Questions, answered
Everything providers ask about Little Engine, in one place.
Getting started
Little Engine is an iPhone app that runs scheduling and payments for independent service providers by text. You get a business number. Clients text it to book, reschedule, cancel, and pay, and Little Engine suggests each reply and next step for you to send.
Independent service providers who charge by the session or package: personal trainers, hair stylists and barbers, massage therapists and bodyworkers, tutors, dog walkers and groomers, coaches, yoga instructors, cleaners, and more.
About 10 minutes. Download the app, tell us how your business runs (your hours, services, and payment preferences), and you’ll have a new business number ready to share with clients.
An iPhone and about 10 minutes. Little Engine is available to providers in the United States, and you get a new local business number as part of setup.
Not yet. Little Engine is on iPhone today. Your clients can use any phone, Android included, since they just text your business number and tap links.
Not yet. Little Engine is available to providers in the United States.
A US bank account. You connect it through Stripe during setup, and Stripe asks for standard identity details, as it does for any business that accepts cards.
Your business number
Yes. Little Engine gives you a new local number for your business, matched to your area code where numbers are available. Clients text and call it like any other number.
Little Engine gives you a new local business number, so your personal number stays private. Moving an existing number to Little Engine isn’t available yet.
Yes. Calls to your business number ring in the Little Engine app, and you can call clients from it too. You can also silence calls from numbers you haven’t been in touch with.
When you add a client, Little Engine texts them from your business number with your message and a setup link, then sends your contact card so the number saves in their phone.
Yes. Clients only see your business number, and work texts and calls stay in the Little Engine app instead of your personal messages.
Your clients
No. Everything happens from the conversation. Clients text your business number like any other number, and booking, rescheduling, and paying all start right there. When a step needs more than a text, like picking from your open times or saving a card, they tap a link in the conversation and finish it in seconds. No app, no account, no password.
Yes. Your clients just need a phone that can text and open a link. Only you need an iPhone.
Add them in the app and Little Engine texts them a setup link. They enter their name, email, and address, agree to texts from your business, save a card or US bank account, agree to your cancellation policy, and can book their first session in the same flow.
A short web page with your business name, opened from the text. Links sign them in automatically, and if a link has expired, a quick text code gets them back in.
Yes. Every provider gets a public booking page where new clients can book, confirming their phone number with a quick text code.
Yes. Each client profile shows past and upcoming sessions, every payment, their packages, their saved payment methods, and how much they’ve spent with you over time.
Only the routine messages you’d otherwise send by hand: appointment reminders, booking and change confirmations, payment confirmations, and receipts. Anything conversational is a suggestion you review and send yourself. Nothing goes out in your name without you.
Yes. Tap the suggestion, change any words you want, and send. You can also ignore it and write your own.
Booking and scheduling
Little Engine reads the message and suggests a reply. If the client asked for a specific open time, you approve it with one tap and it’s booked and confirmed. If the request is open-ended, like “what do you have next week?”, the suggestion includes a link to your live calendar, where the client sees only times that actually work.
Yes. Little Engine suggests the reply and next step, so a change takes one message instead of a string of them. Clients can also use the link in their confirmation to make the change themselves, and they get a confirmation by text either way.
Yes. Choose anywhere from “anytime” up to 72 hours of notice before a client can book.
Yes. Each service can have buffer time before and after, for setup and cleanup.
Little Engine accounts for drive time between same-day in-home appointments, so clients can’t book you somewhere you can’t reach in time.
Yes. Set a recurring appointment once (every Tuesday at 6, every other Friday) and it repeats on your calendar. Clients can move or cancel one session without touching the rest.
Yes. Each service has its own length, price, buffers, location, and the days you offer it.
Yes. Each service can happen at your location, at a client’s home, or by phone, FaceTime, Google Meet, or Zoom.
Reminders and calendar
Yes. Clients get a text reminder before each session at the times you choose: 72, 48, 24, or 1 hour before, or a mix. The default is 24 hours.
Yes. Little Engine works with Google Calendar and syncs both ways: your calendar events block time, and your bookings show up on your calendar. Your clients get a calendar invite by email for every session. Apple Calendar support is coming soon.
They stay. Existing events block that time from bookings, and you can turn an existing event into a Little Engine booking. You can connect more than one Google account.
Apple Calendar support is coming soon. Today, Little Engine syncs with Google Calendar in both directions.
Yes. Every booking sends your client a calendar invite by email, so the session lands on their calendar.
Payments and payouts
A few minutes after each session starts, Little Engine charges the card or bank account on file. Saving a payment method doesn’t charge anything.
Your client’s card is charged a few minutes after each session starts, and the money is paid out from Stripe to your bank account.
A credit or debit card, or a US bank account. Both are held securely by Stripe.
The payment shows in your Money tab as needing attention, and you can send your client a quick link to update their payment method. Once they save a new card, Little Engine collects the payment.
Yes. You can refund a payment from the app, and package refunds are prorated to the sessions not used.
Yes. Clients get a receipt by text after each payment, with a link to view it anytime.
Clients see your cancellation policy and any late fee before they confirm. Whether the fee is charged is always up to you: charge it or waive it in a tap.
No. Clients keep a payment method on file and Little Engine charges it after each session, so there’s nothing to request, remind, or reconcile by hand.
Pricing and fees
Yes. Little Engine is free for providers, with no monthly fee, no subscription, and no lock-in. It earns a $1 service fee on each booked appointment, which your client pays at checkout.
Clients pay a $1 service fee per booked appointment, added at checkout. Providers never pay a monthly fee.
Your clients do. Processing (2.9% + 30¢ for cards, 0.8% capped at $5 for bank payments) is added to their total at checkout, so you receive your full price.
