Frequently asked questions

Most providers have their booking page live in under 10 minutes. You need to: (1) add at least one service, (2) connect your bank via Stripe, and (3) set your availability. That's it.

No. If you can fill out a form and click a button, you can set up InstantBook. No coding, no developers, no waiting.

Clients see your branded booking page at instantbook.ca/yourbusiness — your business name, about section, services, available times, and a secure payment form for the deposit. No InstantBook branding clutters their experience.

Yes. The Free plan is free forever — no credit card required. It includes a public booking page and up to 5 bookings a month, so you can run the full experience end to end before deciding to upgrade.

There's a Free plan ($0 forever). Paid plans are Starter $19, Growth $39, and Business $79 CAD/month. Prices are in Canadian dollars and exclude applicable taxes (GST/HST).

No. InstantBook charges a flat monthly subscription only. Standard Stripe card processing fees (currently 2.9% + $0.30 CAD per transaction) apply to client payments — those go to Stripe, not to InstantBook.

Free covers up to 2 services and 5 bookings/month. Starter adds up to 5 services and 50 bookings/month. Growth is unlimited services and bookings plus SMS reminders, referrals, client CRM, and advanced analytics. Business is a private-beta tier (by request) with more SMS credits, priority onboarding, and early access to multi-staff calendars and packages/memberships as we build them out. Client reviews are included on every plan, including Free.

Yes. Cancel from your Settings page at any time. Your booking page stays live until the end of the billing period, then pauses. Your data is retained for 90 days.

Not yet — monthly billing only. Annual billing with a discount is on our roadmap.

When setting up a service, you choose a deposit amount (e.g., $25 or $50). Clients pay this deposit at the time of booking via Stripe. The remainder is collected at the appointment — you handle that directly.

Stripe handles all payment processing. Funds from deposits are deposited directly into your connected bank account on Stripe's standard payout schedule (typically next business day). InstantBook never holds your funds.

From your dashboard, go to Settings → Connect Stripe. You'll be directed to Stripe's secure onboarding flow — it takes about 2 minutes and requires your bank details and government-issued ID.

Disputes are handled between you, the client, and Stripe directly. InstantBook is not a party to your transactions. We recommend keeping your service descriptions clear and your cancellation policy communicated to clients.

You set your weekly schedule once (e.g., Mon–Fri 9am–5pm). Clients only see time slots that fall within your availability and don't overlap with existing bookings. You can add one-off blocks (days off, vacations) at any time.

By default, clients can book for times starting the next available slot. You can manually block off dates to prevent last-minute bookings.

Not yet — clients book through your page. Manual booking entry from the dashboard is on our roadmap.

Contact the client directly via the email shown in your bookings dashboard. Refund handling is done through your Stripe dashboard.

Only you. Client booking information (name, email, phone, notes) is stored in your account and is not visible to other providers or to the public.

We're working on CSV export. For now, contact hello@instantbook.ca and we'll provide your data in a readable format.

Data is stored on Supabase (built on AWS) with servers in Canada (AWS ca-central-1 region). Your data never leaves Canada.