$20 per bookable team member, per month, for the platform. Notifications — SMS and email — are billed per message from your prepaid Communication Wallet, at clear per-country rates.
Your subscription pays for the platform. Every notification — SMS or email — draws from your prepaid Communication Wallet at per-message rates that vary by country and channel. Current rates are always visible in your dashboard. For most businesses it adds up to a few dollars a month.
Preload a balance during setup and your messages simply come out of it — no surprise charges, no pile of tiny transactions on your card. When it runs low, it tops itself back up.
There are three ways to get your service business online. Here's how they actually stack up.
| Ongati | Custom website | Marketplace apps | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup time | 5 minutes | Weeks + a developer | Hours |
| Monthly cost | $20 per user | $2,000+ build, then hosting | Fees, ads & commissions |
| Online booking built in | Yes | Extra plugin, extra cost | Yes |
| Competitors shown to your customers | Never | Never | Constantly |
| Who owns the customer relationship | You do | You do | The platform |
| Update prices yourself | Instantly, from your phone | Call your developer | Yes |
| Reminders, reviews & win-back nudges | Included | Not without more tools | Some, at higher tiers |
| Works if you're not technical | That's the point | No | Mostly |
A user is anyone customers can book — you, plus each team member with their own calendar. Solo business? You're one user: $20/month total. A shop with three barbers is three users: $60/month.
The $20 covers the platform — everything except communication. Every notification is billed per message from your prepaid wallet: rates will be shown before launch and may vary by country, carrier, and channel. Every deduction will be visible in the Communication Wallet so businesses can see what each notification costs.
Because then light users would quietly subsidize heavy ones, and we'd have to price the plan for the worst case. Communication is a real cost that varies by country and volume — billing it transparently keeps the platform price low and fair for everyone.
Businesses will preload communication credit, choose an approved auto-recharge setting, and see every debit in the Wallet ledger. Final recharge amounts and launch rates will be confirmed before paid access opens.
Not in the initial pilot. Ongati is being designed to manage approved communication providers behind one internal delivery layer so small businesses do not have to configure API keys or carrier registrations. Provider coverage and country availability will be published as they are approved.
For the initial U.S. pilot, texts are planned to use an Ongati-managed notification number, and every message will open with your business name — for example: "Fadeworks: Your appointment has been confirmed for Wed, Jul 29 at 8:00 AM. Details: [link]". Transactional emails are planned to use an Ongati-managed sending domain with the business name clearly identified. Exact sender behavior may vary by country and provider.
Notifications are planned as one-way transactional messages in the initial release so the first product remains focused and supportable. When customers want to talk to you, the Call and Message buttons on your page connect them straight to your real phone. Two-way conversations inside Ongati (including WhatsApp) are planned as a premium capability.
No commissions, ever. Whether you take ten bookings a month or three hundred, the price is the same. Your revenue is yours.
You do. Your customers booked with your business, not with Ongati. You can export your customer records and booking history anytime, and if you ever leave, your data goes with you.
There's no contract, so you can cancel from your settings whenever you want. Your page comes down at the end of your billing period, and you can export everything first. Come back later and your setup is waiting.
Ongati handles the booking; you take payment your usual way at the appointment. Online deposits and prepayment are on our roadmap — early users will get them first.
Deactivate them in one tap. Their $20 drops off your next bill immediately, but their appointment history and customer records stay with your business.
Keep the Instagram — it's great for reach. Ongati is where the link in your bio should point: the place where the people who found you can see prices, pick a time and actually book without DMing you and waiting.
Create your free account and set up your business. You’ll only pay the simple monthly rate when you go live.