$78.58 by card or $76.61 by bank account. That covers your $75, the $1 service fee, and processing.
No. Your business number, client texts, and reminders are included in Little Engine at no cost to you.
No. There’s no commission on new clients, whether they find you through your booking page or a friend’s referral.
There’s nothing to cancel. With no subscription or contract, you can stop using Little Engine whenever you like.
Packages
Yes. Sell sessions in blocks, like 5 or 10. Your client pays upfront, and each visit uses one session from the package instead of charging their card.
From a link you text them, or from your booking page.
Every confirmation shows how many sessions remain, so neither of you has to keep count.
A late cancellation uses one session from the package instead of charging a fee, and it’s still your call whether it counts.
The refund is prorated to the sessions they didn’t use.
Privacy and security
Cards and bank details are held by Stripe. Little Engine never stores full card numbers, only the last four digits so you can tell cards apart.
Yes. When a client sets up, they give their okay to receive texts from your business.
Yes. Replying STOP opts a client out of texts from your business number, and Little Engine honors it immediately.
Switching to Little Engine
Add each client in the app, and Little Engine texts them a setup link from your new business number along with your contact card. Most clients finish setup in a couple of minutes.
No. They keep texting, just to your business number. Links handle the rest.
How Little Engine compares
Yearly costs assume a solo provider taking 1,000 card payments of $75, from each company’s official pricing page as of October 2026. With Little Engine, clients pay about $3.58 on a $75 card payment, so the fees move to checkout instead of coming out of your earnings.
Little Engine is free for you. Booksy is $29.99 a month plus $20 for each extra user, and you pay the card processing: 2.49% + 10¢ on its card reader, or 2.69% + 30¢ for mobile and keyed payments. Booksy Boost charges a one-time 30% of a new client’s first visit, up to $100. At 1,000 sessions a year, that’s roughly $2,330 to $2,680 before any Boost fees. Booksy brings marketplace discovery and an Android app. Little Engine is built around booking by text: clients text your business number, and you approve every reply.
Little Engine is free for you. Vagaro’s solo plan is $30 a month, with add-ons like text marketing from $20 a month, a website at $20 a month, and a branded app at $100 a month. You pay the processing: 2.29% + 19¢ plus a $10 monthly fee, or 3.5% + 19¢ for keyed payments. Clients need a Vagaro account to book. At 1,000 sessions a year, that’s about $2,350 before add-ons. Vagaro includes a marketplace and point-of-sale hardware. With Little Engine, clients book by text with no account at all.
Little Engine is free for you. GlossGenius Standard is $24 a month billed yearly ($28 monthly), with a flat 2.6% processing rate you pay. At 1,000 sessions a year, that’s about $2,240 a year. Like Little Engine, GlossGenius doesn’t make clients log in or download an app. Little Engine goes further on the conversation: clients book, reschedule, and cancel by texting your business number, and processing is added at checkout, so you keep your full price.
Little Engine is free for you. Fresha’s Independent plan is $19.95 a month. You pay the processing (2.79% + 20¢ online, 2.29% + 20¢ in person), and new clients from Fresha’s marketplace carry a one-time 20% fee, with a $6 minimum. Automated texts past 100 a month cost 2¢ each. Clients need a Fresha account to book online, and messages happen in Fresha’s app rather than by text. At 1,000 sessions a year, that’s roughly $2,160 to $2,530 before marketplace fees. With Little Engine, your clients just text you.
Little Engine is free for you. Square’s booking tools come in its Free, Plus ($49 a month per location), and Premium ($149) plans. You pay the processing: card-on-file charges are 3.5% + 15¢ on every plan, and online payments are 3.3% + 30¢ on Free or 2.9% + 30¢ on Plus. Cancellation and no-show fees need Plus. At 1,000 sessions a year, that’s roughly $2,775 to $3,360, depending on the plan. Square brings point-of-sale hardware and in-person tap to pay. Little Engine brings booking by text and adds the fees at your client’s checkout.
Little Engine is free for you. Acuity is $16 to $61 a month, and text reminders start on the Standard plan ($27 a month billed yearly). Payments run through Stripe, Square, or PayPal at their rates, which you pay. Acuity sends one-way text reminders but has no two-way texting. At 1,000 sessions a year, that’s roughly $2,800 to $2,880. Little Engine includes your business number, two-way texting, reminders, and automatic charging after each session.
Little Engine is free for you. Calendly Standard is $10 a seat each month billed yearly, and it takes payment at booking through Stripe or PayPal at their rates, which you pay. At 1,000 sessions a year, that’s about $2,600. Calendly is built for scheduling meetings from a link. Little Engine is built for session-based service work: booking by text, packages, cancellation fees you control, travel time, and charging after each session.
Little Engine is free for you. Mindbody’s Starter plan starts at $79 a month per location, with processing on top, and its app marketplace takes 20% of a new client’s first purchase, up to $30. Clients sign in to a Mindbody account to book. Mindbody suits studios with staff and class schedules. Little Engine is built for solo providers who run their business by text.
Little Engine keeps the texting and takes over the parts that cost you time: back-and-forth scheduling, reminders, and chasing payments. A Venmo business profile charges you 1.9% + 10¢ per payment, about $1,525 a year at 1,000 sessions of $75. Neither Venmo nor Zelle keeps a card on file, charges automatically, sends reminders, or lets clients book themselves.
Little Engine is free for providers, with no monthly fee, no commission on new clients, and no processing taken out of your price. Clients book, reschedule, and pay by texting your business number, with no app or account, and a $1 service fee plus processing is added at their checkout.
Didn’t find your answer? Text our team at (512) 300-4334 or email hello@littleengine.com.
Try it on your own business.
Setup takes about 10 minutes, and Little Engine is free for you.