Bella Booking vs Ovatu
SMS included, priced in AUD, no per-seat maths.
An honest comparison to help you choose the right salon, spa or clinic software for your business - whatever its size.
Quick facts at a glance
A side-by-side overview of key differences
Prices shown in AUD (inc. GST)
Bella Booking: Starter plan for 1-3 team members, Professional for 4+ (unlimited). Competitor pricing from official sources, verified August 2026.
Which is right for you?
An honest look at when each platform makes sense
Consider Bella Booking if...
- Memberships with recurring billing and two-way SMS from a dedicated number - Ovatu has no equivalent for either
- SMS reminders included - 50 to 500 a month by plan, instead of US$0.04 for every message
- Priced in AUD with GST included, not billed in USD at a moving exchange rate
- One flat price for unlimited team members on Professional - no per-employee add-on
- Memberships with recurring Stripe billing, included sessions and benefit tracking
- Treatment plans published to the client's booking portal, built for clinics and med spas
- Service bundles with sequential and parallel execution
- Processing time - the team member is free while colour develops or a mask sets
- AI Assistant and a weekly AI business digest
- Incomplete booking recovery with automated follow-up
- Find a time wizard with gap-fill scoring, and three schedule optimisation modes
- Family and dependent booking (children, partners, parents, pets)
- Two-way SMS messaging on your own dedicated business number
- Digital tipping so clients can tip team members after their appointment
- Forms with signature capture, per-service auto-send and frequency control
- Attendance tracking with a PIN time clock
- 32 reports with period-over-period comparison and CSV export
- Native online booking analytics - traffic sources, drop-off and conversion, with no Google Analytics setup
- Accessibility and personalisation: dark mode, dyslexia-friendly fonts, themes, density modes
- Free onboarding on every plan, and free data migration on Starter and Professional, as many times as you need it
Consider Ovatu if...
- An integrated card terminal at the counter is your single biggest requirement
- You want the lowest possible monthly price for a solo operator
- You have a large reception or admin team who never need to be bookable
- You want native Mac and Apple Watch apps as well as phone apps
- Klarna specifically matters to your clients
We believe in helping you find the right fit, even if it's not us.
Detailed feature comparison
A comprehensive look at what each platform offers
Scheduling & Booking
Client Management
Team Management
Payments & POS
Marketing & Communication
Business Management
AI & Intelligence
Platform & Support
Pricing breakdown
What you'll actually pay
Prices shown are starting prices and include GST. Bella Booking Starter includes up to 3 team members; Professional includes unlimited team members. Competitor pricing may vary based on team size.
Bella Booking
Solo (1 team): A$25/month AUD • Starter (1-3 team): A$67/month AUD • Professional (4+): A$99/month AUD
Ovatu
Additional costs to consider
- • Billed in USD - there is no AUD price list, so your cost moves with the exchange rate
- • SMS is not included on any plan - US$0.04 per message, pay as you go
- • Every bookable employee beyond the first is +US$7 (Neat) or +US$10 (Loaded) per month
- • Forms, loyalty, campaigns, gift cards, promo codes and inventory need the Loaded plan
Pricing information based on publicly available data as of August 2026. Visit each provider's website for current pricing.
Cost comparison by team size
Team Size Pricing Comparison
Monthly cost for different team sizes
Note: how team member limits work
Plan limits count the team members on your Bella roster who are on the scheduler or bookable online: front desk, managers and bookkeepers don't count. The comparisons in this table assume everyone listed takes appointments.
| Team Size | Bella Booking | Ovatu | Savings with Bella |
|---|---|---|---|
1 person | $25/mo(Solo) | $25/mo $25 (Neat, first employee included) | Same price |
3 people | $67/mo(Starter) | $39/mo $25 + 2 × $7 = $39 (Neat) | $28/mo more |
6 people | $99/mo(Professional) | $60/mo $25 + 5 × $7 = $60 (Neat) | $39/mo more |
12 people | $99/mo(Professional) | $102/mo $25 + 11 × $7 = $102 (Neat) | Save $3/mo |
Annual savings with Bella Booking
For a team of 6-12 members
Up to $36
per year
Bella Booking: Official pricing (Starter $67/mo, Professional $99/mo)
Ovatu: Official pricing page • Last verified: August 2026
Pricing may change. Please verify current prices on official websites before making decisions.
