Zdrovia Logo
Free for one practitionerSquare Appointments Alternative

Square takes the payment. It doesn't keep the chart.

Square Appointments is one of the best points of sale you can buy, with clean Canadian pricing. Once you inject, laser or peel, the record has to hold up as a clinical document. That's the part Zdrovia was built for.

Start free →Book a demo
The short answer

If nothing you do is clinical, Square is a good choice.

Stay with Square if

Square's point of sale and hardware are excellent, the free plan is generous, and its in-person terminal rates are low. For a retail-heavy studio that is a strong combination.

  • Your menu is facials, brows, lashes and retail
  • You already own Square hardware and like it
  • Low card processing rates matter more than charting

Move to Zdrovia if

Zdrovia is for the point where treatments become clinical, and the chart, the consent and the product you use become things you are accountable for.

  • You inject, needle, laser or peel
  • You need lot numbers, consent and photos on the visit
  • You'd rather run one system than a POS plus a records app
Side-by-Side Comparison

Zdrovia vs Square

More features, simpler pricing, and a migration that takes days, not weeks.

Zdrovia
Square
What the product is
Clinical record that books and charges
Point of sale with appointment booking
Structured treatment charting
Smart Blocks, face maps, units and sites
Client notes
Injectable lot and expiry tracking
Lot numbers, expiry, FEFO, quarantine
Retail stock counts
Treatment-specific consent and photo consent
Versioned, signed before the visit
Not built for clinical consent
Before-and-after photos on the chart
Dated pairs, encrypted, stored in Canada
Not a clinical record
Online and card-on-file processing
All-in 4% to 3% + 30¢, by plan
2.8% + 30¢ online, 3.3% + 15¢ keyed or card on file
Hardware and retail point of sale
Checkout in the visit
Excellent, with Square's own hardware
Free plan
Free for one practitioner
Free for one location

Square figures are from Square's published Canadian pricing for Square Appointments, checked October 2026. Feature comparisons reflect each product's published positioning and change over time; confirm with the vendor. Zdrovia pricing and features are also subject to change.

Run the numbers

The subscription is close. The difference is what's included.

Square prices per location, with a free plan and paid tiers. Ours prices by practitioner count, with charting, consent and inventory on every plan.

Solo injector

1 practitioner, $6,000 a month in bookings

Zdrovia Solo (free)4% of processed bookings$240
Zdrovia Small Practice$79 + 3.5%$289
Squareper location, plus card processing$0 to $85

Three-room studio

3 practitioners, $18,000 a month in bookings

Zdrovia Team Practice$149 + 3%$689
Squareper location, plus card processing$35 to $85

Busy clinic

8 practitioners, $60,000 a month in bookings

Zdrovia Team Practice$149 + 3%$1,949
Squareper location, plus card processing$85

Square Appointments is published at free, $35 (Plus) and $85 (Premium) a month per location in Canada, with online processing at 2.8% + $0.30 and keyed or card-on-file processing at 3.3% + $0.15 (in-person terminal payments are 2.5% for credit and 0.75% + $0.07 for debit tap); a records or forms app on top is not included. Zdrovia's card processing is all-in: 4% + 30¢ per transaction on Solo (free, one practitioner), 3.5% on Small Practice ($79, 3 practitioners) and 3% on Team Practice ($149, 10 practitioners, then $15 each).

Two jobs, one system

Where a point of sale stops and a chart starts

Square was built to take payments and book appointments, and it does both very well. A med spa also needs a record that can answer questions about a treatment months later.

Client notes aren't a treatment record

When a client returns for a touch-up, the injector needs to see the product, the units and the sites from last time, not a sentence someone typed between appointments. When a complaint arrives a year later, the record needs to show what was done, who did it, and what the client agreed to.

Zdrovia charts injectables on a face map with structured fields, keeps revisions when a note is amended, and files the signed consent with the version the client actually saw.

The stock you are accountable for

Retail inventory answers how many are left. Toxin and filler need a different answer: which lot went into which patient, and when the rest of the box expires.

In Zdrovia, stock is received by lot with an expiry date, dispensed oldest first, and linked to the visit and the invoice line, so a recall is a search rather than an afternoon with paper charts.

  • Lot and expiry captured when stock arrives
  • Oldest stock dispensed first, automatically
  • Each dispense linked to the patient and the invoice

One system instead of three

The usual path for an injector who starts on Square is a POS for payments, a separate app for charts and photos, and a forms tool for consent. Each one is reasonable on its own. Together they are three logins, three bills, and a client record split three ways.

Zdrovia does booking, intake and consent, charting and photos, inventory and checkout in one place, with client data stored in Canada.

See how Zdrovia is set up for solo injectors and medical spas.

The Migration Process

Three steps and you're live. No IT team needed.

Export your data

Download a CSV or PDF export from your current EHR: Jane, Cliniko, or any other. No special format required, and our team helps you prep it for free.

< 15 minto export from any EHR

We handle the migration

Send us your export and our onboarding team handles the data import. Patient records, appointment history, and notes, all mapped cleanly into Zdrovia. It's free on Small Practice and Team Practice, and how long it takes depends on the size and complexity of your export.

24 hrstypical turnaround, standard export

Go live with your team

Once your data is in, we run a 30-minute live walkthrough with your team. Most clinics with a standard export are seeing live patients in Zdrovia within 48 hours of signing up.

48 hrsfrom sign-up to first live appointment

Moving off Square

The questions injectors and aestheticians ask us, answered straight.

Is Square cheaper than Zdrovia?▾

Closer than it looks. Square's low headline rates are for tapping a card at its terminal. Online payments are 2.8% + 30¢ in Canada, and card-on-file or keyed charges, the way deposits, no-show fees and memberships usually get collected, are 3.3% + 15¢, which is more than Zdrovia's 3% on Team Practice. The subscription is close at small sizes, with free plans on both. What Square doesn't include is a clinical record, so the honest comparison is Square plus whatever you use for charts, consent and photos, against Zdrovia on its own.

Can I chart Botox and filler in Square Appointments?▾

You can write client notes. Square wasn't built to hold a medical record: there are no structured fields for product, units and injection sites, no lot numbers linked to the visit, and no versioned treatment consent. Injectors who start on Square usually add a second system for records and a third for forms.

Who should stay on Square?▾

Aestheticians whose menu is facials, brows, lashes and retail, who already own Square hardware and don't do anything clinical. For that business Square's point of sale is hard to beat.

Can I keep my Square card reader?▾

Square's hardware works with Square's own processing. Zdrovia takes payments through Stripe on your own connected account, so the Square reader doesn't carry over. Ask us which in-person payment setup fits your front desk before you switch.

How does Zdrovia's pricing work?▾

Solo is free, with an all-in 4% + 30¢ per card transaction. Small Practice at $79 covers 3 practitioners at 3.5% and adds the AI scribe, and Team Practice at $149 covers 10 at 3%. Charting, consent, photos, inventory and booking are on every plan.

Can you import my clients from Square?▾

Export your customer list and appointment history from Square and send it to us, and we map it by hand. Migration is free on Small Practice and Team Practice.

Free to use

Keep the checkout. Add the chart.

Structured charting, consent, dated photo pairs, lot-tracked inventory, booking and payments in one system. Free for one practitioner.

Try Zdrovia free →See pricing

Moving a team of practitioners? Book a call and we'll plan the move with you.

Free to use · No credit card required · Set up in minutes