Free tattoo booking software, and what free usually means

Plenty of artists use free booking software or manage leads in inboxes for their entire career. Before choosing one, check how the company gets paid and which features are limited to artists.

The three kinds of free

• Some software has no subscription fee but charges for card payments. As of August 26, 2026, Square Appointments was free for one person, with online processing at 3.3% plus 30 cents on that plan.
• Some services charge for introducing new clients. Booksy Boost, an optional promotion alongside the paid Booksy subscription, has no monthly fee of its own. It charges 30% of the first booking from a new client who finds you through it. Work out that fee using your own session prices.
• Some companies offer a free plan with limits and charge for more capacity or features. This is how tats.to works. We do not take a percentage of your bookings.

The right choice depends on what you need help with. A marketplace may be useful if you need new clients. If people already find you through your work, you may only need help managing their requests.

What to check on any free tier

• Can you export your clients? If contact details are hidden or exports require payment, include that limit in your decision.
• Which plan includes no-show protection? Several platforms reserve cancellation and no-show charges for paid plans.
• Does the free page carry the software company's branding? Decide whether you are happy with how it looks.
• What happens if you upgrade and later stop paying? Check whether your bookings, clients, and images stay available or the account becomes read-only.
• Does it expire? A 14-day trial is not a permanent free plan.

What the tats.to free plan includes

You can use the free plan without a card for as long as you want. We charge 0% commission on every plan.

• A public booking page with your portfolio, up to ten images.
• Booking requests with reference photos, and accept or decline with overlap checks.
• Up to ten leads or bookings a month, and you choose which leads to spend them on.
• Deposit terms in your own words, sent to the client when you accept.
• Client reminders roughly 24 hours and 2 hours before a confirmed booking.
• Reviews collected after a completed booking.
• Easily exportable .csv's of your client, booking and lead exports.

The free plan has limits. You get ten leads or bookings a month, shared in one pool. Every lead still arrives and you can read the whole request, but once the ten are spent the client email and phone on any new lead are hidden and you cannot reply until next month, a referral credit, or the $19 Starter plan. Replying, accepting, or sending a scheduling invite is what spends a slot, so spam and tyre-kickers cost you nothing. You can also send five messages per conversation. The waitlist, held deposit slots, Google Calendar sync, and white-label branding are on Pro. If you cancel a paid plan later, your records, bookings, reviews, and portfolio will stay with your account. Contact details on locked leads are kept and shown again the moment a slot frees up or you upgrade.

When free stops being enough

If you need more than ten leads or bookings a month, Starter costs $19 a month. Until then, the free plan gives you time to publish your page and see how it works with your clients.