What Ovatu does well
We believe in honest comparisons. Here's what Ovatu excels at:
- 1Genuinely low entry price - US$25/month includes POS, waitlist, reminders and reviews
- 2Integrated EFTPOS terminals - Tyro, SumUp, Zettle, Square and PaymentSense
- 3Wide buy-now-pay-later coverage: Afterpay, Clearpay and Klarna
- 4Unlimited non-bookable admin and reception users at no extra cost
- 5Australian company, founded 2010, operating in over 90 countries
- 6Native iOS, Android, Mac and Apple Watch apps
- 7Rated 4.8 out of 5 on Capterra across 144 reviews, with customer service rated 4.8
- 8A person on their team does your data import for you rather than leaving you with a CSV tool
- 9Per-customer GDPR data export, clearly documented
Ovatu might be better if...
We believe in helping you find the right solution, even if it's not us. Here are some scenarios where other options might serve you better:
- 1Integrated EFTPOS card terminals (Tyro, SumUp, Zettle, Square, PaymentSense) - Bella has none yet
- 2Cheaper for a solo operator who does not need SMS volume
- 3Unlimited non-bookable admin and reception users at no extra cost
- 4Klarna as a buy-now-pay-later option
- 5Native Mac and Apple Watch apps
Still not sure? - we'll give you an honest assessment of whether Bella Booking is right for your business.
Rated 5.0 on Capterra
“Try Bella, You Won't Regret It!”
“Great support for small business”
“User-friendly and reliable booking system with quick support”
Switching from Ovatu?
We make it easy. Free onboarding on every plan, with free data migration on Starter and Professional.
How to switch from Ovatu
Step-by-step guide to export your data and move to Bella Booking. We offer free onboarding on every plan, and free data migration on Starter and Professional.
- 1
Export your customer list
Go to Customers, open the List view, and click Export as CSV at the bottom right. This gives you contact details for every client.
- 2
Export your sales
From Sales, use the CSV export to download your transaction history for your own records and for reconciling gift card and pass balances.
- 3
Capture outstanding passes and gift cards
List any unredeemed Passes and gift cards with their remaining balance and expiry before you close the account. Bella brings each part-used Pass across as a package with Add existing package, sessions already used included, and the Bella team imports the gift cards with their codes and remaining balances - but only if you have the list, so take it while you still have access.
- 4
Capture your service menu and roster
Screenshot or list your services with durations and prices, plus who performs what. A link to your Ovatu booking mini-site is enough for us to work from.
- 5
Email everything to hello@bellabooking.com
Send the CSVs, your pass and gift card list, and your service menu. We validate, dedupe and import it all for you - free on Starter and Professional, and we will re-run it if something is missing.
A note on appointment history
We generally recommend not importing old appointment history. Importing past appointments can trigger unintended automated messages (reminders, review requests, reminders to rebook, follow-up messages) and cause data inconsistencies. Your clients and services are the essential data for a clean start. If you do want some history carried over, we recommend a tight recent range (e.g. the last 3 months), and our migration team will ensure no notifications are sent accidentally.
Good to know
Ovatu documents a customer list CSV export and a sales CSV export, plus a per-customer GDPR export that emails you a zip of one client's profile, sales, forms, notes, photos, passes and gift cards. We could not find a documented bulk appointment-history export, so send us whatever you can pull and we will work from your booking page and screenshots for the rest. If you are still on Ovatu Classic rather than Ovatu Next, the menus differ slightly - send us a screenshot and we will point you to the right place.
Official export documentation: Ovatu help centre
Can't export your data?
No problem, we can work with anything. Screenshots of your service list, a link to your public booking page, a photo of your price board, or even a typed-up list. Send us whatever you have and we will build your account from it.
Need help with the migration?
Our team will handle the data import, set up your services, and walk you through everything. Onboarding help is free on every plan, and data migration is free on Starter and Professional. We accept data in any format: CSV, Excel, screenshots, photos, links, or anything else you can send.
Sources: Information gathered from ovatu.com, help.ovatu.com, www.capterra.com. Last verified: August 2026.
Found an error? and we'll correct it promptly.
Important Notice
The information about Ovatu on this page is based on publicly available data as of August 2026 and is provided for general comparison purposes only. Pricing, features, and policies may change at any time without notice. We make reasonable efforts to keep this information accurate, but we cannot guarantee its completeness or current accuracy.
Always verify directly with Ovatu before making any business decisions. This comparison reflects our understanding and may not capture all nuances of their offerings.