimators disagree widely on revenue, with figures ranging from about $65.9M to $105M for recent years, and no profit or loss figure has ever been published by the company itself as of July 2026.

Is Vagaro still worth $1 billion?

Vagaro's last confirmed valuation is $1 billion, set in November 2021 when FTV Capital led a follow-on investment. No new funding round or valuation update has been publicly reported since then, meaning the $1B figure from 2021 remains the most recent official mark as of July 2026.

Who is Vagaro's biggest competitor?

Vagaro competes with Zenoti, Boulevard, Mindbody, GlossGenius, Fresha, Booksy and Square Appointments in the beauty and wellness booking software market. CB Insights (as of June 2026) lists Block/Square, Boulevard and Zenoti alongside Vagaro, with no single dominant incumbent in the category.

Could AI replace Vagaro?

AI can replicate Vagaro's thin generative-copywriting layer, launched as 'Vagaro AI' in April 2024, since any general LLM can draft similar marketing text. But Vagaro's two-sided marketplace with 150,000+ providers, embedded payments, and appointment data create lock-in that a standalone AI tool cannot easily replicate.

Vagaro is privately held and founder Fady 'Fred' Helou, who started the company in 2009, remains CEO as of June 2026. FTV Capital is the sole disclosed institutional investor, having led a $63M round in 2018 and a follow-on round in November 2021 that valued Vagaro at $1 billion.

Did Vagaro acquire any competitors recently?

Yes, Vagaro acquired Schedulicity, a Bozeman, Montana based scheduling software company, on January 13, 2025, expanding its customer base in beauty and wellness scheduling. No other acquisitions have been publicly disclosed since then as of July 2026.

United States · United States

Vagaro

Vagaro sells booking, payments, and marketing software to salons, spas, and fitness studios.

Defensible for now

Assessed 29 July 2026 · Evidence as of 29 July 2026

Real protection, with named pressure against it.

On the recordSince 29 July 2026 · Checkable from mid-2026 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: Vera/Get Featured fee-change rollout and resulting provider retention data

The call

Vagaro keeps its provider base through embedded payments and workflow lock-in, but its valuation, revenue, and growth rate haven't been refreshed in years while Square and Fresha compete for the same small shops.

Vagaro sells scheduling and payment software to hair salons, spas, and fitness studios. It is hard to switch away from because 150,000 providers use it, payments run through its system, and moving is a hassle. But free competitors like Fresha are stealing price-sensitive customers at the bottom, Square Appointments (owned by Block) is pulling established businesses away, and Vagaro's revenue is flat or unclear. The one thing that could turn this around is if the company finds a way to keep its low-end customers without cutting prices so far that it loses money, or if its owners decide to sell it and a buyer unlocks hidden value.

Why

AI pressure: None apparent. No AI-native scheduling rival has surfaced yet, but generic AI assistants that book across any platform could erode Vagaro's booking-app stickiness over time. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.

Bigger players: Square (Block) via Square Appointments. Square already bundles scheduling with payments for the same small-business customers Vagaro serves, competing head-on at the point of sale. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.

What protects it. 150,000+ providers already run bookings, payments, and client lists on Vagaro, making switching costly and disruptive to daily operations.

What would change this call

Vagaro announces a new funding round, recap, or valuation update above or below the 2021 $1B mark. Would show whether investors still see Vagaro's growth as accelerating or stalling.
Vagaro discloses audited revenue or a confirmed figure replacing the $65M to $105M estimate range. Would confirm whether Vagaro's growth is real or overstated by third-party estimators.
Reports emerge of salon or spa providers switching to Fresha or Square Appointments citing lower fees. Would be direct evidence Vagaro is losing SMB customers to lower-cost rivals.

Key numbers

$1B valuation set in Nov 2021, unchanged since (2021-11-02)
Revenue estimated $65.9M to $105M, unconfirmed (2026-07-22)
Headcount grew 605 to 721, about 9.7% YoY (2026-07-18)

Named risks

Fresha's free/commission model undercutting Vagaro's SMB pricing at the low end. Severity: high
Provider complaints over Vera fee-structure change since July 2026 could drive churn. Severity: medium
No new funding round or valuation update since Nov 2021, raising down-round or stagnation concerns. Severity: medium
Revenue figures remain unconfirmed and conflicting across third-party estimators. Severity: medium
Schedulicity integration (acquired Jan 2025) could cause customer churn during migration. Severity: low

Rivals, as read in July 2026

Rival	Direction	Evidence
Fresha	gaining on	Free/commission model pressures Vagaro's SMB pricing power, per multiple 2026 comparisons
Square/Block	contesting	Square Appointments listed as direct competitor by CB Insights, June 2026; no confirmed share loss
Zenoti	gaining on	Positioned ahead on AI automation and analytics in Zenoti's own 2026-02-28 comparison
Mindbody	contesting	Established incumbent in wellness/class-based software, competing directly for studio clients
Boulevard	contesting	Premium salon software niche, cited with 2,000+ customers as of 2025-03-12

Questions people ask

Is Vagaro profitable in 2026?: Vagaro is privately held and discloses no audited financials, so profitability cannot be confirmed. Third-party estimators disagree widely on revenue, with figures ranging from about $65.9M to $105M for recent years, and no profit or loss figure has ever been published by the company itself as of July 2026.
Is Vagaro still worth $1 billion?: Vagaro's last confirmed valuation is $1 billion, set in November 2021 when FTV Capital led a follow-on investment. No new funding round or valuation update has been publicly reported since then, meaning the $1B figure from 2021 remains the most recent official mark as of July 2026.
Who is Vagaro's biggest competitor?: Vagaro competes with Zenoti, Boulevard, Mindbody, GlossGenius, Fresha, Booksy and Square Appointments in the beauty and wellness booking software market. CB Insights (as of June 2026) lists Block/Square, Boulevard and Zenoti alongside Vagaro, with no single dominant incumbent in the category.
Could AI replace Vagaro?: AI can replicate Vagaro's thin generative-copywriting layer, launched as 'Vagaro AI' in April 2024, since any general LLM can draft similar marketing text. But Vagaro's two-sided marketplace with 150,000+ providers, embedded payments, and appointment data create lock-in that a standalone AI tool cannot easily replicate.
Who owns Vagaro?: Vagaro is privately held and founder Fady 'Fred' Helou, who started the company in 2009, remains CEO as of June 2026. FTV Capital is the sole disclosed institutional investor, having led a $63M round in 2018 and a follow-on round in November 2021 that valued Vagaro at $1 billion.
Did Vagaro acquire any competitors recently?: Yes, Vagaro acquired Schedulicity, a Bozeman, Montana based scheduling software company, on January 13, 2025, expanding its customer base in beauty and wellness scheduling. No other acquisitions have been publicly disclosed since then as of July 2026.

Timeline

2026-07-18Headcount reaches 721 employees per Crustdata tracking
2026-07-06Vera AI marketplace tool rolls out, replacing Get Featured, sparking provider fee complaints
2026-04-01New Yelp integration launched for direct booking from Yelp pages
2025-01-13Vagaro acquires Schedulicity scheduling software company
2024-04-25Launches Vagaro AI generative tool for marketing copy
2021-11-02FTV Capital leads round valuing Vagaro at $1 billion, unicorn status achieved
2018-01FTV Capital leads $63M growth-equity round
2009-01Fady 'Fred' Helou founds Vagaro

Revision history

29 July 2026

First assessed. Defensible for now. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.

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