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BOOTH vs theCut
theCut is the closest thing to BOOTH on this list, and we'd rather say that than pretend otherwise. They're a barber-first booking app that has grown shop-side tools: a booth board, rent tracking, reminders. The difference is how much of the business model each one actually carries. On theCut's board you find a chair and then call the owner — the terms, the agreement and the money all leave the platform, and what you're left with is a reminder that rent is due. On BOOTH the chair is listed with its rent, the agreement is signed on a phone, the rent is collected on a schedule, and the chair reports back what it earned against what it costs. Same starting point. The difference is whether you end up with a phone number or a running business.
Two different jobs
What theCut is built for
A barber's book. It's a strong, well-liked booking app with a client-side marketplace, and it's free to start — which is exactly why so many barbers already have it.
- Client booking with a custom link, calendar and notifications
- A client-facing app where people find and book barbers
- Payments at 2.75%, with card readers on the PRO plan
- Client Blasts, cancellation policies and advanced scheduling on PRO
- A SHOP plan at $0/mo with staff management and booth rent tracking
What BOOTH is built for
The chair as an asset with a contract attached. Not the reminder that rent is due — the rent arriving, on an agreement both people signed, on a seat you can see the real use of.
- Chairs listed publicly with rent, terms and availability, browsable by any barber
- A booth-rental agreement sent, signed with a finger, and filed as a PDF for both sides
- Rent collected through the platform on a schedule
- Per-chair economics — occupancy, hours used, what each seat earned against what it costs
- A job board, and barber profiles that work as a hiring portfolio
Running both
Most barbers who join BOOTH already have a book somewhere, and a lot of the time it's theCut. Keep it. BOOTH doesn't need your appointments to do its job — it needs the chair, the agreement and the rent.
- 01Keep your clients booking where they already book you.
- 02Use BOOTH to find the chair, or to list one if you're the owner.
- 03Sign the booth agreement on BOOTH so both sides hold the same copy.
- 04Pay or collect rent through BOOTH on a schedule, and read what the chair actually earned.
Side by side
| Capability | theCut | BOOTH |
|---|---|---|
| Client booking and calendar | Yes — the core product | Free add-on for a barber's own chair, 5% (min $1) of the barber's earnings when a client pays through BOOTH |
| Client-facing discovery app | Yes | Barber profiles and shop pages, not a consumer booking app |
| Open-chair listings | A booth board — browse and contact the owner | Listings with rent and terms, and the deal closes on-platform |
| Booth-rental agreements | Not offered | Sent, e-signed on a phone, PDF to both sides |
| Booth rent tracking and reminders | Yes | Yes |
| Booth rent collected in-app | In beta, for barbers in the Shop Experience | Yes, on a schedule |
| Per-chair occupancy and earnings | Business analytics and revenue reporting | Per chair — hours used, days occupied, rent against use |
| Job board for hiring barbers | Not offered | Yes |
| Cost to the shop owner | $0/mo SHOP plan | $0 |
What each one costs
theCut, from their pricing page
- FREE — $0/mo. Booking link, calendar, payments at 2.75%, client discovery at $10 per client.
- PRO — $25/mo. Adds Client Blasts, free client discovery, SMS notifications, card reader and advanced scheduling.
- SHOP — $0/mo for owners. Staff management, multiple locations, booth rent tracking and reminders.
- Payment processing 2.75%. Instant deposit 1.5%; standard deposit free.
BOOTH
- Free for shop owners — no monthly fee, no listing fee, no per-barber fee.
- Barbers pay a flat 5% platform fee on booth rent, added on top of the rent and shown at checkout. The rent itself goes to the shop.
- BOOTH Bookings is free for any barber who wants online booking for their own chair. When a client pays through BOOTH, BOOTH takes 5% of the service price (minimum $1) out of the barber's earnings.
theCut figures read from their own pricing page in August 2026. Prices change — check theCut pricing, theCut booth board for what they charge today.
When theCut is the right call and BOOTH isn't
- You want a free, well-built book and a consumer app that sends you walk-in clients. That's their strength and we don't compete with it.
- You're an independent barber with no booth-rent relationship to manage — no agreement, no landlord, nothing to collect or prove.
- Your shop's rent already runs on cash or Zelle and nobody involved wants that on a platform. Reminders may be all you need.
- You want your client-facing brand in an app clients already have installed.
Questions
theCut has booth listings too. What's actually different?
How far the listing takes you. Their board is a place to find a chair and contact the owner; the agreement and the money happen off-platform. On BOOTH the listing carries the rent and terms, the agreement is signed in the app, and the rent is collected on a schedule — so there's a record of what was agreed and what was paid.
Doesn't theCut already collect booth rent?
Partly. Their pricing page lists booth rent tracking and automated reminders on the SHOP plan, and in-app rent payment exists for barbers enrolled in their Shop Experience, described as beta at the time we checked. Tracking tells you rent is late. Collecting is what stops it being late.
Do I have to leave theCut?
No. A lot of barbers on BOOTH book on theCut and it causes no problem — we're not asking for your calendar, and we don't need your client list.
Is BOOTH free for shop owners?
Yes. Listing the shop, listing chairs, sending agreements and collecting rent cost the owner nothing. The 5% platform fee is added on top of the barber's rent.
Same business model. Run at full capacity.
Owners list the shop and get paid on time. Barbers find chairs. Free for shop owners, and you keep the booking app you already have.