What Venue handles automatically
What the service fee is
Venue's service fee (shown as the booking fee on the pricing page) is one bundled price. It is the same for every payment method, so it is not a card surcharge. By default clients pay it, which is why Venue is free for most artists. You can also cover it yourself or split it. What it pays for:
Clients can pay with Apple Pay, Google Pay, cards and buy-now-pay-later options like Affirm and Klarna.
A tip prompt at checkout, and 83% of appointments paid on Venue receive a tip.
Chargeback protection for you on eligible deposits and payments, with no extra fee.
Cheaper on paper, costlier in practice
Tattoo Studio Pro can come out cheaper on paper if you cover the service fee at high volume, and we say so. But price on paper is not the whole cost. With Venue you pay nothing by default, and this is where the other tool costs you more:
A monthly bill. Tattoo Studio Pro is $29 a month after the trial, whether you tattooed twenty clients or none. Venue Solo is $0.
Fees on top. You pay Stripe's 2.9% plus 30 cents on every payment yourself, on top of the subscription.
More admin. Two-way client messaging is still on their roadmap, so those conversations live outside the platform. Venue has chat on every booking request.
More work around flash and events. Tattoo Studio Pro does not advertise flash sales, events or guest-spot tools, so you would run those outside the platform.
More risk and more switching. No chargeback protection is advertised, and moving later is a project: your booking history does not transfer and access usually ends with the subscription.
The bottom line
Across everything on this page, Venue is the stronger choice for most tattoo artists. It is, as Venue puts it, the only all-in-one platform built for tattoo artists: free to start, with flash, events, guest spots, chat and chargeback protection in one place, plus a team and a community built around artists. Tattoo Studio Pro wins on a few specifics: a flat price at high volume, in-person payments, a walk-in queue and reporting. If those matter most to you, it is a solid pick. For most artists, they do not outweigh the rest.
How the pricing works
Tattoo Studio Pro is a flat subscription priced by how many people need access.
Solo, one person: $29/month or $239/year.
Crew, up to 5: $69/month or $579/year.
It continues up to Legion at $299/month for 25 people, then Empire for 26 or more.
Every plan includes every feature.
Managers and health officials do not count toward your team size.
Card payments run on Stripe at Stripe's own rates, 2.9% and 30 cents on US cards, with no markup added on top. There is a 30-day trial, and no free plan.
Venue prices the other way around.
Solo Plan: Free with 10% to process deposits and payments.
Solo Pro Plan: $50/month, which drops the service fee to 5%.
Studio is free, and Studio Pro at $150/month covering five residents or guests, then $35 per extra active artist.
The service fee is the same for every payment method. It can be charged to the client, to you, or split evenly. Client is the default.
Working the numbers
Take a solo artist who books $3,000 a month in deposits and payments.
If your clients cover the service fee, which is Venue's default: Venue costs you nothing. Tattoo Studio Pro costs $29/month, plus Stripe's 2.9% and 30 cents on each transaction, which you are paying either way because Stripe bills you directly.
If you cover the service fee yourself: Venue Solo is 10% of $3,000, so $300. Tattoo Studio Pro is $29 plus roughly $87 of Stripe fees, so about $116.
Venue Solo Pro sits in between. $50 plus 5% of $3,000 is $200 if you cover the service fee, and $50 if your clients cover it.
So the question is not which product is cheaper. It is whether you pass the service fee to your clients. Settle that first and the answer falls out on its own.
What Venue does better
- A tier that stays free
. Tattoo Studio Pro has a 30-day trial and then a bill every month, whether you tattooed twenty clients or none. Venue Solo stays at zero.
- You choose who pays the service fee
: charge it to the client, absorb it, or split it. That choice is what makes the free tier free for most artists, and the fee is the same for every payment method.
- Flash sales
: upload designs, set pricing, and have clients buy and book a piece directly. Tattoo Studio Pro does not advertise a flash gallery or flash sales.
- Events and conventions
: one shared page for a flash day or convention, with each artist managing their own slots. Tattoo Studio Pro does not advertise event tools.
- Guest spots and multiple books
: open separate books for guest spots, extra services or other studios. Tattoo Studio Pro does not advertise guest-spot tools.
- Client chat on every booking request
: keep the conversation, reference photos and changes in one thread. Tattoo Studio Pro says full two-way messaging is still on its roadmap.
- Deposits that are not a single flat number
. Tattoo Studio Pro's deposit is a flat studio-wide amount, not a percentage of the quote and not variable by service.
