Surf Instructors on Vagaro pay $50/month — $600/year. Over three years, that's $2,013. Nexa is $279 once. Break-even runs about 5.6 months. The median Surf Instructor earns $40,000/year, so Vagaro's annual cost is roughly 1.5% of typical revenue — every year, forever.
That's $2,013 gone. And you don't own anything. Stop paying, lose access.
You're not the only one who's had enough.
Surf Instructors face unique challenges: Scheduling lessons around the tide and swell window, which shifts every day and ignores the calendar. Canceling and rebooking when the surf goes flat or blows out, often with hours' notice. Sizing and tracking the rental wetsuits and boards so a beginner gets a board they can actually catch a wave on. Billing group lessons, privates, and multi-day surf camps that all price differently, often to tourists paying once. On top of all that, Vagaro charges $50/month ($600/year) — money that comes directly from your revenue. The median Surf Instructor earns $40,000/year. Software at $600/year is a meaningful percentage of that income, every year, forever. And you do not own anything.
Your Soft-top foam beginner boards 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.
Vagaro is just one piece. What else are you losing money on?
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Your exact Vagaro cost, full stack total, and what switching saves. 10 seconds.
| Feature | Vagaro | Nexa |
|---|---|---|
| Invoicing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Scheduling | ✗ | ✓ |
| CRM | ✗ | ✓ |
| Time Tracking | ✗ | ✓ |
| Full Accounting | ✗ | ✓ (SIMPL) |
| Task Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Price | $50/mo forever | $279 once or 3 × $99 |
| 3-Year Cost | $2,013 | $279 |
| Stop paying? | Lose everything | Keep everything forever |
Most surf instructors are fully switched before the weekend.
Go to Reports → export client list, appointment history, and sales data to CSV.
15-minute setup. Import your client list and set up your service categories.
Run both for 2 weeks. Update your booking link to Nexa. Notify existing clients.
Cancel subscription. Redirect old booking URLs to your new Nexa page.
My whole day is set by the tide chart, not the clock, so I check the swell and the tide window the night before and the morning of, and the lesson time moves with the ocean. I'm at the beach early, pulling soft-tops off the trailer, matching wetsuits to body sizes, waxing boards, and rigging leashes. Beginner group lesson starts on the sand: how to pop up, where to lie on the board, how to read a broken wave. Then we paddle out into the whitewater and I'm standing waist-deep, pushing each student into wave after wave, calling 'paddle, paddle, up!' and cheering the first time someone stands. I keep one eye on the rip and the conditions the whole time, because the ocean is the one part of this job that doesn't care about my schedule. A private follows, an intermediate who wants to start catching green waves, and we work timing and positioning out past the break. The forecast can ruin a day in an hour: a wind shift blows the surf out and I'm canceling the afternoon and texting tourists who only had today. End of day I'm rinsing wetsuits, checking boards for dings, and reconciling a group lesson, a private, and a deposit on next week's surf camp, half of it from people I'll never see again.
Real surf instructors near you who run their business on Nexa — book directly, no platform fee. Are you a surf instructor? Post your business and get found in your area — $2.99 one-time. Or browse every surf instructor on Nexa →
For solo operators and small teams (1-5), yes. Nexa includes invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking, task management, and full accounting. Vagaro may be better if you have a large team (10+) or need enterprise-specific features.
It's $7.75/month over 3 years. Vagaro is $50/month — that's $2,013 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 Vagaro as CSV, import into Nexa in about 5 minutes.
The average solo operator there spends about $2,280/year on software — and Surf Instructor face their own version of that math. IL state licensing requirements apply.
Numbers reflect typical solo operators in the Elgin metro. Your situation will vary.
Specific gaps Surf Instructors run into with Vagaro, and what Nexa does instead.
$2,013 over 3 years. Or $279 once (or 3 × $99). Own your tools.
Get Nexa — $279 Once