Massage practices run on two things: keeping regulars coming back and not losing slots to no-shows. Both depend on reminders that actually reach clients. Email reminder open rates are significantly lower than SMS — and clients who book three weeks out often forget by the time the appointment arrives.
Square's free plan sends email reminders only. SMS requires Plus at $29/month or Premium at $69/month. For a solo massage therapist, that changes the math on Square Free significantly.
Feature comparison
| Feature | SupaDay | Square Appointments |
|---|---|---|
| Online booking | Yes | Yes |
| Calendar & scheduling | Yes | Yes |
| SMS reminders | Included (500/mo Grow, 2,000 Business) | Plus: 500/mo, Premium: 2,500/mo |
| Recurring appointments | Yes | Yes |
| Commission tracking | Yes (Grow) | Premium only ($69/mo) |
| Staff scheduling & time off | Yes (Grow) | Plus+ |
| Walk-in turn tracker | Yes (Grow) | No |
| QR check-in | Yes (Grow) | No |
| Waitlist | No | Plus+ |
| POS checkout | Yes (free, every plan) | Yes |
| Audit trail | Yes | No |
| Website builder | Business plan (SEO-optimized) | Basic booking page only |
| Review management | Business plan | No |
| Client marketplace | Coming soon (no per-booking fee) | No |
| No-show protection (deposits) | Coming soon | Plus+ |
| Recurring appointments | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-location | Business plan | Plus+ |
| Monthly cap | $99 Grow / $149 Business | No cap (per-location pricing) |
What a massage practice actually pays
Solo massage therapist
Square Free: $0/month — booking, email reminders, POS. No SMS, no commissions. SupaDay Grow: $14/month — booking, SMS (500/mo), commissions, POS, recurring appointments, audit trail.
Square Free costs nothing — but email-only reminders for high-ticket appointments that clients book weeks in advance is a real gap. No commission tracking either.
SupaDay is $14/month with SMS reminders, commissions, and recurring appointments built in.
3-therapist practice
Square Plus: $29/month per location — multi-staff, waitlist, SMS (500/mo). No commissions. Square Premium: $69/month per location — adds commissions, 2,500 SMS. SupaDay Grow: 3 x $14 = $42/month — commissions, POS, SMS, recurring appointments, audit trail.
A 3-therapist practice needs commissions. On Square, that means Premium at $69/month. SupaDay Grow is $42/month — $27 less, and you get an audit trail that Square doesn't have on any plan.
8-therapist practice
Square Premium: $69/month per location — same price regardless of team size. SupaDay Grow: $99/month cap — up to 10 staff. SupaDay Business: $149/month cap — unlimited staff, website builder, reviews, multi-location.
Square's per-location pricing is cheaper at scale — $69 flat vs SupaDay's $99 or $149. But Square Premium still has no audit trail, no review management, and no real website.
Where SupaDay wins
SMS reminders — not just email
Massage clients book weeks in advance. A session booked three Tuesdays from now is easily forgotten. An email reminder might get skipped. An SMS the day before and an hour before is harder to miss.
SupaDay includes 500 SMS reminders per month on Grow, 2,000 on Business. Reminders go out automatically — no manual work, no per-text fees.
Square Free sends email reminders only. SMS kicks in at Plus ($29/month) and Premium ($69/month). For a solo therapist who chose Square Free specifically to avoid a subscription, adding SMS means either upgrading to $29/month or staying with email and absorbing more no-shows.
A no-show on a 90-minute slot costs $100–150 in lost revenue. That slot is too long to fill on short notice. One SMS reminder that prevents a no-show per month more than covers SupaDay's $14 subscription.
Commission tracking without paying $69/month
Multi-therapist practices run on commissions — one rate for a licensed therapist, a different rate for an associate, another for a senior practitioner. Different service types often have different splits too: Swedish at one rate, deep tissue at another, hot stone at a third because the practice supplies the equipment.
SupaDay's commission tracking calculates automatically through the free POS at checkout. Therapist checks out a client, the system applies the right rate. Pull the report at end of week, run payroll. No end-of-day spreadsheet, no manual math.
