ChairHoldGuides · 26 Aug 2026
A Booksy alternative for barbers
Booksy is a marketplace. Clients search Booksy, see you next to the shop down the block, and Booksy can take a cut of the booking it sent. That is a discovery product. ChairHold is a chair product.
What barbers actually want
- Stop no-shows without becoming a collections agency
- Let regulars book without downloading another app
- Keep the client list off someone else’s feed
- Not pay a percent of every fade to the software
How ChairHold is different
Your link, not their store. Instagram bio, text thread, QR at the station. Nobody is shopping the barber next door inside ChairHold.
Deposit first. The job is the empty chair. They pay a hold at booking. You keep it on a no-show after your cancel window.
No take-rate on the haircut. On iPhone, the owner pays $79/month for the shop and owner chair, plus $15.99/month per additional barber through separate Apple in-app subscriptions. Deposits go to you on Stripe. We do not skim the cut. Stripe’s card fee is the only processing cost on the deposit.
Clients stay in the browser. No “download Booksy to book Mike.” Pick a time. Pay the hold. Done.
When to stay on a marketplace
If you need strangers finding you from a map of every barber in town, a marketplace still does that. If your book is already full of people who text you — and they still ghost — you need a hold, not more discovery.
Start here: get started with ChairHold.
ChairHold is a shop tool. You set the hours, the menu, and the hold. The client pays the deposit toward that appointment. Stripe processes the card. We do not take a percentage of the haircut.