- Chargeback protection
: Venue covers eligible chargebacks on deposits and payments at no extra cost. Tattoo Studio Pro does not advertise it.
- A members-only supply store
: up to 25% off cartridges, ink, machines and PPE for US artists on Venue.
- Public artist profiles that turn up in search
. Venue profiles are indexed pages that rank when someone searches for a tattoo artist in their city. That is a source of new clients, not just a scheduling convenience.
- Residents and guests without changing plan
: Venue's Studio Pro covers five residents or guests at $150/month and adds more at $35 each. Tattoo Studio Pro prices by total team size.
- A creator program and artist giveaways
: Venue pays artists who create content and gives away machines and merch to its community.
What Tattoo Studio Pro does better
A cheaper flat price. $29/month against Venue's $50/month Pro tier, and $239/year if you pay annually.
No feature gating. Every plan has every feature, so you are never told the thing you need is one tier up.
Transparent fees. Stripe's rates, passed through without a markup, so you can work out your costs exactly.
Unlimited SMS on every plan with no per-message charge.
A website with hosting included in the subscription, rather than a booking link alone.
Free tools worth knowing about even if you never subscribe: a tattoo cost calculator, a session estimator, a removal calculator, a free consent form app, a free portfolio template, and a conventions calendar covering 148 events across six countries, updated weekly.
Six months free for new studios, if you opened or are opening within three months of applying.
If you want one predictable bill with nothing held back, this is a strong product and the price is hard to argue with.
Which one fits you?
If your clients cover the service fee: Venue, on the free tier. Nothing will beat zero.
If you cover the service fee yourself and you book steadily: Tattoo Studio Pro. At $3,000 a month of volume it is about 40% of the cost.
If you sell flash: Venue. Tattoo Studio Pro does not advertise it.
If you want one flat bill and every feature included: Tattoo Studio Pro at $29/month.
If you travel, or your volume swings month to month: Venue, because a quiet month costs nothing rather than $29.
If you host guests and residents: Venue's Studio Pro handles them without moving tier.
If you are opening a brand-new studio: check Tattoo Studio Pro's six-months-free offer before you decide anything.
Switching from Tattoo Studio Pro to Venue
Set up your Venue booking link and test it on yourself first.
Let any deposits already taken run through to the appointment. Do not move money mid-booking.
Update the link in your Instagram bio and anywhere else it appears. That is the step that actually matters, because it is how clients reach you.
Upload your flash and set pricing if you sell flash. There is nothing to migrate here. You are building it fresh.
Export your client records before you cancel. Your booking history does not transfer, and access usually ends with the subscription.
Note: if your deposits are set up as a flat studio amount, that is what you are used to. Venue handles deposits differently, so look at how yours are configured before you move rather than after.
Frequently asked questions
Is Venue free? What's the catch?
There is no catch. Venue is free for artists. Your client pays a 10% service fee on deposits and payments, the same for every payment method. On a $100 deposit, your client pays $110, and the breakdown is shown to them up front. Solo Pro at $50/month drops the fee to 5%.
Can I pay the service fee myself?
Yes. In your account settings you can switch the fee to "Artist pays", which deducts it from your deposits and payments before payout, or to "Split", where you and your client share it evenly. Your client pays by default.
What payment methods does Venue support?
Cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and buy-now-pay-later options like Affirm and Klarna, so clients can pay the way they prefer. The service fee is the same whichever method they choose.
Does Tattoo Studio Pro have a free plan?
No. There is a 30-day trial, and the cheapest plan after that is $29 a month for one artist. They do publish several free tools, including a consent form app, which are separate from the paid product.
Which is cheaper?
It depends on who pays the service fee. If your clients do, Venue is free and Tattoo Studio Pro is $29 a month. If you cover the fee yourself at high volume, Tattoo Studio Pro's flat price can be lower, but Venue includes flash sales, events, guest spots, client chat and chargeback protection, so the two are not the same product.
Do both support deposits?
Yes, but differently. Tattoo Studio Pro uses a flat studio-wide deposit amount through Stripe, the same figure for every booking. Venue handles deposits as part of its payment flow, and the same service fee applies however the client pays.
Which is better for a studio with guest artists?
Venue, on structure. Its Studio Pro plan covers five residents or guests at $150 a month and adds more at $35 each. Tattoo Studio Pro prices by total team size.
Can I sell flash on Tattoo Studio Pro?
They do not advertise a flash gallery or flash sales anywhere on their site. If selling flash is central to how you work, that is a real difference.