Square requires Premium at $69/month for commissions. On Plus at $29/month, you get SMS and multi-staff — but commissions are still manual. For a 3-therapist practice, that means choosing between accurate payroll ($69/month) or a $27/month savings with manual commission tracking.
Audit trail
Every appointment change logged — who modified it, when, what changed. The audit trail settles disputes over cancellations and no-shows. A client says they cancelled with 24 hours notice; the therapist says they didn't. The log shows exactly what happened. Square doesn't have this on any plan.
A website that helps clients find you
SupaDay includes an SEO-optimized website builder on Business at $22/user/month. Massage therapists who specialize — prenatal massage, sports recovery, deep tissue — need a page that explains what they do and why a client should book them specifically. Square's booking page shows your services and availability. It doesn't help someone find you when they search "prenatal massage near me" on Google.
Review management
SupaDay includes review management on Business. Square has no built-in review tools. A new client considering a $100+ appointment with a therapist they've never met almost always checks reviews first.
A marketplace to bring in new clients — no per-booking cut
SupaDay is launching a client marketplace — a searchable directory where clients find massage therapists near them and book directly. Building a massage practice takes time, and discovery matters.
The key difference from Fresha: SupaDay's marketplace has no per-booking fee. Fresha takes 20% on the first appointment for every new marketplace client — on a $100 massage, that's $20 before you see a dollar. SupaDay's marketplace is included in your subscription. No cut per client, no matter how many new bookings come through.
Square has no marketplace.
Where Square wins
Free plan for solo therapists
$0/month is genuinely hard to compete with. A solo massage therapist who just started independent practice, has a small client list, and needs basic booking with card processing can use Square Free at no cost. No other competitor offers that.
The limits are real: email reminders only, no commissions, no audit trail. But for a therapist starting out with a dozen regulars who always show up, Square Free gets the job done.
The Square ecosystem
For massage therapists already using Square POS, Square Payroll, or Square Marketing, Appointments fits naturally into the same dashboard. Commission tracking on Premium feeds directly into Square Payroll. Marketing campaigns pull from your client list.
Waitlist
Square Plus and Premium include a waitlist — clients can sign up when your schedule is full and get notified on a cancellation. SupaDay doesn't have a waitlist yet. For a therapist who's booked out weeks ahead, that's useful.
Per-location pricing for larger practices
Square charges per location, not per therapist. For a practice with 8+ therapists at one location, Square Premium at $69/month is less than SupaDay's $99 cap. The per-location model favors large single-location practices.
Where they match up
Both handle core massage scheduling:
- Online booking — clients pick their therapist, choose session length, book 24/7
- Calendar management — color-coded by therapist, day/week/month views
- Client profiles — service history, notes, pressure preferences
- Staff scheduling — shifts, time off, availability
- Recurring appointments — regulars on a weekly or biweekly schedule
Who should pick which?
SupaDay makes more sense if:
- You want SMS reminders included without upgrading to Plus or Premium
- You need commission tracking without paying $69/month per location
- You need an audit trail for cancellation and no-show disputes
- You want a real SEO-optimized website to attract new clients by specialty
- You want review management included
- You want a marketplace to bring in new clients without paying per booking (coming soon)
Square makes more sense if:
- You're a solo therapist just starting out and want free booking software
- Your practice is already in the Square ecosystem (POS, Payroll, Marketing)
- You have a large team at one location and want per-location pricing
- A waitlist feature matters for your fully-booked schedule
The bottom line
Square Free is a reasonable starting point for a solo massage therapist — but email-only reminders for high-ticket appointments booked weeks out is a gap that costs money in no-shows. SupaDay Grow at $14/month includes 500 SMS reminders, recurring appointments, automatic commissions through free POS, and an audit trail. For a 3-therapist practice, that's $42/month with commissions vs $69/month on Square Premium. And SupaDay is launching a client marketplace — a way to bring in new clients from across the city with no per-booking cut, unlike Fresha's 20% on first appointments. If you're a solo therapist who just needs basic booking and already has reliable clients, Square Free is fine. If you need SMS reminders, commissions, and an audit trail without Premium pricing, SupaDay covers more for less. See how SupaDay works for massage therapists →. For a full breakdown, check the comparison page →.
