Keratin Treatment Specialists on Square pay $29/month — $348/year. Over three years, that's $1,168. Nexa is $279 once. Break-even runs about 9.6 months. The median Keratin Treatment Specialist earns $35,000/year, so Square's annual cost is roughly 1.0% of typical revenue — every year, forever.
That's $1,168 gone. And you don't own anything. Stop paying, lose access.
You're not the only one who's had enough.
Keratin Treatment Specialists face unique challenges: Formaldehyde fumes and ventilation, protecting the client, herself, and meeting safety rules during a long sealing process. Clients wetting hair, tying it up, or using sulfate shampoo in the first 72 hours and ruining the treatment. Matching the right formula and iron heat to hair type, since the wrong call leaves hair under-smoothed or over-processed. The three-to-four-hour chair time per client, which makes the daily schedule brutal to fill and price correctly. On top of all that, Square charges $29/month ($348/year) — money that comes directly from your revenue. The median Keratin Treatment Specialist earns $35,000/year. Software at $348/year is a meaningful percentage of that income, every year, forever. And you do not own anything.
Your high-heat flat iron rated to 450 degrees is yours. You bought it once. Nexa works the same way — $279 once for invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking, and full accounting. All connected. All offline-capable. You own it like you own your tools.
Square is just one piece. What else are you losing money on?
Want this breakdown emailed to you?
Your exact Square cost, full stack total, and what switching saves. 10 seconds.
| Feature | Square | Nexa |
|---|---|---|
| Invoicing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Scheduling | ✗ | ✓ |
| CRM | ✗ | ✓ |
| Time Tracking | ✗ | ✓ |
| Full Accounting | ✗ | ✓ (SIMPL) |
| Task Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Price | $29/mo forever | $279 once or 3 × $99 |
| 3-Year Cost | $1,168 | $279 |
| Stop paying? | Lose everything | Keep everything forever |
Most keratin treatment specialists are fully switched before the weekend.
Go to Square Dashboard → Customers → Export. Also export transactions and item library.
15-minute setup. Import your customer list and service/product catalog.
Run both for 1-2 weeks. Test invoicing and booking through Nexa.
Cancel paid subscriptions. Keep free account for records access.
She masks up before the client even arrives, because the smoothing solution she'll be ironing for hours releases fumes and the room needs the fan running the whole time, her safety and the client's both ride on ventilation she takes seriously. She clarifies the hair to strip buildup, blows it out, then sections it into fine slices and brushes the keratin solution through evenly, no globs, no dry spots, because uneven application means uneven results she'll hear about in a week. Then the long, hot, meditative part: passing a 450-degree iron over each thin section again and again to seal the solution into the cuticle, the heat doing the actual bonding. The right temperature and number of passes depends entirely on whether the hair is fine and color-treated or coarse and resistant, and reading that correctly is the whole skill. It's three, sometimes four hours per head, so her day holds only a couple of clients and she has to price each one to make that math work. She drills the aftercare like a sergeant: no washing, no tying up, no clips, no sweat-soaking the hair for three days, because all her redos come from a client who pulled it into a ponytail that first night and creased it permanently. She breaks down the station, airs the room, and starts the next four-hour marathon.
Real keratin treatment specialists near you who run their business on Nexa — book directly, no platform fee. Are you a keratin treatment specialist? Post your business and get found in your area — $2.99 one-time. Or browse every keratin treatment specialist on Nexa →
For solo operators and small teams (1-5), yes. Nexa includes invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking, task management, and full accounting. Square may be better if you have a large team (10+) or need enterprise-specific features.
It's $7.75/month over 3 years. Square is $29/month — that's $1,168 over 3 years. Which is more? And if you'd rather split it, Nexa is also available as 3 payments of $99.
Yes. Nexa is $279 as a one-time payment, or 3 payments of $99 ($297 total). Either way it's a one-time purchase — no subscription, no recurring fees ever.
30-day money-back guarantee. Full refund. If Nexa doesn't save you $500 in year one, you get every penny back.
Export your data from Square as CSV, import into Nexa in about 5 minutes.
The average solo operator there spends about $1,872/year on software — and Keratin Treatment Specialist face their own version of that math. WV state licensing requirements apply.
Numbers reflect typical solo operators in the Huntington metro. Your situation will vary.
Specific gaps Keratin Treatment Specialists run into with Square, and what Nexa does instead.
$1,168 over 3 years. Or $279 once (or 3 × $99). Own your tools.
Get Nexa — $279 Once