Slotward / Booking tools
A way of taking a deposit
A booking product can take money in more than one way
Appointment software often books a time and can also take a deposit, the full price, or a card to charge later. Slotward does one of those: a deposit when the client books, with the cancellation window saved on the appointment. It is one calendar, not a register and not a staff roster. Slotward is not affiliated with other booking products.
No card to start. Create an account, then name the shop. That starts the 7-day free trial. Client deposits open only after Stripe enables charges. Then $39 a month or $390 a year from Settings if you want new bookings to stay open.
This page compares Slotward with a way of taking a deposit. It does not quote another company's price, fee, or feature list. Where a public page was checked, that write-up is linked with the date.
Three different charges get called protection
A partial payment at booking, a full prepayment, and a card saved so you can charge a fee after a missed visit are different. Slotward is the deposit you set on each service, collected when the client books. It does not store a card to charge a second fee after a no-show. Every bookable service has a deposit. You cannot publish a service with the deposit turned off. This page does not say which other products offer which of the three. Square Appointments, Setmore, and GlossGenius have their own pages, and those pages only repeat what their public pages said on the date printed there.
The refund outside the window runs itself
The client cancels from the manage link. Outside the window saved on that appointment, the deposit refunds. Inside the window, you keep it. A no-show is kept, and you mark that after the visit was supposed to start. If you cancel, the deposit is refunded even inside the window. Some products leave the refund as a decision you make in the dashboard. This page does not assign that behavior to a named product.
The Slotward price is the subscription, not a cut of the deposit
Slotward is $39 a month or $390 a year after a 7-day trial. The trial starts when the shop is created, and no card is required to start. Twelve monthly charges would be $468, so the annual price leaves two months unbilled. The client deposit is a separate charge on your Stripe account, and Slotward does not add a fee on top of it. A larger booking suite may include deposits inside some other plan. This page does not quote those plans.
What you do not get in this version
This version is one shop and one weekly calendar. A booking suite that assigns staff, takes walk-in payments, or texts reminders is doing work Slotward does not do. The list on this page is the boundary, not a ranking.
What Slotward does
Trial, price, and who is paid
Slotward is $39 a month or $390 a year after a 7-day trial. The trial starts when the shop is created, and no card is required to start. The client pays the deposit on your booking page. That charge is on your Stripe account. Slotward does not add a fee on top of the deposit.
The window runs itself
You write the cancellation wording and the hour count. Clients read that before they pay, and they get a manage link after they pay. Cancel outside the window and the deposit refunds. Cancel inside the window and you keep it. A no-show is kept, and you mark that after the visit was supposed to start. If you cancel the appointment, the deposit is refunded even inside the window. The window in force at booking is stored on the appointment, so a later edit does not rewrite it.
What this version does not do
- One shop and one weekly calendar. A second person needs a second shop. There is no staff roster and no waitlist.
- Every bookable service has a deposit. You cannot list a service on the booking page with the deposit turned off. The deposit is a flat amount or a percent of that service.
- The deposit is collected at booking. This version does not store a card to charge a second fee after a no-show, and it does not send reminder texts.
- No point of sale and no in-person register. Slotward books the time and takes the deposit.
Questions
Does every booking tool take a deposit on a free plan?
This page does not say. Free-plan rules differ, and an unchecked claim is left out. The Square Appointments and Setmore pages quote the public pages that were checked, including what those pages said about deposits and plan names.
Can Slotward charge a fee after the client misses the visit?
No. The deposit taken at booking is the amount the cancellation window can keep. Slotward does not add a second charge after the visit.
Is Slotward a salon suite or a rental warehouse?
No. It is one booking link, one weekly calendar, and a deposit on your Stripe account. Rentals, when enabled, book a pickup date and a return date and hold a security deposit. There is no register and no staff schedule.
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