Free plan
Free booking software that isn’t a 7-day countdown
Take online bookings and send confirmations and reminders on a plan that stays free for as long as you want it. No credit card to start, no ads on your page, and your customer list is always yours.
What the free plan includes
Hosted booking page
A public page with your services, prices, hours, reviews and live availability — share the link anywhere customers find you.
Email confirmations & reminders
Automatic booking confirmations and appointment reminders, included. (SMS is an optional paid add-on — email is free.)
2 staff seats
You and a teammate, with role-scoped access. Extra seats are a flat $9/mo each on paid plans if you ever grow past that.
100 bookings a month
Enough headroom for most solo operators and side businesses — and a clear, honest limit rather than a surprise.
Embeddable booking widget
One script tag puts the full booking flow on your own website — inline or as a popup Book now button.
Promo codes & referrals
Discount codes and a give-and-get customer referral program, on the free plan too.
Intake forms
Per-service questions answered during booking and saved with the appointment.
Industry-aware setup
Tell us what you do — pet care, trades, property, wellness — and your services are pre-loaded instead of a blank calendar.
Comparing options? See how Embercabin stacks up against Square Appointments, Acuity, Fresha and Vagaro.
Frequently asked
- Is Embercabin really free?
- Yes. The Free plan is a real plan, not a trial: unlimited time, no credit card to sign up. You only ever pay if you upgrade for more seats and features, or the payment processing costs when customers pay you online.
- What’s the catch with free booking software?
- With Embercabin: paid plans (from $25/mo) fund the free one. The free plan covers up to 100 bookings a month and settles payments in person; online card payments are a paid-plan feature. There are no ads on your booking page and your customer list is yours to export anytime.
- Can I take payments on the free plan?
- On the free plan, bookings are settled in person (cash, EFTPOS, however you already take money) — that costs nothing. Online card payments via Stripe come with paid plans, where you pay Stripe’s standard rate plus a flat 1% platform fee.
- What do paid plans add?
- Pro ($25/mo) and up add online card payments, more seats, staff scheduling depth, packages and passes, review requests, reports and multi-location support. Upgrade only when the free plan starts feeling small.
- How does Embercabin compare to other free booking tools?
- Square Appointments also has a free tier (tied to Square payments); Setmore has a free tier; Acuity and Vagaro have no free plan. Embercabin’s free plan is independent of any hardware ecosystem and includes the embeddable widget, promo codes and referrals.